S01E02: Co-pilot

[The Crazed Spruce]

Quote

Margaret and Todd work two seemingly unrelated cases, only to discover a key piece of information in the details of Todd's humorously boring civil case could help Margaret's high-profile client.

[AnimeMania]

Hiro Kanagawa (Alistair Song)
Clayton James (Chuck)
Thomas Cadrot (Chet)
Artemis Litsiadis (Clementine)
Sunita Prasad (Elaine Adani)
Shawn Ahmed (Mayor Eric Adani)
Kesar Bharaj (Ryan Adani)
Amy Goodmurphy (Moe Simms)
Georgia Bradner (Lexy Fawcett)
Adrian Petriw (Dragon Romano)
Antonio Cayonne (Kelly [Coroner])
Lindsay Collins (High School Prim Woman)
Barbara Wallace (Jacqueline Dubois)
Raymond Wey-Ming Ho (Meek Attorney)
Andy Nez (Courthouse Security Guard)
Aurora Chan (Spa Lady)
Lily Yawson (Law Firm Receptionist)
Herbert Duncanson (Judge)
Tommy Europe (Bailiff)
Chad Tanner Fortin (Bus Hoodlum)
Sara Bynoe (Law Firm Secretary)
Christine Cattell (Celia Marquette)

I didn't enjoy this episode as much as the first one. Everybody seem a little too hyper, which I found annoying. I would prefer it if everybody would be more relaxed. They didn't explain what the relationship was between the woman who was killed and her killer, how did they get evidence that could implicate the Mayor, since neither of them had any contact with him. Would the Mayor's wife really rather be dead or go to jail for the rest of her life, than let the Mayor find out his son might not really be his son?

[stonehaven]

I found Todd super whiny in this episode. I didn't enjoy it as much. The partner, Song, seemed familliar to me and it took me all episode to figure it out. He was on Zoey's Playlist with Skylar a couple years ago.

Maybe, I'll watch this again. It had a bit humor but Ghosts was a lot funnier....

[ams1001]

13 hours ago, stonehaven said:

I found Todd super whiny in this episode. I didn't enjoy it as much. 

I find the urgent-whisper "I have to tell you something very important" gesture-from-outside / 'Ignore or wave off the person urgently trying to get my attention and don't let them speak' exchanges (of which there were multiple) very frustrating to watch. Also the way they argue in general. I want to like them but I'm not sure I do.

I also find it hard to believe that there would be no onboarding process on his first day even if he was hired by his mother. Or that there's no where else in the entire office he could work that doesn't involve sitting on a stool with his laptop on his lap and people randomly coming in and opening file drawers in his face without a word.

Edited October 7, 2022 by ams1001

[Lady Calypso]

26 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

I didn't enjoy this episode as much as the first one. Everybody seem a little too hyper, which I found annoying. I would prefer it if everybody would be more relaxed. They didn't explain what the relationship was between the woman who was killed and her killer, how did they get evidence that could implicate the Mayor, since neither of them had any contact with him. Would the Mayor's wife really rather be dead or go to jail for the rest of her life, than let the Mayor find out his son might not really be his son?

I'm just finishing watching now. The killer is the real father of the mayor's kid. I believe he was trying to blackmail the family and he killed the other woman to frame the wife because she stopped paying him the blackmail money. 

Yeah, this episode was too much for me. Too much illegal activity and Todd not giving a shit about the crimes he's committing, on top of flirting with an engaged woman. He's really not likeable, no matter how much Skylar Astin is trying to give him layers. I get his whole journey is likely to be a better person, but it's real damn hard when Todd should absolutely be arrested for at least half his moves this episode. 

Also, now knowing Margaret isn't even a founding partner, or a partner in general, how she could have hired Todd without talking to anyone is beyond me.

[Brian Cronin]

4 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Also, now knowing Margaret isn't even a founding partner, or a partner in general, how she could have hired Todd without talking to anyone is beyond me.

Yeah, that definitely felt like a classic "Dramatic change to the setup of the series after the pilot" deal, since there was NO indication that she wasn't even a partner in the pilot. It really doesn't track at all (but that's the case with most dramatic changes to the setup of the series after the pilot). 

