4th Season
2002-2003

#1 Lost in the System
#2 Thursday's Child
#3 Every Stranger's Face I See
#4 The Frozen Zone
#5 Cause for Alarm
#6 Roses and Truth
#7 Damage Control
#8 A Pretty Good Day
#9 Boys to Men
#10 People of the Lie
#11 Lost and Found
#12 Ye Olde Freedom Inn
#13 The Best Interests of the Child
#14 Wild Card
#15 Maxine, Interrupted
#16 Sixteen Going on Seventeen
#17 Judging Eric
#18 Looking for Quarters
#19 Just Say Oops
#20 Requiem
#21 Picture of Perfect
#22 CSO: Hartford
#23 Marry, Marry Quite Contrary
#24 Shock and Awe

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


#1 Lost in the System: Aired Tuesday, October 1, 2002

Amy's having a bad week when she starts mediation with Michael over custody of Lauren, she's still not talking to her mother, and Bruce blows her off when she suggests they try being friends now that they're no longer colleagues. Maxine finds that DCF has fallen apart during her sabbatical, and reams out her co-worker Kimberly for losing track of a three-year-old child. When Kimberly tells Sean she's leaving if Maxine doesn't, Sean lets Kimberly go. Amy is frustrated when a teen mother on probation appears in her court again, and even more frustrated when DCF neglects to send a representative for the case. When Maxine ends up representing DCF in Amy's court room, she eloquently defends the teen mother and manages to patch things up with Amy at the same time. Maxine is scared to announce her engagement to her children, but they receive the news surprisingly well. Maxine's house isn't selling quickly. Lauren thinks her and Amy's new apartment is haunted, but Amy worries that someone might be breaking in. Bruce finally apologizes to Amy, and they end up sharing a slightly drunken late-night kiss.

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#2 Thursday's Child: Aired Tuesday, October 8, 2002

Bruce and Amy explain away their kiss and decide to just be friends. Amy hears a case in which a 17-year-old girl's parents want to have their retarded daughter sterilized in order to keep her from continually getting pregnant. Amy realizes that girl was trying to get pregnant so that she could stay with her boyfriend, so she encourages that parents to just let their daughter date freely. Maxine won't give up on a boy who is determined to be a drug runner for a dangerous gang and was beaten by the police. Amy finally finds out who has been stalking her and she and Bruce confront the grown boy who is not intimidated at all. Bruce unwillingly gets involved with a hard-headed lawyer who is suing the state of Connecticut for keeping convicted felons out of certain state jobs. The lawyer, Zola Knox, gets an injunction which means Bruce can go back to work. Kyle's sponsor, Martin, encourages him to keep interviewing for residency positions, even though the constant rejection is crushing. Amy and Maxine slowly continue to mend their relationship.

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#3 Every Stranger's Face I See: Aired Tuesday, October 15, 2002

Maxine gets a decent offer on the house, and Peter is frustrated when she won't take it. To distract Peter, Maxine asks for his help with a troubled boy who wants to build a battlebot. Maxine subtley convinces Amy to make an offer on the house. Lauren and Amy battle over Lauren wanting to be a cheerleader, and Amy finally gives in to her daughter. Amy writes Kyle a glowing letter of recommendation to help him get back into a residency program. Amy and Donna are happy to have Bruce back. Bruce makes an unwanted friend at the soup kitchen where he does community service. Amy hears a difficult case in which a boy was taken away from his teen mother ten years ago at birth and kidnapped by a wealthy couple who just wanted to raise him as their own.

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#4 The Frozen Zone: Aired Tuesday, October 22, 2002

