01x04 - Little Mitchard No More

[bunniefuu]

Addison: We need to talk, Mitch.

What do you want, Addison?

Don't you get it?

I want you!

The real you, not the Grinder.

Not this impenetrable god you need to be for everyone else.

You.

Little Mitchard, the passionate wunderkind I met in law school.

The guy I made love to.

What if I said I'm not that guy anymore?

What if I said the Grinder's who I really am?

Who I was meant to be?

You think it was Mitchard who made love to you that night?

Think again.

(turns off TV)

What?

That doesn't move you?

I mean, it makes me laugh, but I don't think that that's what you were going for.

Well, this is a huge moment, not just for Mitch and Addison, but for the whole arc of the series.

Is it going over your head?

Yeah, maybe it is.

I'm sorry, I gotta get back to work.

Workplace love interest?

Check.

Ethan. Coffee? No.

Well, Dad, I have an oral report today.

I have to be "on."

Do it without coffee.

Debbie: You guys, listen to this.

I was outside getting the newspaper and guess who jogged by?

Lyle and Vanessa Gerhart.

The Gerharts?

Yeah.

As in, the Gerhart Center for the Performing Arts?

Yes.

Oh, I like them.

What are they doing jogging in this neighborhood?

Don't they live up on, um, on Mountain Crest?

Yeah, they're training for a marathon, and we really hit it off, so they suggested that we have dinner here on Thursday night.

They suggested we have dinner here?

Yeah.

They did?

Yeah!

Interesting.

What's this face?

What, this face?

Yeah.

This... this is the face of a skeptic.

Someone who's been used his whole life to try and get close to Dean.

And when I get a whiff of that, I just, you know, I just... walk the other way, Deb.

We gotta walk the other way.

Morning, family. What are we talking about?

Stewart thinks this couple only wants to be friends with us to get to you.

I live it every day.

Friendships you think are genuine turn out to based on fraud and personal gain.

La vie Du celebrite.

He's blending lemon juice and water.

Lizzie: You guys, don't fight it.

The only reason I made varsity basketball is 'cause I told them Dean would come to games.

That's not true, sweetie.

Come on, Lizzie.

I'm sure that's not the only reason you made the team.

Yes, it is, I'm awful.

She's pretty bad.

Ethan: I'm going to prom with a senior.

I have no illusions about what she's after.

Debbie: Okay, first of all, you're not going to prom with anyone, because you are in middle school.

And second, I am not as cynical as you.

I think that they might actually like us for what we bring to the table.

So I'm having them over to dinner.

Dean: Get 'em over here.

I'll have an answer for you in five minutes.

Okay. New business.

Our client, Rory Pecor, has been accused of b*ating up a younger kid on school grounds.

Rory Pecor... as in the all-state high school wrestling champ Rory Pecor?

Yeah. That's him.

Wow.

And he claims it was self-defense, but because he's six-two and dominant in a violent sport, everyone assumes that he started it.

What kind of god... makes a world like this?

Okay, you can't say that every time I describe a case.

Stew, since I'm back to full time now, maybe I should take this one.

Uh, I don't know, Dad. I thought we were gonna maybe kind of ease you back into it.

Oh, I like that, too.

Feels like it'd be a good fit for Claire. Why don't you take this one?

Great.

Rozz/Landy is my old firm and I know how they operate.

Uh, one thought. I love this as well, but maybe I should run point.

I'm actually up in the rotation, not to mention I watch a lot of high school wrestling.

That's televised?

I wish. That would save me some gas money.

Todd, come on. Claire just got here. Let's give her something.

One could argue that...

Okay, that's it. Thank you, everybody.

Yes, thank you, everybody.

Congratulations on the big case, Counselor.

Well, it's not really a big case.

It's literally child's play.

Oh, a schoolyard bully wrongfully accused?

That's a story that resonates with people.

We did a big episode on it, season two.

"Bully Goats Gruff."

Joe Gordon-Levitt came in, guest starred.

Right before he popped.

He played Wendell Gruff, an orphaned kid in a wheelchair who gets rolled down stairs.

Ouch. Yeah.

