Recap / Ally McBeal

This page is a work in progress intended to have recaps for all of the episodes in Ally McBeal. For the main page for the show, go here.

Reminder: spoilers, such as Billy's death, are unmarked after this point.

---

Season 1

1. 'Pilot' Ally McBeal, an attractive recent graduate from Harvard Law School, is harassed at work by a senior associate. She complains to the powers that be but decides to resign. By chance, Ally bumps into former classmate Richard Fish, who invites her to join his new law firm. Ally hesitantly accepts and receives the shock of her life on the first day: her childhood sweetheart Billy Thomas is an associate at the firm.
2. 'Compromising Positions' Ally is dismayed to be assigned as a litigator for humiliated firm co-partner John Cage. On top of that, Fish invites Ally to dinner with potential client Ronald Cheanie without telling her their outing is actually a double date. Ally's fury over being set up quickly cools when she sees Cheanie kissing Fish's girlfriend Whipper in the restaurant bathroom.
3. 'The Kiss' Ally senses Cheanie is hiding something when he avoids kissing her after their first official date. In the office, Ally helps Georgia with an age discrimination case where the opposing litigator happens to be Billings, the man Ally sued for sexual harassment at her old firm. Ally tries to be taken off the case but Fish admonishes her for putting her personal life before the interests of the firm.
4. 'The Affair' Ally is asked to be a pallbearer at the funeral of her ex-law professor who also happens to be her ex-lover. The widow, also asks her to give the eulogy. Ally's reluctance leads Billy to find out the truth about her reasons for avoiding the funeral. Billy offers his support to Ally, which unnerves both Georgia and Cheanie.
5. 'One Hundred Tears Away' Ally is arrested for assaulting and attempted shoplifting a hostile woman at a grocery store over a bottle of chips. Renee bails her out but word spreads quickly. Ally is brought before the State Bar Review Board where her unconventional past and eccentric behavior is held up for scrutiny.
6. 'The Promise' Ally agrees to help defend a friend of Whipper's who is being charged with solicitation. Serving second chair to John Cage on the case proves to be a strange and unusual experience for her when his idiosyncrasies become increasingly difficult to ignore. To top it all off, an obese attorney on a different case passes out in the courtroom hallway and Ally has to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
7. 'The Attitude' Ally represents a Jewish woman seeking spiritual release from her marriage because her husband is in a permanent coma. Meanwhile, Georgia becomes the target of a senior partner's wife's insecurities and is invited to join Cage and Fish.
8. 'Drawing the Lines' Billy and Georgia face a crisis of confidence in their marriage while Ally, John, and Georgia tackle a ridiculous divorce case. Elaine threatens to sue Cage and Fish if Fish does not meet her demands for a better working environment.
9. 'The Dirty Joke' Attorney Caroline Poop returns to represent a delivery woman who is suing Fish and Cage for same-sex sexual harassment. Ally and Renée make a bet over who can tell a better dirty joke at the bar.
10. 'Boy To The World' Ally is forced to defend a young prostitute named Stephanie on her third solicitation charge. Much to Ally's surprise, her client is a transgender woman. As Ally grows closer to Stephanie, she begins to realize the true dangers her client faces as a transgender prostitute. Richard meanwhile, sues his uncle's church for discrimination because of their refusal to hold a service reflecting his uncle's prejudice against short people.
11. 'Silver Bells' Three adults approach Judge Whipper Cone in their quest to legally obtain a three-way marriage. Richard assigns Ally and John to the case, despite Ally's opposition. Holiday Blues permeate the office, causing several complications for the couples in the firm.
12. 'Cro-Magnon' Ally struggles to get her biological clock under control when she starts having strange libidinal impulses. She, Renée, and Georgia are enamored with a particularly well-endowed male model in their sculpting class. Ally has to defend the nineteen-year-old son of a senior partner accused of assault for slugging another guy who harassed his date. The very first appearance of the Dancing Baby.
13. 'The Blame Game' Ally gives Glenn, the model from the sculpting class, the cold shoulder during a chance encounter at a coffee shop. John takes on a case in which the adult children of a plane crash victim sue the airline for the wrongful death of their father.
14. 'Body Language' Ally and Renée are bridesmaids in a friend's wedding and become fed up with the absurd rituals and traditions. Richard asks Ally to flirt with a wealthy new client. To Ally's annoyance, John has no problem with it because of his new therapy regimen. Ally and Georgia try a case about overturning a warden's decision to refuse marriage for a prisoner serving a life term.
15. 'Once In A Lifetime' Cage and Fish takes on a case for a famous 80-year old artist who is battling his heirs for control of his estate. Ally and Billy co-council the case and find that the artist's relationship with his recently deceased wife mirrors their own. Richard intervenes in the relationship between John and Ally when she starts behaving in an obviously cold manner around the office.
16. 'ForbiddenFruits' A high-profile case opens up for Cage and Fish when a jilted spouse plans to sue a U.S. Senator for "interfering with happy marital relations". The Senator's case perversely parallels the awkward love triangle between Georgia, Billy, and Ally. Uncomfortable with how close the case mirrors her own life, Georgia quits the case; Richard and John step in to try and keep the Senator from losing his job.
17. 'Theme of Life' Georgia, Ally, and Renée sign up for kickboxing classes to relieve stress. Georgia and Ally end up having to face each other in the ring. After Ally's psychiatrist recommends she hit Georgia to relieve her jealousy, all civility is lost. Ally tries a case concerning an attractive surgeon who performed an unauthorized and controversial transplant procedure. Ally also is told to find herself a Theme Song.
18. 'The Playing Field' Tracey tells Ally to hit the dancing baby. But Greg and Ally get in an accident, Ally is distracted by his dazzling smile, and she kicks the dancing baby, but turns out hhe is a young prodigy and a lawyer. Richard is ready to argue in court defending a woman accusing her boss of sexual harassment, and Billy and Georgia are worried that they might actually win the case.
19. 'Happy Birthday Baby' Ally is turning 28. That is upsetting enough to her but Elaine wants to throw a party at the bar for her and Greg won't sleep with her and she doesn't know why. She's defending a man in court who was arrested for breaking into his date's house and massaging her feet. Ally tries to fix things for the couple at the bar. Greg surprises her with a gift: singing a lusty song to her at the bar and Renée suddenly joins in, making Ally jealous.
20. 'The Inmates' Billy tries get the Ally and Georgia to defend the wife of a wealthy client whom she supposedly murdered, something Ally has trouble coping with. Cage and Fish are not experts in criminal law and thus seek assistance from another firm, resulting in much conflict. Ally also needs to defend Renee who broke a man's neck. ^note This is a crossover episode with The Practice episode "Axe Murderer", Season 2 Episode 26.
21. 'Being There' John and Ally are defending Renée for her life and career due to her striking a man in the previous episode. Renée is upset with John over his antics in court but, when Ally's former fling, Glenn, appears as a prosecutorial witness, John kicks her off the case. Georgia might be pregnant, but she and Billy are unsure about impending parenthood. The episode concludes showing Georgia isn't pregnant.
22. 'Alone Again' A convicted felon tried to escape from jail, and John and Ally are defending him. However, the DA on the case is John's former love from college. Ally saw the romance immediately, but John is worried that friend won't return his feelings. A jilted bride is suing, but when the judge assigned to the case is Whipper, Elaine, Richard and Whipper all have to deal with their unresolved issues of loneliness.
23. 'These Are The Days' John's second cousin assaults happy people. In court, his defense will be to baffle the witnesses and jury. Two men want a court order to switch their hearts, and Bobby Donnell from The Practice wants Ally to help with the case. But all Ally imagines is she will be dating Bobby and it doesn't turn out right.