After a boy loses his mother in the 9/11 tragedy, his father moves to Connecticut for a year to recover. Now that the father is ready to move back to New York, the boy's maternal grandmother petitions to keep the boy in Connecticut. After listening to a tape of the couple's last phone conversation, Amy realizes that the grandmother irrationally blames her son-in-law for her daughter's death, and decrees that the father should retain custody. Maxine has trouble adjusting to Amy's ownership of the house, even though she tries to be gracious. When Amy accidentally throws out an historic rare rose bush that is a family heirloom, Maxine gets unreasonably upset, but after a little time both women apologize and the three female members of the Gray family start a new tradition with a new rose bush. Zola Knox asks Bruce to speak at a press conference for convicted felons, and Bruce is reluctant. Amy is open about her dislike for Ms. Knox. Bruce finds out his sister has been taking his daughter, Rebecca, to a protestant "black" church and yells at her. Bruce's sister accuses him of not wanting to be black. Bruce gets drunk and shows up at Zola's house late at night and agrees to go to the press conference. Sean turns to Maxine for help when his foster son, Eric, is busted smoking pot in the bathroom at school, but the boy swears he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Kyle is offered a job selling drugs for a pharmaceutical company, but Maxine tells him she was hoping he would take over Teen Harbor.

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#5 Cause for Alarm: Aired Tuesday, October 29, 2002

Amy has an alarm system installed to keep her family safe from her stalker. Her stalker, Jason, tries a couple times to apologize to her and to tell her that he'll leave her alone, but then later he is quietly hiding outside her house and overhears what the alarm code is. A couple accuses their teen babysitter of killing their baby, but Amy has to let the girl go because the prosecution can't prove she did it. Bruce confers with Zola about her racism case before the Connecticut supreme court, and when she wins he takes her out to celebrate. Bruce opens up to Zola about why he is so closed off emotionally, and how he was humiliated when he was a teenager by some racist cops. Maxine helps a teenager and her grandfather who are both abusing one another. Kyle is surprised to get a residency offer from what he considers the worst teaching hospital in the state, and reluctantly gives up his lucrative job as a pharmaceutical salesman to go back to being a doctor. Maxine worries that Peter is profiting from the recent announcement of her and Jared's engagement in the newspaper. Maxine always thought her husband wanted nothing to do with the Connecticut Business League, but she learns from Peter that it was actually the League that shunned him.

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#6 Roses and Truth: Aired Tuesday, November 5, 2002

Amy realizes that her stalker is on her mind as she hears the case of a teacher and a student. The teacher claims the student raped her, while the student claims he was seduced by his teacher. Amy is inclined to believe the teacher, seeing the student as a possible stalker-type, but it's clear that Amy's mind was clouded when Bruce can see the truth, and then the student's lawyer finds another student who claims he was also seduced by teacher. Kyle has a tough first day as a resident, doing mainly janitorial and secretarial duties. Maxine is disgusted when she finds an abandoned baby at the hospital and numerous couples who claim they "bought" the baby. Gillian is worried that she hasn't been feeling well, but her doctor thinks she's being a hypochondriac. A crying Gillian turns to Maxine who takes her to see Kyle. Kyle is pleased to report that Gillian is pregnant, even though she thought she wasn't able to be. Eric realizes that Jason is stalking Amy when Amy's tire blows out on a deserted road and Jason just happens to be there with his tow truck. Amy confides in Eric that Jason is bad news because Eric babysits Lauren so often.

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#7 Damage Control: Aired Tuesday, November 12, 2002

Bruce talks to the police and they unofficially assign a detective to look out for Amy to try to catch her stalker doing something actually illegal. Amy is comforted by Detective Cross camped out outside her house at night, but somehow Jason still manages to sneak onto her front lawn without the detective noticing. Maxine has to remove the children from a home because the wife won't enforce the restraining order against her husband who beats in her in front of their two daughters. Amy is disgusted with her conduct when she abuses her power as a judge and bullies a 12-year-old boy into giving up the name of the man who took pornographic pictures of him. Kyle is suffering from sleep deprivation from his new work schedule and the flood that Donna created in their apartment. A fellow resident gives him an herbal supplement, and he is tempted to take it, but finally realizes that as a recovering drug addict he should really just throw it out. He asks to assist Dr. Reddicker with a surgery, but when the time comes, he is too tired to do it.

