FAMILY LAW – Season 1 Episode 9 – SPOILERS

The birthdays of Lucy’s deceased mom Monique and Nina the Receptionist (Kelli Ogmundson) very nearly coincide. Nina’s dad Bryan (Patrick Gilmmore) gives his (almost) twenty-two-year-old daughter a DNA kit. “Here’s hoping we find some long-lost relatives,” he says.

Harry (Victor Garber) is supposed to meet his daughter Lucy (Genelle Williams) at her late mother’s commemorative park bench, but forgets to go because he must deal with a situation he created while endowing a law scholarship. For someone who is a successful lawyer, Harry is amazingly out of touch with the sensibilities of his clients and potential clients.

We finally get a bit of information about Daniel’s mother (Harry’s second wife) which is that she first slept with Harry while he was still married to Abigail’s mother Joanne (Lauren Holly). We also learn that when Abby was seven, Joanne taught Abby how to mix a mean Manhattan. Some would consider this a root cause of Abby’s alcoholism, but Harry leaving Joanne for Monique might be more directly tied to that.

The case of the week concerns two sisters who are being sued by their mother for support. One sister is rich; the other is relatively poor; and the mother turns out to be not as bad as the sisters have understood her to be. More importantly, the rich sister (Trish, played by Colleen Wheeler) treats the poor sister Kim (Kelly-Ruth Mercier), as an inferior. For example, Trish gifts Kim a hand-me-down Prada handbag, which Kim later emphatically throws away in an outburst of hostility toward her sister.

Abigail (Jewel Staite), who quickly picked up the discarded handbag, explaining to Daniel “It’s Prada”, finally reaches an out-of-court settlement in the case, but must work to persuade Trish to accept the deal.

Nina picks this moment to arrive with the handbag discarded by the sisters. “Uh, Ms. Bianchi,” says Nina, “you left your purse in the washroom.” It is possible, given this and the events of episode seven, that Nina has it in for Abby.

Harry’s public relations problems start to adversely affect his relationships with his offspring when it is discovered he is dating the infamous right-wing influencer Crystal Steel (Lynda Boyd). At this news, Daniel (Zach Smadu), who earlier in the episode received a compelling job offer from a competing law firm, decides to quit. (It seems the wrong time for this. Quitting two or three episodes ago would have made him appear less disloyal.)

Office Manager Jerri (Bobbi Charlton) declares that while she will continue to work for Harry, she will no longer make his dinner reservations.

Harry’s other two kids cope by making dramatic (but questionable) decisions. Abby suggests to her estranged husband Frank (Luke Camilleri) that she should move into the recently vacated basement apartment at their house (where he and the kids still live). Frank reluctantly agrees, and says, somewhat suggestively: “Who knows what might happen if we leave the basement door unlocked?”

Lucy suddenly decides that she wants to be a mother after all. This happens after her wife Maggie (Ali Liebert) brings an angel food cake to help celebrate Lucy’s mother’s birthday. Maggie has been trying for some time to persuade her wife to pick a sperm donor.

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Season 4 premiered on The CW on 23 July. New episodes drop Thursdays.
In the US, Seasons 1 through 3 of FAMILY LAW cam be streamed on The CW.

Seasons 1 through 3 can be streamed on Global TV in Canada, and on Apple TV in Australia.

* Last Updated 3 months ago ago