Season 2

1. 'The Real World' Feeling nervous that the firm is not making enough money, Fish and Cage decide to hire another associate, a "rainmaker" who can bring in lucrative clients. They hire Nelle Porter, an attractive, late 20's litigator from a respectable firm. On her first day, Nelle manages to irritate Ally, Georgia and Elaine, but Richard and John seem very pleased with her. Ally defends a woman in her late-30's accused of having sex with a minor. When the boy testifies, Ally finds herself attracted to him.
2. 'They Eat Horses, Don't They?' Nelle introduces the firm to Ling Woo, her main client. Ling is suing a sex-talk radio host with a ridiculous lawsuit, but it's crazier that she might actually win and bring publicity to the firm. Richard's happy, but Ally just might find a way to undermine their own case. John is defending a restaurant who served horse meat, but his love for horses has gotten him depressed, and tongue-tied - when it comes to Nelle.
3. 'Fool's Night Out' Reverend Mark Newman comes to Richard for his help when church choir singer Lisa Knowles is singing about their break-up. Ally is brought in to mediate because she can speak the language of loneliness, but it hits too close to home for her and she comes to a revelation about why Billy left her. Ling is back again and this time she's hiring Georgia and Billy to help her sue a nurse for having natural breasts.
4. 'It's My Party' Renee and Ally are throwing a party and inviting everybody from Cage & Fish, even Nelle. Elaine's boyfriend George was fired from his job and Ally is representing him in court. When she finds herself in contempt of court for wearing short skirts, the entire firm comes to her defense and Ally slowly starts recognizing who her true friends are.
5. 'The Story of Love' Ally is arrested after a fight with a young woman angry with her best friend for stealing her boyfriend. After Ally agrees to represent her in court, she discovers the woman's tendency to fire her lawyers. George begins to show an interest in Ally, and Elaine begs her not to date him. John brings in his pet tree frog, Stefan, whom he is training for a competition but Nelle hates frogs and scares it away.
6. 'World's Without Love' John and Ally think they must be magnets for crazy cases when they are defending a nun who had sex. Stefan miraculously resurfaces but he's put on life support and John isn't privy to everything that just happened to him. Renee runs into Matt, her old high school flame or what she calls 'her Billy', and while Ally gives good advice to her, Ally gives poor advice to Whipper and Richard.
7. 'Happy Trails' Judge Happy Boyle has died, and Cage and Fish and others share their Happy memories of him. John is fraught over moving his relationship with Nelle forward, and then he eats a meal he will never forget.
8. 'Just Looking' When Ling is sued for owning a mud wrestling club, Richard assigns Ally, Georgia and Nelle to defend her, while he and John go undercover. Georgia sets Ally up on a date with a former boyfriend that she may still have lingering feelings for, but just before the date, Ally gets herself stuck in a tight situation in the unisex.
9. 'You Can Never Tell' The whole firm is angry at Richard for accepting another ridiculous lawsuit that from Ling, but as usual, Richard has no problem accepting it. Renee sets Ally up on a blind date and Ally gets herself stuck in another tight situation. John is continuously fraught over his relationship with Nelle, and things don't go well when he asks for advice or gets advice when he doesn't even ask for it.
10. 'Making Spirits Bright' It's Christmas time at Cage and Fish, and Elaine is preparing for the office party in the office, not the bar and John is trying to use the mistletoe to his advantage in trying to make a move on Nelle. Ally is happy to see the whimsical side in Billy again when they defend a man who was fired for seeing a unicorn. Renee meanwhile is struggling to follow common sense when she sees her old boyfriend, Matt again.
11. 'In Dreams' Ally's favorite teacher from high school is dying, but she has a wonderful dream life which she would like to remain in. Ally decides to get a court order to force the hospital to put her into a coma. But things get complicated for Ally when she realizes that her teacher's doctor is Dr Greg Butters. John pushes Nelle to the breaking point over his unwillingness to move their relationship into a physical one.
