Extraordinary Circumstances is the ninth episode of the first season of For the People.
Short Summary[]
Sandra goes the extra mile for a client when she goes up against the FBI and ends up in one of the most unexpected and compromising situations of her young career. Meanwhile, Roger assigns Kate, Seth and Leonard to work on a highly sensitive case after receiving a tip alleging that the governor of New York is trying to illegally sell a seat in the Senate.
Full Summary[]
Kate and Anya are naked in bed. They start making out until Kate's pre-alarm goes off. She doesn't have to leave until 3 hours. Anya says this is even more than early. Anya tells Kate she likes likes her. She likes Kate's weirdness. Kate doesn't respond. Anya wonders if it's too much too soon. Kate deviates. When the real alarm goes off, Anya unplugs it and tells Kate she's not going to work any time soon. They continue to make out.
Allison finds Sandra working on the floor of her office. Sandra says there's stuff on the floor in her own office. Jill comes in and confirms this. She needs someone to go see their client who is suspected of drug trafficking, namely having swallowed the drugs. She'd go herself but she's being forced to attend a second circuit conference on electronic discovery in Westchester. Allison has a hearing, so Sandra takes the drug case. She's taken aback upon hearing the client was taken to the hospital. Jill realizes she dislikes hospitals, but Sandra brushes it off.
Seth is thrown by Kate's empty office. Leonard is surprised, too. Seth checked her calendar. The only reasonable explanation they can come up with is that she secretly got a new office under a secret alias to dodge them. Kate then arrives. Leonard asks where and what she was doing. She says that's none of his business since she's not actually late. Roger comes in, too. The Chief of the Public Corruption Unit is stepping down and Roger is dividing his case load. The three of them have to work together on an investigation into Bill Shales, the governor of New York. He's allegedly trying to sell the Senate seat of the deceased senator Reyes. Shales has been extorting campaign donations for himself and his wife. Shales has created a toxic work environment so his aides are turning on each other, but there is still no proof to implicate Shales himself. Also, they need to pull this off before Shales realizes that they are on to him. There's a wire tap in place so they need to dig up what they can so they have everything ready when they finally catch him in the act. The AUSAs are not keen on having to work together. Roger says he's out of the office so they are on their own.
Jay finds Sandra working in the middle of her stuff-filled office. He notices she's not herself, but she claims she's fine.
The AUSAs are watching a speech given by Shales, where he claims to be looking for the right senate candidate. Kate wants to set up a sting since the wire tap will take too long. Shales won't discuss this over the phone. Leonard wants to play it man-to-man and try to reach out to the governor since he's used to dealing with politicians. He assigns Kate to Tim Klein, Shales' Chief of Staff, and Seth can do the aides. Seth wants to go through all the wire tap boxes. Leonard leaves the room to answer a call.
Sandra gathers herself outside the hospital. A little girl entering reminds her of herself as a kid.
Leonard returns with the news that a fact checker at The Sentinel informed him that they are running a story on Shales' plans. That means that the governor will soon know they are on to him and he'll cover his tracks.
Jill runs into Roger at the conference. He's actually leaving. He signed his name on the form so now he can leave. He's going out to find fun. This is the one day of the year where he's just himself, where he gets to do what he wants. He invites her to come along, but she says she can't leave. She goes to wait in line.
Sandra does her best not to fall apart as she enters the ER. A nurse directs her to the second floor.
The AUSAs are going through the wire tap files. Seth concludes the aides really hate each other. Seth suggests they go after the aides and see what happens. It might hit the governor in some way. Leonard wants to stop the story from coming out. He proposes he call the reporter and uses his charm. In return, they can offer her a tip right before they go for the arrest so they get the bigger story. Kate thinks it's good, but she wants Seth to talk to the reporter. He's real, mid-Western, relatable,and attractive in a bland way. Leonard agrees. He makes the call.
