In 2011, I decided to give Franklin & Bash a shot. This was mostly in part because Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer are two of my favorite actors. I stuck around because of the sharp writing and the comedic take on the courtroom drama. Had last night’s episode, “By the Number,” been the pilot episode of Franklin & Bash, I would have ran away and never looked back.
The introduction of the episode finds our favorite frat-boy lawyers trying a case for a woman named Noel. A few moments later, we find out that Noel has died from a poisened banana. The number one suspect is her actuary boyfriend Wendell. Now F and B must save the falsely accused Wendell from imprisonment. How will they do it this time? By using statistics like Wendell does every day at his job.
It comes to light from Carmen (Dana Davis), who has been underused this season, that Wendell is the sole beneficiary of Noel’s will and would be awarded $250,000 in the event of her death. All of the fingers are pointing to Wendell because of the large sum of money he would be getting and because he knew of Noel’s food allergy. If Wendell pleads guilty he will receive a lesser sentence. Because he asserts he is innocent, the plea bargain is denied.
However, there is another person who was aware of Noel’s food allergy. Wendell’s assistant Jill knew everything happening in his life, including the fact Noel would die if she ate a banana. When Jill is forced to take the stand, F and B ask her a serious of statistical questions, since she is an actuary. It is proven, by Jill, that women take time to plan murders, will kill for love, and use poison as their weapon of choice. The probable chance it was Wendell that killed Noel is 750 to 1, but that number decreases drastically for Jill. She then confesses to the crime and F and B win yet another case.
The “B Storyline” in this episode is actually about bees! Rachel (Heather Locklear) puts Damien (Reed Diamond) on the case. A beekeeper has been sued after kids are stung by her bees when they fly into a nearby yard. Infeld (Malcolm McDowell) pops up for a few minutes to try to help his nephew win the case, but to no avail. When the case is actually taken to court, Rachel asks that Franklin and Bash take over for Damien. They prove that bees are harmless unless provoked, so the beekeeper is not at fault. As a result for winning this case, the wall that was put up to separate the two’s offices has been taken down. The bromance between them can now continue.
There is also a brief “C Storyline” between Peter and Charlie. They go on a date and it is revealed that Charlie has a 9-year-old daughter named Tess. He invites her to a BBQ at the beach house and she asks to bring her daughter. In case there is an emergency, Charlie wants her daughter to know the neighbors. It is nice to see Franklin and Bash find love, but the storyline is much more appetizing when they are single and hitting on every hot girl that passes by.
And where was Pindar (Kumail Nanjiani)? He was completely missing from the episode but was mentioned a few times in passing. You can always count on a few laughs from this character so it was sad he was not a part of this very humdrum outing.
It would be nice to see some more of Heather Locklear as well. So far this season, all she has done is bark orders at everyone. It would be great to give this powerful actress her own storyline and maybe even let her try a few cases, with the comedic help of F and B of course.
The crazy court room antics this show is known for were missing from this episode. What makes this show work so well are the wild ideas that the main characters come up with every week. It was only a few episodes ago when we saw Jared Franklin chug beer in the courtroom to prove that it takes time for the effects of alcohol to kick in. There is a reason why these two have a “reputation” and that is because they do whatever it takes to win a case. It almost felt like I was watching an episode of Law & Order and not my favorite courtroom dramedy.
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