Guest Stars:
Larry Brandenburg as Judge Hopkins
Michael Caslin as Henry Thorton
Paul Collins as Judge Williams
Kim Delgado as Court Clerk
David S. Dunard as Judge Hupp
Glance Heavenward as a Pedestrian
Pat McNamara as Mr. Ralph Lyne
Richard Riehle as Jack Billings
Tom Virtue as Ally's Father
Susan Knight as Joanne Wilder
Synopsis:
Ah, the bliss of childhood memories, or in Ally McBeal’s case the fond remembrance of smelling her sweetheart’s bottom as the ultimate rite of passage into the dementia of adulthood.
We meet Ally as a twenty-seven year-old fresh out of the fires of Harvard Law still looking very much the coed with sassy above the shoulder locks and ever so slightly more meat on her bones. There are even glimpses of the anti-feminist icon to become with her wishful visions of filling out her miracle bra to capacity. Oh, the horror, the audacity!
On the job training took on a whole new meaning for the freshman attorney as she learned first hand about the perils of sexual harassment thanks to a senior associate with a very high standing on the -ick meter. Still in idealistic student mode she rushes to confront the partners and is swiftly kicked to the curb, lesson number one learned, she’d entered a world where power is everything.
Disillusioned and distraught , she wanders the harried streets of Boston and literally bumps into an old classmate, the eternally oily Richard Fish, who offers her a position working for his new firm. She accepts the position in spite of the fact that her new boss makes former Taxi dispatcher Louis DePalma seem like a man of stone cold morals. Hard to say whether her karma’s rising or sinking like the titanic.
To make matters all the more complex (or convoluted?) she makes the discovery that she will be litigating alongside former beau Billy, he of the infamous butt sniffing glory days. Her moony eyes turn glassy with disappointment when he confesses he’s married, & in case you need extra cliff’s notes an arrow pierces her heart just to make sure we all get the trauma quotient of the moment.
Billy in gallant armor (so we can all see why she pined away) helps our favorite sprite in the suit against her former employer. The case itself is far more backburner to character development at this early stage, a blessing in disguise.
Ally does manage a brief smiley moment at the end with best friend/roomie/personal Dr. Laura, Renee, as they dance the night away with a pair of Doublemint-ready twins.