So, yeah...

If you want to pick my brain...

Yeah, that could definitely come in handy, thank you.

Hey, what's her deal?

I know she's not a mole, but we still don't like her, right?

I find her fascinating.

But I can see why you might be threatened.

(laughing): Well, that's funny, because I'm not.

But... why would I be?

Because she's a new character.

New characters always cause a reshuffle.

Like when Ivy Dexter, the ambitious intern, joined Stutz & Grinder.

You remember what happened to Phil, the chubby associate.

He got written off the show.

He got written off the show, yeah.

...the show.

But I'm sure you're fine.

Hey. Haven't had a chance to welcome you yet.

If there's anything you need, you come to me.

Thank you, Mr. Sanderson.

Well, this might be a lot to ask, but I wouldn't mind an office.

I think I can make that happen.

Debbie: Okay.

So what about this dress for when the Gerharts come to dinner tomorrow night?

It does not matter, honey, because whatever you wear, they're gonna tell you how great you look, because they want to be nice to you 'cause they want to meet Dean.

So, I've been thinking about how to handle this whole Claire thing.

What Claire thing?

Who's Claire?

She's a new attorney I hired.

She has no interest in him and he's never seen anything like it.

It's kind of incredible.

I mean, Deb, you can help me with this.

What does an authentic woman like?

Well, I... I guess, you know, someone who's normal.

You know, like a little... humble, even.

Humble. Right.

Mm-hmm.

Like Mark Harmon in Summer School, when he had to teach the remedial English class and be super nice to all the idiots.

There's got to be a better example.

Yeah, I-I feel like I could come up with a few.

That can't be the reference point.

Humble.

Yeah. Great.

So, uh... I'll tap into that.

Thanks, you guys.

I feel like that really sunk in.

Yeah. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Helen, how are you?

Yes, my annual donation.

(whispering): I'm so sorry, it just...

Just one second.

Um, how do I make out the check?

Can I just put "CFTB"?

Or do I have to fully write out "Church for the Blind"?

Write it out. Great.

No, thank you.

It is so humbling to be able to help someone like you.

Say hi to Maggie.

Sorry about that.

(chuckling): It's so embarrassing.

You called me in here for something?

I did not.

Huh. I wonder why...

Um, I guess maybe you were trying to show off and donate to a fake charity in front of me?

It's not fake to those blind people.

Wow.

You really need attention.

Oh, my God, no. Attention?

That's my worst nightmare.

I mean, why do you think I always play other people?

Nobody knows.

Claire, can I steal you for a second?

Sure.

Can we continue this later?

Or maybe move on from it forever?

And we do our little dance.

Be nice.

I will try.

(quietly): Liar.

Hi!

Come on in!

Good to see you.

Hi, cutie.

Stewart! Hey!

Hey, how are you, Kyle?

Long time, pal.

Nice to see you.

Yeah, it's been a while.

God, you look great.

What have you been doing? Free weights or cardio?

Oh. Uh... yeah, I try to mix in a little bit of both.

When?

Whatever it is, it's working.

Stewart, I don't want to embarrass you, okay?

But I have to ask.

Were you the one that fought for that protected left over on Cedar and 14th?

You heard about that?

Yeah.

Yeah. I-I, uh... I drafted the petition.

And then I wrote what turned out to be the final ordinance.

Oh, my God. I can't believe it.

I'm sitting across from the guy that shaved 20 minutes off of my commute.

He went on and on about that left.

I did!

Really?

Yeah.

That's so nice to hear.

You know, you work on something like that and then, you know, you think people don't notice.

Well, I noticed, Stewart.

Dean: Hey!

Hey, I'm sorry to interrupt.

Stewart: Oh, uh, Lyle, Vanessa, this is my brother Dean.

He just recently moved back home.

Hey. Good to meet you.

Oh...

Oh... Okay, sorry. No, no, no.

Dean Sanderson.

You guys are...

Brothers.

Oh...

Got it. Okay, 'cause of the Sanderson.

It's the same last name.

Lyle: Oh, my gosh.

Sorry, we had... I...

Yeah. No idea.

No idea.

