So Help Me Todd – Your Day in Court

By starrymag | February 28, 2024

By: Sammi Turano

 

The episode opens with Margaret (Marcia Gay Harden) preparing for a case for the Sweetheart Killers….saying she is not ready. Todd (Skylar Astin) is ready for his own work, while Beverly (Leslie Silva) and Gus (Jeffery Nordling) prepare for cases of their own. As each case flashes by, Allison (Madeline Wise) tries to talk her way out of parking tickets.

Margaret’s high profile case has to do with a couple who are accused of burning down a restaurant and killing the manager. She claims there is no motive and that they have alibis. The plaintiff claims this is not so, and their car was seen at the scene of the crime. The judge takes the side of the plaintiff, leading to Susan (Inga Schlingmann), Lyle (Tristen J Winger) and Margaret having to deal with a setback.

The bailiff says that a juror is missing, giving Todd the opportunity to come in and talk to Margaret. As they argue, the juror comes in, saying her identity was stolen. As she deals with the bank, Todd tries to network in the hallway while telling Susan that things are thriving.

Beverly walks by and tells Todd to keep his phone close and to only appear when she says. After he leaves, Beverly tries to turn Susan against Margaret and says that she must nail her cross examinations or they may lose business. Susan says that is what Margaret is doing, giving Beverly the opportunity to imply that Margaret doesn’t believe in her.

After Todd gets shot down by people who know of his reputation, Allison asks him for money for her tickets and to give her a ride home since her car was impounded. He tells her he is working and to go watch Margaret’s case. She reluctantly stays with the promise of juice and cookies.

Margaret talks to another bailiff about her case before running into Gus. She says she is busy, but decides to sit with him for awhile. They talk about her case before getting to Harry, who keeps calling her. This leads to another argument and him comparing her to his ex and saying both people play a part in a breakup.

Back in court, Margaret says that the Sweetheart Killers, aka Lila (Christin Park) and Nate (Carlo Marks) are sticking together and alibiing each other out, only to find out they now have separate trials. Margaret tries to stop this but no avail. This gives Susan and Margaret doubt as to whether or not they are innocent after all.

 

As they work, Todd overhears more people talking about identity theft.

Lyle, Susan and Margaret discuss their case and which one could be guilty. They get to work representing Nate. Susan tries to give Margaret her cross examination, but Margaret takes over and begins questioning the bartender. He says Lila is the one who fought with the manager, not Nate.

 

Meanwhile, Gus works on his case as Beverly texts Todd to meet her. Gus’s case has to do with a little boy traumatized at a birthday party, which is why Beverly texted Todd, for she needs  a medical expert. Todd goes to get Allison to help, while questioning her about her identity theft. She thinks it has to do with the retreat, but isn’t sure how they did it. She agrees to help him if he pays off her parking tickets.

Allison is on the stand to claim that puppets are not alive and cannot hurt children. The case involves the  five year old son of an influencer named Lavender Kirk (Tess Degenstein) who had a puppet shove cake in his face and traumatize him.

As Margaret continues to question for her case, another juror  (for Gus’s case) claims that her identity was stolen. There is pandemonium for both cases, with both judges calling for order.

Later on, Todd tells Susan about the identity theft, while she complains about Margaret not taking her seriously. Allison comes up them in a daze about the case she just testified in, trying to figure it all out.

Gus and Margaret sit by the steps, talking about their cases and eating an unusual sandwich of meats, veggies, Nutella and pickles. As they talk, Harry calls again, causing her to throw her phone. They talk about their divorces and how Gus’s wife slept with his brother. He goes back to work after admitting he filled his brother’s car with water.

Beverly catches them and yells at Margaret for not working to her standards or firing people. Margaret says she is going to waiver her salary for a quarter so they can stay. This doesn’t satisfy Beverly, who now wants intel on Gus. Margaret refuses and storms off.

Todd has Allison pose as a juror to figure out how identities are being stolen and figures out the security guard is skimming smartwatches. She goes into the jury room to see if there is a connection….but not before she says she used his name on the sign in.

Back in court, a surprise recording makes it seem as if Nate confessed to the crime….leaving her and her team shocked. Nate thinks Lila is framing him to save herself. He claims that the dinner was terrible and Lila complained to the manager. It caused a big fight, with Lila insisting on going back later that night. She had smashed a window and threw a cocktail, which caused the fire. The recording was him coaching her on what to say….and it was all caught on her smartwatch.

Margaret urges Todd to find a way to skim Lila’s watch…leading to him finding the skimming guard. They split up to find a way to catch him, with Margaret following him into Gus’s courtroom.

 

Beverly questions Henry (Eamon McBride), the kid from the party, while eating cake to try and prove he isn’t traumatized by cake or puppets. Margaret causes a ruckus and gets kicked out, only to find Bonnie (Jennifer Kitchen) the bailiff. She admits the security guard, JT is her nephew and they were in a skimming scam together to pay for funeral expenses….and got carried away. Bonnie had turned over the skimmer, which Todd uses to skim Lila’s watch, with the help of one of the puppets from the other trial.

Margaret causes another recess to figure out what Todd was able to get. It turns out Lila wiped everything clean, but they were able to find deleted photos of Lila, with the manager, with whom she was having an affair.

The team discusses what to do and if Lila is the killer….or if Nate did it out of anger. They decide to pit them against each other to cause reasonable doubt. Susan suggests a way to get them on the stand at the same time, which makes Margaret so happy she could kiss her and give her a raise.

Lila is on the stand and says she loves Nate, but won’t go to prison for him. Margaret calls Lila and Nate on the stand in tandem, trying to get Lila to confess. She brings out Lila’s phone records, which put her at the restaurant after Nate’s 11pm bedtime and in Acapulco while he was away at business. Nate is in shock over her lies and betrayal.

Gus and Beverly’s trial ends in a mistrial. Lavender calls Beverly out on how she handles things, who in turn calls her out for using the trial for an image change.

Gus waits for Margaret after her case. Nate took a plea deal for the cover up, while Lila is going to prison for premeditated murder. They walk out together, promising to be there for each other and not make their past mistakes. Margaret tells the waiting press that justice has prevailed.

One of the jurors thanks Todd for his help and hires him for another case. He meets up with Allison, who ended up on a grand jury. As they walk out they banter over the parking tickets and living together, with Lyle saying he will never understand the family as the episode comes to a close.