Alan Shore (James Spader) and Denny Crane (William Shatner) have a deep, solid friendship. When Alan asks if he can stay with Denny while his hotel is being renovated, Denny doesn't hesitate to say yes. The timing couldn't have been better. Denny is still trying to recover from the annulment of his marriage to Bev Bridges, which lasted a mere three hours.

Watching Alan use his version of tough love to get Denny to return to work after three days of moping around his house was a classic when it comes to comedic timing. I really enjoyed seeing Spader rustle through Denny's covers to retrieve the remote control so he could change the channel to a breaking news story. When Denny sees a homeowner, Russell Blayney, (Daniel Roebuck, Matlock) on trial for rigging his house as protection from burglars, he has to take the case!

This isn't the first time the two friends have pulled each other out of their doldrums. After Alan broke up with Tara, Denny took him to a cabin in Canada to mend Alan's broken heart. It didn't heal completely, but the pain eased a bit.

In typical Denny fashion, he barges into the courtroom and convinces Blayney to hire him as counsel. Denise Bauer (Julie Bowen) is second chair. It doesn't take her long to figure out that Blayney, who had been robbed before, should not take the stand. There is far too much glee on his face when describing to Denny and Denise the joy he felt in seeing a burglar get his just desserts.

Denise later expresses concern at being a spin doctor to Paul. Denny enters the room and says that all lawyers are spin doctors, trying to influence the jury into giving them the desired verdict.

Shirley Schmidt (Candice Bergen) asks Alan for help in preventing pictures of her from being sold in an estate auction. A well-known photographer has recently died, and she once posed for him without her clothes on. Considering that there are about fifteen to twenty rolls of film rolling about, time is of the essence.

During a meeting with the photographer's widow (Bonnie Bartlett) and her attorney, a few facts are brought out. Not only did Shirley pose, she slept with the man who took the photos. This makes the widow more eager to open up the pictures to public scrutiny. The fact that Shirley has grandchildren does not affect the widow's decision one tick, nor does the fact that Shirley was underage when the photos were taken.