Wow. How-how does it feel to be back?

It feels right, Lyle.

I mean, there have been some adjustments...

Going from TV law to actual law does have its challenges.

Dean: No, that was seamless.

It's more just relationships in the workplace.

One, in particular.

Debbie: Oh. Claire.

Maybe you should show her how much you care about work and then you could connect with her on that level.

Oh. Yeah, no, that's something.

Stewart: Yes, talking to someone at work about work is a-a good place to start.

Anyway...

Lyle, Vanessa, it's really been a pleasure meeting you both.

All right. Behave yourselves.

Uh, okay. Stew... you never mentioned that your brother was the freakin' Grinder.

He's just my brother, to me.

You know, I sometimes forget that he's famous.

That's so cool.

That's fun.

You know what? We should...

Vanessa: Yes.

Lyle: Why not?

Hey, I just thought of something.

We are co-chairing a fund-raiser next week at the Windsor, and it's-it's a great event.

It's very special to us, it means a lot, and Stew, there'll be some heavy hitters there.

Oh, Judge McCan would love him.

Judge McCan's gonna be there?

So I don't know if you guys are free, but we would love for you to join us.

Oh.

Yeah.

Yeah?

Yes. That would be great, thank you.

We'll do it.

Vanessa: Oh, my God.

Wait, we should invite Dean, too.

Lyle: Hon...

Vanessa: Right?

Lyle: That's a great idea.

Okay, that was a little weird.

A little w...? Deb, it was so obvious.

I mean, of course they came over just so they could invite Dean to their charity thing.

Like they didn't know we were brothers. I'm not buying it.

Well, they might not have. They seemed shocked.

They did seem shocked.

Right?

Genuinely shocked.

Yes.

You guys, who cares?

You finally have cool friends. Be grateful.

That couple had no interest in you two.

Thank you.

What? How could you tell?

I'm finely attuned to the signs.

When I made physical contact with them, I could feel their bodies rising to meet my hands and they had sort of Donner Party look in their eyes, like I was a steak that they wanted to eat.

I gotta bail.

Wow, this is pretty early for you.

Well, I have a big day. I'm taking your advice.

Oh.

I'm gonna talk to Claire about work.

And I'm gonna let the fact that she's falling in love with me be the subtext.

Why don't you just work on the case and let the subtext be that you're... working on the case?

Deb, explain it to him. He's not getting it.

Okay.

All right!

Okay, so what are we gonna do about this charity thing?

I don't know, Deb.

It could be nice for you to meet a judge.

Maybe we should just go and keep an open mind?

Just the two of us?

It could be fun.

Okay.

All right. Maybe you're right. Let's go.

Yeah?

Let's go. And we'll keep an open mind.

Open mind.

(slurping)

There you are, Todd. What are you doing?

Nothing. I don't really have anything to work on.

Great.

I need you for some heavy lifting...

Oh.

...of all of your stuff out of your office.

We're gonna put Claire in there and move you to her cubicle.

What? Stewart said to do that?

Yeah. Since I'm just getting my sea legs back, he's assigned me to do some office management.

He assigned you that? You've hardly been around the last three years. Why didn't I get that assignment?

The assignment of downgrading yourself to a cubicle?

That would be awkward, no?

Yeah.

I guess that would be awkward.

Dean: Stapler?

I'll make you a deal.

I'll give you the stapler if you give me the lowdown on unreasonable search and seizures. I understand that you wrote about it in your school law review.

That's online, huh?

Stew won't give me any real work, and I need a bone to chew on.

So I thought we could talk shop, you know, over coffee.

You want some work?

Uh, those are background checks.

I need someone to go through them and summarize them for me by tomorrow.

Tomorrow? Uh, here's the thing.

This isn't really where I shine.

Oh, no?

We didn't do a lot of actual paperwork on the show.

We usually just did an all-nighter montage and skipped through the boring stuff and got right to the juice.

Right. See, this boring stuff that you want to skip over, that's my whole life.

I'm just saying, don't waste me on the details.

Put me out front and let me grind.

I have no idea what that means.

I just want you to get to know the real me.

And there is one, right?

