Suits LA Funny Guest Stars From The Office & Community Dial Up the Drama [RECAP]
Find out why Community star Yvette Nicole Brown had Suits LA's Stuart Lane seeing red.
Suits LA’s Stuart Lane may have escaped a dangerous client with his life intact, but the threat to himself — and his family — is still having a lasting impact.
Stuart (Josh McDermitt) found himself overreacting and taking out his unchecked rage in Episode 11 on Community star Yvette Nicole Brown, a fellow parent in the drop off lane, as the cutthroat attorney quickly turned a minor fender bender into a major feud like only he can.
Going too far seemed to be the theme of the episode, whether it was Stuart’s heated battle, Patton Oswalt’s hilarious smack-down with The Office’s Brian Baumgartner or Amanda Stevens' (Maggie Grace) singular focus to save a young client from her own complicated dad issues, almost landing the teen in prison.
There was a lot to unwrap with this one, so let’s dig in:
The episode opened with Stuart belting out the lyrics to NSYNC’s Tearin’ Up My Heart, complete with his own custom dance moves, while his unimpressed children sat in the backseat of the car trying to ignore him. Stuart was so engrossed in the mini karaoke session that he didn’t see the car in front of him in the school drop off lane and slammed into Brown. The two quickly began to point fingers and let the insults fly, with Stuart calling her a “moron.”
Across town, Black & Associates new criminal division head, Amanda, was having a quieter morning as she met with her new client, teen star Sierra Carson. Sierra was being charged with aggravated assault after hurling an award at her father’s face and sending him to the hospital. The 16-year-old admitted to carrying out the act after her father killed her chances of landing a “real role” that would prove she was more than a teen star. She also believed her father was hiding her money, possibly even using it to line his own pockets. Amanda, who felt a kinship with the star because of her own turbulent relationship with a controlling father, promised to get to the bottom of all of it.
By the time Stuart arrived at work, he realized his feud with Yvette could cost him more than he bargained for after remembering Brown was one of Rick Dodson’s (Bryan Greenberg) clients at the firm. Named partner Samantha Railsback (Rachelle Goulding) wasn’t pleased to learn about the squabble and warned him that if he didn’t apologize and pay for repairs, he’d have to personally pay Rick a bonus each year as retribution for damaging the client relationship.
Meanwhile, Ted Black (Stephen Amell) was having his own client problem. His long-time client Patton Oswalt came into the office only too eager to sign a contract for his new action comedy, which he considered a “dream role.” But after Ted left to get the paperwork, Patton ran into The Office’s Brian Baumgartner — the person he verbally sparred with the last time they met. Both men apologized for letting their tempers get the better of them last time, but the friendly reunion quickly turned sour once again after Brian asked Patton to get him a role in the new film and Patton insinuated that he didn’t think Brian was funny enough. That led to Brian accusing Patton of being nothing more than comic relief in the movie, noting that he wasn’t even planning to do his own stunts. A furious Patton then leapt onto Brian’s back and was choking him from behind when Ted arrived, proving he did have at least some physical talents.
After pulling the men apart, Patton announced he wouldn’t sign the contract unless he got to do his own stunts, sending Ted back to the negotiating table.
The day wasn’t going as planned for Amanda either, who by now was in court arguing that Sierra should be assigned an independent conservator who wasn’t her father, so that she could access her own money. The judge disagreed, however, telling Amanda that if she wanted to keep representing Sierra she’d have to do it pro-bono.
After learning of the ruling, Ted wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of the firm representing her for free, but agreed to it as long as the firm could recoup some of its expenses by having Erica Rollins (Lex Scott Davis) sign Sierra as an entertainment client. This didn’t come as welcome news to Erica who felt Sierra was a child star “past her prime” but she agreed to help anyway.
