- Title: Franklin & Bash – By the Numbers
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Franklin (Breckin Meyer) and Bash (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) take the case of an actuary (Martin Starr) the pair recently beat in court who is accussed of murdering a young woman (Meg Cionni), a former lover whose life insurance he bought out and is now on the hook for after her terminal illness went into remission. Despite the ghoulish nature of what the actuary does for a living, Peter and Bash can’t help but notice his effect on women, including the smitten Carmen (Dana Davis).
Meanwhile, Damien (Reed Diamond) and Infeld (Malcolm McDowell) defend a beekeeper (Kim Shaw) in danger of loosing her livelihood after her bees get loose and attack a kid’s birthday party. Realizing the pair are in over their head on what should be a simple matter made more complicated by small community politics, Rachel (Heather Locklear) enlists the help of Jared and Peter to teach them “the Franklin and Bash.” This results in an unusual display by Damien that saves their case (even if it continues to freak the lawyer out for the remainder of the episode).
Fanklin and Bash’s case gets tougher when the prosecutor (Geoffrey Blake) brings to light two previous clients of the actuary both who met quick ends after he bought their policies. When trying to paint the victim’s sister (Jennifer Aspen), who was sleeping with her boyfriend and who cashes in on the policy if the actuary is convicted, as a potential murderer, Peter and Jared turn their attention to the actuary’s assistant (Hillary Tuck) whose secret love for the man may indeed have led her down a dark path.
As interesting an idea as it is for Infeld and Damien to ape Peter and Jared’s style, the bee story feels very much like a B-story (pun intended), although their help does get Franklin and Bash back their combined office space as Rachel finally relents and the wall comes a tumblin’ down. The twists of the main story work better, as Franklin and Bash try to save their new client from being convicted of killing their old one. After a couple of weeks Nicky Whelan returns as Charlie, whose character drops one bombshell on Peter, but not a big enough one for him to even consider not giving the relationship a legitimate chance.