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#8 A Pretty Good Day: Aired Tuesday, November 19, 2002

Amy lets off lightly a kid who planned a fake bomb scare at his school because his being convicted of a felony would send him back to his country of birth, Afghanistan. When Kimberly's old phone line at DCF gets a number of obscene phone calls regarding someone named Gerry, Maxine and Sean call in the terrible ex-employee to find out who this person is. Kimberly blackmails Sean into hiring her back, and Maxine inadvertentedly rescues Gerry, and 18-year-old girl, from being held as a sex toy by a truck driver. When Dr. Reddicker won't treat a cancer patient who is too far gone, Kyle goes the extra mile to make her as comfortable as possible. Maxine objects to Amy's ideas for renovating the kitchen. Gillian becomes obsessive about planning Maxine's wedding while Peter can't give his wife enough "affection." Jason Lobdel accosts Lauren on a field trip, but Eric comes to her rescue. Eric is later arrested for assault, but Detective Cross comes to his defense and goes to arrest Jason. Maxine and Amy insist that Eric stay at their house that night, but in the wee hours of the morning they awake to find Jason dead and a bloody Eric holding a knife.

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#9 Boys to Men: Aired Tuesday, November 26, 2002

Amy is disgusted by a case in which four teenage boys raped a girl, and the girl herself is so jaded that she can't even muster up some outrage at the attack. Amy transfers the case to criminal court. Maxine reluctantly asks Jonathan Ashworth for a favor to get Eric Black's case transferred down to the juevenile court, and Ashworth comes through for her after she begs. Maxine and Jared decide to move up their wedding date to next week, so Peter throws together a bachelor party for Jared while Gillian puts together a "hen night" for Maxine. The classy bachelor party that Peter planned ends up at a trashy bar, and Bruce gets drunk enough to call Zola and leave her a message saying that they should stop playing games and go out on a real date already. Charles, Jared's son, admits to his dad that he quit his job, and Charles then has to postpone the wedding to go back to China and pick up the pieces. Amy, although she thought the wedding was moving too fast, thinks Charles is sneakily trying to sabotage it, and tells him that if he does anything else he'll have to answer to her.

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#10 People of the Lie: Aired Tuesday, December 10, 2002

Amy hears a custody case in which the mother is accusing the father of sexually abusing their daughter. Amy dismisses the case when she finds out that the girl made up to the charge of sexual abuse against her father in order to get a free trip to Disney World. In order to write a paper about DCF, Donna follows Maxine for a few days observing as Maxine removes four children from the care of their postpartum depressed mother who refuses to get treatment. Donna is frustrated because she wanted to see both good and bad things about DCF, and she feels like she's only seen the good. Maxine recommends that Donna follow Kimberly for a day. Amy begins renovating the kitchen with help from a decorator named Winki. Amy's ex, Michael, withdraws from mediation regarding custody of Lauren and instead files for full custody. Amy finds out that Michael has had a PI following her for the last year, and knows about every detail of her life, including the kiss she shared with Bruce. Kyle's mother and sister come to town to convince him to come to his dad's 65th birthday party, but Kyle is disgusted by his mother's denial of his problems and embarrassment at having a son who is a recovering addict. Kyle and Lily bond over being from stuck-up society parents.

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#11 Lost and Found: Aired Tuesday, December 17, 2002

Amy is faced with a case in which a mother wants her son, who has been missing for four years, declared legally dead, so that she can file a civil suit against the man she thinks killed him, while the father is fighting her because he desperately wants to believe his son is still alive. Maxine disapproves of the close relationship Sean has developed with a pretty new foster mother, Alison Shepherd. Sean finally recognizes that Maxine is right, and worries that he's spending too much of his life on his job. Kyle, going through old X-rays, realizes that Lily released a patient who has a broken neck because she thought it was a sprain. Lily worries that Kyle is going to want something in return for saving her patient and saving her career, but Kyle only asks for a hamburger, cooked medium. Due to her custody battle with Michael, Amy has to submit to a home visit from a family relations officer. The officer ends up witnessing Maxine successfully defend herself to angry parents after she disciplines their children during carpool.

