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I don’t know what to think about this episode of The Good Fight, from the opening credits without the usual theme song replaced by a hymn to the Saturday setting and the single issue, it just felt like they were trying to do a typical television procedural show that would fit comfortably on the CBS schedule, maybe paired with the new series So Help Me Todd. Not that it wasn’t interesting, but some of it really strained credulity — something the show often does but in the context of its own credulity straining world. Perhaps the intent was to mock a typical network procedural, but at this late stage of the game for the show, now is not the time to be experimental. But … we did get two major revelations, one that will certainly impact the rest of the season/series.
First, the story. Ri’Chard’s nephew is dying from sickle cell anemia. The boy was scheduled for a bone marrow transplant but the donor backed out at the last minute, and Dustin has maybe a week to live. Ri’Chard is under the impression that the donor is being paid a large sum to give the marrow to another, wealthier donor so he calls the office — it’s Saturday and for some reason Jay is the only person there (trying to get maintenance to remove all of the BUB stickers from the elevator ceiling) — and asks Jay to corral all of the partners and any associates he can find. Oh, and Julius is in the office too, playing some VR game. Why? Who knows. (They really are wasting Michael Boatman this season, but at least he does get to go to court with Diane this week.) As luck would have it, Jay is able to reach … Liz, Diane, Carmen and Marissa (surprise) … and with Ri’Chard, Jay and Julius they hatch a plan to (a) find out who is paying the donor for the marrow (which is illegal) and try to force the donor to honor their original intent (which is also illegal because donations are voluntary … unless they are taking money), and (b) find a new donor.
All of this forces the team to work together for a single cause as they go in different directions. Carmen, Jay and Marissa (who is now taking Krav Maga classes and thinks her instructor has eyes foe her) work on finding a donor. Carmen find a young man — in an online donor fetishist group — who is willing to make the donation … but only to a hot woman. He at first believes he’s donating to Carmen but she has to quickly pull up photos of a lingerie model to make him think that is who is getting the marrow instead of an 11-year-old boy. It all seems a done deal until the kid’s mother pops into the frame and tells him to stop promising his organs to people. Marissa gets in contact with another potential donor … and it turns out to be the original donor who backed out. He admits to them that he wants to donate his marrow, but his sister now needs a kidney and he can’t do both so he’s choosing his sister. A sensible decision, but a boy’s life still hangs in the balance so Marissa asks the young man that if they can find a compatible kidney for his sister, will he honor his promise to donate the marrow. He agrees and this sets off a whole snowball effect of swapping body parts.
But until that is a done deal, the others still need to do what they can to get the transplant moving. When Diane first got the call she was at Dr. Bettancourt’s office, and he overheard her conversation. Lo and behold, he knows a doctor working on gene splicing technology specifically targeted at sickle cell. What are the odds?! He agrees to help bring his friend into the situation but when they speak to him everything comes to a grinding halt because the FDA has approved the procedure for candidates 12 years and older. This leads to an emergency request for a court hearing, which has to be held at the judge’s house because it was his grandchild’s birthday party … and a Saturday. Even though Diane panicked and said Dustin would be 12 in three weeks (turned out it was three months but still during the time of the trial he would be entering), the judge granted their request because there was absolutely no real reason for the 12 year old restriction. But the rep for the FDA then said they would allow it, but they wouldn’t pay for it. And the entire medical trial for this procedure costs … $11 million dollars! And Medicare won’t cover it either unless they can prove the boy’s mother falls into the economic range, which shouldn’t be a problem as she is a single mom with a $1400 a month job. But the judge needs to see the defendants and Diane calls the hospital to see if Dustin’s mother can come to court. She can and she offers to bring Dustin because they are discharging him until the transplant issue is settled. Okay, if he’s up to it, then they should help them immensely but when they arrive Dustin looks like the picture of health. Diane is concerned that a healthy looking 11-year-old won’t sway the judge into believing the urgency of the matter, but his mom asks for ten minutes and they will be ready. And when she takes the stand, Dustin suddenly bursts into a coughing fit and when she goes to console him he gives her a wink. The performance, however, was enough for the judge to rule in their favor to get the procedure paid for.
