All’s Fair Recap: Mommie Dearest

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Hulu is missing out on a huge opportunity! They should be selling Carrington Lane merchandise like action figures and posters, and even feature her in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with a Carrington Lane balloon. We should honor her with streets named after her – imagine “Carrington Lane Lane!” – and statues in parks everywhere. It’s already clear Carrington Lane is a maternal figure, and this week’s episode confirms it: she’s actually a mother to a preteen daughter who eerily resembles her, creating a dark twist on the classic ‘Gilmore Girls’ dynamic.

Like her mother before her, Carrington’s daughter, Amabel, is also an outsider at school, which deeply upsets Carrington. Adding to her stress is a strained relationship with Amabel’s father, Sebastian – a gay friend with whom she’s essentially switched roles, though without the drama of a certain reality show. When a photo of the three of them unexpectedly appears on her phone during a crucial meeting, she breaks down in tears. She’s reprimanded by a client and resigns before she can be fired. However, as she leaves, the opposing lawyer, Alberta Dome (played by Lorraine Toussaint), stops her and offers her business card.

Okay, so she lost one client, but she’s still working with Chase, and let me tell you, his house is insane – seriously, Davina from Selling Sunset would be obsessed! She went over there to dig up anything potentially problematic about him, but things got…weird. They were chatting, she was playfully putting him down (especially his man bun, honestly), and it just became super flirty. This show really thinks a few fireplaces can make anything happen, and you know what? It’s working! It all ended with them doing that hair-washing scene from Out of Africa – seriously! All that slow-motion soap just proves Ryan Murphy should have been making soft-core porn instead of TV. It was…a lot.

Okay, so this show… it’s WILD. There’s this almost-kiss, but then the character pulls back, saying she needs to prioritize being a good mom. And then… she decides to drive home drunk?! Honestly, trying to summarize an episode feels like filling in the blanks. It’s like, “Carrington Lane gets a _______ [traffic violation] while singing _______ [song] dressed as _______ [Cate Blanchett character].” And the other day? It totally fit! She actually got a DUI while belting out ‘Edge of Seventeen’ dressed as Lydia Tár. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up!

I was so relieved when she remembered that lawyer’s card! It was perfect timing, getting her out of trouble like that. But I couldn’t help but wonder why she was suddenly getting such good treatment – nobody’s ever nice to Carrington Lane! It turns out the lawyer wants to work with her, to take down Allura Grant, and she asked Carrington to be her partner. Honestly, it was exactly what Carrington needed to hear. It wasn’t just about disliking Allura, though – it felt amazing to finally be chosen for something.

Allura Grant is frequently on my mind, and in this scene, she and Milan debate whether to tell Chase about her pregnancy. Milan convinces her he deserves to know, which is a bit ironic considering Allura secretly had an embryo implanted. Unfortunately, that storyline isn’t developed further in this episode. Milan then calls Chase, finding him at the boxing gym, and delivers the news: “Chase, I’m pregnant… and it’s yours.” I couldn’t help but notice the unnecessary clarification that it was, in fact, a baby she was carrying – as if there was any other possibility!

Speaking of children, things are improving for Carrington’s daughter, who has a chance to transfer to a better school. She just needs to write a strong essay about someone who faced a difficult challenge. And, predictably, the topic she’s supposed to write about is her mother’s past struggle with self-harm and how she now hides the scars with gloves. They plan an essay detailing how this affected her, her fear of her mother relapsing, and what would happen if her mother were to die by suicide. The show uses the term “unalived herself” to describe suicide, and while it’s a bit of a trendy, internet-born phrase, it actually feels appropriate here. It reflects how this kind of language, originally created to bypass censorship on social media, is now commonly used, especially by younger generations, and makes the dialogue feel particularly realistic for this series.

So, the next big hurdle for Carrington and her daughter is making amends with Amabel’s dad, who is gay. Apparently, they were a really happy, unconventional family for almost ten years! Then things went south when Carrington sued her ex’s partner, claiming they put Amabel in danger by taking her on a hike without her inhaler. Honestly, the drama! And the things Carrington said… calling him a “circuit party cum dump” and accusing him of using drugs? Where did she even learn that language? But I kind of love that she did. The attempt to reconcile doesn’t exactly go smoothly, but Carrington finally admits she can be awful, and explains that she’s trying to do better and really needs help co-parenting their daughter.

It’s been a crazy week at Carrington, and I nearly overlooked the fact that someone was murdered – and one of our associates might be responsible. The police brought a warrant to the firm, investigating the attack on Emerald and the subsequent death, and they want to question Allura. Her phone records place her near the crime scene that night, but she insists she was at Milan’s. Just then, Dina interrupted the questioning, dramatically telling the detective that if anyone here were a murderer, they’d be far more skilled at covering it up.

This week’s case features Brooke Shields as Juliana Morse, a woman seeking a divorce because her husband is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. As usual, these weekly cases feel strangely underwhelming, but it seems like an easy job for the actress – a day of filming in a conference room, delivering a passionate speech similar to The Vagina Monologues, and getting to work with Niecy Nash. However, this case is especially difficult to connect with, as the lawyers point out – what’s the actual purpose of the divorce? Juliana explains to them and her daughter that she simply wants to be free.

This storyline mainly exists to give the lawyers something to talk about. Liberty’s refusal to get a prenuptial agreement before her wedding doesn’t make sense, especially considering her job and how she’s been portrayed as someone who avoids commitment. You’d think she’d want one! Eventually, hearing about Juliana’s prenup convinces her, but the whole thing feels pointless and forced, like the writers just needed something for Naomi Watts to do and quickly added it in.

Dina’s storyline, focusing on Alzheimer’s, is particularly impactful because she’s currently caring for her own sick husband. She feels Juliana’s promise to stand by him ‘in sickness and in health’ rings hollow if she isn’t truly committed to that vow. As he nears the end of his life in a bedroom decorated like a Cheesecake Factory, he tells her he doesn’t have much time left. Overwhelmed, Dina breaks down in the kitchen, powerfully portrayed by Glenn, knocking items off the counter and shattering vases while the tea kettle screams – a truly dramatic scene. It’s no surprise everyone wanted to be part of this intense show, except Halle Berry.

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2025-11-18 23:55