Sandra finally finds the client. Carlos is being guarded by a police officer. Agent Goode will return soon with the X-ray results. Carlos objected to the X-rays, but they didn't listen. Agent Goode and his team return. Sandra tells him the results are inadmissible, but they were inconclusive anyway. Goode wants to do a CT scan, but Sandra reminds him of the 4th Amendment. Sandra says they are leaving. Goode knows she defended Kirk Keener, which he appreciated. He'll see what he can do here.
Jill signs her name on the form. The woman asks her if she wants to attend the breakout session on crafting effective search terms.
Jill is on her way out. Roger is sitting near the exit waiting for her. They dump their name tags in the bin and leave together.
Kate and Leonard talk while observing Seth with the reporter. Kate is bad at lip reading so they switch places. Leonard brings up this morning again. He wants to know why she was later than usual. Seth and the reporter leave the room. Seth comes up and says the reporter refused to stall the story. It's going online at 9 tonight. Kate says they can get someone more powerful to make them stand down.
The AUSAs are in Nicholas' chamber. He remembers Seth and Kate.
Nicholas recalls the time they came to his home to ask for 25 useless home searches. Leonard pitches their idea. He asks Nicholas to grant an injuction to prevent the NY Sentinel from publishing the story. He understands it's an extraordinary measure, but these are extraordinary circumstances. He mentions Nebraska Press, which Nicholas is familiar with. Nicholas says when he was in his first year as an ASUA, the New York Times published articles based on the Pentagon Papers. They believed that to be a threat to the national security so they went before a judge and asked for an injunction. Two weeks later, the Supreme Court sided with the Times. The government must meet a very heavy burden to justify prior restraint. He thinks they don't meet that burden now.
Jill and Roger are having lunch at an Italian restaurant. He likes coming here. He had a maffia case years ago. He met here with one of the maffia membrs who agreed to talk. Jill recognizes the name of the man and recalls he died of a heart attack in a restaurant. Roger adds it was right where she's sitting. Roger watched him die. Jill switches seats. Roger says he continued to secretly come here when he and Renée moved out of the city with the kids, and later throughout the divorce because her lawyer was too afraid to come in here. Jill doesn't see him hiding for a lawyer. Roger says he was hiding from the divorce. That was his big failure, until Jill beat him in the DA case. When he was in here, he forgot about the divorce. Roger says it's time to go.
The AUSAs are clueless as to what to do next. Leonard says they still have 8 hours to build a case. Kate plans on using the fact that the aides hate their jobs. They can try to get them to implicate the governor.
Sandra is starting to have an anxiety attack. Carlos asks if she's okay, which she says she is. He thinks she looks like he looked at the airport. Because of his name and ethnicity, he should be used to getting stopped at the airport, but he still gets nervous. He says they can run the test on him, but Sandra decidedly says it's not okay. They can't subject him to a warrantless search without a probable cause. Goode returns with orders to take Payano for the CT. The inconclusive X-ray combined with his behavior constitute probable cause. Sandra continues to object. Sandra calls Allison, but she doesn't pick up. She then calls Jay, who offers to help. She asks him to get her an injunction for Carlos. She tells Goode it will be granted within the hour and she's not moving until then. Goode instructs her to move, but she refuses. Goode then overpowers her and handcuffs her to a railing. Carlos is taken away.
Sandra's anxiety flares up as she's still handcuffed. She then sees her younger self sitting around for a moment.
Jay runs past Allison at the courthouse. Jay updates her on Sandra's situation. He has to go.
Jill and Roger sit down in an empty movie theater. He always sits at the aisle. He doesn't like to get trapped in the middle. She makes him move a seat so she can sit at the aisle. She verifies if they're actually going to see Wonder Woman because the poster out front was for some French movie. He says that poster has been there for years. Jill can't bring herself to go to the movies by herself, so it's been a while since she's seen one. He's glad they are here together. The movie starts. It's the French one. Roger smiles.
