Franklin & Bash - Good Lovin'

Franklin (Breckin Meyer) and Bash (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) are on the case when Peter's mother (Jane Seymour) is charged with prostitution while working as a sex surrogate (in Peter's childhood bedroom). Things are further complicated when Jared sleeps with the Assistant D.A. (Rhea Seehorn) assigned to the case, who despises both Franklin and Bash, the night before the trial begins and the discovery the driving force to push for criminal charges of not only prostitution but also pimping against Peter's mother comes from the pair's old enemy ADA Brad Hewett (Brian Howe).

Recognizing the malicious prosecution at work here Rachel (Heather Locklear) suggests Jared use his new relationship with Ellen to help prove it which leads to the discovery that revenge isn't Hewett's only motive as his boss (Jeff Doucette) is a client of Peter's mother. Exposing the District Attorney's use of a surrogate would go a long way to help Hewett in his next campaign run. Peter is able to protect his mother's client list by arguing patient/client privilege and putting her on the stand to help sell the argument to the judge (Jamie Rose). To get his mother off (pun intended), Peter finds a way to force Hewett to take the stand, something the prosecutor who still has political ambitions is unwilling to do.


In the episode's B-story Damian (Reed Diamond) begins wooing a retiring judge (Buck Henry) in hopes of getting his endorsement to take his place on the bench. Things start out rocky but the judge agrees to give Damian his endorsement although the favor he asks in return (being set-up with Rachel) isn't one Damien can deliver on. The B-story continues Damian's run at the bench, but other than the inherent humor Buck Henry brings to the role there's little here worth noting (although Malcolm McDowell steals a pretty good scene at the end of the episode by standing up to his old friend for both his lawyers).

The Locklear/Seymour kiss aside (which isn't as good as Jared's reaction to it), the episode plays with a couple of interesting ideas. The first is Peter's discomfort at discovering his mother's choice of latest profession and eventually is able to come to terms with it, and the second is the legal argument the pair use to show the differences between a call girl and a sex surrogate. I don't want to see the pair take on a personal case every week, but the situation certainly lent itself to some added drama (and severally humorous moments as well). Although the end of the episode suggests the hot-and-heavy relationship between Ellen and Jared may be over, I hope we see much more of this relationship in the episodes to come.