S01.E18: Tricks of the Trade Parts 1 & 2

[peachmangosteen]

This episode was SO soap opera and I love soap operas but it seemed a little out of place. I can roll with it though lol.

Jason Ritter nailed Julian's reaction to all of it. I do hope he can be part of the Matty/Olympia/Billy/Sarah group next season and help them take down Senior.

[preeya]

18 hours ago, MissLucas said:

I appreciate that their marriage is certainly one with a lot of love yet there are conflicts and cracks that show up from time to time.

As there are with all relationships.

[Zaffy]

double post

Edited April 19 by Zaffy

[Blip]

11 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Videos captured on iphones and uploaded to FB get reversed (during the pandemic I helped a fellow librarian re-reverse her storytime videos so the print wasn't backwards). 
If something like this happened in the filming of the punch in this episode, they should have either fixed it in post or used it as a plot point. 

 

I also thought this might be reversed video, but the letters on the gym owner's shirt are not reversed.  It is quite surprising that nobody involved with the show noticed he was punching the wrong side, although maybe a punch anywhere could the the last straw that bursts an inflamed appendix.

At least 3 times this episode somebody said the irritating phrase "Two things can be true."  Far more than two things can be and are true, and everybody knows it. So why do people think they are imparting wisdom by saying this.

Do banks usually have large binders of papers for each client documenting all their transactions?

[johntfs]

On 4/18/2025 at 7:59 PM, TimsLove25 said:

That's the weird vibe I kept getting but couldn't put my finger on it. The melodrama. A telenova, of course.

"What have I ever done to make you not trust me ?"...ummm Olympia ? You went through her wallet, followed her, had her license plate traced, kept her prisoner in a locked room. For starters. Olympia has NO self awareness. 

Shoulda known they would make one of the two white guys (well, both of them really) the bad guys.

How original. 

The only thing the show had going for it that was interesting, was the mystery of who hid the discovery.

And now it's going to be a telenova. No, thanks. 

Poor Kathy Bates.

.

 

"Poor" Kathy Bates will be able to buy a second or third home out the money she'll rake in for this show.

On 4/18/2025 at 5:07 PM, Bastet said:

That will play out next season; the last we saw of her in this finale was cozying up to the client, getting the info on how Sarah came to be his lawyer.  (It was a HUGE breach of firm protocol for her to take on a client without going through proper channels, especially because it means she didn't undergo the usual check to make sure there was no conflict of interest.  As Olympia said, it is a firable offense.  But Olympia chose not to fire her.  This little shithead Simone somehow thinks her first-year ass, who's already been thrown off one case, can go over an equity partner's head and get Sarah in trouble.)

Beyond that Mattie likes Sarah and Mattie is a terrifying enemy to have.

[Percysowner]

On 4/18/2025 at 8:59 PM, TimsLove25 said:

Poor Kathy Bates.

By all accounts, she was ready to retire from acting and thought the pilot was really good, so she signed on. She's 75 and the show is right, women of that age are invisible. The part is meaty and layered. Matty is complex and Kathy Bates has been given a chance to do top notch work.

Telenovelas, and soap operas have been demeaned for years because they are considered "women's shows" and because women are often the focus of the storyline, when often the acting and stories can be engrossing and excellent.

You don't like the way this is going, then you are probably right, this isn't the show for you.  Not my thing is a perfectly acceptable reason to quit watching a show. If enough people agree, the show will be canceled.  If enough people like the show, it will go on.

[possibilities]

I like it. And last time I checked, the ratings were fantastic. So I'm hopeful it has a good run.

[eel2178]

14 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Jason Ritter nailed Julian's reaction to all of it. I do hope he can be part of the Matty/Olympia/Billy/Sarah group next season and help them take down Senior.

Right now, Julian has no idea who has been involved in uncovering the information. Hopefully, he or Senior won't try to do anything stupid like try to kill Olympia to keep it under wraps.

For that matter, who knows about The Johnson Case? How quickly will Matty's real identity be made public knowledge within the firm?

[Yeah No]

This ended up pretty much as I expected. I'm down somewhere in the threads here weeks ago theorizing that Senior was the big bad and had Julian pull the file, who was young and trying to impress him. And I pretty much figured that Julian would claim "not to be that person" anymore. And I do believe him, although he can't go and undo it and I would not really trust him anymore anyway.

So how is the show going to move forward now with Senior? Isn't he going to be brought to justice now? Or did I miss something? Won't the firm have to be head up by someone else now?

