‘Night Court’ Recap: ‘The Honorable Dan Fielding Part 2’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

NIGHT COURT -- "The Honorable Dan Fielding Part 2" Episode 116 -- Pictured: (l-r) Melissa Rauch as Abby Stone, John Larroquette as Dan Fielding -- (Photo by: Jordin Althaus/NBC/Warner Bros.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Season One Finale of ‘Night Court’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Something that each and every one of us hope for in this life, is a grand payoff to our efforts. The kind that makes it clear that every minute of work we put into our goals mattered, and that the path we chose to pursue was the right one and that is… a difficult hope to have to say the least. Simply because sometimes… it takes years before we see that payoff and sometimes… we don’t see it at all. For we sometimes fail in our efforts and must regroup and try something new… and we do. Because deep down we know, that seeing a grand payoff is something that will bring us a joy and a peace we’ve never known and well, that particular feeling is top of mind today, simply because… Judge Abigail ‘Abby’ Stone, enjoyed that feeling at last in the season one finale of Night Court on NBC.
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Granted, she had to go through utter hell to obtain it. For when we caught up with her in ‘The Honorable Dan Fielding Part 2’, she was out of jail and facing down the end of her short career on the bench. Because good ol’ Jeff Dewitt returned to prosecute her and he was eager to use this incident as a rallying cry to advance his legal career, and of course… to enact a little vengeance upon Abby… since she bested him a few weeks back and that… put her in a tough place. One where she wasn’t sure if doing good deeds as a judge was worthwhile or not and of course… she worried deeply about her future. For the loss of her job meant a return to Upstate New York and she wasn’t good with that, nor was she good with Dan’s plan for her defense.

Wherein scorched earth would be enacted upon Louise, so that Abby would be seen in the courtroom as someone that was roped into a scheme. Which would have hurt Louise deeply and that too, was not her style. So, she tried her best to rally forth character witnesses with minimal results, since Gurgs was headed to London and Olivia was instructed to stand with the District Attorney’s office or be fired. Of course, she didn’t want to put Neil in a tough spot and the one man that could have easily helped her here, was headed back north. Because this was also the end of Abby and Rand’s relationship because of her love of New York City and her desire to forge her own path and well… with no one behind her, and a (rightful) decision to hold to her morals… it seemed as though Abby was about to take the big L and regroup and figure out a different path in life. 

But once the trial got underway, Abby finally came to see, that being a great person and asking people to exude kindness and thoughtfulness in all things, and to rally behind those in need… was the right path to follow… and it finally paid off for her. Since Rand spoke with everyone about what it meant to stand with Abby and the importance of helping her enjoy a second chance after making a mistake, as she’d given to so many and that… saw Gurgs and Neil and even Olivia, stand with her and offer testimony to exonerate her and it didn’t hurt… that this inspired Louise to give Jeff the business by pointing out the shady stuff he did to bring this case to trial. Which led to the case being dismissed and that… allowed for Abby to finally see the fruits of her labor and arrive as a judge that truly gave people the objective and human justice they outright deserve.

However, while that was indeed wonderful to watch and should have brought this episode and this season to a happy close, there was still a bittersweet moment to handle. After all, Dan had to decide whether or not to stay, and since Abby would never ask him to do so since that would stunt his growth and because Dan would never speak to what he wants since he always believes in moving forward… he went home to be a judge. Leaving us to wonder what a second season of this show will look like without Dan Fielding in the Night Court courtroom, but thankfully… we will eventually find out. Since this show has indeed been granted a second season. But while we wait to see that dynamic play out, we can celebrate one great episode (which included an epic cameo from Marsha Warfield, reprising her role as Roz), and one great season. One that offered us amazing and uplifting lessons about life and its complexities all while breathing new life into an iconic franchise about the human condition. Until next year.    

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