Paul Lewiston (Rene Auberjonois) decides to throw an office costume party, making appearance mandatory. Since it's not Halloween, the theme is the person each attorney admires most. Shirley hears Alan is planning to dress up as her and forbids it. She should know better than to give him orders, and so he comes as 'Shirley Schmidto', the sex toy Denny has in her likeness. Paul is dressed as Albert Einstein, Claire is a Rangers hockey player, while Clarence is Oprah. Vanessa is in the yellow dress again, and dances with Alan.
Denny comes as Vice President Cheney in a hunting outfit, a jab at the time the VP shot a close friend in the face. When Mr. Crane waxes ebullient with his shotgun about the incident, guess what happens? People duck as the ceiling rains on their parade. After the time Denny shot up a courtroom ("A Whiff and A Prayer"), one would think he might remember what the safety catch is for.
Jeffrey arrives as Buzz Lightyear, which irritates Brad to no end since HE also dressed as that character. The war of words prompts Paul to tell them to take things outside before it gets ugly.
As Alan and Denny chat on the balcony, Denny persuades Alan to have one dance with him. He is so enamored with Shirley that he is willing to accept any substitute. Alan agrees so the founding partner will stop harping about it. When they look down to the pavement below, Brad and Jeffrey can be seen slugging it out in full costume.
Whew! Who had the idea to put five storylines in the episode at once? Three is about the limit to have viewers follow each plot. If memory serves, Eric Stoltz directed this episode. Hopefully, overloaded shows is not a typical characteristic of his work. An article in TV Guide says Currie Graham, the actor who has a recurring role as the DA is now a cast member on Men in Trees. Couldn't ADA Winant (Tyler Labine) be brought back? I'm guessing Vanessa joined the Boston bureau, although Nia Walker has yet to be in opening credits.
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Article comments
1 - bulanjing
I find it preposterous that two adult men working for the same company should wish to dress as "Buzz Lightyear" for a costume party.
2 - mike
Well, thanks for telling us the whole plot! Goodness, 9/10ths of your writing is telling us what happens, and one little paragraph is a critique.
Also, Eric Stoltz may have directed it- but David E. Kelley wrote it, and I believe the writer is the one responsible for all those crazy plotlines. The director is almost never responsible for overloaded plot lines.
Which I loved, by the way. This is a bold and daring and absolutely crazy show, thank God, like nothing else on TV today. Yeah, some things are TOO silly- but at least it's not the same old same old tv drek we're fed every week.
3 - Nancy
bulan,
I think Jeffrey dressed as he did to irritate Brad. And this was the person you admire most, remember? If the character of Buzz Lightyear embodies respected values, I don't see a problem with it.