Drop Dead Diva Season 3, Episode 3 “Dream Big” Recap & Review
Originally Aired: July 10, 2011
Written By: OBS staff member Annabell Cadiz
Jane still hasn’t heard back from the cutie nerdy doctor (she impulsively slept with after the first date!) and places a call to him but only gets his voice mail (surprise surprise . . . not). She gets a nice distraction through the new client she takes on. Molly Heller had conceived her child through a sperm bank who had claimed they did genetic screenings of all applicants but Molly gave birth to a son, named Eli, who was born with a form of dwarfism. Both Eli and Molly believe the sperm bank had failed to test the sperm of the donors for genetic mutation. Eli needs to get physical therapy and medication for the rest of his life due to the type of dwarfism he has and believes the sperm bank should be the ones to pay for it.
Kim is seeking employment with other law agencies but Parker is refusing to give her the recommendations she asks for. Later on, at one of the interviews, Parker shows up and asks her to return. He admits he was an idiot and had lied; he lost the best thing that’s ever happened to him and wants Kim to return. Kim finally decides she will return to Parker’s firm under two conditions: she gets a ten percent raise and all because she is working for the firm again doesn’t mean she and Parker are back together.
Parker changes Jane’s plans for Grayson’s bachelor party. Where Jane had planned a dignified three course dinner at a posh restaurant (*insert sarcastic voice* because we all know how much men love celebrating anything in a posh restaurant), Parker decides Grayson needs to have some real fun and cancels the dinner for a gentleman’s club of half naked ladies (really, couldn’t be any less cliché Parker). Jane doesn’t exactly enjoy the surprise, deciding to spend her time stuffed against a couch using her purse as a shield. One of the lovely half naked ladies starts to give Jane a little show, totally invading her personal space. Jane’s phone goes off and as she goes to answer it (for some reason explaining to the half naked lady as she dances against Jane about the no call from the nerdy doctor), the half naked dancer slaps the phone out of Jane’s hand by accident and the phone lands in the middle of the dance floor, where a variety of half naked ladies are shaking it up. Jane has no choice but to head into the throng to retrieve her phone and winds up giving a cute little dance herself.
Stacy’s relationship with Fred is on the fritz again because Stacy suspects Fred isn’t telling her the whole truth of who he really is. True to form, Stacy thinks Fred may be secretly working for the C.I.A. or be apart of the F.B.I Witness Protection Program. Fred was a guardian angel and doesn’t have a past so Jane tells him he’s going to need to make one up. Fred sticks his foot in his mouth and tells Stacy his mother lives in Alhambra which happens to be only thirty minutes away from where Stacy, Jane, and himself share a house. Stacy wants to have lunch with Fred’s mom and get to know her. Fred decides to hire an actress (who is also a co-worker at the firm, Ginny) to play his mother. Ginny turns out to be a lot crazier than Fred realized. Thankfully, Stacy believes Fred’s mother is just absolutely crazy and tells Fred they never have to have lunch with her again.
Jane’s case isn’t going so well. The judge already throws the case out within five minutes of hearing it due to the fact that L.A. does not accept cases in Wrongful Life Suits. The judge agrees and dismisses Jane’s clients. Jane, the awesome genius that she is, finds a way around the case deciding to sue the sperm bank for being defective since they did not test Eli’s father’s sperm for genetic mutation. Jane wins her case and Eli and his mother get a very nice settlement.
Grayson lands a new client. One of the strippers, Sierra, from the gentleman’s night club, wants to sue her boss for not supplying her with a safe and comfortable environment to work (she has asthma and the smoke machines at the night club makes it hard for her to work). Grayson wins the first part of his case to help Sierra get reinstated in her job at the gentleman’s club with benefits. But soon Sierra is back with a two of the other strippers who work at the club, because their boss has locked them out and blacklisted them from being able to get another job any of the other night clubs around their district. Grayson takes him to court to sue him when, to his surprise, the judge residing over his case is his fiancé’s father! Grayson wins his case and manages to finally ask Vanessa’s father for permission to marry his daughter. Vanessa’s father says yes.
Bill (a.k.a. the cutie nerdy neurosurgeon) shows up at Jane’s house and explains he had left his cell phone at her place. Jane goes to her room to retrieve his phone (finding it under the bed) and erases the messages she had left (she didn’t want him hearing the message she had left telling him he has a God complex and a super sized ego for never having called her back). Bill asks her out to dinner and Jane agrees. Bill says he’s grateful she said yes considering his oversized ego and God complex. Jane starts to apologize but Dr. Bill just tells her she’s adorable when she gets mad. They head out to their dinner date.
My Own Thoughts: Following the usual cliché of all hit shows, there had to be a bachelor party at a strip club. Seriously, can no one think of a more original idea?! It’s starting to bother me that the show is heading in the direction of appeasing to sensual predictability. It’s taking the heart and soul out of the characters and making the show seem cheap. They should back away while they still have the chance to redeem themselves and keep their loyal fan base from running away, screaming!
I was very moved by Jane’s case with Molly and Eli. Especially, by the note Molly had written to her not-yet-born son when she had gotten pregnant, telling him he could be anything he wanted in his life even President. She encouraged him to reach for the stars and made a commit to teach him how to live a life without boundaries or limits. Made me think of my own mom and how much she’s done for me *tear* I also appreciated how much people with dwarfism go through and have even more respect for them. Molly and Eli’s relationship is so beautiful and shows how deep a mother and son relationship goes.
I hope the show continues to keep the heart both with the characters and the story, and lessens the amount of pointless sexual innuendos and cheap sexual cliches. The show works so good without needing to follow in the direction so many other shows take. Drop Dead Diva is such a fun and heartwarming show, I would hate to see it lose that.
Fun Facts: Jennifer Tilly plays Ginny who winds up pretending to be Fred’s mother. Music included in the episode: “Nothing in the Way” by Rabbit!, “Stipper” by Sohodolls, and “Shake Me” by Taddy Porter.
