- Title: Fairly Legal – Ripple of Hope
- tv.com: link
Ben (Ryan Johnson) and Kate (Sarah Shahi) work together to mediate a non-violent mediation at a women’s prison where several of the inmates have gone on a hunger strike to dispute living conditions. While trying to come to a compromise between the prisoners and the warden (Wendy Crewson), Kate gets distracted by a prisoner (Agnes Bruckner) who may have been wrongfully imprisoned but won’t get patrolled until she admits and apologizes for her crime.
After he feigns disinterest in another one of Kate’s pet causes, Kate is surprised to find Ben arguing in front of a judge for a new trial. However her joy is dashed by the judge throwing out the motion and Ben making it clear that his motives had absolutely nothing to do with the good of Kate’s client.
Kate’s only other option is to try and convince the widower (Hiro Kanagawa) of the woman killed in the robbery from testifying at the hearing and convincing the parole board that Leah wasn’t involved in the robbery and she doesn’t need to admit to the crime to earn her parole. But even though Kate is able to solve the hunger strike and dig up some solid evidence that points to Leah’s innocence, she can’t convince the parole board of facts the have no interest in hearing.
In the episode’s B-story Leo (Baron Vaughn) is forced to go to Lauren (Virginia Williams) for help when a friend (Laci J Mailey) finds herself at odds with the company who published her comic book, but it takes a little convincing to get her to take the case on contingency. Once convinced, Lauren is able to get the company to give back a percentage of the character to the creator, however, they have good reason to settle and Leo thinks Reed & Reed can get far more than what they are initially offering.
Although a little goofy in spots, Leo and Lauren’s B-story works well as a counter-balance to the more serious issues of a hunger strike and a wrongly imprisoned woman. Although Kate and Ben have had their ups and downs, at least from the last scene, it looks like the pair might be heating things up as soon as next week.