So Help Me Todd – Season 1 Episode 17 “The First Date is the Deepest” Recap & Review

The First Date is the Deepest

Episode 17 of So Help Me Todd presents a peculiar challenge for the titular namesake. Todd is called in by Beverly Crest who needs his help with vetting five probable candidates who are in the running to replace Alex Song as a named partner. One among them is Gus Easton, whom Margaret is currently dating.

Margaret is in the running too but Susan makes it clear to Todd that she cannot talk to him “for a very long time” as she is not over him. Ryan Fox comes to Margaret for help in the middle of this, a guy who previously worked with Kathy, his mother, against the school board.

Kathy died last night in surgery and he has come with papers that the hospital has given them to settle. Margaret finds it unusual so she decides to take his case. Margaret meets Helene Gallagher, the administrator of the hospital and believes they are hiding something big. Allison works in the same hospital while Margaret is surprised to find a lot of Allison’s stuff in the nurse’s room, meaning that she had that talk with Huchk and they are currently living separately. Dr Ross Woods, who operated on Kathy, shows up from the bathroom. Before Margaret can ask him anything, Allison protects him.

The next morning, Todd, Beverly, and Margaret ride the elevator. Margaret asks Todd never to speak to Beverly again as she is close to becoming a named partner. She has no idea about the vetting. Margaret meets Dr Diane Young from Allison’s hospital, who works with Ross – but as a patient. Diane quickly catches on to Margaret’s scheming.  She appeals to Diane’s ethical compass.

Diane reveals that Ross is an incompetent doctor, who has flunked every lab test. Todd follows Gus, who is going to Elmira Howard’s house. It seems like she is his partner from what Todd heard. He breaks in but the reality is not what he thought. Elmira is an 80-year-old paralegal at Gus’ firm who lets him use her shower when the plumbing on his houseboat is damaged. Gus invites him to lunch to get to know him better.

Allison protects Ross once again and feels like Margaret is attacking the doctor’s community. Just then, they learn that Ross has lost another patient. Gus and Todd have a rapid-fire to know each other. He asks Todd to relax as it is just a date. Gus tells Todd that hospitals want to protect what no other hospitals have and what generates revenue. It turns out that the robot Ross used and killed two patients with was bought for millions by the hospital. And it is touted as the next big thing in the medical community.

Diane confirms it is a medical marvel. To find out if the robot made the error or Ross, Todd convinces Margaret to break into the surgical suite to access it. They somehow manage to get the records from the robot’s hard drive. Lyle brings his friend Kyle for assessing the records. It turns out that Ross made the errors, not the machine.

Margaret takes the findings to Helene, while Ross is suspended as a result. Allison and Ross do seem to have a thing for each other but haven’t acted on it yet.

Margaret and Gus have their date but Todd interrupts them, as he’s forced to tell the truth about Crest’s assignment. Gus says he was about to tell Margaret but she is offended and they have a fight.

But they have bigger problems as the hospital has withdrawn their settlement offer. Kathy ate some food after midnight before the operation and the hospital claims that led to Kathy’s death. Todd serves the summons to Allison while they are having dinner against her wishes. Margaret questions him at the trial. But Allison is unwilling to answer.

Instead of asking about the case, Margaret is more worried that Allison is ending her marriage with a boy of her choice. Margaret asks for a brief recess as she has an idea. Todd makes a case for Margaret to Beverly and also sorts out a case she was struggling with. Margaret sees the records of the machine being used for simulation on the same day Ross and others were out for a department dinner. Diane used it on Ross’ behalf to properly fail him as she wants to be chief of the surgical department.

Margaret takes the court to the Operating Room and asks Diane to use the robot. She is not able to though, as Margaret has asked Kyle to do it remotely from their office. Whenever a new controller uses the robot, it stores the user’s IP address. Dianey’s address is recorded in the hard disk when Ross was performing the surgery.  Diane murdered the patients to become Chief.

Diana is taken into custody and Ryan gets a $3 million settlement. As the episode closes out though, Margaret has stopped dating Gus and Todd takes her mother for a lunch date instead.

The Episode Review

The final moments when Todd comforts Margaret and vice versa tell everything about their relationship. They have stuck through with each other through all sorts of messes and high points.

Allison seems like she is her own person and moving on from Chuck too. We saw previously that she was annoyed with Margaret’s control over her life. The decisions she is now making seem to be keeping that disastrous outcome in mind.

So that is positive character development. Susan was clearly affected by her rush of feelings for Todd. But if the makers aren’t bringing Amy back, it is cruel to keep them separate. They are great together and hopefully, they end up together by the end of this season. Margaret might get her wish to be named partner due to Todd’s hard work and brazen support for her. That remains another interesting development as season 1 draws toward a close.