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That kicks things over to Ri’Chard and Liz, who through their own research have determined that the NIH has offered less funding to sickle cell in what can only be seen as a racial matter. Trying to present their case to a judge in the literal halls of justice (the courtroom is locked and they can’t get in), they cite an article that shows how funding seems to be based on race. But they need the doctor who did the study to testify and they track him down … in rehab! But he offers to help, and when they arrive he is climbing out of a window and down a drain pipe, so he obviously did not get permission to leave. And on the way to the courthouse, he asks to stop for a pack of gum and points to a liquor store. And Liz has no option but to let him get his gum but he comes out with a bottle of hooch, which he’s drinking. But they manage to get him to court to testify before he gets completely blotto, relating how the NIH gives more funding to cystic fibrosis, a similar condition that affects mostly White people while sickle cell affects Black people. Liz managed to distract from his inebriation and the judge took a recess to look over the facts of the case and determined that the NIH did in fact fund research based on race. Another win, sort of, but the NIH is appealing and it could take years to resolve the issue. So it seems that the gene splicing may not be on the table.
Marissa, Carmen and Jay have been working hard to find a kidney donor, and they succeed. But the kidney donor has a family member that needs something else, and then the next donor needs something else, and on and on so they are basically now in the black market for organ donors. They finally get to the last one who needs an egg donor, and they are fresh out of options there so Carmen and Marissa agree to flip a coin and one of them will donate an egg, warning the person in need that they may get a Black egg or a Jewish egg. (We never do learn which one of them ‘won’ the coin toss.) During their time bartering for organs, Marissa and Jay saw another woman in the office talking to, and kissing, Carmen (we saw the two in bed … or rather on the floor mattress in Carmen’s apartment … when she got the call to come to the office). Jay noted that Marissa appeared to be in two places at the same time, and she also noticed that the woman bore a strong resemblance to her. While she was getting some coffee, the other woman was there and she also noted the resemblance, which they sort of joked about, but she told Marissa to ask Carmen which one of them she wants to sleep with. Later, Marissa and Carmen get to chat, specifically about them not being friends any more, and the ice between them finally thaws. Until this moment, no one in the office knew Carmen is gay (nor did we), and she assured Marissa that her friend, whom she just met in a bar and did not specifically seek out anyone similar to Marissa (who wondered if that was why they weren’t friends anymore), had only just started wearing her hair in a way similar to Marissa’s. But they were able to finally bury the hatchet and realize that any hard feelings between them were just a misunderstanding, so all is good with them.
With Dustin’s marrow transplant now set in motion, Ri’Chard and the team — the first time they really worked together as a team — could relax and celebrate. But Liz still has questions about Ri’Chard (who admitted to her son Malcolm that his name was Richard, but he changed it so people would notice him), and tried to bring them up earlier but it was too sensitive of a moment for him to discuss. But now she has questions, specifically what he wants with her firm which he keeps calling ‘their’ firm. She reveals to him that she knows the firm that embarrassed him on his first interview was her fathers so is he there for revenge? He actually admits he is, but he wants to make the firm the number one law firm in Chicago without any specifics included, like the Number 1 Black law firm. Just law firm, and Liz will help but it will be called Ri’Chard and Associates. He even admits that his plan was to take over and fire everyone, but this day made him see how valuable they all are, so they can stay. Liz tells him no one will want to work with him just to sell T-Shirts with his branding, but he’s certain they will. And he’s willing to fight her for control but … they have to first get rid of STR Laurie. THAT is something Liz would enjoy more than anything, so she finally clinks glasses with him. The war is about to begin.
What did you think of this episode? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
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