The AUSAs are interviewing the aides. Natalie tells Seth that she does everything while Simon sits around playing solitaire. Simon tells Kate that Natalie thinks of herself as his boss, but she's not. Kate wants to talk about his actual boss. Leonard asks Daniel about the senate seat. Daniel only knows that Simon is asking senate candidates for campaign commitments, but the governor doesn't know. Simon is trying to buy a promotion but it's not going to work. Simon tells Kate that the governor is the best boss ever. Natalie also deems it an honor. They all agree he's the real deal and that he would never break the law.
The AUSAs reconvene in the conference room. Seth suggests they try Tim Klein, but Leonard says he and Shales are tight. Kate brings up the sting, but it would take the FBI at least half a day to set it up and they only have one hour left. Seth wonders if Anya could help them. Kate says she's out in the field tonight. Seth then realizes that Kate is dating Anya. He can't believe Leonard didn't know as he thought they were tight. That makes Seth realize that Tim Klein and Shales may not be as tight as they seem. If they bring in Klein and bluff, he might give in. It's their last chance anyway.
The AUSAs meet with Tim and his lawyer. Tim claims he has no idea what this is about, so Kate fills him in. Seth claims they have an entire room filled with evidence, including personal exchanges Shales and his wife that incriminate Tim. From what they have now, Tim is facing a 14-year sentence. Seth says that is what the governor is telling, but Tim has been a devoted civil servant, so they felt that he has earned one opportunity to help himself. Tim's lawyer calls their bluff, but Tim shuts him up. He asks about immunity. Leonard says they only want the governor. Tim says he and Shales aren't close.
Jay arrives at the hospital with the injunction. Sandra says it's too late. Jay notices she's not looking and asks officer Staub to remove the restraints. Staub says it's not his call. Jay then takes his phone and starts filming the situation while explaining it. He points his camera at Staub and says he refuses to free her. He shows the order from the federal judge that the FBI and Staub are willfully ignoring. Jay stops filming and tells Staub he will be the face of this mess if he doesn't free Sandra. Staub then releases her. Jay asks a nurse about Carlos. He directs them to the third floor and adds that the CT is backed up. Jay and Sandra run off.
They burst into the CT room and demand the technicians stop the CT. Goode says this is happening. Sandra shows him the order. It's done. Goode concedes and orders the technicians to stop.
Leonard instructs Tim to call Shales and tell him the FBI just showed up at his door and ask what he should tell them. Tim does so. Bill tells him to tell them the truth since they are doing nothing wrong. They can always come talk to him. Tim says he'll let him know how it goes and hangs up. The AUSAs are disappointed. Moments later, a phone rings. Tim says it's his burner phone that the governor gave him just for him. It's Shales calling back to tell him to delete every text and e-mail about the senate appointment.
Jill and Roger are sitting on the bleachers at the local baseball field. Maggie played on the team. She was very bad in the beginning, but by the time Renée and the girls moved away, she was among the best pitchers in Westchester. Roger thinks he'll be better at marriage next time. Jill's not really interested in another marriage. Roger asks about her divorce with Cliff. She says it was more fun than the marriage. They have never really talked about it. Cliff was a mistake. Him personally, but that wasn't just it. She thought she wanted something else, but she didn't. That's all there is to it. Roger says there is more, but that suffices for today. She thanks him for today. She tells him this could never work. They have fundamentally different world views. Eventually, they would be lying in bed and she'd be infuriated by something he said or did. She laid next to someone she secretly and then openly hated for years. She's never going back there. He takes away that she has thought about the two of them in bed. He's not proposing, but he wants her to know he likes her. She likes him, too. Roger says the last time he saw Maggie pitch, he didn't know it was the last time. You think moments last forever, but they do not. He understands that now. They share a look, which is interrupted by both of their phones.