Otherwise, yes to Matty making reference to not wanting to be invisible. The show is getting standing ovations from all of us older women who "get it". And thanks to the show for making it about that too. We needed this. We understand why she has unfinished business and doesn't want to retire just yet. Plus, it makes sure there's still a reason to have a show, so there is that too, lol.

Sarah and Billy's relationship is very enmeshed and brother/sister-like. It's humorous but at the same time I wonder what's really going on there. I think it's great that a show can make them have a meaningful non-sexual relationship but at the same time they're making them so darned cute together that I'm almost ready to write the fanfiction in my head about them one day finally realizing that they have romantic feelings for each other. Yeah, I suppose I'm a hopeless romantic that way.

Alfie's dad - could they at least have made him resemble Alfie in any way? Because Alfie certainly doesn't resemble his mother. I usually don't pick on that kind of stuff but it's rare that a child on these shows looks THAT different from either of their parents.

As to "safe" vs. "safety" deposit boxes, in both my NY based banks, they are only referred to as safe deposit boxes, which is the only terminology I've ever heard for them. And one of those banks is phasing them out. I'm reading that this is becoming more common now.

And it's probably just me, but this episode certainly had a preponderance of the color teal in it in various shades from light to dark. And then all the flashbacks made me realize that it's always been the case on the show, I only just realized it. From a couple of Matty's suits, to Olympia's suit, to Julian's tie, to Matty's sweater in one scene, to the color of the couches at the firm, to that room in Matty's house that was pretty much done in a few dark shades of teal, to knick knacks on the shelves in their offices, to rugs on their floors, etc., etc. Whoever does the designing of the sets and wardrobe for this show really has a thing for teal, especially in dark shades. It takes one to know one, LOL.

 

 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

a preponderance of the color teal in it in various shades from light to dark.

Interesting. I hadn’t noticed.

 

 

6 hours ago, Percysowner said:

Telenovelas, and soap operas have been demeaned for years because they are considered "women's shows" and because women are often the focus of the storyline, when often the acting and stories can be engrossing and excellent.

You don't like the way this is going, then you are probably right, this isn't the show for you.  Not my thing is a perfectly acceptable reason to quit watching a show. If enough people agree, the show will be canceled.  If enough people like the show, it will go on.

Whenever I’ve been sucked into a soap opera-type show, it’s always been angst-triggering, so I quit. And it’s not just soap operas. Shows set in situations similar to my places of work are also unpleasant that way, as are those centered on gratuitous violence.
So I probably won’t watch the next season, but the jury’s still out.

[Silver-hyren]

I fell asleep watching part 2 when it first aired.  Caught up through the re-air last night and . . . I didn't miss much.  The ending felt so unfinished and unsatisfying.  Really disappointed that Julien really did hide the documents - with the way the show was hammering that he did it, I wanted them to pull a bait and switch (wanted it to have been Stuart soooo bad).  That at least would have been interesting.  

This season was so frustrating presenting interesting ideas and possibilities only to either not pursue them or fail to execute them well.  Maddy feeling invisible/commentary on how the public views (or rather, doesn't) women over a certain age was a great angle that I think got forgotten quite a bit as the season wore on.  (Edwin, get out of here with the "if you're working, I have to care for Alfie alone while you're away!"  I never warmed up to him - always got a creepy vibe.)  The number of flashbacks these two episodes felt tedious.  Are the writers  insecure in their ability to tell a story, or do they just not trust the audience to remember important details?

At one point during the end, all I could think was "They got rid of So Help Me Todd for this?"

[chitowngirl]

6 hours ago, Yeah No said:

As to "safe" vs. "safety" deposit boxes, in both my NY based banks, they are only referred to as safe deposit boxes, which is the only terminology I've ever heard for them. And one of those banks is phasing them out. I'm reading that this is becoming more common now.

Taking the Box talk over to Small talk….

[Yeah No]

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Whenever I’ve been sucked into a soap opera-type show, it’s always been angst-triggering, so I quit. And it’s not just soap operas. Shows set in situations similar to my places of work are also unpleasant that way, as are those centered on gratuitous violence.
So I probably won’t watch the next season, but the jury’s still out.

I'll be tuning in despite not loving the soap opera stuff. Billy's ex being pregnant took that OTT for me. Did Billy or the audience really need that? Enough already!

[preeya]

9 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Alfie's dad - could they at least have made him resemble Alfie in any way? Because Alfie certainly doesn't resemble his mother. I usually don't pick on that kind of stuff but it's rare that a child on these shows looks THAT different from either of their parents.

