FILMOGRAPHY

BOSTON LEGAL

Season 1, Episode 13
Episode Title: It Girls and Beyond
Production Code: 113
Original Air Date: January 23, 2005
Written by Jonathan Shapiro & David E. Kelley
Directed by Mike Listo

Summary

      Brad, a legal attorney, is trying to pass off his new client to his partner Lori because he doesn't know how to handle his lesbian client. Lori asks him what the real reason is for trying to pass off this case to her, and he says it's because he's attracted to her.

      At a staff meeting later on, Brad's colleagues make fun of him for not being able to say the word lesbian. Brad tells the firm that his case, revolving around the lesbian, deals with Tracey Green, and her ex-lover. Apparently they had a business together and since their separation, Tracey's lover Stephanie claims that Tracey used her for her clients and is not in fact a lesbian after all, but rather a straight girl pretending to be gay in order to steal her clients out from under her. Alan's new assistant, Catherine Piper, interrupts the staff meeting to serve everyone cookies. Shatner gets up and leaves the meeting saying he has a trial tomorrow he needs to attend to. The rest of the lawyers are a bit surprised that he's doing a trial on his own. In the men's room later on, Shirley acosts Alan, she's surprised that Denny is taking the criminal case alone, particularly because she doesn't want this firm to be held up to ridicule. Alan assures her that Denny knows what he's doing... well at least 50% of the time. Just then, Denny walks in to the bathroom, interrupting their conversation.

      At court the next day, Tracey refuses to settle the court case, she didn't steal from her ex-lover and she'd appreciate it if her lawyers, Tara and Brad, were on her side. Her lover, Ms. Rogers, is being interrogated first, and she says that she and Ms. Green formed a partnership and when they split up romantically, Ms. Green took her client list and enticed her clients to come and join her new firm. Ms. Rogers claims that Tracey was straight (she's slept with men before) pretending to be gay so that she could gain access to her files. Brad, which questioning her in front of the court, says that the company was built together, but Ms. Rogers says that despite that most of the clients were hers. He also points out that because of the joint partnership between her and his client, she's now making even more money, despite both their personal breakup as well as their professional one. Brad gets Ms. Rogers to confess that this legal proceeding is domestic rather than legal. Ms. Rogers also admits that Tracey broke her heart. Ms. Rogers admits that she felt Tracey was in love with her as well during their two year relationship.

      Meanwhile Denny is in a meeting with his client when Alan walks in, he's going to act as second chair on Denny's case, whether or not he likes it. And Denny REALLY doesn't like it.

      Brad and Tracey are out for supper discussing the case. Brad thinks that maybe Stephanie (Ms. Rogers) is actually sueing Tracey for publicity. Tracey backs up Stephanie though, saying that despite how much Stephanie likes the limelight, she's still honourable. Tracey notices Brad giving her funny looks. She realizes that she makes him uncomfortable and tells him that he's going to have to get over that. He then asks her how many men she's slept with. Brad tells Lori later that he asked her that question because he knows she's going to be asked the very same question on the stand. Brad is also not convinced that Tracey's actually a lesbian. Lori laughs at Brad when he says that Tracy most likely finds him attractive.

      Meanwhile in another court room, Denny's criminal case has gone to trial. The situation involves a rather large man being given a non-FDA approved drug in order to slim down by his doctor. However, commonwealth of Massachusetts is prosecuting the doctor for prescribing drugs that are not approved by the FDA which is illegal. The man being questioned says that without the drug, which did help him slim down immensely, he would most likely have died due to his high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. And he's at high risk for a heart attack. He says that the doctor did tell him there would be side effects and that the drug wasn't approved by the FDA, therefore the client was fully informed.

      Brad and Tracey are watching the news regarding her case. He tells her that since she's slept with more men, that makes her more of a heterosexual than a homosexual, and although she might have been confused about her situation, he doesn't feel that she's coming off as confused at all. Tracey suddenly realizes that Brad thinks she's attracted to him. She insists she's gay, even willing to be hooked up to a lie detector.

