- Title: Franklin & Bash – Viper
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As Franklin (Breckin Meyer) and Bash (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) get their first chance to defend a real-life super-hero (Sean Astin) charged with manslaughter Peter juggles his new relationship with Officer Wendy (Kat Foster) and the unexpected arrival of his mother Elaine (Jane Seymour) who needs Peter’s help to sell the house he grew up in and may have to move in temporarily.
To help prove their clients innocence, Franklin and Bash seek out the Viper’s super-hero pals (Steve Humphreys, Robert Michael Lee, Justin Wade) who make sure drunk women don’t go home with dangerous men, help customers safely load and unload their groceries, and make sure the elderly and handicapped aren’t harassed on city buses. Although the group make good character witnesses, when a tape surfaces showing their client’s altercation with the victim days before the man’s accidental death the Assistant District Attorney, Peter’s ex Janie (Claire Coffee), ups the charge from manslaughter to murder.
As Damien (Reed Diamond) steps into to help Elaine nix the deal to sell her house, Pindar (Kumail Nanjiani) tracks down his college crush (Megan Stevenson), and the root of his many phobias who agrees to help fix him but it turns out the woman has quite a few issues of her own.
“Viper” is intriguing not only because of the super-hero defendant (which produces several humorous moments), furthering Peter’s relationship with Wendy, and the introduction of Seymour as a recurring character, but it’s also one of the few episodes of the series in which the pair don’t rely on cheap tricks or grand stunts to win their case but instead rely on sound legal strategy (even if it means embarrassing their client in open court). Pindar’s story doesn’t work quite as well, but the introduction of a love-interest who has her own issues could lead to some unusual situations in future episodes.