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Season: 4 Episode: 01 Production Code: AM-401 First Air Date: October 23, 2000 Writer: David E. Kelley Director: Bill D’Elia # of Times Richard said Bygones: 0 Guest Stars:
Robert Downey Jr. as Larry Paul
Synopsis: Will you still love me tomorrow? That was the question of the night. At the end of last season, Ally McBeal convinced herself that stodgy law guy Brian was the answer to all her love woes. Six months later Brian arranged music (a Renee and Vonda duet), wine and a dizzying sapphire ring, to ask Ally not to marry him, but to shack up. After kissing so many frogs should Ally let less than a Prince put an unofficial glass slipper on her foot? Over at the firm, John prepped his nose whistle for an improbable case. Childhood pal Maureen would never be mistaken for Giselle so it seemed downright absurd that serial model charmer Wayne (Dark Angel’s Michael Weatherly) would marry her. A couple of years later he had a blonde on the side so Maureen wants an annulment to save her dignity and her dowry. Is it immoral to commit without the ever-elusive passion? Ally takes that very question to Dr.Tracey only to find this new guy Larry (fantastically played by Robert Downey Jr.) holding her thick file. Larry is like that cute little boy in class who was always tugging on your ponytail. And who yammers in that bullet fire manner that gets you to say things you never meant to say, like Ally, confessing that Brian does not ring her bell in bed. Larry’s advice: dump him! Next Dear Abby in line was Elaine, looking every bit the part in pearls and a shorter sophisticated do. She advised Ally to collar boring (Ling’s words) Brian since it’s not like the good old days when you could trap a man with pregnancy. Do you think Elaine's new lady that lunches look jibes with her less than prim personality? Richard certainly hasn’t changed; he was a screaming poor sport in John’s effort to boost Maureen’s ego. Mo took another blow when her annulment was shelved and Wayne revealed he never wanted a penny or her body. Feeling similarly, Ally reluctantly dropped Brit boy and luckily only minutes later she encountered the Tracy (Larry) to her Hepburn in the uni-sex. The chemistry between Larry and Ally was cracklingly sweet as she learned he’s a lawyer not a therapist, and especially during a tender little kiss on the cheek. Isn’t Robert Downey Jr. the best thing that has ever happened to this show? Romance has a livelier heartbeat than ever, as mercifully Al Green, ghosts, and dancing babies, seem to have been thrown out with the bathwater. |