2nd Season
2000-2001
#1 Zero Tolerance
#2 You're Not the Boss of Me
#3 Instincts
#4 Convictions
#5 Unnecessary Roughness
#6 The Burden of Perspective
#7 Dog Days
#8 Waterworld
 		#9 The Undertow
#10 Adoption Day
#11 The Claw Is Our Master
#12 8 1/2 Narrow
#13 The Beginning, the End and the Murky Middle
#14 One for the Road
#15 The Treachery of Compromise
#16 Everybody Falls Down
 		#17 Romeo and Juliet Must Die – Well, Maybe Just Juliet
#18 The Unforgiven
#19 Between the Wanting and the Getting
#20 Grounded
#21 Red-Headed Stepchild
#22 Hold on Tight
Other seasons
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

#1 Zero Tolerance: Aired Tuesday, October 10, 2000

With Amy, Maxine celebrates her dead husband's birthday with a visit to his grave. Maxine blows off Jared. A hearing is pending regarding the allegations of impropriety between Amy and Bruce. Amy has hired lawyers to represent her while Bruce still won't fight. Amy has a new C.S.O., and Bruce is working for another judge, and they're both miserable without eachother. Bruce transfers a case from his judge to Amy when he realizes that Amy would make a much better ruling. Vincent is in the hospital, relearning how to walk and read. He hides his progress for fear of having to deal with the real world again. Maxine has been working at her desk for the last three months, and her boss finally gets her take on a case of child abuse in a preschool by pointing out that working at her desk won't help Vincent recover. Gillian confronts Maxine about not bonding with baby Ned, and it turns out Maxine is scared of loving yet another member of her family who could die or be injured. The whole family is snippy with each other, each dealing with their own problems and their own grief. Amy is reminded that people deal with grief in different ways when she is confronted with a case in which two parents have recently lost their infant child. Donna's pregnancy is now showing.

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#2 You're Not the Boss of Me: Aired Tuesday, October 24, 2000

Amy feels insecure in her role as a working mother. Vincent comes home from the hospital and Maxine starts out babying him, but then she gets wrapped up in a case regarding an abusive preschool worker. Amy is confused by Vincent's new view on the world. Bruce and Amy are completely cleared and Amy has Bruce transferred back to her court, which he isn't immediately happy with since she forgot to ask him. Amy rules on a manslaughter case involving a teen mother who left her baby on the steps of a church.

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#3 Instincts: Aired Tuesday, October 31, 2000

Amy meets Lolly's husband and hates him. Amy is concerned about a case involving a white teen who killed a black teen, and the interference of a loud-mouthed reverend. It turns out, however, that she screwed up in another case in which she let an eleven-year-old boy free after he stalked a classmate. Vincent, suffering from amnesia, uses police tapes to recall his conversation with Russell on the day of the explosion after a visit from Russell's mom. Maxine teaches a birth control class against the recommendation of her boss after she is shocked by the lack of reproductive knowledge in an otherwise intelligent teen. Donna has trouble babysitting Ned while Peter and Gillian go out to celebrate their fifteenth anniversary, and turns to Maxine for help. Peter has trouble getting Gillian to stop focusing completely on Ned and pay some attention to their relationship.

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#4 Convictions: Aired Tuesday, November 14, 2000

Maxine and her friend Vivian haven't spoken in fifteen years since a stupid fight. Maxine reaches out when Vivian's husband dies and they have trouble reconciling, but baby Ned somehow helps. Maxine continues to pursue the Roseland preschool abuse case, sweet-talking a pediatrician into testifying. Amy finds herself being bullied by a gaggle of high-powered lawyers in her court room, and she takes out her frustration in a self-defense class that Lolly talks her into taking. Amy calls Bruce on his passive-aggressive behavior and asks him to stop being angry about being yanked back to her court room. Vincent finds that since the accident he has been fearless, and his fearlessness almost costs him his job at the newspaper. Peter gets more nervous about raising a bi-racial baby after he doesn't know how to react to a black joke at work. When he stands up for himself and his beliefs at a client dinner later, he almost throws up, but is left feeling much better about himself.

