‘Night Court’ Recap: ‘The Judge’s Boyfriend’s Dad’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

NIGHT COURT -- "The Judge’s Boyfriend’s Dad" Episode 301 -- Pictured: (l-r) John Larroquette as Dan Fielding, Wendie Malick as Julianne Walters, Melissa Rauch as Abby Stone, Ryan Hansen as Jake -- (Photo by: Nicole Weingart/NBC)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Season Three Premiere of ‘Night Court’. To revisit the Season Two Finale, click here.
​
One particular act we work hard to take part in, in this life, is to be honest with the people we deeply care about. Because honesty matters and no one likes being lied to, but sometimes… following that edict just isn’t one-hundred percent possible. Not because we make a conscious choice to harm them by outright keeping truth from them, but because… we sometimes encounter little nuggets of truths that could deeply harm the person we care about. So, we deem it best, to keep that truth from them to protect them, and perhaps see if we can process it in a manner that will soften the blow when we are ready to tell that truth. Because caring for someone involves that now and again, and it is not an easy process to navigate, as evidenced by the season three premiere of Night Court on NBC.

For ‘The Judge’s Boyfriend’s Dad’ picked up shortly after the season two finale where Jake’s mom, Susan, hinted at the very real possibility that Dan Fielding, might be Jake’s actual dad. A reality further enforced by the fact that this duo was able to mimic one another to a tee and well… that put Abby Stone in that tough place. Because this was… a lot for her to process and would of course, be a nightmare for Jake and Dan to process. Since he has spent years looking for his biological father, and Dan has never expressed a desire to be a father So, she decided to keep that truth at bay for a hot minute, so she could figure out if this true. Because if it wasn’t, then this was no big deal, but if it was… she would need to deliver such a bombshell gently to her beau and mentor and well, that process went about as well as one might expect.

For she thought an honest talk with Susan would bring about the truth but that instead… confused the hell out of her. Since Susan did speak to potentially being quite intimate with Mr. Fielding. But alas, she was also drugged out of her mind from surgery and said a lot of weird things, such as implying that she may have been very intimate with a cute judge that was also a magician, which horrified Abby to no end for obvious reasons. Which prompted her… to go to extremes to get the answers. In part to also make sure Jake wasn’t her brother, so she had Gurgs test her DNA and steal Dan and Jake’s DNA in a hilarious manner to put to rest once and for all, if Dan was Jake’s dad or not. All of which brought forth, a very honest and powerful examination of how hard it is to be in that position where we know something about a special someone that could change their life and how hard it is to carry that burden.

But of course, you’re likely wondering how that ends, and well… we’ll get to that in a moment. Because there was another important plotline present in this story that we absolutely need to talk about. In that, we came to learn that Olivia stepped away from Night Court to take on a fancy new job. One that paid her handsomely and that meant the court needed a new prosecutor and they found one. A familiar one… in Julianne Walters. Yes, that’s right. The woman that was in this court often of her own accord, and eager to bring Dan Fielding to his knees, was granted a second chance at life through Abby’s second chance program and opted to take that opportunity to resurrect her work in law and work across from Dan. Which led, to some amazing comedic moments, the kind that revealed that big secret that everyone was keeping, in that, all believed Dan was the judge’s boyfriend’s, dad.

Which meant… this one ended on a cliffhanger, and a good one at that. Since Abby had the test results in hand the moment Dan found out the truth about what was happening around him, and all of this led, to one amazing premiere. For this one featured that perfect blend of comedy and humanity that this series has quickly become known for, and it engaged us every single step of the way, simply because… we too must know. Is Jake, Dan’s son? Because that would be a huge plot twist, and alas we must now wait to find out. But while we wait, we can revel in the wonder of this magnificently written story, that eased us into a new chapter for the cast with Wendie Malick joining the cast as a regular and did not miss a beat with the comedy. Since the jokes worked so well here, and now that we’ve reached the end of one delightful premiere, we can turn our attention to Jake and Dan, as we wait to see if they are father and son. Until next time.

Learn more about the show’s new prosecutor, courtesy of our interview with Wendie Malick.

---

Watch ‘Night Court’

Powered by JustWatch