So Help Me Todd – Faux-Bituary

By starrymag | May 1, 2024

By: Sammi Turano

 

 

The episode opens with Margaret (Marcia Gay Harden) entering work to the 9-5 tune and everyone bugging her with things that need to be done. She tells them all to give her a minute and goes into her office, where Todd (Skylar Astin) is complaining about how his taco Tuesday idea for business isn’t working. He rants and raves, but Margaret doesn’t want to hear it due to her own problems. Todd asks her what is wrong when Francey (Rosa Evangelina Arredondo)  comes in with more bad news. Margaret freaks out and goes to get coffee. Todd tries to put in an order, but she is already out of the office, being bugged by more issues. She hides in the elevator, where she meets a man who was declared dead…..despite being very much alive.

Margaret and Todd decide to help this man, named Leo (James Martinez), who says that he lost everything due to this issue. He continues to cry while Todd wonders if they are talking to a ghost. Leo says that everything is going into probate and falling apart, so Todd and Margaret decide to take the case.

Later on, Susan (Inga Schlingmann) goes to Margaret for help. Margaret thinks she wants help on a case or to talk about the promotion, so she offers to have lunch with her. However, Susan wants the conference room for her client, who could potentially bring big money for the case. Margaret offers help, but Susan declines, saying she will do it on her own and then will have to get a promotion.

Todd goes to Allison (Madeline Wise) for help on Leo’s case, but things get awkward when her relationship with Dick comes up. They bicker about it and he says that she is acting angry, which she says is something she was never allowed to do. They agree to work together.

Margaret takes Leo into court, but the plaintiff insists that despite the fact that he is alive, everything is dead…..no form, no fix. The judge gives Margaret one week to prove Leo is who he says he is and indeed alive.

Allison tells Todd about the doctor who pronounced him dead, saying that she has no idea who he is….and she knows everyone in the hospital. They realize that the doctor’s address is a janitor’s office and that Leo was killed on paper….but why?

Margaret talks to Leo, asking who would want to declare him dead. He says he is a recovering alcoholic and doesn’t really have anyone in his life. Lyle (Tristen J. Winger) comes in and says Kirkland Quimby (Richard Newman) submitted his obituary. He tries to give more information, but is sidelined by tooth pain. Despite his protests, Margaret makes Francey take him to the dentist.

Margaret and Todd go to talk to Kirkland, all the while talking about Allison and snarking at each other. They pretend to look into funeral arrangements, with Todd giving crazy ideas for his. They segue into Leo’s obituary, with Kirkland denying he has any involvement. He says the email used for the obituary belonged to his father Kirkland SENIOR, who has been dead for 20 years. They realize there is a computer hacker, while Kirkland wants to know how he is dying. They say is it a chronic tongue problem.

Lyle is back from the dentist and very loopy. Francey goes to get him water, while Todd tries to talk to him. Lyle tells him about the dark web and gives him ideas on how to get into it and how he has access thanks to the system administrator. Merritt Folding is also involved.

Lyle and Todd go to log into the dark web in Merritt Folding’s office, while Susan and Francey discuss Susan’s case.  A mystery man (Oliver Rice) comes in for his case and to use the restroom.  However, he is there to talk to Merritt….only to find Todd and Lyle. Todd pretends to be Merritt with a fake Scottish accent.

Leo finds out he was evicted. Margaret makes him wait in her office, but goes with Susan, who thinks he is Rory McIntosh, her client. Rory himself is the mystery man talking to Todd and Lyle.

Everything is in a sea of confusion with Rory and why he is with Susan. Margaret worries that Merritt is also with them and if she is being pushed out.

Meanwhile, Rory and Todd bond when Susan realizes that she has the wrong client. She realizes what is up and is not happy.

Margaret is in the kitchen, thinking she is talking to Rory, but she is talking to someone else who wants her to sign a contract today. Margaret tells Francey, who tells her the man is from a reptile saving charity.

All the while, Lyle is on the dark web, only to be caught by Rory. Susan and Todd try to cover, but Rory loves the idea of using it to get what they need and shows them a pocket device that can help them hack more information.  They all try to check information together and find a Piper Harlow….but it ends up in the men hugging and convincing Rory to not go with the competition.

Francey and Margaret try to help Leo by showing him the reptile pamphlet, which oddly makes him feel better. Todd tells them (using his Scottish accent) that Piper is the hacker and in jail serving a five-year sentence.

Todd goes to question PiperMaloway. He says he needs her help, but she initially refuses, until he offers her money in her commissary account. He tricks her and realizes she is not really Piper.

At dinner, Todd and Margaret discuss the case and the situation with Susan’s case with Rory. She tells him to give Susan ideas on how to win Rory over when Allison comes over. She is in a bad mood and picks a fight with Margaret. Margaret tries to make an effort to understand her and invites Dick over for dinner. Allison wants none of it and continues to pick a fight, upsetting Margaret, who finally tells her she can have a meltdown if she needs to.

Allison admits she is confused and upset about her life. As she tries to explain, Margaret and Todd realize that Piper is hiding from her life, like Allison. They solve the case, leaving Allison feeling ignored again. She leaves unnoticed, stealing the wine on her way out.

Todd and Margaret find Piper (Lucy McNulty) by Margaret pretending to have a heart attack. They push a random man away, who tries to help and push their way into Piper’s house, saying she is caught.

They question Piper about the Leo case. She says she knows nothing until they threaten to tell the cops. She says someone named Ethan Zillow hired her to do it and that she was hired by a crooked corrections worker to do the switcharoo.

Margaret goes to talk to Leo, who says he knows Sofie Zillow (Francisca Dennis), not Ethan Zillow (Miguel Mora). It turns out that Sofie was his ex and Ethan is potentially Leo’s son.

Sofie is then questioned about it and is angry to be dragged into this. Ethan says that he did it because Leo was a deadbeat and he was angry about the fact that his mother had to struggle. Sofie tries to admit she was wrong, but Leo says she did the right thing. Margaret lets Leo decide what to do and he decides to try and be a part of Ethan’s life. The case is solved and Leo is ‘brought back to life.’

Todd tosses out his taco Tuesday flyer when Lyle comes in, saying Todd took advantage of him when he was under “dental gas.” The two bicker until Lyle storms off.

Todd tells Margaret that Veronica was a part of the same corrections place as Piper, making him wonder if she was involved. They run into Susan, who tells them Rory signed on as the episode comes to a close.