Perhaps he's not Alfie's dad. He could be a scammer, which may be the secondary plot in next season's storyline(s).

[12catcrazy]

5 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I'll be tuning in despite not loving the soap opera stuff. Billy's ex being pregnant took that OTT for me. Did Billy or the audience really need that? Enough already!

When Billy said something like "it's going to be Hot Billy Summer", the first thing that I thought of was "The Summer of George" on Seinfeld and how that turned out.     The way that this is going, maybe they will have Simone pregnant as well (insert eyeroll here).  

[AnimeMania]

11 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Alfie's dad - could they at least have made him resemble Alfie in any way? Because Alfie certainly doesn't resemble his mother. I usually don't pick on that kind of stuff but it's rare that a child on these shows looks THAT different from either of their parents.

I think Kathy Bates asked for that actor. I didn't read it, but here is an article.

Niko Nicotera Joins ‘Matlock’: How Kathy Bates Was Behind His Casting as *Spoiler*

Edited April 20 by AnimeMania

[TimsLove25]

18 hours ago, Percysowner said:

By all accounts, she was ready to retire from acting and thought the pilot was really good, so she signed on. She's 75 and the show is right, women of that age are invisible. The part is meaty and layered. Matty is complex and Kathy Bates has been given a chance to do top notch work.

Telenovelas, and soap operas have been demeaned for years because they are considered "women's shows" and because women are often the focus of the storyline, when often the acting and stories can be engrossing and excellent.

You don't like the way this is going, then you are probably right, this isn't the show for you.  Not my thing is a perfectly acceptable reason to quit watching a show. If enough people agree, the show will be canceled.  If enough people like the show, it will go on.

I don't have a problem with telenova or soap operas.

This was not advertised to be either.

I'm happy for her if she's happy. I'd rather believe she likes it, than that she's taking it for $$$$.

Although, if she is, that's her business I guess.

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, 12catcrazy said:

When Billy said something like "it's going to be Hot Billy Summer", the first thing that I thought of was "The Summer of George" on Seinfeld and how that turned out.     The way that this is going, maybe they will have Simone pregnant as well (insert eyeroll here).  

It's at times like this I wish there was an eyeroll emoji. Although I understand why there isn't because it can be taken the wrong way.

[shapeshifter]

About Billy's ex being pg. 
That could be a good thing if

• it means Simone is no longer interested in Billy or getting revenge on Sarah
• glimpses of Billy's personal life revolve around cute baby cameos instead of closet necking

[GHScorpiosRule]

26 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

It's at times like this I wish there was an eyeroll emoji. Although I understand why there isn't because it can be taken the wrong way.

You can always quote the comment, as I’ve done and use the editor and select the eye roll or choose it from your phone if that’s where you’re utilizing the site:🙄

[preeya]

57 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

You can always quote the comment, as I’ve done and use the editor and select the eye roll or choose it from your phone if that’s where you’re utilizing the site:🙄

Or if using Windows 11 select and paste. 🙄

Activate by pressing the Windows key plus the period key.  👍

Edited April 20 by preeya

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 minute ago, preeya said:

Or if using Windows 11 select and paste. 🙄

Activate by pressing the Windows key plus the period key.  👍

Yes, that too!

[Yeah No]

2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

You can always quote the comment, as I’ve done and use the editor and select the eye roll or choose it from your phone if that’s where you’re utilizing the site:🙄

Oh I know, I just didn't want to do it that way. I wanted to do it without creating a post.

[chitowngirl]

Billy’s ex only said she was pregnant, not that he was the father. She could be there so some anti-climatic legal reason regarding the pregnancy (paternity, custody,

[Bastet]

21 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

Billy’s ex only said she was pregnant, not that he was the father.

No, she said "I'm pregnant" and then "We're pregnant".

[chitowngirl]

9 hours ago, Bastet said:

No, she said "I'm pregnant" and then "We're pregnant".

Thank you for the clarification 😊 As Emily Litilla would say “nevermind”! 😃

[Yeah No]

14 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

Thank you for the clarification 😊 As Emily Litilla would say “nevermind”! 😃

Ah, but what if she's mistaken and it is someone else's? 😉

Perish the thought!

[Gregg247]

I only today realized that Beau Bridges is playing a crafty, corrupt, western-wearing shyster lawyer with a Texas drawl and his name is Julien . 

That doesn't quite track.  I need more info on this guy's background; he's suddenly much more interesting than I originally thought!