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#5 Unnecessary Roughness: Aired Tuesday, November 21, 2000

After Maxine hurts and yells at a boy she catches vandalizing her home and also offends the State Attorney dragging her feet on the Roseland case, she goes to an anger management class and realizes that her anger on behalf of the abused children she sees every day is actually fairly appropriate. Amy gets asked out by an impressive detective, and although she is upset when everyone tells her that he's "not in her league," she eventually has to admit that that's actually why she doesn't want to date him. Amy judges a case in which one teengae hockey player has knocked out another's eye. Amy tries to get Lauren into a class for gifted students, and not only does she find out that she wasn't a "gifted" student herself, but she realizes that it's okay to be normal. Vincent tries to get Donna to be more traditional about her birthing options and ends up signing on as her birthing partner.

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#6 The Burden of Perspective: Aired Tuesday, November 28, 2000

Maxine is disappointed when she is informed that the DA's office will not pursue the Roseland case. Maxine's wealthy beau, Jared Duff, comes back in town and wonders why she's been dodging his calls. Maxine decides she'd rather let Jared go than be thought a gold-digger by his family. Amy orders DCF to return a woman's son to her despite the woman's history as an alcoholic who let her infant daughter die in a locked car in the summer. Amy is upset when she finds out that her ex-husband is getting remarried. Vincent reads on a public broadcasting radio show and hits it off with the cute female producer of the show.

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#7 Dog Days: Aired Tuesday, December 5, 2000

Vincent writes an article about the pitfalls of children in the system and makes Amy feel like what she does is worthless. Maxine thwarts the trial of Jody, a girl who killed her step-father after years of sexual abuse, and is disappointed to see Jody sentenced to two years jail anyway. Amy is frustrated when she hears a case that she can do nothing about even though she feels like she should take action. Bruce mediates a custody agreement between to very angry ex-spouses and ends up writing a restraining order for a dog. Lauren tells Amy that she no longer thinks her mother is cool and smart. Gillian tries to get the whole family to take a Christmas family portrait. Vincent and Carol's relationship moves forward quickly.

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#8 Waterworld: Aired Tuesday, December 19, 2000

Maxine is strangely dispassionate when the family dog dies and she finds out that Vincent might be spending Christmas with his girlfriend instead of the family. Amy is not only suspicious that Vincent's girlfriend doesn't like his family, but she is worried about Maxine's recent lack of emotion. Amy hears a case in which four young girls falsely accuse their gym coach of sexually molesting them to get back at him for humiliating them due to poor sportsmanship. Donna's birthing center burns down, so when she goes into labor she gives birth at the Grays' house. Donna's mother shows up, and Maxine is so horrified by the cold woman that it shocks her into helping Donna give birth when Donna's mother just walks out on her in mid-contraction. Maxine finds herself ambivalent about winning a big award for excellence in social work and decides to see a therapist.

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#9 The Undertow: Aired Tuesday, January 9, 2001

Amy comes up with a great idea of having a day where courthouse employees volunteer to help finalize adoptions and the credit for it is stolen by Judge Faraday. Amy adjudicates a case in which a mother believes her daughter is possessed and wants an exorcism performed, but the father of the child is against it. Amy, due to a crush on Lauren's karate teacher, accidentally ends up with the teacher's annoying yet perfect niece as Lauren't new baby-sitter. Maxine starts seriously working on her new project, Sanctuary House, and finds help from an energetic leader of a rape crisis center. Maxine finally admits to a persistent Jared that his son, Charles, offered her money to stay away from him. Jared gets an apology out of Charles and he and Maxine decide to make another go at their relationship. Donna finds out that her husband is actually a murderer, and fears that her child will carry his bad genes. She is finally convinced by Vincent's girlfriend Carol that Ariadne's environment while being raised is more important than genetics.

