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Ally McBeal Episode Guide
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JanuaryJanuary 31, 2000RerunJanuary 24, 2000RerunJanuary 17, 2000This episode was David Kelley at his best. Fantasy was beautifully integrated with reality in this brilliant episode. Some highlights of this technique: Ally and Ling have a fight in which fire spews from their mouths until one participant wins, Ally sings "there's a new man in town" to Billy with the original singer's voice as she ridicules his "entourage of bimbos" which move with him to the tune of "sultry dance music." I suppose at this point I'll let you know about Billy's brief, few scenes. Sandy (Billy's secretary/legal assistant) tells Billy that she quits because she says that Billy's girls are ruining the office's reputation. Billy says that he'll fire them, and he does. But does it matter? Sandy stays in the office, but Georgia files for divorce. Sandy overhears this and offers to console him, but he rejects this offer. Later the two walk home from the bar together. Sandy says that the two of them are just friends, and Billy agrees.Another secondary but still important storyline involved Elaine. She went out on a date with a guy named Bob. The two really click on their date, and Bob wants to go up to Elaine's room for a night cap, but she says no. He gets upset and says that they had a great time so she should have sex with him. She says that because they had such a great time that she won't let him up (as in women hold out for Mr. Right and have one night stands with guys they don't care about). He says that he heard she was easy, and she is upset by this. Elaine changes her image so that she is a pure and clean-cut girl. (Fish is upset that even Elaine is changing: "Great. Now she's going through a change." Could Richard Fish be the only character who has had no dramatic arc?) Ally tells Elaine that she doesn't have to dress in this overly conservative way. Ally reasons it's OK for Elaine to be a wild girl and decide who she wants to sleep with. Her wildness does not qualify Elaine as a slut. Ally says, "There's no power in acting the way you think everyone wants you to be." Now for the meat of the episode. Ally has a dream that John Cage is "the one" for her. She throws the idea around a bunch of people. She even asks John what he would do..she only says that she has a crush on a friend who she thinks is the one. John says that he once had a crush on a friend who was half-involved with someone else. John asked this girl out, and the two went out. Ally asks who the girl was....it was her (Billy was the guy). Will Ally tell John? Elaine says, "If you want to make it happen with Mr. Right, you have to make it happen." Renee tells Ally to rock Nelle and John's boat. She says, "How good could things be with long, blonde, stuck-up bitch?" Finally, Ally tells John that he is her guy. He thinks and thinks. Richard tells John, "The only ethical question you have to ask yourself is can you have sex with Ally without Nelle finding out?" Finally, he decides, "I want Nelle for my girlfriend. And I want you [Ally] as my therapist." Ally as John's girlfriend, "that's an insanity." Ally realizes that John is right so Ally goes out with Elaine, and they share their loneliness. As for John and Nelle, John doesn't tell Nelle about his issues with Ally (although Ling does know). He does make her a pair of high healed shows that have a remote control which changes the size of the pump so that when John wants to kiss Nelle, all he has to do is push a button, and she becomes his height. HIGHLIGHT OF THE EPISODE: Ling adjusts Elaine's breasts in the mirror
to make them "more alive." I have no idea how this got through the censors because there
was some serious groping.
January 10, 2000An amusing and whimsical episode of Ally that initially troubled me until the troubles were explained away. Ally is walking to work one day when she passes a homeless man. The homeless man asks her for a quarter, and she ignores him so he begins to verbally berate her. He says all sorts of comments like she lives in a bubble and has to escape to a fantasy world to live. He says that Ally has music in in her heart, but doesn't have the time to let it live. Ally ignores the man, but later on is upset by his comments. She is disturbed that this homeless man could encapsulate her life so completely in such a short encounter. This is where I am deeply disturbed...why did Ally stop to listen to this man? and how does he know so much? Ally returns to find this man, and she takes him out for a cup of coffee. The homeless man's name is Louis, and he reveals to Ally that he has had voices in his head...he used to be haunted by the Pips as in Gladys Knight and the Pips. Ally thinks this is so fascinating b/c she was recently haunted by Al Green. I keep in mind that Ally was also haunted by the Pips last season (remember when she heard them every time that she kissed Greg?), but what can I say. Anyway, Ally returns to her office after this coffee. Later that day, Ally sees Louis in her office building. He's wearing a suit. Ally calls him over and asks him what's going on. Louis shares that he is actually an insurance salesman who was writing a book on how homeless people are treated. Well, now that we've seen Louis all clean and what not, the two of them start dating. Ally really likes this guy and is falling for him like big time, and one day she visits him at his office. When she arrives and asks for Louis, she is directed to Louis' boss. The boss shares that Louis hasn't worked at this office for six months b/c he has paranoid personality disorder. Ally returns to her office and sees Luis. He explains that he does have the disorder, but after meeting Ally, he felt a connection so he followed her to her office (which explains the chance encounter) and then went back on his medication. Ally says that this isn't good enough and ends her relationship with him. The next night, Ally sees Louis on the streets as a homeless man.Ling gets arrested for running an escort service. She claims that her escort service does not provide sex and is, therefore, legal. Ling's escorts are all attractive, young woman who agree to go out with high school boys who need dates to improve their image. One of these dates had a lot of fun with her client (played by the kid who used to be Chip on Kate and Ally) and ended up having sex with him. The mother walked in and called the police. In the end, Ling is found not guilty b/c sex was not supposed to be the service sold, only dates were sold. But in the course of this trial, Nelle learns that John had sex with a prostitute (remember that from the first season?), and she is disgusted by this. She explains how John has a responsibility to not only his future wife but his future children, and Nelle can't see herself as the future wife of a guy who has had sex with a prostitute even though Nelle believes in the legalization of prostitution. The two fight and what not. In the end John gives a closing speech for Ling which convinces Nelle of John's goodness. Also this week, to win a client, Billy hires six of Ling's escorts to act as his personal assistants, but after landing the client, Billy realizes that he likes having six beautiful women following him so keeps them. It's quite amusing in a disgusting sort of way to see Billy walking through the office in unison with six beautiful women while Billy smokes a cigar (and promotes the very behavior that David Kelly criticized last night on The Practice).
QUOTE OF THE EPISODE: Pokip, pokip, pokip, peckerhead. --Nelle while
making fun of John
January 3, 2000Rerun |
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