So Help Me Todd – Season 2 Episode 9 “The Broker” Recap & Review

The Broker

Episode 9 of So Help Me Todd Season 2 begins with Alex explaining her deployment to the firm. She has been undercover for months as part of a special mission. Judge Ezekiel Baxter has been suspected of accepting bribes to pass favourable judgments. And, there is a broker at Crest, Folding, and Wright who is facilitating all this.

Todd is immediately excited as this could be the launchpad for his career as a PI. However, for Lyle, the reality is very different. The love of his life has betrayed him for every second of their relationship. He requests an apologetic Alex to “not see him anymore,” even as Alex pleads that her feelings for him are real.

Gus, who is now in a relationship with Margaret, offers a substantial sum to her firm for working on the weekend. Margaret is thrilled and readily accepts the task without conditions. When she announces it to the office, they are less than pleased. But it is exactly what the firm needs right now! The case relates to a spilt chemical incident wherein the company now has to compensate the petitioners. The firm’s job is to vet them for the settlement amount. 

Allison goes into a spiral after discovering that her ex-husband, Chuck, is marrying someone. She is even more perturbed after she finds that not only did Margaret know about it this entire time, but she is also going to attend the engagement party.

Todd convinces Alex to hire him to investigate the people at the firm. His enthusiasm gets the better of him as Todd’s imagination runs amok. He imagines several people in the office who could be liaising with the judge, including Beverly and Judy.

Alex makes it clear that it won’t be easy to find out who the broker is since they have been able to hide out for so long. The suspicion also goes on Francy given her “Secret talks” with men in suits. When Margaret learns about it, she realizes what Francy is doing. She isn’t the broker but wants to leave the firm and is meeting with prospective employers. While investigating the claims of Gus’ petitioners, Allison discovers an anomaly. Many patients have been treated for cancer at the same clinic.

Although she is familiar with the name, Allison doubts if the facility is complicit. Gus and Margaret think that the opposite party is deliberately planting fake claims to force the judge to declare a mistrial. Todd and Alex suspect Gus is the broker. He fits the bill in all aspects and might be using the firm to launder the bribery money. They decide to bring Karina to the office. She is the one scheduling all the appointments.

Todd and Alex decide to surprise Gus by bringing in Judge Ezekiel. Todd, who is hiding in one of the cupboards in the meeting room, is disappointed when he learns Gus and Ezekiel don’t know each other. Gus cannot be the broker. Karina is brought to the room at the same time. She already seems nervous but when she learns Ezekiel is a judge, her anxiety takes over. Gus, Margaret, and Todd hear Karina’s confession as her barriers break loose.

Todd is disappointed when Alex decides to close the investigation. All their assumptions are without any basis, leading to dead ends. However, as they leave the room, we see someone was listening through a device. Margaret, Gus, and Allison head over to Chuck’s engagement party as the latter realizes that Gordon Swanson, who is also on the board of the big pharma company Gus is suing, is the person who benefited from scheduling the false appointments.

Gus and Margaret trick him into confessing his crimes by building pressure of an arrest at the party. Learning about these dirty tricks at the next hearing, the judge awards Gus and Margaret punitive damages of $50 million over and above the original amount leaving them ecstatic. Todd learns the next day that the FBI has closed the case when Alex introduces him to her senior. Ezekiel accepted the charges without naming the broker. 

Lyle makes up with Alex after realizing that he acted rashly. They embrace lovingly and Alex informs him that she has taken a transfer to the Oregon office in order to be close to him. Margaret requests Francy to stay on, but she is sceptical.

The episode ends on another exciting note as Todd discovers Judy’s house: an empty loft in the same building. She remarks that it has a connection to the firm, showing him various signs and boards with its name. This leads Todd to conclude that Folding is the broker since his name is the only one changing in all of them. He also decides to investigate this lead independently of the FBI to prove his own mettle. 

The Episode Review

As the show is coming to an end, it is producing gems one week after the other. This is arguably the best streak So Help Me Todd has been on since the first season. The penultimate episode sets up a thrilling finale that will surely lead to many unexpected outcomes.

The Broker moves at a brisk pace with so much happening in and around the subplots. The writing is crisp, the execution is fresh with all the innovations, and most importantly, it opens up into episodes of character development. That last bit is the most important for fans who have been with the show since the beginning.