12. 'Love Unlimited' Richard and Ally defend a woman whose husband is seeking an annulment to their 9-year marriage. Ally gives a passionate defence and wins the case. Sh has a horrible nightmare that she was named Professional Woman of the Year and Time magazine put her as the face of feminism^note This happened in real life. Ling tries to get Richard to consider something other than sex for their relationship, while Nelle tries to take her relationship with John to the next level, but he runs away scared. Portia de Rossi really took off her clothes down to her lingerie and hated this scene.
13. 'Angels and Blimps' When Ally is visiting Greg in the hospital, she meets a boy dying of leukemia and the boy after learning she's a lawyer, wants to sue God. But Ling shows up, urges the boy to do so much to Ally's disagreement. Richard and John are up to their usual antics in court against Renee when they're defending a man who has been accused of attempted murder.
14. 'Pyramids On The Nile' Richard hires Ling, and Billy, Ally and Georgia want to band together so they don't lose the firm to Ling, but Billy and Ally kiss, after Billy sees Ally passionately kiss Greg. John and Nelle make a name for the firm as they take on another big profile sexual harassment case.
15. 'Sideshow' Ally frets over her kiss with Billy, and tries to figure out what it says about her and Billy, and also about her and Greg. But at Dr Tracey Clark's office, there's a showdown between Billy and Ally and their true feelings are forced to come out.
16. 'Sex, Lies, And Politics' Although Ally has cleared things with Billy, now she's trying to patch things up with Greg, but the jealousy gets to both of them. John and Ling are in court together in a case against a Senator, and John trains Ling on his usual tricks.
17. 'Civil Wars' In court, John and Ally are arguing against Richard and Georgia. This creates civil unrest in the firm, as well as a girl-on-girl-on-girl-on-girl cat fight in the unisex bathroom.
18. 'Those Lips, That Hand' Richard wants to break-up with Ling since she won't have sex, but he finds a way to tease her. John and Ally are on a murder case, but to Ally turning 29 is much, much worse. John is turning 35 and decides he wants to live life on the edge; Nelle gives him a birthday present he'll never forget. The present is the presence of Barry White singing "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and the cast dancing to it.
19. 'Let's Dance' With Barry White appearing for his birthday, John has changed. Nelle doesn't see it, but Renee does and agrees to go on a date with him. Billy and Georgia go to couples therapy, but even there they have to invite Ally in. Richard and Nelle are defending a firm that doesn't hire women, John joins them but he has a hard time understanding or accepting the case. Elaine is competing in a dance contest but needs a last minute partner. Turns out that Ling knows how to tango, but being nice is much more difficult for her.
20. 'Only The Lonely' Elaine's face bra invention should make her rich and famous, instead she is sued by her family. Ally defends her as she's the only one who believes her. Billy comes off as a chauvinistic pig as he defends a man in a sexual harassment case. John seeks advice from Richard and Ally to try and get Nelle back, but when she agrees to go out with him, she actually wants to leave the building for a date.
21. 'The Green Monster' Ally deeply misses Greg, but when her loneliness gives Ling a headache, Ling hires one of her escorts a really, really attractive one for Ally. Ally embarks on a game of jealousy with Greg that ends up involving the whole firm, especially John - even though he's currently stuck in court with Richard defending a defiant woman who crashed her husband's Porsche due to his infidelity. Billy becomes an over-protective husband when Georgia starts dressing in sexy dresses designed by Ling around the office.
22. 'Love's Illusions' Ally and John are defending a woman who has created her perfect man in her head. The case causes big problems for Ally as she starts having illusions. It also causes big problems for John as he finds himself in jail. Ling finally agrees to have sex with Richard, but now he's the one with the problem and seeks pharmaceutical help. Meanwhile, Billy and Georgia's sex life has gone straight to the toilets, literally.
23. 'I Know Him By Heart' Ally has retreated to her bedroom where she is still seeing Al Green who can sing her life. Her neediness angers Nelle who is upset that John can connect to her inner world but John cannot connect with Nelle. Renee decides she and Ally will become dating machines, but it causes a whole lot of awkwardness when Margaret Camaro shows up in the office and when Ling as lined up a parade of men for Ally to choose from.

