FAMILY LAW: ARE YOU MY FATHER? (TV)
Summary
One in this legal drama series about a divorced lawyer working in a law firm specializing in domestic cases.
In this episode, Lynn represents Ruth Crowley, who is seeking child support for her nephew Scott from his alleged biological father, famed televangelist Reverend John Landen, for whom her late sister Anna previously worked. However, the reverend's attorney Bill Griegen declares that hearsay is not enough to compel a DNA test. Danni meets with Carla Sims, a transgender woman who is seeking joint custody of her daughter, Amanda, though her angry ex-wife Jeanette believes her to be a negative influence on the teen. Randi talks to the reverend's other employees, trying to discern if there were other witnesses to his affair with Anna, but finds little concrete proof. Carla testifies about her difficult journey to finding her true self, admitting that her transition and subsequent divorce caused great strife within the family. She explains that she loves her daughter and hopes to teach her about tolerance, though Jeannette's lawyer snidely suggests that she should have "been a man" and put her family's needs before her own.
Rex, discomfited by Carla's identity, claims that one shouldn't "mess with God." Lynn rushes to the Landen home when John's wife, Annette, tells her that young Scott has unexpectedly arrived. John angrily insists that he has never been unfaithful to his wife and therefore cannot be the father, though Randi soon encounters another reverend, Thomas Matthews, who worked alongside John and confirms that he did indeed love Anna. Rex and the other lawyers ponder the concept of surgically altering one's body to fit one's true self, as Carla did; when Thomas is barred from testifying about John's "confession" of his feelings for Anna, Lynn sadly tells Ruth that they have run out of legal options. Danni interrogates Jeanette about her busy post-divorce dating life, suggesting that her apparent promiscuity is more morally harmful to Amanda than her father's transition; Jeanette heatedly explains that she wanted to feel desirable to men after her husband's shocking revelation.
Ruth is arrested and charged with trespassing and extortion when she threatens John with public exposure. Lynn takes Scott home with her rather than handing him over to Children's Services. On the stand, Amanda explains that she misses her father and wishes to live with Carla, feeling that she empathizes with her sense of being an outcast. Ruth is released from jail but refuses to retract the paternity claim; Viveca points out that, unlike in a civil trial, Lynn can compel a DNA sample from John to refute the criminal charges against Ruth. Rex rudely questions Carla about her transition, but when she sadly admits that she is dropping her request for joint custody, Rex urges her to "act like a woman" and fight for her daughter. In court, Rex argues that Ruth had a legal right to demand child support from John, and John finally agrees to take the blood test. Scott encounters John in the hospital chapel and plaintively asks why he "doesn't want him." Elsewhere, Carla and Jeanette finally reach a compassionate understanding about their child. John agrees to drop the charges against Ruth and pay child support after all – but the DNA test comes back negative, meaning that he is not Scott's father. Surprised, Lynn apologizes to him, but John explains that he truly loved Anna, albeit chastely, and would be honored to act as her son's dad. Elsewhere, Rex is amused to receive flowers from an appreciative Carla. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: February 21, 2000 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:44:13
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:81761
- GENRE: Drama, legal
- SUBJECT HEADING: LGBT Collection - Drama; Drama, legal; Transgender people; Paternity
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1999-2002
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Paul Haggis … Executive Producer, Created by
- Fred Gerber … Co-Executive Producer
- Stephen Nathan … Co-Executive Producer
- David Shore … Co-Executive Producer
- Mark R. Harris … Co-Executive Producer
- Gary Law … Co-Producer
- William Redner … Co-Producer
- Hilton Smith … Co-Producer
- Sarah Woodside Gallagher … Co-Producer
- Judith Feldman … Co-Producer
- Chuck Binder … Co-Producer
- Anne Kenney … Consulting Producer
- Anita Addison … Director
- Anne Kenney … Created by
- Susan Hamilton Brin … Writer
- Mark Isham … Music by
- Brink, The … Theme Music by
- Kathleen Quinlan … Cast, Lynn Holt
- Christopher McDonald … Cast, Rex Weller
- Dixie Carter … Cast, Randi King
- Cristián de la Fuente … Cast, Andres Diaz
- Merrillee McCommas … Cast, Patricia Dumar
- Salli Richardson (See also: Salli Richardson-Whitfield) … Cast, Viveca Foster
- Julie Warner … Cast, Danni Lipton
- Wendy Phillips … Cast, Ruth Crowley
- Mike Weinberg … Cast, Scott Crowley
- Mark Tymchyshyn … Cast, Reverend John Landen
- Shannon O'Hurley … Cast, Annette Landen
- Walton Goggins … Cast, Bill Griegen
- Robert Gossett … Cast, Reverend Thomas Matthews
- Carlos Gomez … Cast, Attorney Trujillo
- Claudia Christian … Cast, Carla Sims
- Gia Carides … Cast, Jeanette Sims
- Mae Elvis … Cast, Amanda Sims
- Anne-Marie Johnson … Cast, Jeanette's Lawyer
- David Dorfman … Cast, Rupie Holt
- Joel Michaels … Cast, Judge William Orloff
- Alberto Isaac … Cast, Judge Walter Neff
- Dorothy Lyman … Cast, Secretary
- Annette Helde … Cast, Judge
- Tina Lifford … Cast, Judge
- Brian Catalano … Cast, Cop
- Lorey Hayes … Cast, Social Worker
- Sharline Liu … Cast, Nurse