To the peppy tune of Dolly Parton's "9 to 5," So Help Me Todd season 2 episode 7 opens with Margaret (Marcia Gay Harden) still trying to save the firm from financial ruin. She is besieged by co-workers in the office who all need her signature on various things.
Overwhelmed, she heads down to the café for a coffee and meets Leo Hart (James Martinez) In the elevator. Leo is upset because he has to attend a probate hearing for his own assets that very day and he can’t find a lawyer to help him.
Leo was mistakenly declared dead, and without any official record of him being alive he can’t work, find housing or do anything at all. Margaret agrees to represent him.
The perfect murder
While Margaret prepares for probate court, Susan (Inga Schlingmann) stops by to tell Margaret she is meeting with a potential new client, Rory Macintosh, who would be paying a $1 million per year retainer if he signs.
In probate court Margaret gets a continuance so she and Todd (Skylar Astin) can find a way to legally prove Leo is alive. Todd goes to the hospital to ask for Allison's (Madeline Wise) help. They find out that the doctor who officially declared Leo dead doesn't actually exist. Someone has "killed" Leo on paper on purpose. After Todd tells Margaret she asks Leo if he has any idea who would target him, but Leo is stumped.
Todd and Margaret go to the funeral home director who wrote Leo's obituary. However he didn't write the obituary. He tells them the obituary was submitted from his father's email, who died 20 years ago.
Todd theorizes that a computer hacker has "killed" Leo, but they can't figure out who would pay to do that. Lyle (Tristen J. Winger), high on nitrous oxide from a recent dentist appointment, agrees to assist Todd with the investigation by helping him access the Dark Web using head partner Merritt Folding's private server.
Mistaken identities
The firm is buzzing with visitors. Francey (Rosa Arredondo) tries to get a pushy man soliciting donations for reptile rehabilitation to leave, but he wanders to the kitchen and gets some coffee. As Francey walks away she falls into step with Susan, who is waiting for Rory Macintosh to arrive.
However, Macintosh arrives as Susan heads down the hall with Francey. He wanders into Folding's office, where Todd and Lyle are. When Rory talks about how excited he is to meet Merritt, Todd impersonates the firm's partner using a Scottish accent, which is convincing enough for Rory and they bond over it.
While Rory is getting to know fake-Merritt and Lyle, Susan is looking for him because he is late for their meeting. She runs into Leo walking down the hall and assumes he is Rory. Francey overhears two associates talking about Folding being in the office, so she tells Margaret that Folding came to the office just to meet with Rory.
Margaret gets upset, thinking Susan asked Folding to be in the meeting and not her. She goes looking for Rory so she can pitch him on hiring the firm. In the kitchen she meets the reptile rehab solicitor and assumes he's Rory. She agrees to donate money to him not realizing he's not Rory.
Meanwhile, Susan is pitching Leo in the conference room thinking he's Rory. When she goes to retrieve her laptop, she runs into Todd and Rory and realizes Leo isn't Rory. Lyle, still on the Dark Web, finds out the hacker is named Piper Harlow.
When Margaret brags to Francey she just signed Rory, Francey lets her know that the man she was talking to isn't Rory.
The path to Piper
Todd goes to see Piper Harlow, who is serving five years in prison. He figures out the woman in prison isn't actually Piper Harlow, she's someone the real Piper hired to serve her prison sentence for her.
At family dinner that night, Todd tells Margaret Rory is getting wooed by other firms. She tells Todd to immediately text Susan and tell her to send Rory a gift basket full of Scottish treats.
The next day Todd finds the real Piper Harlow hiding in her house. Margaret lays on Piper's lawn calling for help. When Piper comes outside Todd gets her to admit she's the hacker who was hired to "kill" Leo. But who hired her?
The real "killer"
Piper tells Margaret and Todd she was hired by Ethan Zillow to electronically "kill" Leo. Margaret calls Leo to the office and explains what happened. She gives Leo a photo array of all the Ethan Zillows in the state and asks if he knows any of them. He does'’t. But, he does know a Zillow. Sofie Zillow (Francisca Dennis) was his girlfriend almost 18 years ago. She left him because he couldn't get his life together.
Margaret brings in Sofie Zillow and her son, Ethan Zillow, who is also Leo's son. Sofie had lied to Ethan and told him Leo never wanted anything to do with them. So, 16-year-old Ethan paid Piper to "kill" Leo in retaliation. Leo is shocked to learn he has a son and doesn't want to press charges. Margaret is confident they can now get Leo resurrected on paper once Ethan testifies in private court.
As Todd and Margaret leave for the day they meet Susan in the elevator. She tells Todd his idea for the gift basket closed the deal with Rory. Margaret smiles behind Susan’s back and lets Todd take the credit.
New episodes of So Help Me Todd air Thursdays on CBS, then are available on-demand on Paramount Plus the next day.