Hmm.

This is nice.

Yeah, really nice.

Oh, thank you.

Thank you.

Oh, my gosh, honey.

Debbie: Is that Congressman Delancey?

And look who he's talking to.

That's Judge McCan.

Oh, that's Judge McCan.

That's Judge McCan!

Oh, I'm supposed to recognize judges now?

Hey! It's good...

Stewart/Debbie: Oh, hi!

.. to see you guys!

How are you? Nice to see you.

Yeah, so I see you got some drinks.

Yeah, we did. We did.

Mwah! Mwah! Good to see you!

Where's Dean?

Is he... is he parking the car?

He doesn't trust Fernando?

Uh, no. Sadly, Dean couldn't make it tonight. (chuckles)

Oh. Damn it.

Wow.

Didn't see that coming.

Um...

S-Still cool that-that we came though.

Right?

We're here.

More than cool.

Yes.

All right, good, yeah. 'Cause we were excited. - Good.

Oh, we're so excited.

I want to meet the judge.

No, I mean, you know, it's... it is a little bit of a shame, I guess, you know, that Dean isn't here.

A big shame.

But I'm-I'm sure it would have been an equal shame if Dean was here and-and we couldn't make it.

Mmm.

I'm sure.

Debbie: Unable to...

For us, no question.

Yeah. - But I can't say the same for Brandon Gibgot.

Who's-who's Brandon Gibgot?

He spends his days in the children's ward, you know, fighting for his life.

And he's here tonight because he has a dream.

A dream.

To meet The Grinder.

That's his dream?

It's all he talks about.

It's, like, the only thing that helps.

So that's why you wanted Dean here.

Of course.

Wait, I'm sorry.

Why did you think we did?

Yeah! Rebound! Rebound!

Down the court! Down the court!

Pass! Pass!

There we go! Back to Robinson.

(everyone silences)

Tanya: Oh, my God, there's your uncle. Can I meet him now?

Maybe later, babe.

Sanderson, get in there!

Oh, yeah, Lizzie!

Washington, come out.

There we go... move the ball!

Pass the ball! Just pass-pass the ball!

This is Dean.

Dean, hi, where are you?

I am at Lizzie's basketball game.

She is truly hideous to watch.

It's a problem.

Um, okay, fine.

Well, we'll deal with that later.

I'm in a little bit of trouble here. Can you come down to the Gerharts' charity thing?

I want you to drop me a pin to your exact location.

Okay, it's at the Windsor. You know where it is.

I still need the pin.

Why?

Stewart, we don't have time for this.

Do you want me to help you or do you want me to teach you about pins?

Oh, my gosh, fine.

I'll text you the pin.

Go, Lizzie!

Sanderson, you're out!

(buzzer sounds)

Someone else come in.

Anyone.

It's been challenging.

In and out of hospitals.

My parents' finances have taken a huge hit.

But what's kept me going, if I had to narrow it down to one thing...

- The Grinder.

The Grinder.

Is Dean on his way?

He is. Yes.

He's on his way.

Lyle: Great!

'Cause I would love to introduce you to Judge McCan.

Great. Those things aren't related though, right?

What do you mean?

Well, just the way you said it. It felt like Dean needed to be here in order for you to-to make the introduction.

Huh.

Where's The Grinder?

He's taking forever.

Um, you know, uh, uh, Brandon, we're brothers, Dean and I, and you know how he played a lawyer on TV?

I am a lawyer in real life.

So?

So he just pretends to grind.

Oh, God.

But I... am actually grinding.

So when you think about it, right now, you're meeting the real...

There he is!

Ah.

Ah.

Lyle: Okay.

♪ Ta-da. ♪

(chuckling)

Lyle, Vanessa.

It's k*ller seeing you again.

(chuckles)

Uh, now, where is Brandon?

I'm...

I'm Brandon.

Come on! What do you think I drove all the way down here for? Let's hit the bar, go do some sh*ts.

All right.

(door opening)

(sighs)

Hey.

Dean, thank you for coming tonight.

I'm sorry to rush you down here like that.

No, man, it's part of the job.

You know, with fame comes responsibility.

