‘Night Court’ Recap: ‘Just Tuesday’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

NIGHT COURT -- “Just Tuesday” Episode 103 -- Pictured: Melissa Rauch as Abby Stone -- (Photo by: Jordin Althaus/NBC/Warner Bros. Television)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Three of ‘Night Court’. To revisit the series premiere, click here.

Whenever we meet a person that is inherently good and optimistic in nature, let’s be honest… we are a touch skeptical of what they stand for. Because, the world is a mean place, and it has taught us some harsh lessons about human nature and its capacity for cynicism and cruelty. So, to see someone try and do right and try and be good, leaves one to wonder if they are simply someone who hasn’t lived the tough parts of life just yet and are ripe for a rude awakening, or if they are in fact… oblivious to the realities of the world. Wherein they live in their own little bubble of joy and should be left to it since there is a purity to that. But regardless of what people think about them, there is more to their push for good than we ever know, and it would behoove us to take a moment and learn why they embrace the joy in a world where a scowl is seemingly the norm over a smile.
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If anything, our trepidation toward people that seem too good to be true, and the need to learn more about why they harbor such a smile is top of mind today, simply because such matters served as the focus of this week’s episode of Night Court on NBC. A feat that ‘Just Tuesday’ accomplished by having us bear witness to quite the important moment in Judge Abby Stone’s burgeoning career on the bench. For she was of course, eager to see people be saved as always and bringing the same cheer to the bench she always does, and on this particular night… she was determined to go the extra mile and really do some wonders with the system. Which pushed her to dig deep into why a particular individual kept committing a bunch of crimes. Especially since he had a clean record until recently, and unfortunately, digging so deep, led to quite the critical mistake.

In that, the reason the man in was question was breaking the law left and right, was because he was an undercover NYPD officer, and wanted to be locked up to complete his work, and sadly… Abby blew his cover. Which… devastated her to no end and made her believe that doing good was perhaps, quite the mistake. One that would hamper her career and that prompted her to drop the hammer on the court and that in turn, pushed Dan to do something drastic and call her out in the middle of a case. A move that ignited fury briefly in Abby’s eyes and prompted her to hold Dan in contempt of court. Which he of course abided by, but this simply wasn’t Abby. This was her changing before everyone’s eyes and it took some prodding from Neil to get Dan to really sit down with her to talk, and that’s when the central themes came into play.

Because in talking with Abby and opening up about his late wife’s former alcohol recovery, Abby was quick to open up about her own struggles with alcohol, and how the power of the drink, robbed her of many years of living and time with her father. Who always kept the faith in her and made sure to leave her with nothing with good memories and feelings of love when she did finally heal. And that pushed her… to try and be like him and do good and offer the same kindness he did, and when faced with ‘failure’ in her mission to be a perfect person and be a beacon of hope, she reverted to anger and shame to cope. But of course, Dan’s kind words helped Abby to come to understand that we can’t always win them all, and that it is better to make the mistake and remain true to ourselves rather than let this world bring us down.

But what matters more here, is that Abby’s admission to Dan, helped us to understand that people that are inherently good are not daft or oblivious to the darkness of the world. That instead, they may have seen its worst parts firsthand and endured real pain because of it, and that has pushed them… to do whatever it takes to try and improve a world they know can harm and can swallow people whole. Which means… we should keep people that are inherently good, very close to us, and take a page from their book, since they are on to something. All of which, makes this another beautiful episode from a series that continues to surprise, and still makes sure to keep us laughing. Because Gurgs and Olivia’s quest to keep the latter’s free stuff a coming, was quite hilarious and well, in the end, all this stunning episode does, is leave us ready for next week’s tale. So, we can see what heartwarming lessons and hilarious moments await us when court is back in session. Until next time.

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