This week’s episode featured a reunion between Skylar Astin and guest star Briga Heelan, who co-starred together in TBS’s Ground Floor eight years ago. Despite sharing a steamy kiss initiated by Susan a few episodes ago, Susan has decided to pretend it didn’t happen leaving Todd open to Amy’s (Heelan) obvious flirting. This week also saw Susan leading her first case until things quickly took a turn, when one of the jurors dropped dead during the hearing.
Let’s face it, Susan was struggling through her opening statements and Irene, the juror's, death provided a much needed reprieve, albeit a morbid one. The police discovered poison in Irene’s water bottle, leading them to arrest another juror, Amy (Briga Heelan), who was seen arguing with the deceased juror prior to the trial. Susan’s gut is telling her that Amy could not have done this, and she begs Margaret to take the case. Margaret takes the case, although she is preoccupied by her sister Patty, who has come to town for a dedication ceremony. It is difficult to imagine that Patty is Margaret’s sister. She is her polar opposite- very homely, outspoken to a fault and doesn’t know when to mind her own business. Nobody can handle Patty’s abrupt demeanour, not even Francey who is stuck babysitting her at the office while Margaret and Todd chase a lead. To add to Patty’s odd character, the dedication ceremony in her honour, is because she donated money to refugee rabbits. Yes, I said rabbits.
Lyle, Todd, Francey and Margaret made an excellent sleuthing team for this episode’s case, putting together a suspect board with all of the jurors, detailing everything about them in an attempt to come up with a motive for killing Irene. Todd and Margaret teaming to question the jurors was comedy gold and Broadway legend Marissa Jaret Winokur, who guest starred as one of the jurors, added to the fun of the scene as she rambled on about ridiculous theories of the crime. She ended up being a true crime fanatic, and began conducting her own investigation. When she ended up dead, the police determined that the murderer was killing off the jurors one by one. The team discovers that Amy was the intended target and the murderer is a juror who held a grudge against Amy, because she was crowned the Rose festival queen over his daughter, who was the victim of a heinous crime against her when someone threw bleach on her face during the competition. All of these years he thought Amy and her mother were behind the crime. Being placed on the jury together felt like an opportunity had been placed in his lap to finally seek revenge for what happened to his little girl. It is too bad he ended up killing two people for no reason.
It has been known since the pilot that there are many layers to the Wright family, and although several layers have already been peeled off, it is clear that there are many more left to unravel.
Patty’s outspoken nature leads her to blab to Todd and Allison that Margaret was planning on leaving their father before he died. It is revealed that their father died of a heart attack when they were both in college. It was difficult enough for Todd and Allison to deal with the sudden loss of their father at such a young age, but learning that their mother wanted out of her marriage to him adds on another complex layer of grief. Patty encourages Margaret to come clean to her children, forcing her to share a truth about their father that she had been protecting them from all these years. He was emotionally abusive with her and when he died, it was a relief because she was finally free. Margaret’s reveal lit a spark in Allison, who went home to finally have the difficult conversation with Chuck. Life is too short to be unhappy. Perhaps she is finally ready to take the steps needed to live her life the way she wants, instead of being stuck in a life that was prescribed for her.
There was some obvious chemistry between Todd and Amy (Heelan) and he didn’t pass up the opportunity to spend time with her. Todd being with Amy led to him and Susan finally discussing the elephant in the room, the passionate kiss shared between them. Susan accused Todd of being unethical for spending personal time with a client, and he wasted no time telling Susan that it was completely unethical for her to kiss him and then gaslight him into thinking it didn’t happen. They are unable to continue their conversation due to a lead in the case, leaving things between them even more unsettled. Later, Amy asks Todd out and brings him in for a kiss while Susan watches, heartbroken, through the glass doors. Clearly Susan has feelings for Todd, but doesn’t want to act on them because of her loyalty to Peter. She prides herself on her reputation and doesn’t want to be that woman. Todd clearly feels the same way about her, but he isn’t going to wait around forever, especially considering the way she has treated him the past few weeks. Now that Amy is in the picture, it may cause Susan to completely push her feelings for Todd aside and focus on Peter. Or will it make her want to fight for the man she clearly loves?
The witty one-liners in this episode were top notch. The creativity in the writer’s room is abundant and you can tell that they have a lot of fun penning each episode. Notable lines in this one included Todd’s “Queen Elizabeth, RIP,” when referencing queens in his phone, Susan’s “I killed it?” immediately after the juror dropped dead and of course Lyle’s witty “maybe seven ate nine” when Todd was rambling on about the jurors. Each episode just keeps getting better and better and leaves viewers dying for more.
Your turn, Todd fans! Is it over for Allison and Chuck? Will Susan leave Todd in the past, or will she fight for her happiness? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Please comment below and engage with me on Twitter @MiddleofCanada.