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#12 Ye Olde Freedom Inn: Aired Tuesday, January 7, 2003

Amy returns a six-year-old boy to his parents after his parents demonstrate that they've changed and are determined to stay sober and stay out of jail. Amy, Maxine and Lauren participate in a school project in which they all stay a night at Ye Olde Freedom Inn, where everyone is still living in the 1700s. The women are disappointed to find out that they will be playing the role of servants for the evening. Amy has to duck out of the Inn to remove the six-year-old from his parents again after the father gets drunk and assaults the mother. Amy worries that she's not as much fun as she used to be while Maxine worries about how things will change after she marries Jared. Zola turns down Bruce when he asks her out to dinner, claiming she's already involved with someone. Bruce can't take him seriously, though, when Zola's feel-good astrology-following boyfriend comes to talk to him. Kyle is disgusted by a mother who can't be supportive to her daughter after her daughter secretly gives birth during a school basketball game. While looking for a new pediatrician, Gillian accidentally ends up with a job instead.

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#13 The Best Interests of the Child: Aired Tuesday, January 21, 2003

Amy's custody case begins, and both she and Michael make strong arguments. Amy's lawyer, Helene, says the only way Amy can ensure winning is to put Lauren on the stand, but Amy insists that Lauren shouldn't take the stand. After Maxine overhears Lauren tell Amy that she wants things to stay as they are, she encourages her daughter to put Lauren on the stand, but Amy stands strong and Michael ends up dropping the suit when his new wife leaves him. Eric, still in jail awaiting trial, needs Maxine to hear his story, and Maxine finally sits down to listen to it. Kyle, at the hospital, deals with a mother who refuses to let go of her very sick child who just suffering, not living.

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#14 Wild Card: Aired Tuesday, February 4, 2003

Amy sends a couple, the Simmonses, to Bruce for mediation when the ex-wife sues her ex-husband for the child support that he's supposed to pay but hasn't. Unfortunately, all that comes out in mediation is the fact that the child in question is not actually Mr. Simmons's son. Mr. Simmons decides to give up visitation and stop paying child support, but Amy reminds him how much he loves his son by getting the boy to talk in court about spending time with his father. Maxine defies a judge's order and removes a young girl from her parents' home when her parents continue to have drug-filled orgies. The parents' slimy lawyer tries to intimidate DCF and the legal system, but, with some help from Bruce, Maxine gets a new judge in charge of the case who won't put up with the lawyer's antics. Kyle takes care of a mentally handicapped man whose parents need a night off. Maxine finally blows up at Gillian when her daughter-in-law goes too far with her crazy wedding details, but after they make peace Gillian continues with her extravagant plans.

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#15 Maxine, Interrupted: Aired Tuesday, February 11, 2003

Amy hears a case in which a teenage daughter tried to kill her own father. Even after the attempt on his life, the girl's father hires her a lawyer and testifies on her behalf. Amy is horrified when it becomes clear that the father's shooting was not a mistake as the girl initially claimed. Maxine is reviewed at work after defying a judge's order not to remove a child. It turns out her reviewer is her good friend and ex-roommate from college, Sally Godwin, who used to be a social worker herself but moved on to politics. Kyle calls Maxine to help with a four-year-old girl who has an STD, and Maxine discovers that she got it from a male classmate who is being abused by his step-father. Sally gives Maxine a good review, but criticizes her disregard for procedure, sparking a fight that changes their close friendship forever. Bruce mediates for an elderly couple that has decided to get a divorce and is fighting over custody of their pet bird. Bruce gets Donna to pretend to be a pet psychic, and Donna tells the couple that their bird wants them to stay together.

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#16 Sixteen Going on Seventeen: Aired Tuesday, February 18, 2003

Amy's old flame Stuart Collins reappears in Hartford, reincarnated as a criminal defense attorney after his pilgrimage to Sri Lanka. He raises doubts in Amy's mind about Eric Black's defense, and Eric agrees that he'd like a new attorney. Stuart gets the job, putting the flicker of romance with Amy on the back burner for awhile. Amy hears a case in which a father is suing his ex-wife for custody of their 14-year-old daughter who has a career as a pop singer and has been starring in sexually explicit music videos. Lauren is horrified that her mother not only won't let her wear a belly shirt to school, but might end the career of one of her favorite pop singers. Maxine helps a teenaged Sudanese refugee stay with the older boys who helped keep him alive for six months walking through Africa. Peter and Gillian find out that there is a possibility their baby will have congenital defects, and Peter turns to Kyle for help and advice while Gillian decides to simply have faith.