It is the life I have chosen to accept.

H-How'd you get a tux so fast?

Keep one in your car?

Yeah.

So... have the Gerharts revealed their true selves?

Uh, yeah, I think they did.

Oh. I am so sorry.

Forget those guys. If they just took the time to get to know you, they wouldn't even care about meeting me.

Thank you, Dean.

I appreciate that.

I just got sucked in.

Mm-hmm.

I guess I just wanted to believe that they liked me for me.

But how can you get someone to like you for you if you don't even know who you are anymore?

I'm talking about me.

Yeah. Sure.

Um, well, maybe you just need to take a little time to get used to this new life.

You know, it's a big change, Dean. You were this... other guy for so long.

So-so you're saying that maybe I committed too hard to the character and... and-and lost myself in it?

Mitch lost himself in The Grinder.

And I... did, too.

Well, maybe you could just... grind a little... less.

No. I grind harder.

Harder?

But as Dean. A real human being.

Hey, Stew.

Where's Dean?

Uh, he, uh, had to leave.

Oh, so soon? He just got here.

He's been here a while. Took a bunch of pictures.

Aw. That's a shame.

Yeah.

Yeah. Well, feel free to stick around.

Mm-hmm.

Uh... sorry, Lyle, real quick, why wouldn't we stick around?

No, we-we both just agreed that you should. - Yeah.

Right. So why is it even a conversation?

I don't know what you mean.

Here's what I mean.

Uh-oh.

I have a hunch that you two were pretending to be our friends because you were using us to get to Dean.

Wow! Well, that's a hurtful hunch.

But I guess I could see how you got there.

Totally.

I mean, these things can be hard to figure out. It's murky.

Because you're making it murky?

I could see that, too.

Okay, let's just be really clear.

Did you or did you not know when you invited us to dinner that Dean was my brother?

(scoffs) Honestly, I-I don't remember how it all went down.

I-I know that we wanted to be friends with you, and then, at some point, we knew that Dean was your brother, but I don't really remember the exact order of it all.

Ugh, we're so bad with dates.

Are you? Are you bad with dates?

Stew, I think we're getting caught up in the details.

You're focusing on something that we're just trying to glide right over.

Did you even like the left turn, Lyle?

Is that intersection even on your commute?

Because I'm starting to think that the only honest thing you've said to us this entire time is when you complimented me on my nice body!

(chatter stops)

Hey, everybody.

Sorry about the false exit.

Um, Brandon, there's nobody at valet.

I can't find my car. You didn't run off with it, did you?

(laughter)

Come on. Give me a hand.

(laughter)

Dean's here.

Dean... oh, we better...

(sighs)

Well, that was a shame.

Yeah, that was a shame.

Excuse me, I'm Paul McCan.

Uh, Your Honor, of course, hello.

I just want to say it's about time that someone put those two phonies in their place.

Yes, sir.

Uh, thank you.

And did I hear right?

Dean Sanderson is your brother?

Mm-hmm.

Motive.

No! That's not it.

Connect the dots.

What am I not seeing?!

(grunts)

(sighs)

Claire: Those are background checks.

I need someone to go through them and summarize them for me by tomorrow.

♪

My God.

Dean: I pulled an all-nighter.

And I've got something I think you're gonna want to see.

Where'd you find this?

You can find pretty much anything if you dig deep enough.

And it was you who made me realize...

I like to dig deep.

Oh. Gross.

Our client broke his left hand in a wrestling match days before the fight.

And the bruises are on the plaintiff's right cheek.

Our guy's clean. Just like he said.

The problem is everybody thinks he's something he's not.

Wow. I got to say, uh, I didn't think that you would be useful in... any way. But... this is huge. Thank you.

Eh. Anybody could've done it.

Right place at the right time.

No. You put in the work.

I underestimated you.

Why did you do that?

Do what now?

Did you think that because that happened on the show that...

Did that happen on the show?

Oh, yes. Oh. It did.

No. It didn't have anything to do with that.

Unless you want it to...

I don't.

Great.

Clean this up?

Yep.

Will they? Won't they?

What was that?

Nothing.