- Title: Franklin & Bash – Control
- tv.com: link
“Really? I’m always more surprised when we win.”
Franklin (Breckin Meyer) and Bash (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) work the baseball diamond when the owner (Andy Umberger) of the local minor league team hires the pair to deal with an obnoxious heckler (Lance Barber) who is getting under the skin of the team’s star closer (Aaron Hill). To convince a judge that heckling is worth of an injunction the pair enlist the help of Infeld (Malcolm McDowell) for a little courtroom theater. When that fails, Carmen (Dana Davis) begins to dig into how the unemployed stand-up comic manages to pay for basic necessities, baseball tickets, and a brand new RV (bought with cash).
Eventually the closer looses it and goes kamikaze on the heckler’s RV and subsequently gets suspended, which Peter and Jared believe may have been the plan all along as they uncover it wasn’t a rival team sinking his best chance at making the major leagues by the end of the season but a jealous teammate (Matt D’Elia). With a little reverse-psychology and the help of stadium’s radio announcer (Alison Haislip) the lawyers are able to prove collusion between the pitcher and heckler and save their closer’s job and chance at the big leagues.
Other stories of the week involve a contentious golf game, bull semen, and an unusual attempt at reconciliation. Damien (Reed Diamond) agrees to a golf foursome with the ornery old judge (Buck Henry) who refuses to retire. Rachel (Heather Locklear) gets a surprise visit from her brother (Sam Hennings) needs a lawyer after getting taken advantage of on a cattle deal which left him with a boatload of worthless bull semen (literally!). And when Charlie (Nicky Whelan) decides to break-up with him over the phone, Peter decides to sue her in small claims court over the tree which “was only guilty of showering her in sweetness” before she requested it be trimmed to help sell her condo.
Although I think the golf game gets far too much air time, it does allow Damien finally to blow off some steam (which doesn’t look all that good for the lawyer when the judge turns up dead on the back nine). The twist in the baseball case was a little too easy to figure out (and too hard for Franklin and Bash), but the setting does provide a unique situation for Peter to exorcise his regrets about never getting a minor league contract (and take batting practice from Randy Johnson). In much the same way the courtroom scenes between Peter and Charlie are almost sickeningly sweet, but at least it does feel like a natural attempt at Peter to stop from loosing the woman he’s fallen for. Bull semen on the other hand may be a funny phrase to some but that’s really all Rachel’s storyline has going for it.
