The Playing Field

Episode: 18

Production Code: AM118

First Air Date: March 16, 1998

Writer: David E. Kelley

Director: Jonathan Pontell

Recurring Characters:

Dr. Greg Butters
Dr. Tracy Clark

Guest Stars:

Josh Evans as Oren Koolie
Christine Dunford as Eva Curry
Wren T. Brown as Attorney Mr. Stone
Michael Winters as Judge Herbert Spitt
Shea Farrell as Mr. Tyler
Miriam Flynn as Karen Koolie
Jerry Sroka as Joel
Renee Goldsberry as Ikette #1
Vatrena King as Ikette #2
Sy Smith as Ikette #3

Synopsis:

Ally meets the reason why it might be perfectly okay to let her biological clock fall to the wayside.

Dr. Tracy sure can feed a person’s self-esteem, she calls Ally a weakling for not confronting the hallucinations, go ahead, kick the baby’s bottom, walk through that water! she encourages.

Dr. Butters slides into his second straight episode as he give Ally a ride to the office, although he runs a stop sign and causes a collision. Ally tells Greg and Joel Hornstock that neither driver should admit liability.

The sexual harassment case of the week, involves Eva Curry who claims that in order to get a promotion where she works it’s expected that you have a fling with boss James Tyler. The tricky part is that Eva has never even met the guy, still Judge Spitt consents to an evidentiary hearing.

In case it wasn’t obvious enough Renee informs Ally that she finds her self-esteem in her breasts. Since they don’t exactly share the same best asset Ally goes for her best imitation a Bardot pout.

Thinking he’s Mr. Huggy a.k.a The Dancing Baby, the dizzy attorney kicks nine year-old child prodigy Oren Koolie. Not only wasn’t the now bawling child a figment of her imagination, Ally is mortified when she realizes that he’s the lawyer for the man that her sort of current beau had the accident with.

Feeling significantly traumatized Ally visits Dr. Tracy once again. After all she thinks she just scared off Greg by imagining her lips puckering beyond Beverly Hills socialite proportions. Since she’s nervous around the guy, Tracy thinks imagining some Pips for her theme song would boost her confidence. Next time she meets Greg, she’s so energized that she mentions having him over his knee and he flees faster than that chubby kid on the Cosby show.

Back at work the child prodigy has a tendency to burst into floods of tears when he doesn’t get his own way, you’d think Ally would be a little more understanding considering her own combustible personality. His mommy Karen Koolie explains that her son doesn’t have any friends the only time people take notice of him is during a deposition. In an attempt to be a decent person Ally holds the child close, though comforting quickly deviates into negotiations.

Meanwhile in the case of Eva Curry, always endearing, Richard Fish speaks up for women of all kinds by declaring them disabled, for their inability to deal with office romance. Gee, now, why did the Whip dump him? Anyway in spite of the ridiculousness the trial is a go.

Returning to Doogie Howser the younger years, we find Oren under the conference table and dissolving into tears yet again. Ally is fed up, probably because she didn’t think of the tactic first. The two child minds reach a temporary truce in the Uni-sex with a $35,000 deal on the sink, uh, table.

Ally shares her good new with Dr. Greg, since her Pips are backing her up, she’s feeling free to tell him that she’s attracted to him. When Greg says he’s never kissed a girl without dancing with her once, Ally takes the lead.

AM-118 ©1998 Almost Human