Ally McBeal is a young lawyer working at the Boston law firm Cage and Fish. Ally's lives and loves are eccentric, humorous, dramatic with an incredibly overactive imagination that's working overtime!
The peaks and the valleys. Find the essential episodes — and the ones to skip.
Billy represents a woman in an annulment action case, who's deeply religious husband wants out of the marriage due to the fact that she has surgically modified her body. Meanwhile, as John gets trapped in an elevator, Nelle pulls another sleazy stunt.
The lawyers are shocked to discover Ling has been keeping a secret. Ally visits Dr. Butters at the hospital one day and sees he's treating a terminally ill little boy. The little boy, Eric Stall, sees Ally in the doorway and finds out that she is a lawyer. He asks if he can retain her services because he wants to sue God. Ally tries to tell him it's not possible, but Ling, who was at the hospital at the same time, overhears and tells the boy not to listen to Ally.
Judge Whipper Cone asks Ally to take on a pro-bono case of a young prostitute up on her third solicitation charge. Fish, meanwhile, wants to sue his uncle's church for discrimination, due to his uncle's overt bigotry towards vertically challenged people (short people). The church's contention is that they cannot support bigotry of any kind and allowing the uncle a service and proper burial is tantamount to endorsing the appalling views. Fish promises he will not propagate the attitudes in his eulogy. Renee talks Ally into double dating with the salad-dressing-on-the-chin guy if the Biscuit is invited.
Ally defends a man who broke into his old house to jump out of his old bedroom window. Harvey Hall believes he can fly using wings he made himself. The house owner allows him to jump from the roof, and Harvey accomplishes his life long dream of flying, at the cost of his own life. Meanwhile, Harriet Pumple tries to find a match for Elaine, Coretta, Richard and John. She matches Elaine with Victor, who would have dumped her if it wasn't for Ally asking him not to. But Harriet can't find a match for John, so the entire office sings "we have to get you a woman" for him. John is profoundly insulted.
Each point is an episode, plotted in order. Colored bands mark season boundaries. Look for the rise, the plateau, or the decline.
High votes + high rating = beloved classic. High votes + low rating = notorious stinker. Low votes + high rating = hidden gem.
One point per season. Smooths out the episode-to-episode noise to reveal the bigger arc.
Did each season build or fizzle? Green means the finale outscored the premiere. Red means the opposite. Longer arrows, bigger swings.
How steady is each season? Tightly clustered dots mean reliable quality. Scattered dots mean a wild ride.
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