So Help Me Todd – The Broker

By: Sammi Turano

The episode opens with Agent Ariel (Vinessa Antoine) telling Lyle (Tristen J Winger) and Todd (Skylar Astin) she is investigating the firm because someone owns a judge and she was hired to find out their identity. She fell in love with Lyle along the way, but he wants nothing to do with her. Todd for his part wants to figure out what is happening and to get to the bottom of it.

Margaret (Marcia Gay Harden) and Gus (Jeffery Nording) enjoy the morning together. She is stressed about money to pay the firm and her condo, while he is stressed about a case. She realizes that if they work together, it could be a big payday for her, so she decides to get in on the action and help out.

Allison (Madeline Wise) is treating a stripper dressed as a cop (Stiver Hudson) and sends him to a radiologist, but not before he gives her a mini-striptease. She takes on her next patient who has a cut on her hand and a similar engagement to the one she once had…..and finds out that the woman, named Elise (Jess Brown), is engaged to her ex-husband Chuck (Clayton James). Things get awkward and she rushes off to get a form….and to go somewhere to get away.

Todd is taking notes on his watch when he bumps into Margaret, who is hiding a pair of expensive shoes she bought so no one knows she is spending money she doesn’t have. She tells him that everyone is working all weekend, except apparently Beverly, who leaves for a ‘business trip.’

Francey  (Rosa Evangelina Arredondo) tells her the landlord is on the phone, wanting back rent. She takes the call and tells him that he will have the money by Monday….because everyone is working the weekend. No one is happy about this, especially Francey, who already has plans. Margaret says they all must be there, no exceptions because otherwise there will be no more jobs.

Ariel meets with Lyle, who is vacuuming after shaving his beard. She tries to explain and gives him paperwork with her true identity, but he kicks her out. Todd tries to figure out what is wrong, but Lyle won’t talk. He then goes to Ariel, who says she must go to DC. He convinces her to stay and that he will help her figure out the culprit. She reluctantly agrees and he vows to help her come hell or high water.

Margaret tells the firm that they are more than just coworkers, but they are a community and that they must now come together to make sure they keep afloat. She tries to promise coffee and bagels, but their card was declined and their usual place won’t deliver due to back invoices. She then promises food and drink from somewhere else.

Susan (Inga Schlingmann) tries to get everyone organized and to work while Todd continues to work with Ariel. He gives a theory on why Beverly could be the culprit, saying she is going to Switzerland and probably has Swiss bank accounts. Ariel says that Beverly was cleared and it is someone more under the radar. She says Judy (Heather Morris) might be the culprit, but Todd says she doesn’t even work there and he would know if it was her since he is dating her. Ariel continues to argue that it could be her, but Todd argues again that despite wanting to help others (and needs money to do so) she has nothing to do with it.

Margaret tells Todd and Lyle to question people involved in the case, all of whom claim to be getting cancer treatment. Once they finish, she, Gus and Susan will take the next step in the case.

Margaret goes to the file room, where Allison is crying over Chuck’s new fiancée. Margaret comforts her, but lets it slip she already knew. This upsets Allison, who kicks Margaret out of the file room.

Judy is passing around bagels and coffee when Todd tries to question her about where she lives. She acts a bit cagey, but is interrupted by Margaret, who is happy that she has coffee and bagels….despite the fact that they are leftovers from another meeting. Todd tells her to go to Francey for payment, but Judy says she is in a secret meeting, giving Todd the idea that she could be the culprit, setting him into a dream-sequence of how it could be happening.

Judy brings him back to reality and he fills her in on the case. She jokes that she cannot be trusted, but asks him if he can actually trust Ariel, who was actually lying the entire time.

Lyle runs into Allison in the file room and they bond over their heartbreak. As they talk, Allison sees some discrepancies in one of the cancer patients’ records, namely a chemo patient giving birth.

Meanwhile, Todd sees Francey in a meeting and thinks she is the culprit. He fills Ariel in on everything and they go to check Francey’s desk, finding a key.

Margaret is trying to still work on everything when Judy tells him via voice message that Francey is out of her secret meeting. Margaret realizes what is happening and wonders why she is in the meeting.

Ariel and Todd continue to spy, realizing Susan was working on some cases involving the judge and her husband.  They pilfer her laptop to look deeper into it, making Todd wonder via another dream sequence that Susan might be involved and that he may have killed her husband for his money. Ariel tells him to calm down and tells him about the judge living on the waters, leading to Todd thinking Gus might be involved due to living on a houseboat himself. Ariel reminds him again that no one was murdered, but Todd thinks that the case he is working on might be a way to filter money through the firm….putting his mom in trouble.

Margaret and Gus look into the paperwork Allison found. They conclude that there are several fake patients from a very real clinic. The three of them put their heads together and decide to bring in a woman named Carina to help them prove their case….as Ariel and Todd bring in the judge.

Allison eats a donut while Gus goes to question Carina (Jennifer Robertson). Margaret wants to know what is going on, so she steals Allison’s donut and goes to spy.

Gus takes Carina to go into the conference room, where the judge is waiting. It appears that they don’t know each other and Carina thinks she is in deep trouble when she realizes that she is in the room with the judge.

Allison gets another donut and tries to eat when Lyle wants to try and figure out what is going on. He steals her donut and does some spying of her own.

Todd and Margaret are hiding in a cabinet to spy and hear Carina’s confession. Gus walks in and finds them. Margaret tells him to say ‘you are under arrest’ which leads to Carina confessing and that she was coerced by a man named Gordon Swanson to make the fake records.

Ariel and Todd discuss the case and try to figure out what to do and who else could be involved. Todd tries to convince her Lyle might be involved….or maybe it is him or his mom or Beverly. Ariel calms him down again and tells him they will get to the bottom of it.

Allison, Gus and Margaret look into Gordon Swanson, who happens to be a golf buddy of Chuck’s dad. They find him at Chuck’s engagement party, which upsets Allison when she finds out that Margaret has an invitation. She gets even more upset when Gus lets it slip that medical experts get paid and that she was working for free.

At the party, Allison is upset when she sees things similar to what she had at her engagement party while Gus and Margaret question Gordon, telling him that the cop there will arrest him…not realizing the cop is the stripper. Gordon’s wife tells him to come clean and he confesses.

The cop stripper puts on a show and breaks a champagne tower while Allison congratulates the happy couple.

Back in court, Margaret presents the case to the judge and ends up winning a $50 million dollar settlement.

Ariel introduces Todd to one of her coworkers, who thanks him for his help. The judge had turned himself in, but came up with a deal where he would not reveal the broker’s identity. Ariel says they will find out the identity eventually due to having top people on the case….but not now. She leaves Todd and talks to Lyle. The two declare their love for one another and she says she is transferring to be closer to him as they kiss.

Francey meets with Margaret, who tells her that they have enough money to pay off their debts and back overtime. However, Francey says she has a job offer and she is going to take it. Margaret tries to convince her to stay, but no avail.

Margaret pays off the landlord, but he tells her he needs another $300,000 by the end of the week, making her worry about what she is going to do….and tell Francey.

Todd finds out that Judy is staying in an empty office building upstairs. She is surprised that he hasn’t figured it out and tells him it was once a part of the firm. He finds some old signs, including one belonging to Merritt Folding, the mystery person who founded the firm. He thinks he is the broker, which he shares with Judy. He thinks this is the way he will make a name for himself and is determined to prove it as the episode comes to a close.