[seacliffsal]

I found that after watching this for an entire season, I just didn't care about the finale.  It seems like none of the storylines were wrapped up, instead we get Junior was in cohoots with his father but not the ultimate villain, Billy and Simone are over but Billy and Clair have a continuation in their story, Sarah continues to blur policy and HR concerns (her venting on Billy is way over the line), Matty still continues her vendetta-this time against Senior, Alfie continues to have parental issues (this time finding his 'father').  Same stories, different characters.

[12catcrazy]

4 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Ah, but what if she's mistaken and it is someone else's? 😉

Perish the thought!

This show seems to like doing (for lack of a better way for me to put it) parallel stories so we will have (maybe not) Alfie's father, and Billy now becoming a father (or possibly, maybe won't be his baby).  

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 hours ago, Gregg247 said:

I only today realized that Beau Bridges is playing a crafty, corrupt, western-wearing shyster lawyer with a Texas drawl and his name is Julien . 

Julian is Jason Ritter's name-he plays Beau's son. We've never learned his name, hence everyone refers to him/calls him Senior.

[possibilities]

When Alfie said he had done something that might be "over the line" I thought he had sent all the Wellbrexa/Jacobson-Moore documents to the New York Times. So, soapy as the dad reveal was, I was still relieved it wasn't what I thought they were about to say.

It would be more than easy to determine the legitimacy of the guy's claim to be Alfie's dad, using DNA. So if they make ANY hesitation or mystery or confusion about that, I will be incredibly annoyed.

I don't mind Alfie the way a lot of viewers do. I think it's wrong that they used him as their hacker and accomplice, but I kind of like him as a character otherwise, because he acts like a kid when he's not in hacker/spy mode. A few times he's gotten excited and kind of vibrated out of his skin in a very kidlike way. He sometimes acts sullen like a kid. And he has also shown love, and insecurities. I like him. I find him surprisingly 3 dimensional for a secondary tv teenager. So, I hope they have not introduced dad in order to write Alfie out of the show. I do, however, suspect that is what they are doing, especially after Edwin complained -- in Alfie's earshot no less!-- about not wanting to be a full time parent, and Matty expressed her desire to stay a lawyer after the sting operation is over.

I would be very hesitant to just pack a kid off with a heretofore totally unknown person, even if he is the genetic father. But it's possible the guy would have a legal claim they couldn't deny, or that Alfie would want to go with him since he now knows his grandparents are arguing over who will take care of him. And if the network has determined that the character is not popular, realism or common sense would not matter anyway.

I would have rather had Bitsy move in, but I suppose she's more expensive than the guy playing Dad. And maybe there's some story they could do with him. I don't know. If they keep Alfie on the show, biodad could turn out to be shady and having him in Alfie's life could introduce more drama to illustrate why Matty being fiercely protective is wise. Or if they've decided he's a decent guy, maybe they could use him in some other way, but if he's decent, it will make Matty and Edwin look bad that they never looked for him before.

If they really want to budget cut, I suppose they could have Matty and Edwin divorce because he doesn't want her to work, and that would also change the show dynamics. Up until now, I liked seeing the complexity of their marriage, but I admit I was ready to kick Edwin out of the house when he was being a sexist prick and arguing about Matty's right to a career and complaining about taking care of Alfie while Alfie could hear him. She was consistently respectful and trying to explain her feelings, and he was just tantrumming like a spoiled baby-- which I guess is realistic, but I have a low tolerance for people who pull that crap.

The soap opera aspects of the show are there. But it also has done some complex things with the characters and their relationships, and I appreciate that. Olympia and Julian, Matty and Edwin, even Matty and Olympia, and Matty and Bitsy-- those are interesting, layered interactions. I wish they hadn't thrown in the junior associate's baby with his ex, but I am letting the more interesting stuff outweigh it for now.

Edited April 21 by possibilities

[Percysowner]

2 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Julian is Jason Ritter's name-he plays Beau's son. We've never learned his name, hence everyone refers to him/calls him Senior.

Well, unless senior has another, older son, senior implies pretty strongly that he is Julian Sr. and Julian is Julian Jr. I can't think of other contexts where senior is used as a name, but I could be forgetting something.

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, Percysowner said:

Well, unless senior has another, older son, senior implies pretty strongly that he is Julian Sr. and Julian is Julian Jr. I can't think of other contexts where senior is used as a name, but I could be forgetting something.

I believe there is another brother.   According to Wikipedia, the first name for the character Beau Bridges plays is "Howard."  IMDb doesn't list his first name so I don't know where wikipedia got it but I'm assuming from an early press release.