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#10 Adoption Day: Aired Tuesday, January 16, 2001

Gillian gets drunk and complains to Amy about how Peter is no help raising Ned. Amy's Adoption Day idea comes to fruition, although Judge Faraday is still taking the credit. The day goes off with only a few hitches: the court house has no heat, the weather is freezing rain, and Evie shows up just before Ned is adopted by Peter and Gillian. Although she considers it, Evie does not contest Ned's adoption. Amy goes out on a date with Lauren's karate teacher, Rob, who is younger than her, very cute, and apparently a good kisser. Carole puts herself on the line to get Vincent as the writer of a juvenile justice system story that would be in the newspaper and also on the radio station. Vincent finds out that there's more to the story than meets the eye, and that if he pursued it, it would put Judge Faraday and the Hartford justice system in a very bad light, so he lets it go, disappointing Carole. Maxine pushes an unwilling lawyer to help a girl get adopted just before her eighteenth birthday, but then is surprised when the girl's future younger sibling refuses his adoption, hoping that his real mother might someday return.

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#11 The Claw Is Our Master: Aired Tuesday, January 30, 2001

Amy decides it's time for the family to get a new dog, but she doesn't realize what a strenuous process adopting a dog is. Amy adjudicates a case in which DCF wants to take away a new mother's baby because the mother is HIV positive and refuses to stop breast-feeding her baby or get her baby tested for HIV because she doesn't believe HIV causes AIDS. Maxine investigates a seemingly model family in which the youngest son is going deaf for no physiological reason. She finds out that while the parents put on a good show for strangers, at home they are extremely verbally abusive to each other and their children. Bruce tells Mia that he either wants to be a real family with her or it's time for him to move on. Mia moves her stuff out of Bruce's apartment. Amy sleeps with Lauren's karate teacher, but feels like that isn't how her life is supposed to be. When Tom Gilette tells her that he's giving up law and they no longer will have a conflict of interest, she agrees to go out with him and lets the karate teacher go.

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#12 8 1/2 Narrow: Aired Tuesday, February 6, 2001

A lawyer who always falls asleep during cases dies in Amy's courtroom and she feels obligated to attend his funeral... and drag Bruce along with her. Amy adjudicates a case in which a student has been truant because he's protesting his school closing down the gay/straight club. The student's lawyer seems to have more of a general human rights agenda than the interest of her client at heart. Lolly's husband Nick makes a pass at Amy in a restaurant, but when Amy finally gets the guts up to tell Lolly about it Lolly blows it off as harmless flirting. Amy and Tom spend the night together. Maxine helps a fallen doctor get her children back and asks the doctor to be on staff at Sanctuary House. Maxine helps a police detective reunite a mother and son without getting the illegal immigrants deported.

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#13 The Beginning, the End and the Murky Middle: Aired Tuesday, February 13, 2001

Amy and Tom decide they're going to finally tell their kids about their relationship, but at the last minute Tom backs out and says that he actually has to break up with Amy because he's decided to give it another try with his ex-wife. Amy has to pass judgment on a fourteen-year-old boy who shot and killed his younger sister and seems to have no remorse. As soon as she pronounces his sentence it becomes clear that the boy was acting cold to get the maximum sentence because he feels so guilty about what happened. Maxine skillfully deflects a lawsuit against DCF from a former foster child and gets her boss to help her get a prosecuting attorney for the struggling Sanctuary House project. Carol admits to Vincent that she feels threatened by his close relationships with Donna and his family. They go to couples counseling, but figure out their problems on their own in the waiting room. On the eve of Ned's christening, his biological mother, Evie, comes back with his biological father and says that they want their son back.

