So Help Me Todd – Iceland Was Horrible

By: Sammi Turano

The season premiere opens with Margaret (Marcia Gay Harden) watching the news in bed when Gus (Jeffery Nordling) goes to kiss her. As the two of them fall back into bed together, a man named James (Mark Brandon) is killed on TV by a falling light.

Todd (Skylar Astin) opens the blinds in his new place as Allison (Madeline Wise) wakes up on his couch. He makes fun of their role reversal as she promises it is temporary….she will be gone as soon as her credit card is fixed. She had gone on a retreat and gotten ripped off. They continue to banter as they get on with their days.

Francey (Rosa Arredondo) meets with Margaret as she enters the building….’looking like hell’ according to the newsstand lady. They talk about the whole Harry situation as she changes in an elevator for her first day as partner. Margaret also learns that Harry brought a cat.

The elevator opens and Margaret walks into the office to see her name on the door….which has her name as Wrong instead of Wright. Francey says Todd is upset about it, leading Margaret to go to talk to him…..only to find that he made his office into his makeshift PI firm. Margaret is not happy about this, leading to them to argue and her to demand he shut it down.

Margaret meets with Beverly (Leslie Silva), who tells her the firm is going under. Margaret must fire 20% of the firm. She learns that one of the clients they are losing is KLOP, who had their main anchor get arrested for the murder that happened on TV.

As Margaret frets, Susan (Inga Schlingmann) walks in and hugs Francey. She talks about her zipline wedding and how no one in her or Peter’s families were happy about it. Todd brings her a gravy boat with flowers in it as a wedding gift. He congratulates her and gives her a platonic kiss.

Jennifer Gianola (Lisa Rinna), the anchor who was arrested, is on TV defending herself as she is accused of murder and having an affair with the host who dies. As the story plays in the background, Margaret tries and fails at firing people.

Jennifer is being hounded by the press, so Margaret goes to help her out, despite the firm no longer working with her station. Margaret convinces her that she needs her, so Jennifer agrees….but only if she finds James’s boyfriend Roy Dobbs.

Margaret goes back to the firm to get Todd’s help, only to have him be obnoxious. She tries to ask him for help when Roy himself shows up, asking for Todd’s help. The mother/son duo debate on what to do and how things should be handled, leading to Todd demanding a raise and Margaret going to Lyle for help. However, Lyle (Tristen J Winger)  is in his own world, singing and in love, so Margaret finally agrees to work with Todd and work with his demands….within reason.

The duo talks to Roy (Ryan Lino) about James’s death and how they broke up before his death. He needs Todd because he can’t afford a lawyer and thinks a PI can find the killer. Todd agrees, but Margaret points out that she is working for Jennifer, causing Roy to storm out. Todd talks to him and convinces him to let him help. Roy says the killer had to be in the station since it is closed off once the broadcast begins.

Margaret and Todd go to the station to question people. He chews a huge wad of gum to put trackers on cars, thinking this will lead them to the killer. She goes inside to talk to the station manager, while Todd goes undercover as Tom the intern….placing another bug so he can eavesdrop.

Margaret finds Jennifer packing her dressing room and says there is evidence against her, including her fingerprints on hedges and public fighting. There is also the motive that she was supposed to take over once James retired. She also points out that James slept with everyone, so they also have motive. As they leave, Jennifer says that she heard Phantom of the Opera music before he left….right before she sees the sports guy Bart (Kelly McCabe) as the new anchor.

Todd talks to the lighting guy George (Mackenzie Gray), who also got hurt in the accident. He says it could have been anyone. He continues to question people to get more details, including a disgruntled weatherman Timmy (Alex Rose), who wonders why Margaret is there. Todd explains that she is the attorney, who is working with a PI and he scoffs that she could use the good luck.

Margaret and Todd reconvene to discuss the case….which leads to Margaret realizing that she is missing Lawrence’s (Matthew Wilkas) birthday party she planned months ago. She rushes home to see Harry (Mark Moses) there singing happy birthday as Allison, Chet (Thomas Cadrot) and Lawrence sit there confused.

Everyone is uncomfortable as Harry serves cake. Gus arrives, making things more awkward. Chet puts Clem to bed. Harry offers Gus coffee as Todd arrives, dressed in clothes his boss at the station gave him. He spots Harry and has a meltdown, smashing wine bottles and screaming. Gus is confused, so Margaret explains everything….as she spots the random cat Harry adopted. This leads to a new fight, Gus being confused over Harry and Margaret’s relationship and Harry not realizing he was divorced.

Allison opens up about the retreat debacle and identity theft, leading to more fighting….until Chet and Lawrence announce they are having another baby. Gus leaves in confusion as Allison gets a call that Jennifer has been electrocuted.

Allison and her team work on Jennifer as Margaret and Todd wait in the waiting room. They get word that Jennifer will be fine and argue over who should talk to her, but Allison says nobody can talk to her for 48 hours. Todd tries to prove he is close to catching the killer, but only serves to further frustrate Margaret.

In court, Susan and Margaret discuss the case. Susan is about to announce her wedding news when Margaret cuts her off to talk to Gus. She tries to explain the Harry situation and he says he understands, but she should have been honest from the get go before walking away.

Todd talks to Roy, saying they have no evidence of him calling James and vice versa. Roy explains that James used a burner phone, leading to Todd going back to the station to find it in James’s office. He and Margaret try to find the combination of the safe that contains the phone, only to realize it is in the anchor desk James used. Todd rushes to get to the desk, only to get locked in the filming area. He tells Timmy  the weatherman Gayle King is on the phone and locks him in a soundproof booth. Todd jumps on air to give Margaret the combination with made up temperatures. She is able to open the safe and calls the last number James texted…..which leads to the real killer….George the lighting guy. The entire confession is on air….how he killed due to a broken heart. He then tries to kill Todd with another light, but tangles him in cables as Timmy bangs on the soundproof door and the lighting guy gets arrested.

Gus watches from home, saying this is a wacky morning show.

Later on, Margaret and Todd celebrate their victory. She tells him he can work with anyone in the firm while working on his own cases, but he will have to take a pay cut.

Beverly comes in and says KLOP is working with them again, but there will still need to be staffing cuts. Margaret says that the managing partner will have something to say about this on Monday.

Beverly tells Susan to work on becoming partner.

Allison and Todd eat dinner and talk about how he was too late to stop Susan from getting married. He says that he then looked at his PI license and decided to keep going up and work on being the best PI Oregon has ever seen.

Harry talks to Margaret and apologizes for leaving, saying he needed to go because he knew he was dying. Margaret calls him out and says he knows he told Todd she was controlling. She says she is too strong for him and makes him leave…..only to see his cat is still there.