[AnimeMania]

5 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I'm just finishing watching now. The killer is the real father of the mayor's kid. I believe he was trying to blackmail the family and he killed the other woman to frame the wife because she stopped paying him the blackmail money. 

Yeah, I got that part, but I don't understand how the Killer got the woman to agree to go "Public" with a front page "I am having an affair with the Mayor" story if she knows absolutely nothing about the Mayor or has no connection to the Mayor or zero proof of the affair. I don't think offering her some money would be enough motive, although the phone call in the court house suggested she didn't think there would be anywhere near this much scrutiny, although I don't know why. The killer would have been smarter to suggest that a super handsome hunk was having an affair with the Mayor's Wife, he probably would have had plenty of evidence to support that like, regular secret payments, items that might have belonged to the wife that still have her DNA, the Mayor's Wife being super jittery and distraught.

[bad things are bad]

But at least we got a Harry Nilsson song. The world could always use more Nilsson

I bailed about 10 minutes in

[Drummermom]

Ten minutes was about all we could handle. Deleted if off the DVR. 

[Lady Calypso]

4 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Yeah, I got that part, but I don't understand how the Killer got the woman to agree to go "Public" with a front page "I am having an affair with the Mayor" story if she knows absolutely nothing about the Mayor or has no connection to the Mayor or zero proof of the affair. I don't think offering her some money would be enough motive, although the phone call in the court house suggested she didn't think there would be anywhere near this much scrutiny, although I don't know why. The killer would have been smarter to suggest that a super handsome hunk was having an affair with the Mayor's Wife, he probably would have had plenty of evidence to support that like, regular secret payments, items that might have belonged to the wife that still have her DNA, the Mayor's Wife being super jittery and distraught.

Honestly, I missed all of that, even as I was commenting here, so zero idea. I just assumed the affair was real, Killer found out the woman's address and killed her to frame the wife. 

But I guess that doesn't really line up with the Good Mayor storyline.

[shapeshifter]

Right before this episode aired, I saw an interview with Skylar Astin in which he sang a bit of a Michael Bublé song. 
Too bad this show isn’t a musical.

[iMonrey]

Hmm, I actually liked this better than the pilot. I thought the story was less convoluted and the overall tone was lighter and more consistent. The pilot had a lot more table setting to do, this felt like a more concise episode. I liked how Todd's sister basically offered the same advice to him and their mother and both reacted the same way to it. They are more alike than they will admit.

I wonder about the title, though. Co-Pilot? I don't recall any reference in the dialogue that would explain it. Was it produced as a secondary pilot?

Quote

Yeah, I got that part, but I don't understand how the Killer got the woman to agree to go "Public" with a front page "I am having an affair with the Mayor" story if she knows absolutely nothing about the Mayor or has no connection to the Mayor or zero proof of the affair.

She did it for money, which she basically alluded to over the phone. I don't think she was very bright.

It did feel like something got cut out of the episode, though. After the mayor's wife confesses to Margaret that she killed Lexy, it went to commercial and when it came back Todd was in the abandoned ice rink waiting for the blackmailer and there was no reference to what happened to the mayor's wife until a couple scenes later during the dinner scene. I mean, at that point you would have thought "case closed."

I also wonder what's going on with Todd's absentee brother and why we only ever see his husband.

[AnimeMania]

59 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I wonder about the title, though. Co-Pilot? I don't recall any reference in the dialogue that would explain it. Was it produced as a secondary pilot?

The only thing I can think of is somebody thought they were in the "Pilot Seat" at the law firm.

[ams1001]

Quote

Margaret and Todd work two seemingly unrelated cases, only to discover a key piece of information in the details of Todd's humorously boring civil case could help Margaret's high-profile client.

...what was the "key piece of information" that connected the two cases?

The only thing I remember is him using his observing the water damage case (and lying about being an expert witness on it...you'd think the guard would ask for ID if it was so important to keep random people away) to get the guard to let him through so he could get into the courtroom for the mayor's case.

His burner phones must have great batteries if he can just leave them recording in a courtroom for hours on end.

Edited October 7, 2022 by ams1001

[The Crazed Spruce]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I wonder about the title, though. Co-Pilot? I don't recall any reference in the dialogue that would explain it. Was it produced as a secondary pilot?

