‘Franklin and Bash’ Recap: Episode 3 – 'Jennifer of Troy'

The episode begins with Jared and Peter and some buddies playing an online game. Suddenly, their network grid goes down. They call up one of their buddies, Gene Toy, to fix it. He tells them he can’t because he’s leaving town. He explains that a store owner in Chinatown accused him of stuffing a frozen rabbit down his pants and now he’s blacklisted. Jared and Peter are upset for Gene.

Shoot to the Infeld Daniels boardroom. Stanton is briefing Jared, Peter, Damien, Hanna and the other lawyers on what the firm’s two newest cases are. The first, a receptionist at Sterd, an upscale men’s magazine, is suing because she feels she was fired for being “too beautiful.” The second case is about one of the firm’s biggest client’s wives being arrested for public urination outside of a Red Lobster. Damien crudely suggests that the public urination case is perfect for Jared and Peter, but they tell Stanton that they want the Sterd case and that they will win it. Damien tells Jared and Peter that he doesn’t think they can win. Jared and Peter then suggest a wager. Since Damien has been “eyeing” their “ginormous” office, if they don’t win, he can have it. If they win, they get his limited edition white guitar. Stanton can’t believe Damien would wager the expensive guitar he gave him as a gift.

Shoot to Jared and Peter meeting Katherine Mack, who took over running the Sterd from her father the famous “Big Mack.” She tells Jared and Peter that Jennifer was fired because she wasn’t a good assistant NOT because she was “too attractive.” She wants to settle and prevents Jared and Peter from talking to “Big Mack” about the lawsuit.

Shoot to Jared and Peter meeting Jennifer Putnam, the client suing Sterd and she’s a tad chubby but cute but not “attractive” at least by model standards. But, she truly believes that she was fired for being “too attractive.” Jared and Peter tell her that Katherine wants to settle, but Jennifer says she “wants her day in court.” She tells them she’s had “glowing recommendations” from the other supervisors she worked with at the magazine and about how hard she worked putting the magazine’s upcoming fund-raiser together. Jared and Peter don’t know what to do and realize Damien tricked them, knowing that Jennifer wasn’t attractive and he would easily win the bet.

Shoot to Jared and Peter confronting Damien. He says they chose to take the case and the bet. “Too bad,” says Damien.

Shoot to Jared and Peter, now additionally frustrated that the network grid is down and Gene won’t be able to fix it. They decide to go to Chinatown to try to convince the store owner that Gene wasn’t stealing.

Shoot to Jared and Peter at the store in Chinatown. When they confront the store owner and try to convince him that Gene wasn’t stealing, he thinks Gene sent Jared and Peter there to railroad him and orders them to leave the store.

Shoot to Stanton meeting Jennifer. They have a short but engaging conversation and ironically, Stanton seems captivated by Jennifer and tells Jared and Peter how “delightful” she is.

Shoot to Jared and Peter strategizing on how to convince the jury that Jennifer was fired for being “too attractive” when in reality, she’s rather plain. They come up with the strategy that she was attractive on the inside and that’s what got her fired. Hanna then comes bursting into Jared and Peter’s office telling them how Stanton is going around telling everyone how “captivating” Jennifer is. They ask for her help on the case.

Shoot to Hanna meeting Jennifer, who compliments her on the outfit she’s wearing and Hanna seems to like her as well.

Shoot to Jared and Peter walking through Chinatown and seeing flyers with their picture, slandering them. Gene sees them and blames them for getting him into even more trouble. He now has to try to meet with the Chinatown Council of Elders to try to plead his case. He asks Jared and Peter to leave him alone.

Shoot to Jared and Peter explaining their progress with the Sterd case then Stanton shows them one of the slanderous flyers with their pictures. Jared and Peter explain that they were only trying to help Gene but somehow made things worse and how he now has to try to get a meeting with the Chinatown Council of Elders. Stanton seems to know about the Chinatown Council of Elders and understands why the store owner feels that Jared and Peter were there to strong-arm him. Stanton tells Jared and Peter that they’ve made the firm of Infeld Daniels “unclean” in Chinatown and that since he knows a bit about Chinese customs and their rules, he and Damien will go meet with the store owner. Damien doesn’t really want to accompany Stanton to Chinatown but reluctantly agrees.

Shoot to Jared, Peter and Hanna strategizing on Jennifer’s case. Hanna suggests that their defense is that “beauty can make men do strange things.” Hanna demonstrates by using her beauty to captivate Jared.