Season Three

1. 'Car Wash' Ally has just had a spontaneous sexual fling in a car wash, and that man turns out to be the fiance of her client who invited Ally as her bridesmaid causing ruckass. Nelle has sexual fantasies, and Renee and Whipper are using their womanly ways in hiring male associates for their new firm. Elaine (and Barry White) help John find his innate sexiness within.
2. 'Buried Pleasures' Ally and Ling decide to have a lesbian fling. When John overhears Nelle's fantasies, he spanks her and is thrown out of her apartment. Billy has two clients, both defending sexual harassment charges, and he teams up with Renee in court, but Renee takes him to task for his sexist views.
3. 'Seeing Green'
4. 'Heat Wave'
5. 'Troubled Water'
6. 'Changes'
7. 'Saving Santa'
8. 'Blue Christmas'
9. 'Out in the Cold'
10. 'Just Friends'
11. 'Over the Rainbow'
12. 'In Search of Pygmies'
13. 'Pursuit of Loneliness'
14. 'The Oddball Parade'
15. 'Prime Suspect'
16. 'Boy Next Door' — Billy dies. Nell chooses this time to break up with John.
17. 'I Will Survive'
18. 'Turning Thirty'
19. 'Do You Wanna Dance?'
20. 'Hope and Glory'
21. 'Ally McBeal: The Musical, Almost'

Season Four

• 1. Sex, Lies and Second Thoughts
• 2. Girls' Night Out
• 3. Two's a Crowd
• 4. Without a Net
• 5. The Last Virgin
• 6. Tis the Season
• 7. Love on Holiday
• 8. The Man with the Bag
• 9. Reason to Believe
• 10. The Ex-Files
• 11. Mr. Bo
• 12. Hats Off to Larry
• 13. Reach Out And Touch
• 14. Boys Town
• 15. Falling Up
• 16. The Getaway
• 17. The Pursuit of Unhappiness
• 18. The Obstacle Course
• 19. In Search of Barry White
• 20. Cloudy Skies, Chance of Parade
• 21. Queen Bee
• 22. Home Again
• 23. The Wedding

Season Five

• 1. Friends and Lovers
• 2. Judge Ling
• 3. Neutral Corners
• 4. Fear of Flirting
• 5. I Want Love
• 6. Lost and Found
• 7. Nine One One
• 8. Playing with Matches
• 9. Blowin' in the Wind
• 10. One Hundred Tears
• 11. A kick in the Head
• 12. The New Day
• 13. Woman
• 14. Homecoming
• 15. Heart and Soul
• 16. Love Is All Around: Part 1
• 17. Love Is All Around: Part 2
• 18. Tom Dooley
• 19. Another One Bites the Dust
• 20. What I'll Never Do for Love Again
• 21. All of Me
• 22. Bygones