Maybe it's because the mother (whose name I really need to commit to memory some day) was demoted to co-council on the mayor's case. Didn't the senior partner even call her "co-pilot"? Or did I mishear that scene?

[seacliffsal]

The actor who played Song was also on iZombie as the captain (or something) of the police department.

Loved the Nilsson song.

A little frentic but hopefully the show will calm down a bit.  The clues were a little too easy to get.

[Pop Tart]

Agree that this was a bit too frantic and Todd annoying, you all have said what I thought. I did laugh when they said that the woman accusing the mayor was represented by Alicia Florick. Wonder if someone in the writer’s room worked on The Good Wife or if that was just because they’re both CBS.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Pop Tart said:

I did laugh when they said that the woman accusing the mayor was represented by Alicia Florick. Wonder if someone in the writer’s room worked on The Good Wife or if that was just because they’re both CBS.

It wasn’t as funny as it might have been. IDK🤷🏻‍♀️     
But, yeah, it was a CBS joke.

[kirinan]

5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I wonder about the title, though. Co-Pilot? I don't recall any reference in the dialogue that would explain it. Was it produced as a secondary pilot?

My first thought was that it referenced Margaret and Todd actually kind of having to work together, but who knows.

I'm one of those who didn't like it as much as the pilot. I thought Todd acted like an annoying, over-entitled little sh!t who caused all kinds of havoc (and potential issues with the law), and all the frantic running around and fighting was exhausting to watch. I'll still hang in for a few more episodes, but PLEASE, producers, start making Todd grow up a little, or this show's going to be unbearable before long.

[seacliffsal]

18 hours ago, kirinan said:

My first thought was that it referenced Margaret and Todd actually kind of having to work together, but who knows.

I'm one of those who didn't like it as much as the pilot. I thought Todd acted like an annoying, over-entitled little sh!t who caused all kinds of havoc (and potential issues with the law), and all the frantic running around and fighting was exhausting to watch. I'll still hang in for a few more episodes, but PLEASE, producers, start making Todd grow up a little, or this show's going to be unbearable before long.

This reminds me of what happened to one of my most beloved shows of all time-Psych. They never allowed Shawn to grow up and it ended up ruining my love for the show.  Hopefully they will allow Todd to show growth and avoid the trope of the eternal "man-child." 

[tinderbox]

I, too, liked the first episode much better.  

Would love to see mother and son work closely, utilizing Todd’s specialized  detective skills, with less of his unique personality traits being front and center but never completely disappearing.  Also, give the guy a desk and his own car.  (I realize all of this could happen in future episodes.) 

[eel21788]

2 hours ago, tinderbox said:

 Also, give the guy a desk and his own car.  

   Do we know yet if he even has a valid driver's license?

[Daff]

My take, after watching two, Todd is way too manic (he’s a loose cannon). Mom is OCD, stodgy, too slow on the uptake, and has absolutely no sense of humor (dam, I really miss Code Black, and everyone she got to play off of there). Together, they seem to epitomize dysfunctional. This isn’t all that interesting to watch. The sister showed promise in episode one, but now we find out she’s neurotic, and barely holding herself together, yet giving advice to Todd. Because of MGH, I’ll give it some time, but overall, it’s disappointing. 

[Maverick]

Margaret not being a bigwig at the law firm was a total WTF.  The pilot certainly played it like she was a named partner.   It's also really strange that for a legal show the have Todd collecting evidence in a way that would never stand up in court. 

 I like Sklar and Marcia but the rest of the cast is bland, cliche, box checking or some combination thereof.   The two leads can only do so much with what they're being given and can only draw people to tune in for so long.  

[LennieBriscoe]

I'm  hooked. 

It's a Goldilocks Drama: just taxing enough. 

And I've added Skylar Astin to my Imaginary Man Harem, aka, If I Were 40 Years Younger ...! 🤫 🥰 🤭

[TV Anonymous]

On 10/6/2022 at 10:51 PM, Lady Calypso said:

Also, now knowing Margaret isn't even a founding partner, or a partner in general, how she could have hired Todd without talking to anyone is beyond me.

Margaret is not a founding nor a named partner, but there is nothing in two episodes that indicate that she is not a partner at all. If she is really not than this show is even more bullshit that I think as there is no way an associate can get a private office as spacious and as well-furnished as hers.