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#17 Judging Eric: Aired Tuesday, February 25, 2003

While Amy goes on vacation from work to attend Eric's murder trial, the judge for Eric's trial uses Amy's chambers and court room. Amy is intrigued by Judge Nancy Paul, whose unorthodox approach to the law is so similar to Amy's that only Amy can't see it. Judge Paul rules in Eric's favor and he is set free, and only Maxine knows that he lied to the judge about owning the knife. Eric is ashamed that Maxine is disappointed in him, and decides to run away with his boyfriend, Mark. Bruce and Zola try again to start a romance when Zola tells him that she broke up with her boyfriend, but Zola worries about the other women in Bruce's life like Amy and Mia, the mother of his child. One of Kyle's patients dies, and Dr. Reddicker advises him to lie about a small detail of the case, but Kyle is vindicated when he tells the truth and is still found non-culpable. Kyle and Dr. Heather Labonte give into an urge and find themselves in a passionate kiss that Dr. Reddicker witnesses.

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#18 Looking for Quarters: Aired Tuesday, March 18, 2003

Amy deciphers the code of rave flyers when two boys are accused in the murder of a girl who overdosed on Ecstasy at one of their parties. Amy lashes out at Maxine when Maxine lets Lauren play ice hockey even though she knows that Amy is against it. Bruce tries to keep his distance from Amy now that he's trying to make things work with Zola, but when she calls him out on it he asks her for her help in convincing his new girlfriend that there's nothing between them. An angry Sean makes Maxine worry that she drove Eric away by having her standards too high. Sean and Maxine engineer the reunion of a recently recovered drug addicted teen with the foster parents that gave up on her. Kyle nervously embarks on a relationship with Heather, but at a tropical themed party that the new couple throws together, Kyle falls off the wagon and drinks a margarita. To his surprise, a random drug test at work the next day gets Heather fired in disgrace.

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#19 Just Say Oops: Aired Tuesday, April 1, 2003

Amy hears a case in which a seven-year-old, whose parents advocate the legalization of marijuana, stole a joint from his parents and smoked it at school with a friend. Maxine figures out how a woman cheats at her drug tests by using her young daughter. Amy and Stu Collins finally go out on a dinner date to officially rekindle whatever was going on before Stu went to Sri Lanka, but their date is ruined by a rude couple at the table next to them. Stu insists the date was still perfect because he was with Amy, even though he ends up having to get eleven stitches in his chin. Lily dumps on Kyle at work and irrationally blames him for Heather getting fired. Kyle suspects Lily might be jealous of his relationship with Heather. Maxine goes to Peter to complain about Gillian's out-of-control meddling in her wedding, and Peter breaks down and admits to his mother that there might be something wrong with their baby, but Gillian refuses to deal with it. Donna has a page in her blog all about her mentor, Judge Gray.

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#20 Requiem: Aired Tuesday, April 15, 2003

Stu convinces Amy to go camping with him, and she reluctantly agrees to what turns out to be a romantic get away. Maxine deals with a truculent teen who complains about her picture-perfect foster family. Maxine looks forward to Jared's arrival from China, because they have planned to quietly elope, but instead she is surprised by the arrival of Jared's son, Charles, who delivers the news that Jared died from a heart attack. Charles and Peter deal with the difficulty of getting Jared's body out of China, while a grieving Maxine tries to get people to stop fussing over her and occasionally lashes out at her well-meaning family. Amy finds out that Kyle is drinking. Maxine gathers her whole very extended family at the diner that Jared bought for her for an impromptu memorial service in which everyone shares their memories of Jared. Amy can't let herself cry until Bruce comes by to offer his condolences, and then she cries in his arms. Maxine decides to cut her hair short like Jared suggested.