Edited April 21 by Irlandesa

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

When Alfie said he had done something that might be "over the line" I thought he had sent all the Wellbrexa/Jacobson-Moore documents to the New York Times. So, soapy as the dad reveal was, I was still relieved it wasn't what I thought they were about to say.

Early in the episode Alfie was looking guilty (good kid actor!) and I was sure it was going to turn out he had made up the whole Reddit thing. The Mrs. B part doesn't fit with that, but I suppose that could've been a mixup if they wanted to go with there actually being no secret Wellbrexa file.
I wonder if the writers had considered ending the season/series on that note.

[MissLucas]

I dunno about the soap opera thing. Alfie's dad was a Chekhov's gun for a while now and it was pretty clear he would show up one day. As for Billy's plot - I'm willing to wait and see where that goes. When Sarah's going rogue plot started I was mildly annoyed at yet another side plot going nowhere and they tied it pretty neatly into the main plot. 

[possibilities]

Olympia and Julian have already finalized their divorce, right? One of the articles in the media thread refers to them as soon-to-be-ex, but I thought I remembered they've finalized the divorce. 

If they were still married, would that mean she could not be forced to testify against him? And would her law license be in jeopardy if she didn't report him, now that they ARE divorced? Could he retain her and Matty and Sarah and Billy as his lawyers, to shield them from reporting him? Or could he cut a deal to get leniency if he turns his father in?

We really haven't seen him do much lawyering, and he even offered to leave the profession if Olympia wouldn't tell anyone about his malfeasance. So from the show's perspective, him keeping his law license doesn't seem to be important. Based on that, one way I can imagine this going is, they conspire to take down Jacobson-Moore, he becomes a full time parent, and Olympia and Matty start their own firm by the end of Season 2.

[crowceilidh]

Always heard safety deposit box.  Canadian, maybe that's relevant.

[shapeshifter]

26 minutes ago, crowceilidh said:

Always heard safety deposit box.  Canadian, maybe that's relevant.

Yes.

[Percysowner]

3 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I believe there is another brother.   According to Wikipedia, the first name for the character Beau Bridges plays is "Howard."  IMDb doesn't list his first name so I don't know where wikipedia got it but I'm assuming from an early press release.

Interesting, I hadn't heard that. If they have mentioned a brother, it was a blink and miss it moment and I missed it. OTOH,depending on when the actual press release was posted, it may have been planned in the early stages and then dropped. I was surprised to read that Jamie Sheridan was cast as Senior in the pilot and when the show finally got picked up, either he or the show decided he wasn't right for the part and they recast. They didn't reshoot the scenes with Bridges, they simply found a way to insert him into the scenes he was in. It does leave me wondering how Sheridan would have played Senior.

[Irlandesa]

25 minutes ago, Percysowner said:

If they have mentioned a brother, it was a blink and miss it moment and I missed it

I don't remember them mentioning a brother either.  However, in one of the post-season interviews with Jason Ritter, he said the following:

https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/matlocks-jason-ritter-talks-julians-finale-betrayal-teases-season-2/

I'll put the full quote of Jason's speculation about what comes next for Julian in spoiler tags but it's mostly just spec.  The following part is stated as fact and not spec:

We got to meet his mother, which was very exciting for me. We may meet more members of his family. Julian is not Junior.

Spoiler

"We’re going to see a lot more of Julian and get to know not only him. We got to meet his mother, which was very exciting for me. We may meet more members of his family. Julian is not Junior. So I’m very excited to meet my brother,” Ritter explained. “He has a completely different relationship with our dad than Julian does, which is also painful.”

 

[Morrigan2575]

On 4/20/2025 at 4:48 PM, Yeah No said:

It's at times like this I wish there was an eyeroll emoji. Although I understand why there isn't because it can be taken the wrong way.

 

If you're on a phone/tablet you can use any emoji

🙄 😆🤦‍♀️🐻‍❄😍🤞🏻

 

Edited April 22 by Morrigan2575

[Yeah No]

46 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

 

If you're on a phone/tablet you can use any emoji

🙄 😆🤦‍♀️🐻‍❄😍🤞🏻

 

Sure, but not if you just want to react at the bottom of a post. We only have a 11 choices in that case and "eyeroll" is not one of them. "Eyeroll" is a choice here only if you want to put it in your own post. But that's not what I wanted to do.

