‘Night Court’ Recap: ‘The Apartment’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

NIGHT COURT -- “The Apartment” Episode 105 -- Pictured: (l-r) Melissa Rauch as Abby Stone, Lacretta as Donna Gurgs, John Laroquette as Dan Fielding -- (Photo by: Jordin Althaus/NBC/Warner Bros. Television)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘Night Court’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Shows that are a reboot, reimagining, or sequel/extension of a beloved original, have big shoes to fill when they arrive on the airwaves. Because not only do the fans expect said show to respect the original and feature connective tissue in both the structure of the story and through its characters, but they also want the show to grow the characters and offer new types of stories through and through. Which sounds contradictory in nature, but it isn’t. It’s about balance. Balancing creativity and tribute and that is no easy task. Since it’s easy to stick with what works and what everyone knows and it is equally as easy to abandon what came before and just do something new, and those polarizing options are why a great deal of these types of shows fail. But there are shows out there in this vein that find the balance through and through, such as Night Court on NBC. 
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For this new-boot of the classic indeed pays proper tribute to that which came before it, through the connective tissue of the court and Abby Stone and the return of Dan Fielding. All while making sure to celebrate the little things that made the original great. But this series also knows how to give us something new and grow the characters in a dynamic manner and never was that more evident than last night’s episode. For ‘The Apartment’ is a story that truly offered wonderful balance for the audience, courtesy of two-key storylines. One involved Olivia, who came to discover in this particular tale… that she was about to face an embarrassing corner of her past and she honestly wanted no part of it. For a few years back, she blew her opportunity to work at a hot-shot law firm by making a fool of herself via what is affectionally known around the office as… the Door Pudding Incident. 

Which gave Dan the opportunity to be something new in this series and serve as a mentor for a change. Because he admitted he too made a faux pas sometime after the original series went off the air, one that cost him his career and if he could help here… then perhaps he could find a touch of redemption through Olivia. Which of course, led to a hilarious training sequence for Olivia, one that saw her desperately attempt to match the wit and fierceness of her opponent, only to learn… that she wasn’t going to be facing off against her nemesis after all. Just another lawyer from the firm. Because said nemesis didn’t really care in the end, a move that also rattled her because this felt like a slight and another knock against her value. But Dan was there to point out… it wasn’t just about showing up some hot-shot lawyer. It was about getting back on track and being the victor, period. And if she could do that… she’d find the confidence she was looking for and she’d be able to grow, and wouldn’t you know it? After a two-hour presentation… she did just that. 

All of which made for some powerful character growth that you don’t see in comedy shows all that often, and it didn’t end there. Because while Olivia was learning from a master… Abby was trying to get her life together. For she dove right in when she got to New York and chose an apartment that uh… provided her with a lovely: ‘eau de sausage.’ And with her honey Rand coming into town, she wanted to find a better place to live, and teamed up with Gurgs to do so. Since she knew all the best places in the courthouse to garner information. However, nothing quite went to plan in this hunt, since the awesome apartment they found through the death certificate office… went belly up because the landlord didn’t want to rent to a judge, and also because Rand found a reason to not come down. Which led to an interesting lesson for Abby. For she tried desperately to put her trademark c’est la vie spin on this, and Dan informed her… she shouldn’t. That she should feel her feels and find the positivity after that, so that the ugly stuff didn’t simmer before creating more explosive moments… akin to the one she had here. Which was a fine lesson for a judge and person that is truly starting out in their life. 

If anything, all of these storylines, speak to the growth of the series. Because these are deep life lessons to find in a comedy about a bunch of coworkers dealing with wild cases in a Night Court. But that is what makes this new-boot so special. In that, it’s about the characters and their journey and it wants to offer a little more than the original and the average television comedy. But that’s a lot of new stuff to focus upon and almost speaks to a series that doesn’t really share connective tissue to the original and well… that’s what makes this episode so wondrous, and so connective to the original. Because the characters were king in the original Night Court, and their lives were important. And this just builds upon something that made the original great, and you simply cannot go wrong with that. Plus, everything we need from a connective tissue standpoint was still here. Because there were still shenanigans happening in the court, and there were still hilarious moments to be found. Giving us that all-important balance while also informing us… to expect a genuinely new and refreshing chapter in this beloved franchise. Until next time.  

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