Shoot to the courtroom with Jennifer on the stand and Peter questioning her. He begins by asking her routine questions but then the tone of his questions become more intimate and Jennifer and Peter end up making out on the stand. Both the prosecuting attorney and the judge object to the make out session. Jennifer and Peter break apart and Peter apologizes saying that Jennifer’s beauty caused him to have a momentary lapse in judgment.

Shoot to Stanton and Damien in Chinatown talking to the store owner. The store owner’s daughter, Tania, briefly interrupts their conversation during which Stanton says something to the store owner in Mandarin that seems to make him laugh. Stanton then looks at Tania with a curious face as she begins stocking shelves.

Shoot to Jared and Peter talking about Jennifer’s case and Jared remembering how Katherine seemed to want to keep him and Peter from talking to “Big Mack” about the case. They then remember Jennifer mentioning the magazine’s upcoming fund-raiser and how that would be the perfect place to talk to “Big Mack.” They go to Stanton, tell their plan to talk to “Big Mack” and ask permission to use company funds to purchase a table at the fund-raiser. Stanton agrees since its “tax deductible” and tells Jared and Peter to have a good time.

Shoot to the fund-raiser, which is a giant pool party. Jared and Peter see “Big Mack” in the pool with Jennifer on his shoulders. Katherine welcomes Jared and Peter but say Jennifer needs to leave. Katherine threatens to have security throw her out but Jared and Peter tell Katherine that, since Jennifer planned the fund-raiser, she has every right to attend. Jared and Peter talk to “Big Mack” who tells them what a “good kid” he thinks Jennifer is and how he wanted her to be his assistant. Jared and Peter ask him why he changed his mind and he tells them it was because Katherine told him she wasn’t good at her job.

Shoot to Katherine offering Jared and Peter a settlement for Jennifer of $55,000 plus a glowing recommendation letter. Jared and Peter say no go.

Shoot to Jared and Peter in their office trying to figure out why all of a sudden Katherine offers up a cushy settlement plus a glowing recommendation letter. They deduce that Jennifer wasn’t fired for being “too attractive” but because Katherine thought she was more like a daughter to “Big Mack” than she was.

Shoot to Stanton going to see Gene and asks him to tell him the truth. Gene tells Stanton that he has a pet python, which he feeds rabbits. He was just putting the frozen rabbit in his pants to speed up the thawing process. Stanton mentions the pet store across the street from the store owner’s store, which has fresh rabbits and tells Gene he thinks he knows why he was really in the store.

Shoot to the courtroom with “Big Mack” on the stand. Peter asks him about his relationship with Jennifer. He reiterates that she’s a “good kid.” Peter asks him to clarify and “Big Mack” says he calls Jennifer a “good kid” just like he calls his daughter. So, Peter establishes in front of the jury that “Big Mack” sees Jennifer as a daughter not like a sexual object since he has a reputation for having slept with most of the women who work at Sterd. Next, Katherine is on the stand and Jared is asking her questions. He asks her about her relationship with “Big Mack” and why he didn’t ask her to be his partner in the fund-raiser’s three-legged race. Katherine says it was because she had high heels on. Jared asks her if at all the fund-raisers in the past, if he EVER asked her to be his partner. She says no but only because she “always wears heels.” Jared then asks who “Big Mack” DID ask to be his partner. Katherine replies Jennifer. Jared then asks Katherine if Jennifer was fired because Katherine thought “Big Mack” saw Jennifer as more of a daughter to him than her. She puts her head down.

Shoot to Gene pleading with the Chinatown Council of Elders. All of a sudden, Stanton enters and explains how Gene was buying the rabbit as an excuse to see Tania whose father (the store owner) had forbidden her to see. Gene didn’t want to disobey the store owner’s edict, he just wanted to catch a glimpse of Tania. Then, Tania bursts in and tells the Chinatown Council of Elders, Gene and her father that despite his objection, she loves Gene and wants to marry him. Gene is shocked and Tania’s father forgives him so Gene doesn’t have to move away.

Shoot to outside the courtroom as “Big Mack” confronts Jared and Peter for harassing Katherine on the stand. Jennifer stands up for them. “Big Mack” apologizes to her and asks her what he can do to make it right. She says she wants her job back. He agrees. She also says she wants the magazine’s plastic surgery fund to go to Operation Smile so kids with cleft palates can have a chance to better themselves too. He agrees to that too.

Shoot to Gene fixing Jared and Peter’s network grid so they can play online games again.