[Nashville]

23 hours ago, Percysowner said:

Well, unless senior has another, older son, senior implies pretty strongly that he is Julian Sr. and Julian is Julian Jr. I can't think of other contexts where senior is used as a name, but I could be forgetting something.

Besides acknowledgement of the immediately recognizable Jr./Sr. familial relationship, “Senior” might also be a more socially palatable substitution for “that old fucker over there”…

…plus, it’s a lot shorter.  😁

[Nashville]

On 4/19/2025 at 7:55 AM, shapeshifter said:

Videos captured on iphones and uploaded to FB get reversed (during the pandemic I helped a fellow librarian re-reverse her storytime videos so the print wasn't backwards). 
If something like this happened in the filming of the punch in this episode, they should have either fixed it in post or used it as a plot point. 

 

I wasn’t talking about the video being reversed; people with situs inversus have the arrangement of their internal organs reversed within their torso - which means (among other things) their appendix is located in the lower left quadrant of their abdomen, not the lower right.

[Cowgirl]

On 4/18/2025 at 1:04 PM, nilyank said:

I think Julien kept the report because of guilt but also because it is also evidence that can be used to prove the conspiracy that Senior engineered. In the end, Senior is the Big Bad that used his own son not caring what that would mean for Julien.

I think Olympia will tell Matty and  they will find a way to get Senior with Julien's help.

Agreed 100%.  I think Julien's keeping the record shows he's a good person. I love Jason Ritter and think he did a great job of acting the caught, pathetic, yet changed husband. Maybe Julien thought in the back of his mind he could do something to correct or make up for what he'd done on Senior's behalf. Wonder why he came to the bank? He wasn't actually part of the pre-set appointment. Maybe he was coming to retrieve the Wellbrexa info and use it against Senior, out of revenge for his firing.

Like the other lawyers on this forum I hand wave a lot of the legal procedure mistakes, etc. but I almost shook my head silly at Sarah completely testifying about the delayed appendix illness. That prosecutor should have objected all over that. She should have called back the medical expert (was that the coroner?) and had HIM testify. She just stood there and gave a narrative of facts not in evidence. I also laugh at how they rarely hand opposing council whatever document they are going to surprise them with. Not only is that bad form, the surprise is not allowed. I know, I know, it's for t.v. but it's fun to laugh at the glaring errors.

[GHScorpiosRule]

17 minutes ago, Cowgirl said:

Maybe Julien thought in the back of his mind he could do something to correct or make up for what he'd done on Senior's behalf. <snip> Maybe he was coming to retrieve the Wellbrexa info and use it against Senior, out of revenge for his firing.

It's actually Julian. And Senior didn't fire him. Julian quit when he learned via confetti and whatnot, that he didn't make partner. Julian went off on his dad, about everything, and Senior just smugly said that Julian would come back--when he [Julian] needed money.

We don't know why Julian suddenly showed up at the bank.

[Nashville]

On 4/21/2025 at 12:12 PM, possibilities said:

I would be very hesitant to just pack a kid off with a heretofore totally unknown person, even if he is the genetic father. But it's possible the guy would have a legal claim they couldn't deny

Not standing on their front stoop, he doesn’t; not without jumping through some serious hoops, at least:

1. For starters, confirmation - and, knowing Maddy, re-confirmation - of DNA-verified parentage by an objective source.
2. Assuming $Dad passes #1, he would then have to petition the court for legal guardianship of Alfie - and THAT will be one hella steep mountain to scale.   Since Ellie’s death, Edwin and Maddy have been both Alfie’s legal guardians and (with the possible inclusion of Bitsy) the only family Alfie has ever known - so while a family court judge might see their way clear to work out some sort of supervised (initially, at least) visitation, there’s virtually no chance in hell a judge would consider uprooting a teenager from everything familiar they have ever known in life to place them with a parent they don’t know to be in the best interests of the child.

[eel2178]

20 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

We don't know why Julian suddenly showed up at the bank.

I'm thinking that when Edwin faked being Julian to get into the banking information, Julian got some kind of notification either from the bank or from a supplemental security firm such as Life Lock.

[possibilities]

On 4/22/2025 at 7:39 PM, Nashville said:

Not standing on their front stoop, he doesn’t

Of course not. But I was speculating based on the idea that maybe they introduced him in order to write Alfie off the show, since he's unpopular and they've set up the conflict between Edwin and Matty where E doesn't want to be the primary parent and M going back to work is annoying him. I like Alfie. But so many people complain about him that I'm worried they are writing him off with Daddy Ex Machina.