      Back at Denny's legal case, another doctor is being interviewed about matters regarding the FDA. The doctor points out that patients will take whatever drugs they're instructed to by doctors, regardless of whether or not the drug is actually safe. Also, the FDA takes about 9 years to approve drugs, by then Denny's client would be dead.

      Lori tells Brad that his attraction to Tracey is clouding his judgment. He admits to having a private investigator tail her in order to find out the truth about whether or not she's gay. Lori reminds him that he could lose his barr license for doing that and that he needs to stop hitting on his client.

      Shirley asks Alan how Denny is doing in court, and he assures her that the firm is safe from ridicule. Alan is a little surprised how good Denny was in court though, and asks him if he's taking any kind of drugs. Denny says that he's just taking good care of himself.

      Tracey is on the stand the next day in court. She says that she broke off the business relationship with Stephanie because she thought that they could both benefit being alone. She also says that there was no way she could have feigned love for such a long time just to gain access to Stephanie's files. The prosecuting attorney then steps up and asks how many women and men Tracey have slept with before her relationship with Stephanie. The number is significantly higher in the male category. Tracey says that she tried to lead a heterosexual life but then eventually realized that she preferred women. However, her relationship after Stephanie was also with a man, indicating that perhaps she really isn't gay. During a break, Brad tries to reassure Tracey that she did okay while being cross-examined. She says that to believe she's straight would be to believe that she's an extremely dishonest person, but she tells him she's not dishonest. Later on Brad tells Tara that he thinks Tracey's trying to admit something to him. Tara stops the elevator they're in to tell him that he's making a fool of himself. SHE has a better chance with Tracey than he does.

      Denny's client is being examined on the stand and he explains how the drug he prescribed works. The prosecuting attorney tries to find a flaw in the doctor's logic behind prescribing the drug. The doctor indicates that his patient didn't have very long to live and he prescribed the drug because it was the only option left; desperate circumstances call for desperate measures.

      In the lesbian trial, Brad is speaking to the jury reminding them that Stephanie admitted that Tracey loved her, and that Stephanie has not suffered from this breakup, because, as any good PR knows, there's no such thing as bad publicity. As they're waiting for a verdict from the jury, Tara gives Brad an envelope containing pictures from the private investigator he hired.

      Meanwhile in the drug case, the prosecuting attorney tries to convince the jury that the doctor should be punished as if he were a drug dealer. The defense attorneys then have their chance and point out the fact that various drugs are used by everyone to solve problems that the drugs aren't even prescribed for in the first place and that the FDA is virtually incapable of protecting America from unsafe drugs.

      In the end, the doctor wins the case against the commonwealth of massachusetts, as Tracey wins the case against Stephanie. Tracey and Brad go out to supper that night. Brad asked her to dinner because he wants to apologize, he admits to the hiring the PI and he's quite satisfied that Tracey is really gay. The pictures that the PI took showed that Tracey went to visit Stephanie late last night, which indicates that they're still a couple. So Brad was half right, Stephanie was sueing Tracey for the publicity. Realizing she's been caught out, Tracey decides to leave dinner. She thanks him, and then walks out.

Summary written by Chelle

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Interesting Info

  • Filmed at Manhattan Beach Studios, Los Angeles, California, USA.
  • This episode (or at least parts of it) was written as part of the early season. It was put into production and casting went out back in late July under the title "It Girls", but for some reason the episode was pushed back and retooled. It is not clear whether or not some of the scenes involving the "It Girls" storyline were filmed beforehand or not.

Cast Listing

James Spader - Alan Shore
Monica Potter - Lori Colson
Rhona Mitra - Tara Wilson
Mark Valley - Brad Chase
Rene Auberjonois - Paul Lewiston
Candice Bergen - Shirley Schmidt
William Shatner - Denny Crane
Sarah Carter - Tracey Green
Andy Umberger - Attorney Morrison
Dana Wheeler-Nicholson - Stephanie Rogers
Michael O'Neill - Dr. Robert McLean
Travis McKenna - Mark Harrison
Michael Ensign - Judge Paul Resnick
David Purdham - Judge William Connolly
Gibby Brand - Dr. Leonard Raskin
William Atherton - A.D.A. Howard Zale