The Lawyer, the Lemur and the Little Listener

_***½

Linda uses Phil's likeness in her creation of a children's book about a lemur, while Veronica learns that Ted's daughter Rose has insider information on the upcoming wave of layoffs about to affect the company.

The review for "Love Blurts" can be read here.

While Veronica (Portia de Rossi) has always been uneasy around children, she had previously found a use for Ted's (Jay Harrington) daughter Rose (Isabella Acres) during the events of "Through Rose-Colored HAZMAT Suits," and finds her valuable here once more. The reason that Veronica has so much trouble relating to children on a regular basis is because she has nothing to say to them, but here she learns that Rose knows something about the company that she herself does not, and that gives them something to talk about and to scheme about, giving Veronica the chance to relate to her as she would an adult.

Linda (Andrea Anders), finally glad to be working on something of her own, sells a children's book only to later recognize that the main character, a lemur, looks exactly like Phil (Jonathan Slavin). While her concerns regarding Phil are set aside when he reacts positively to the character, she is then made aware of a company policy stating that anything created on company time belongs to the company, thinking then that her children's book will be owned by Veridian unless she sells it to a separate company first.  In trying to help Linda with her book, Phil has her explain the premise, revealing that Linda is expressing her own frustrations in her life through her character. The fact that Linda feels stifled by Veridian Dynamics is no surprise, but what makes the story interesting is that she's eventually forced to give Veridian the rights to her character when she finds out that her lemur is being used in Asian ads to sell beer to children. Despite now being indebted to the company for saving her character, Linda manages to find the good in the situation by reading to the kids at the company day care. Even though she's trapped in a job she hates, Linda continues to find little things about the job that she likes, and that's very admirable.

Ted and Veronica are forced to give a presentation while giving all credit to one of their employees in order to save his job, for the sole purpose of keeping Veronica from looking weak. When Rose's information proves incorrect, Ted realizes that he shouldn't be using her for information anymore, noting that he had had an ethical dilemma regarding the issue previously, but now accepting that, even in trying to do something good, bad things still can happen, effectively putting that much more pressure on Rose.

Lem's (Malcolm Barrett) story through the episode is his relationship with Nadine (Chelsey Crisp), an affair so secret that not even Phil had been aware of it. Unfortunately, Lem soon learns that the company is charging him for the time he spends with Nadine, effectively reducing their relationship to prostitution, and despite being a lawyer Nadine has no qualms with the situation. Someone as smart as Lem surely would have mentioned the fact that their affair was bordering on the illegal, but instead both characters simply ignore the issue and continue on as though it's perfectly acceptable. It seems almost as though it were meant to be a throwaway gag that simply continued beyond it's usefulness.

At the top of the episode Rose reveals to Ted that the father of one of the kids in her playgroup is about to get fired, prompting a series of events that lead Ted to manipulate information out of his daughter. Ted had previously taken issue with the fact that Veronica had tried to exploit Rose in the interest of the company, but here Ted actively participates in doing the same thing. Given the fact that Veronica manipulates Ted, stating that they could save jobs with what they learn from his daughter, it's understandable that he would relent a little, but I would imagine he would still put Rose's best interests first. He could simply have just had a conversation with Rose on his own and relayed that information to Veronica at a later time, but he allows Veronica to interrogate his daughter here, and it's as though he doesn't learn from his past mistakes.

Everyone works together here once more to find their groove, and the chemistry is very much on point once more. Despite appearing only for the first time, Crisp plays very well against Barrett in her scenes, and she would be more than welcome to return in the future.

Directed by Chris Koch, this episode feels largely like those of the previous season, and it's a very good thing. After the lackluster presentation of the last episode, this one is a breath of fresh air, and it feels very much as though the season is finding it's footing and setting up for another incredibly entertaining year.

Tim Doyle writes multiple stories in this episode, separating the characters into their own plots, but intertwining them enough to ensure that they have a good amount of interaction with one another. Because everyone is involved with the other characters, mingling with one another outside of their own focused plot, the overall story works far better, feeling as though this is a larger world than just a series of smaller vignettes.

Having become indebted to the company in the name of saving her children's book, it seems that Linda is at Veridian for the long haul. Meanwhile, Rose's interaction with Veronica is likely to be kept minimal after the confusion caused in this story, potentially for the best for both characters.

The review for "Battle of the Bulbs" will be posted on December 28th.