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#14 One for the Road: Aired Tuesday, February 20, 2001

Amy adjudicates a case in which the state wants a pregnant woman put in protective custody until she gives birth because she is a member of a cult that let a child die after falling down the stairs rather than give it medical attention. Amy loses her temper and puts the woman into custody even though she feels her decision may be overturned by an appellate court. Peter and Gillian start to self-destruct after losing custody of their adopted son, Ned. After Peter gets picked up for drunk driving, Gillian decides he's an alcoholic until Maxine forces her to realize she's just in denial about losing her son. Through all this, Amy learns that her own father was basically an alcoholic. Maxine figures out that an elderly woman is pretending to be a holly bush so that her family won't put her in a nursing home. Maxine tricks the woman into admitting she's not a holly bush by saying that holly bushes end up in insane asylums, while elderly women could go to a senior center during the day and still return home to sleep in their own bed at night. Bruce tries to help a divorced couple mediate an agreement about their sixteen-year-old daughter getting breast implants, but loses his temper with them. Carol reluctantly brings Vincent to her parents' fortieth anniversary party. She is mortified when her mother completely embarasses her, just like she's done her entire life.

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#15 The Treachery of Compromise: Aired Tuesday, February 27, 2001

Amy has an opportunity to become an appellate court judge and weighs her career ambition versus the best interests of her daughter and the possibility of ever having a serious relationship with a man again. Maxine gets her friend Vivian involved in a case in which kids are being kept out of school to work on a farm. Gillian and Peter's marriage starts to implode when they can't communicate after the loss of their adopted son. Gillian finds support online. Amy adjudicates a case in which a lesbian couple would like both their names as mothers on the birth certificate of their child. Vincent finds out that Peter has been sitting on his inheritance from their father.

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#16 Everybody Falls Down: Aired Tuesday, March 20, 2001

Amy deals with a difficult case in which an adopted daughter has accused her parents of abuse, while the natural children insist that she's lying. The parents are already in jail, and Amy grants the state's request to remove parental rights for all three kids when she sees the natural daughter's brain-washed state. Amy is still annoyed by Lauren's babysitter, Katie, and she yells at the perky blonde for buying Lauren an inappropriate shirt. When Rob points out, during a bubble bath, that Amy hurt Katie's feelings, Amy apologizes to the teen and admitts her possible jealousy due to Lauren's enthusiasm for her babysitter. Donna is reluctant to bring Ariadne to visit her father. Donna feels like a fool for believing in Oscar's innocence in the first place and contemplates divorcing her jailed husband. Bruce's carefully orchestrated schedule of child-care for Rebecca starts to fall apart when his mother takes a vacation to Las Vegas. Bruce's sister, Winnie, is horrified when their mother talks about moving to Las Vegas permanently, and is upset with Bruce for not helping her convince the elderly woman to stay in Connecticut. Maxine finds herself about to bribe a building inspector to get Sanctuary House open on schedule, but her pride gets in the way. Luckily, she and the building inspector end up coming to an understanding anyway, and she gets her certificate of occupancy while he gets his name on a plaque honoring donors to the non-profit organization.

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#17 Romeo and Juliet Must Die – Well, Maybe Just Juliet: Aired Tuesday, April 10, 2001

Amy hears a case in which a young goth teen is accuses of convincing his girlfriend to committ suicide with a joint suicide pact and then not going through with it himself. The lawyers on both sides of the case are surprised when Amy encourages them to come to a lesser plea so that she get the teenage boy counseling instead of convicting him of manslaughter of which he is clearly not guilty. Amy's bicycle, which was stolen when she was eleven, is returned, and reminds Amy of what a wonderful mother Maxine was to her. Maxine is horrified when she finds a young boy has been hiding the fact that his mother is dead for a week. Maxine engineers a happy reunion between the boy and his grandfather. Donna is in a terrible mood and is treating Vincent like crap. Vincent finally sits her down and gets her to admit that she's transferring her anger at Oscar onto Vincent. Donna decides to divorce Oscar. Gillian's internet relationship with another grieving parent steps up a notch when she meets him in person. Maxine spots her daughter-in-law holding hands with a strange man while having lunch.

