I’ll admit that Night Court Season 1 Episode 8 is probably my favorite offering so far this season.
There’s something about doubling down on the absurdity of the court’s usual clientele by adding some perennial extra craziness that rings true to the original series.
Meanwhile, learning about how (and with whom) Harry fell in love and moved upstate scratches that itch of missing him.
Remembering how the original series had several guest stars who recurred with delightful regularity (Bob and June Wheeler, anyone?), I can’t help but consider the quirkier defendants we’ve seen for potential returns.
I suspect we won’t see the vampire couple again, but Pam is in my “Strong Maybe” pile. It helps that she stuck around for multiple scenes.
Of course, being the Blood Moon, they may all be one-offs, although it would be interesting if Satan’s daughter, Marsha, were to check in occasionally.
Olivia: When Satan speaks to you, is it in your head or from a dog?
Marsha: He speaks through my air fryer.
Blaine: Possessed appliances. I got it.
The brilliance of the comedy is accepting the insane as just another day while the mundane prove extraordinary.
Take Olivia’s reaction to Abby and Gina’s relationship, for instance.
You and your mom talk about how you love each other? It’s not just a word that was once written in a birthday card you keep with you at all times?
Olivia
Initially, she’s performatively sarcastic about how the two are so similar and emotionally close, but her envy and personal childhood of neglect become apparent quickly.
It plays as relatively successful humor, but Olivia’s neuroses would be tragic without the laugh track.
Rather than paint her as the stock ladder-climbing, power-hungry strategist, they are layering her issues weekly with a new trauma.
We’ve seen her deal with the debilitating memory of past humiliation, rely on Abby to pull her out of a catatonic state when the subway breaks down, and learn to be office roomies with Gurgs.
To be fair, many of her problems make sense if she has deep-seated mommy issues, to boot.
All moms have secrets, right? Mine was that she never wanted me. Although, I guess it wasn’t really much of a secret cause it’s how she’d kick off parent-teacher conferences.
Olivia
Strangely enough, there are a lot of parallels in her psychology to Neil, who demonstrates pathological underachievement and an extreme lack of self-confidence in social protocols.
Gina’s arrival is the catalyst for a variety of unexpected behaviors.
Her history with Dan sparks an undercurrent of tension that Gurgs misinterprets in the most scandalous way possible.
Her misunderstanding-rooted conversation with Dan in the hallway is some classic sitcom fare.
Meanwhile, Neil’s compulsive need to connect with parent figures, specifically mothers, should probably be something he talks out with a therapist.
Olivia: Are you stalking Abby’s mom on Facebook?
Neil: No! I’m just doing some light research so I can have a successful conversation with her.
Olivia: Oh, Neil. Being a person might not be for you.
But that leads to the revelation that he’s got a crush on Abby, which feels like it’s coming out of the left field.
What happened to the nurse he was texting with the help of his Justice Buddy on Night Court Season 1 Episode 6?
Did he get tired of the pity minestrone from that restaurant on Night Court Season 1 Episode 4?
It’s the curse of modern-day serialized television that we’ve come to expect continuity from even our episodic sitcoms.
Neil: So how did you meet Abby’s dad?
Gina: Oh, no one wants to hear that boring story.
Dan: Personally, I would love to hear what you’ve been telling Abby all these years.
Abby: It’s a fairy tale. My dad was Upstate for the Mel Torme concert and decided to go to the Harvest Festival. He and my mom ended up in the same ferris wheel car and by the end of the ride, they fell in love. Later that night, he proposed, saying, ‘You’re only one yes away from the rest of your life.’
Dan: Almost sounds too good to be true.
Faith Ford is delightful as Gina, mirroring Abby’s cheeriness with a jaded mother-hen twist.
What’s intriguing is Abby’s reaction to her mom’s sudden arrival. Initially, it’s genuine excitement, but her mother’s obvious disapproval of New York City in general and Abby’s choice of job, in particular, becomes the tsk-tsking elephant in the room.
When the truth of Gina’s criminal past is revealed, Abby’s need to prove herself dissipates in her shock that her mother has authentic New Yorker feet of lead.
The fairytale she was fed growing up may never have felt completely real. Perhaps, subconsciously, she suspected something off about it even as she made it a part of her family history.
The gritty reality she’s chosen to work in might be indicative that the idyllic life upstate didn’t suit her.
Gina: I need to use the ladies room.
Abby: Oh, down the hall and to the left. And I know you like to have a good time, but do not call any of the phone numbers written in there.
She comments on Night Court Season 1 Episode 1 that she took the new job hoping to connect with her father’s spirit and legacy.
So how fitting is it that her mother comes clean and provides the truth of how she and Harry met and fell in love in the very courtroom where it all happened?
Dan’s “non-involvement” in it all makes me wonder if he and Sarah ever considered having children.
I mean, he’s made his curmudgeonly opinion on offspring known previously. Specifically on Night Court Season 1 Episode 6, when the courtroom hosted several young people.
Abby: Gurgs’s nephew, Xavier, and some of his classmates are here to do research for a Social Studies project.
Dan: Don’t you think it’s a huge mistake? Bringing children into the court? And Earth, in general.
But he’s oiled up his mentor-ish/fatherly gears since hanging around Abby.
Abby herself pointed out that he wasn’t above giving some free and practical legal advice to the people to whom he served summons and subpoenas as a process server.
I continue to yearn for the backstory of his relationship with Sarah. If it truly brought about the maturity and pathos Dan now exhibits, it would be witnessing the birth of a miracle.
There’s a lot of carry forward from this outing.
Will Neil act on his crush? Can Gurgs keep a lid on it until he sorts it out?
What about Abby’s fiancé, Rand? Now that her mom’s been down to visit, Rand can’t be far behind, right? After all, he was expected on Night Court Season 1 Episode 5, when Abby had her rage moment.
I wonder what sort of reception he’ll get when he finally makes an appearance.
As you watch Night Court online, consider who you’d like the show to dive deep into next.
Do you want to explore why Neil has such anxiety about being himself?
Would you like to meet Olivia’s disengaged mother? Perhaps she and Dan would hit it off?
I’d like to see a rival bailiff get up in Gurgs’s business. Our girl would lay the smack-down on that which SUCH a grin.
Hit our comments below with your wishlist!
Diana Keng is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.