Meanwhile, the battle between Stuart and Yvette continued to rage. Stuart tried to offer up a half-hearted apology, but Yvette could sniff out an insincere gesture when she saw one and refused to accept it. Soon, another screaming match ensued with Yvette calling Stuart a “bloated windbag” and Stuart firing back that she’s a “has been whack job.” The argument got even further off course after Stuart made a reference to stuttering and Yvette accused him of making fun of people who stutter. She promised to make Stuart pay.
She later delivered on the threat by getting Stuart barred from the school grounds for making fun of people with disabilities, preventing him from attending any of his children’s school activities. A devastated Stuart begged Rick to intervene on his behalf to get Yvette to drop her complaint with the school. Rick reluctantly agreed, despite feeling that Stuart was in the wrong on this one.
Back in court, Amanda and Sierra learned the state now wanted to try Sierra as an adult, opening the possibility of much steeper punishments. Amanda convinced Sierra that they shouldn’t fight the move as long as the judge agreed to legally emancipate her from her father and she earned her independence as a result.
Meanwhile, Ted was still trying to convince Patton not to do his own stunts in the movie, even procuring an animation of one stunt in question that involved jumping from a plane, having his parachute snap and experiencing a very painful landing — but Patton wouldn’t be swayed. By now, it had moved past just trying to stick it to Brian and became about overcoming his fear, since acting was the only aspect of his life where he was never afraid. Ted agreed to make it happen.
We learn in a series of flashbacks throughout the episode to Stuart’s Los Angeles bachelor party in 2010 that the men have known each other for years. Patton actually met Ted’s brother, Eddie (Carson A. Egan) first while Ted and Stuart were busy singing karaoke to none other than the boy band classic, "Tearin’ Up My Heart." When a rude fan insulted Eddie, Patton stood up for him, getting himself thrown to the ground in the process, before Ted intervened and punched the unwelcome fan.
The flashback also revealed that at the time of the bachelor party Eddie and Ted’s dad was on trial in New York and was ultimately convicted — although the exact charges against him still remain a mystery.
Back in the present day, Erica went to talk to Amanda after learning she’d agreed to let Sierra be tried as an adult. Erica felt the move was too risky and could land Sierra in prison, but Amanda felt confident she had it under control. That is until she learned a few moments later that the district attorney planned to upgrade the charges to attempted murder after interviewing Sierra’s father. Their only move now was to try to work it out with Sierra’s dad.
At the eventual sit down, they were able to convince Sierra’s father not to testify against her as soon as Erica took the reins in the meeting, telling Sierra her father was just trying to look out for her while also making sure her dad understood his little girl was growing up. Sierra agreed to continue to live with her father—who had only been concealing the money she had so that it wouldn’t go to her head — but only if Amanda and Erica remained her attorneys.
Amanda later thanked Erica for having the “cooler head” and confessed that her own biological father had stolen all the money from her college fund which may have swayed her actions.
Meanwhile, poor Rick was still trying to mediate the fight between Yvette and Stuart. Yvette agreed to settle the feud under three conditions: Stuart couldn’t listen to 90s boy bands while driving, he had to write a poem about her to read outloud and a third “not negotiable” requirement that he attend anger management.
When Rick later told Stuart, he flipped out and began to throw around wild accusations, insisting that Yvette was threatening his family and had a “Goddamn gun” to his head.
It was clear there was much more behind the feud and Rick went to seek help from Ted. Ted found his friend turned occasional enemy sitting alone on a bench. Stuart admitted the threat to his life and family by his former client, Hollywood fixer David Bowie (no, not that one), had messed with his head and he was “not right” as a result, believing everyone was out to get him.
Ted agreed to help him and arranged with Samantha for Stuart to get a week off of work to get some help. They agreed to keep the reason for the impromptu vacation a secret from Stuart’s wife, so that she wouldn’t worry. Despite everything that’s happened between the two men this season, Ted admitted he still thinks of Stuart as a brother.
To see what will happen next, watch Suits LA Sundays at 9/8c on NBC or streaming on Peacock.