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#21 Picture of Perfect: Aired Tuesday, April 22, 2003

Amy worries that her mother isn't talking about her feelings now that it's two weeks after Jared's death, and she's both relieved and hurt when she finds out that Maxine's actually been opening up to Charles Duff. Amy hears a case in which a father wants his ex-wife to stop sending their overweight daughter to a school designed for overweight children because the academics there aren't particularly good. The daughter, even though she isn't actually losing weight at the school, wants to stay there because there she isn't "the fat kid" and doesn't get teased. Maxine goes back to work and is faced with removing the son of an eighteen-year-old that she placed, apparently poorly, into a foster home ten years ago. Everyone keeps teasing Kyle and Lily about the attraction growing between them, even though they hotly deny it. Kyle tricks Lily into performing a rhinoplasty on a car accident victim whose face was smashed after the original doctor on the case said he didn't have enough time to help someone with no insurance. Lily backs up Kyle when the original doctor gets furious, but tells Kyle later that she's hurt that he didn't trust her with the truth.

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#22 CSO: Hartford: Aired Tuesday, April 29, 2003

On Take Your Daughter to Work Day, Lauren goes to work with Maxine and learns a new appreciation for her mother. Rebecca goes to work with Bruce, but when Bruce gets distracted trying to help a juvenile, Samuel Stackhouse, get off probation, Rebecca wanders off. Rebecca, who didn't take her epilepsy medication that day, has a seizure and ends up in the hospital with a head trauma, but after surgery she's okay. Bruce finds comfort in Zola's arms. Stu Collins takes Amy to lunch to meet his mother, and Joanne Collins and Amy immediately get off to a bad start which only gets worse. Stu is still charmed by Amy even if his mother isn't. Kyle tries to convince Lily to rehire Heather, but finds out that Heather doesn't want to be a doctor anymore and is happy bartending. Heather tells Kyle she'd like him to still be in her life, and he decides to have a drink at the bar and hang out with her.

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#23 Marry, Marry Quite Contrary: Aired Tuesday, May 6, 2003

Amy realizes that the fact that she hasn't told Lauren about Stuart yet shows a lack of commitment to the relationship on her part. After a revealing conversation with her ex-husband, Amy gets up the nerve to tell her daughter she has a boyfriend, and Lauren is happy for her. Bruce finds himself comforting a young, idealistic probation officer whose young charge turns out to be a accomplice to murder. Amy hears a difficult case in which a sixteen-year-old girl's best option in life is to marry her 26-year-old boyfriend, and the fact that Kimberly Fallon represents DCF in the case doesn't help. Gillian is not only convinced that her baby is going to be healthy, but that it's a girl, and she hurriedly decorates the nursery with all things pink and frilly. While Peter has his doubts, he wants to believe in Gillian, but when their doctor reveals to Peter that the baby is definitely male, Peter despairs that all of Gillian's wishful thinking is just that. As the sexual tension between Kyle and Lily starts to come to a head when he accompanies her to the ballet, Lily begins to despair that St. Michael's will never be a decent hospital, especially after a young suicide victim dies because St. Michael's second-rate facilities couldn't help her.

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#24 Shock and Awe: Aired Tuesday, May 13, 2003

Amy is being crushed by demanding lawyers and a budget crisis that causes cases to not get the attention they deserve. A frustrated lawyer pulls a gun in Amy's court, and Amy is narrowly missed by a stray bullet. Amy goes to the presiding judge's office to complain, and he sympathizes with her over the budget problems and offers her a job in criminal court. Maxine helps a grieving mother not be afraid to love the son she still has. With some timely advice from Amy, Kyle realizes that he has a choice not only between two women, but between drinking and not drinking. He decides to clean himself up and try to be with Lily, but Lily tells him that she can't risk her future on him and she's accepted a job at Sloane Kettering in New York. Gillian worries that Peter is cheating on her, but she's furious when she finds out she was wrong, and he was just going to a support group for parents of kids with genetic abnormalities. Just as Gillian is trying to get Peter to believe in her idea of the miracle baby, her water breaks. Amy misinterprets something Stuart says and thinks he may have proposed to her. When she asks him about it at the hospital while waiting for Gillian to give birth, he says that he didn't, but he's been considering it, and then he really does propose to her. Before she can answer, Peter comes out and happily announces the birth of his son. When Peter returns to Gillian's side, he's horrified to find that his wife didn't come through the C-section so well, and her heart has stopped.

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