- Title: Fairly Legal – Boderline
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While attempting to resolve a jurisdictional dispute between state agencies delaying the building of a casino in Lake Tahoe, Kate (Sarah Shahi) an Ben (Ryan Johnson) find themselves wrapped up in an unsolved murder when buried remains of a missing 16 year-old girl are discovered on the building site.
The case is complicated by the victim being one of the local Nevada Police Detective’s (James Martinez) younger sister and the former girlfriend of a millionaire’s son (Jonathan Keltz) who was the prime suspect in the girl’s disappearance. Kate realizes quickly that the California cops have incentive to sweep the entire matter under the rug (as they did when the girl went missing), but the Nevada Police have equal motive to string up the boyfriend even if they can’t prove he was involved in the girl’s death.
The episode’s B-story involves Lauren (Virginia Williams) trying to thelp Justin (Michael Trucco) out of a tough jam with District Attorney Davidson (Esai Morales) drops a politically-charged hot potato in his lap realizing it could likely damage his future in politics. His last minute hail mary not only saves the case, but perhaps his chances to be elected the next District Attorney.
“Borderline” finds Kate with a slightly enlarged role of magistrate rather than just mediator that adds a slightly different spin to the episode. With the help of the young man and the coroner, Kate is able to piece together the tragic events that caused the death of the young girl and close the case. Her relationship with Ben, who admits his true feelings to her which she doesn’t return, are on far shakier ground as the episode comes to a close.