Speaking of bullshit, this show is. Too much of happenstance, that I hate. Too much of illegalities for a legal drama. And of course too much of Todd. Two and out, off my PVR. Maybe I can revisit in the future once it goes to Paramount+.

[South]

I watched this episode a second time, due to being distracted the first go-round.  Marcia Gay Harden is clearly several cuts-above.  No shade on the others, not at all.  She is compelling, regardless of the scene or line being delivered.

[Daff]

2 hours ago, South said:

I watched this episode a second time, due to being distracted the first go-round.  Marcia Gay Harden is clearly several cuts-above.  No shade on the others, not at all.  She is compelling, regardless of the scene or line being delivered.

I agree, just wish she had a better character to play. 

[luna1122again]

Yeah, same as most of you. This fell several rungs below the first episode for me. I've never seen him do this in other performances, but Skylar was playing to the cheap seats all episode. Just so much overacting. I get this was supposed to be, overall, a funnier episode, but it was so broad and overreaching that my eyes were rolling out of my head. He and his mom are just so MUCH...I like the dead pan sister a lot better than either of them. 

And the shenanigans with Todd not having an office or a desk or a chair was some BS, and not funny. As was the seeming-retcon that Margaret is just another cog in the wheel at the firm. 

I like MGH and SA a lot, so I'm gonna give it another few eps to see if it finds its footing. 

[Lady Calypso]

I always have a Six Episode rule for myself: if I can make it to episode six, I'm usually in it until at least the rest of the season.

But this show needs to pick it up and get better fast. It's just too much right now.

[I Want My MBTV]

I don't think my blood pressure can take any more episodes of this.   I spent the whole episode wanting to jump through the tv and punch Todd!  His antics were not cute and I was totally team Lyle!  I think we're supposed to be rooting for Todd but I was just rooting for him to fall off a cliff.  I don't care that he was able to solve the case.  That doesn't justify his behavior or anything else and if engaged girl is stupid enough to leave her fiancé for this giant man boy well then I guess she gets what she deserves.

It is strange because this was not my reaction at all after the first episode but this 2nd one sent me round the bend. 

[cardigirl]

I love Todd, and Lyle can kiss my a$$. What a douche. No welcoming, no bending. Yeeesh. 

I get that Todd may need to be reminded he's starting at the bottom and is not yet an equal partner with Lyle, but Lyle has a big stick up his butt, which hopefully will be removed soon.

When Margaret was negotiating with Lyle for whatever access Todd could have, I thought that was great. Margaret was showing Todd how to work with someone who may not be as fast as Todd is at figuring things out. LOL. 

I'm in. Great cast and I hope, some great storytelling. 

[LennieBriscoe]

Suspension of disbelief. It's  not just for breakfast anymore. 

Maybe Margaret is being shown somewhat disappointed  in her position so that she becomes, as she did this episode, more amenable to working with her son. 

I'd like to see Lyle either needing some help from a relative or being asked to be a major reference for one. Test his anti-nepotism stance. 

Todd the character seems written in the vein of David Addison, funny, even silly, charming, astute. 

[callie lee 29]

Is Todd supposed to be completely unlikeable? He's not coming across to me as a quirky but charming good guy (or whatever he's supposed to be). He's more like an entitled and over indulged mamas boy who has to get bailed out constantly because he's just not very good at his job. If I was the other PI at that firm I'd be pissed too. 

[chaifan]

Margaret is a partner, just not a named partner.  If they have levels, she's a "senior" partner.  She said she brings in 33% of the firm's work.  Some firms add/change names very rarely, some never do.  Usually someone has to die or be retired for decades before their name comes off and someone else's comes on.  But, if you have one person responsible for 33% of the firm's revenue, and someone able to hook the Mayor as a client, you would be treating her a hell of a lot better than Song was. 

I like the premise for the show, but I agree with others - they're making Todd rather unlikable.  And I really like Skyler, so I really want to like Todd.  I think the file room "office" was just stupid. It would have played better if it was just Lyle messing with him, and by the end of the day he really had a crappy cubicle, shared in a room with some over eager law student law clerks that drove him nuts.  Lyle is way too one-note stick up his ass.  They need to expand his character quick.