Jay brings Sandra a sandwich from a vending machine. She thanks him for what he did today. She needed someone to help her get up. She tells him that her mom drove her to school every day she could, because it was their girls time. That day, she took the bus because her mother had to go to work early. She did the books for this liquor store and they were doing inventory. She used to bring him little mints and she put one in Sandra's hand that morning, promising her that girl talk was back on the next day. Sandra knew something awful happened when she was pulled out of the class and taken to the principal's office. Her dad was there, crying. He told her what he already knew: her mother was hurt. She was in a car accident. She wanted to see her, but her father kept telling her she would be okay as that was what the doctors told him. She was told to sit and wait, so she did. She wanted to get up and go into that room to see her. She should have, but she didn't. She sat there until someone came to her.
A doctor comes up to young Sandra and delivers the bad news.
Sandra tells Jay she swore she would never sit down again when she didn't want to. She vowed to always ask questions. She never wanted to feel like she wasn't in control ever again. She owed that to her mother. Allison and Jill arrive. Sandra confirms she's okay. Allison called Jill because she was worried. Sandra says Jay had her back. Allison is feeling generous because her motion to dismiss was granted, so drinks are on her. They leave together.
The AUSAs watch the news report on Shales' arrest. Roger compliments their work. He knows it was a team effort, but he still told Delap it was largely him because that is what bosses do. Delap is very happy with the three of them. Roger will buy them a drink. Kate and Leonard stay behind for a bit. She thinks maybe he should have told him about Anya, but he disagrees. He's happy that she likes this girl. He still thinks she's a catch.
The FDPs and AUSAs all go out for drinks.
Sandra stays behind for a few seconds to stare at the empty chair she sat in as a child, and then catches up with the others.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Hope Davis as Jill Carlan
- Ben Shenkman as Roger Gunn
- Jasmin Savoy Brown as Allison Adams
- Susannah Flood as Kate Littlejohn
- Wesam Keesh as Jay Simmons
- Regé-Jean Page as Leonard Knox
- Ben Rappaport as Seth Oliver
- Britt Robertson as Sandra Bell
- Anna Deavere Smith as Tina Krissman (credit only)
- Vondie Curtis Hall as Judge Nicholas Byrne
Guest Stars[]
- Caitlin Stasey as Anya Ooms
- Derek Phillips as Agent Jason Goode
- Bobby Soto as Carlos Payano
- Micah Cohen as Tim Klein
Co-Starring[]
- Stephen Eshenbaugh as NYPD Officer Staub
- Megan Kane as Natalie
- Ashwin Gore as Daniel
- Ryan Alexander Holmes as Simon
- Mark Overholt as Gary Ward
- Kyriaki as Anchor
- Julienne Irons as Nurse #1
- Atticus Batacan as Nurse #2
- Bex Marsh as Woman at Table
- Phil Austin as Governor Bill Shales
- Nellie Barnett as Karen DeCarlo
- Don Baldaramos as Doctor
- Maisie de Krassel as Young Sandra
Legal Cases[]
Music[]
| Song | Performer | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| "The Weight is Gone" | Albin Lee Meldau |
|
| "Illuminate" | The Kite String Tangle & Dustin Tebbutt |
|
Notes and Trivia[]
For The People 1x09 Promo "Extraordinary Circumstances" (HD)
- This episode scored 1.95 million viewers, a series low.
- While there are no real promotional stills available for this episode, ABC did release a couple of screenshots instead.
- A new version of the score is played over the opening title card rather than the usual one.
Gallery[]
Episode Stills[]
Quotes[]
See Also[]
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A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here. |
| Season 1 | |||
| #01 | "Pilot" | #06 | "Everybody's a Superhero" |
| #02 | "Rahowa" | #07 | "Have You Met Leonard Knox?" |
| #03 | "18 Miles Outside of Roanoke" | #08 | "Flippity-Flop" |
| #04 | "The Library Fountain" | #09 | "Extraordinary Circumstances" |
| #05 | "World's Greatest Judge" | #10 | "This is What I Wanted to Say" |
| Season 2 >> | |||