Episode 4: The Father-Daughter Dance

Now in charge at LSP, Lulu assigns Nick to help Samantha Gray, a blind twelve-year-old girl whose mother died from AIDS and whose heroin-addicted father’s parental rights were terminated following the fatal car accident that left her blind. Over Nick’s objections, Samantha is sent to a county mental hospital pending a hearing in her case. But after Samantha runs away and lands back at Nick’s office, Jim Gray shows up claiming he’s straightened out his life and now wants custody of his daughter. Meanwhile, when he and his young wife, Jackie, seek to take action against a fertility clinic after their baby is born half African-American, longtime client Albert Aaronson turns to the Fallins. And as Alvin copes with his demotion by spending much of his day at the racetrack, Burton finds that raising a teenage girl like Shannon is harder than he thought it would be.

Though Laurie Solt says it would be highly unusual for the court to restore his parental rights, Jim insists on being given a chance. And once she learns of his interest, Samantha asks to see her dad. As Burton seeks out the services of a nanny for Shannon, Nick discovers that Jackie actually got pregnant following an extramarital affair with a black man employed by her husband. But after Nick forces her to tell the truth, Jackie Aaronson is critically injured in an “accidental” fall that casts suspicion on her angry husband.

Although the initial meeting between father and daughter goes well, Nick harbors concerns both about Jim’s honesty and his ability to provide a stable home. And when the time comes for the judge to hear Samantha’s case, Nick finds Jim at a seedy hotel were he’s gotten high in response to all the pressure. Finally, when he’s summoned to the jail following Albert’s arrest, Burton asks Nick to take Shannon to a Father-Daughter country club dance. As Nick promises to continue working to find Samantha a home, Alvin makes it clear that he already feels as though he’s been fired from LSP. And when Albert Aaronson doesn’t want custody of his infant daughter, it’s left to Nick to find her a good home, too.