Burden of Truth – The Ties That Bind

By: Stacy Miller

Now that she’s determined to find out what is making the teenage girls at Millwood High sick, Joanna Hanley (Kristin Kreuk) is hard at work researching in her motel room. She receives a phone call from Alan (Benjamin Ayres) and tells him that she’s decided to stay in Millwood even though they cleared their client of any wrong doing.  Joanna tells Alan that she will need his help in convincing her father and the other partners that there is a case and that she wants CTS (Carver, Thatcher and Stokes) to take.  Reluctantly, Alan agrees to help review the documentation. Joanna tells him that she will be sending over some materials in a few hours.

Joanna next meets with Billy Crawford (Peter Mooney) and tells him that the CAT scans have been scheduled. Billy says that the reason why they originally focused on the vaccine was because the girls were living normal lives until the twitching started. Their conversation is interrupted when Billy learns his client John is in a dispute with his neighbor over the constant barking of the neighbor’s dog.

Joanna later goes to see Taylor (Anwen O’Driscoll) and tells her that she (Joanna) and Billy Crawford have formed a partnership and will work on finding out what is causing the illnesses. She says that Taylor made a compelling argument for her staying in Millwood and switching sides. Then, Joanna receives a call from her father David (Alex Carter) who isn’t happy that his daughter is remaining in Millwood to fight for a case that may not be there. But he does tell her that if she brings him a top presentation for why CTC should take the case, he’ll bring it to the other partners.

Dr. Jones (Terri Cherniak) tells Billy and Joanna that the scans have indicated that the girls are suffering from frontal lobe abnormalities that are consistent with drug users. But Billy’s niece Molly (Sara Thompson) is an athlete and insists that she would never do drugs.

Joanna explains to Billy that prolonged inhaling of nail polish could produce the same result. But all the girls use different makeup and shampoo. So, she reasons that it has to be something in the school.  Billy again has to leave when John opens the back of his truck and shows him the dead neighbor’s dog.  John assures that he didn’t kill the dog even though he threatened to do so.  John worries that he’ll lose custody of his son Jax (Jackson Blake) if he’s arrested for the dog’s murder as it will paint him as someone with violent tendencies and unfit to raise a child.

Joanna goes to Millwood High to and takes a sample from the shower drain. She assures Diane (Nicola Correia-Damude) that even if they discover the cause of the sickness is something at the school, the school won’t be sued, the case will be against the township. A student named Allie (Montana Lehmann) approaches and asks to speak with Diane, who tells the girl that unless it’s urgent and can’t wait, she meet with her later in her office. Unfortunately for Allie, it can’t wait…she has started to get twitches like the other girls. Poor Allie, she was applying to art schools…how will she be able to draw and paint now?  Diane and Joanna talk about how seventeen years ago they were the same age as the girls…where did life go?  Diane tells Joanna she’s happy her friend has returned to Millwood.

A cop named Owen (Meegwun Fairbrother) brings John in to question him about the dead dog.  John adamantly denies killing the pooch, explaining that the dog Rocky was foaming at the mouth and experiencing tremors before he killed over. It seems that some cows from the local farm are also getting sick. Could there be a connection to the illness of the girls?  Billy and Joanna rush back to the high school and order the girls to get off the field. When it rains and the ground gets wet, the soil gets effected. It looks like chemicals were dumped onto the ground. Joanna calls her father to tell David of her discovery about the field.  She also questions him about the woman who punched her in the face when she learned that she was David Hanley’s daughter. David doesn’t answer her concerns, he only comments “Small towns, small minds.”

Billy and Joanna learn that the land where the farm is located was donated to the school. And the land has tested positive for sixteen chemical compounds.  It seems that toxic land was donated to the school.  And the company that donated it has deep pockets that will ensure a large payoff for their clients and CTS if the law firm agrees to take the case after Billy and Joanna’s pitch.  Joanna reminds Billy that her firm wants minimal risk with maximum rewards and won’t take a case just on potential. “If you believe in this Joanna, so will they,” Billy assures.

“With a minimal investment from Carver, Thatcher and Stokes we will tie the chemicals to one of the deep pockets,” Joanna explains telling her father and the other partners that CTS is stands to receive one third of a possible substantial settlement. Billy adds that one of the girls involved is his niece Molly, a varsity soccer player that has several letters of interests from universities. “Those are the faces the jury will see,” Joanna continues. David Hanley tells Billy and his daughter that the partners will review the evidence they presented during their pitch and get back to them about whether they will take the case.

Because the dog died from chemical poisoning Owen doesn’t arrest John, but warns that he’ll be keeping an eye on him.

Billy assures Molly that she’ll still be able to do all she had planned after graduation but she may have to adjust the timeline.

At a diner, Billy and Joanna talk about how after he left Millwood, David Hanley became a senior partner while still in his thirties. David calls his daughter and tells her that the partners declined the case because they need a sure thing and environmental class action suits are hard to win. Joanna reminds that it’s the life and future of the girls, not just about the money. David Hanley orders his daughter to come home now.  But because she has thirteen weeks paid vacation, Joanna has decided to take it all now and work towards proving her case.

Joanna tells Billy that although they will need experts in order to prove the case which won’t come cheap, she has savings. Joanna is committed to the case even if it cost her all her money.

Alan arrives in Millwood. He can’t believe that small room that the firm put her up in. But in Millwood, it is a luxury suite. He spots the bruise on her face and Joanna jokes about being tough and getting in bar fights.  Alan urges Joanna to come home with him.  “I know things haven’t always been perfect between us,” he says. “That’s not what I want,” Joanna tells Alan. “Then what do you want?” Alan asks. But Joanna realizes that Alan didn’t come to Millwood because he missed her. “My father sent you.” She orders him out of her motel room. “Think about what you’re throwing away for this small town that clearly doesn’t want you,” Alan says. But Joanna Hanley will not budge and she’s not leaving Millwood until she proves and wins the case and gives the girls their lives back.