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#18 The Unforgiven: Aired Tuesday, April 24, 2001

Amy adjudicates a case in which grandparents want the right to see their granddaughter, while their own daughter wants to deny them this because she remembers her own abusive childhood. Amy advises Lauren to sing a song from The Sound of Music in the school talent show and is then horribly embarrassed when Lauren is terrible. Maxine is surprised and disappointed when otherwise model foster parents ask one of their children to move out when they find out he's gay. Jared hopes his son Charles will apologize to Maxine for calling her a gold-digger, but Charles does nothing of the sort. Maxine is worried that she can't date Jared since she hates his son, but Jared just hopes that Maxine won't hold his son against him. An inspired Vincent decides to write a new novel, and takes Donna up on her offer to pay all of the rent for their apartment in exchange for Vincent baby-sitting. Carole thinks Vincent's life is just too weird for her, but then she realizes that she just wishes she had the support in her life that he has in his.

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#19 Between the Wanting and the Getting: Aired Tuesday, May 1, 2001

Amy hears a difficult case in which a young boy feels more like a girl, and is having trouble at school because he dresses like a girl. Bruce and his sister deal with their sibling rivalry as their mother moves to Las Vegas. Maxine's Sanctuary House begins operations, but Maxine finds that her co-workers there don't all work well with each other, and while things are being accomplished (finally the monster of Roseland, who has moved on to a new school, is arrested), it is not necessarily by methods that Maxine condones. Amy defends her relationship with the much younger Rob to everyone, and then finally realizes that the only person attacking it is herself. She realizes she can't continue seeing him.

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#20 Grounded: Aired Tuesday, May 8, 2001

Amy is delirious with fever from the flu and is bed-ridden. Maxine, having to take care of her daughter and in trouble at work for taking kids to a hospital to see the results of being in a gang, has to turn down Jared's offer to take her to China with him. Amy's substitute, a jaded older male judge, is shocked by how much he is affected by the cases he presides over. Maxine is horrified when she finds out that Jared's plane has disappeared, but luckily it turns out that he had engine trouble and turned around and came back. Carole gets an incredible job offer in San Francisco and Vincent decides to move with her. Peter and Gillian have an opportunity to get Ned back, and although a difference in opinion almost rips them apart, they finally open up to each other about their feelings and reconnect in anticipation of reclaiming their son.

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#21 Red-Headed Stepchild: Aired Tuesday, May 15, 2001

Donna cares for Lauren while Amy goes out of town to appear on a syndicated talk show. Enraged by a conservative congressman and sexist host, Amy isn't proud when she lets her temper be seen on TV. Carole supports Vincent's vision when his agent tries to make his book more "marketable." Bruce hesitantly approaches Sean, Maxine's boss, for help. Bruce is worried about reporting a black father who seems to have the best interests of his daughter at heart, but may be crossing the line with his discipline. A five-year-old rape victim comes to Sanctuary House, and Maxine has a tough time when she discovers that the child was raped by her 12-year-old brother who was acting out because he is no longer allowed to have sex with his own mother.

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#22 Hold on Tight: Aired Tuesday, May 22, 2001

Vincent finally tells his family and Donna that he's moving to San Francisco with Carole, although he's not pleased about the way that Carole basically forces him into the telling. Amy is upset with Vincent's decision, but Maxine reminds Amy that Vincent has to be able to move on with his life. Amy adjudicates a case in which a mother who often "cries wolf" against her ex-husband is accusing her ex of sexually abusing their three-year-old daughter. Amy is horrified when, after she rules in favor of the young girl's father, the mother committs suicide, almost taking her daughter with her. Maxine helps parents from South Norwalk reunite with their kidnapped baby after following up a strange complaint from some nosy neighbors. Donna starts divorce proceedings, although she's now scared of her husband when she finds out that he's getting an appeal.

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Other seasons
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6