Diggstown (2019) s01e05 Episode Script
Nikki LeBlanc
1 [HIP HOP MUSIC.]
- [TV CHATTER.]
- [LOUD HIP HOP MUSIC.]
[LOUD HIP HOP MUSIC.]
Bitch, you need Spanx! Lose some weight.
I got it just where I need it.
Yeah, but those old creeps will pay you more if you have lots up front.
[HIP HOP MUSIC.]
We got you covered.
Oh my God, our little girl's all grown up.
You up, you ready? Do I not look ready? Then get out there, girl.
Julie, where the hell's Julie? I just got back.
NIKKI: Yeah, well, then be less popular, bitch.
Go get that D, make that money.
[HIP HOP MUSIC.]
Beep me on my pager if the green is low Please don't be a stranger I won't be around [MUFFLED SCREAMING.]
[HIP HOP MUSIC.]
I'm already way up never coming down Promise when I wake up I'm all with the crown - [WOMEN SCREAMING.]
- [HIP HOP MUSIC.]
[LIGHT ROCK MUSIC.]
EMILY: Michael, where are you? Come here and have your dinner! VELMA: Relax, Emily.
Let them take the plates in.
Thanks, Mom.
Can you not undermine me in front of my children? Emily's been a bit moody since Howard got home.
EMILY: Mom! Oh, so Howard's back from Chicago? Driving a brand new Escalade.
He got his real estate licence and everything.
From the cut of the suit he was wearing, I'd say business is good.
Hmm, I'm glad he's doing well.
I always liked Howard.
EMILY: Yeah, you two are peas in a pod.
What? Both always thought you were too good for up home.
Go to hell, Emily.
MICHAEL: Aunt Marcie's on TV! VELMA: What? Oh, Oh my god.
REPORTER: This morning marked the beginning of a bizarre teen prostitution ring involving a mother, father and their youngest daughter who can only be known as N.
L.
under the Young Offenders Act.
MARCIE: The Crown is contending my teenage client lured her classmates and her friends into a lucrative prostitution ring.
We're gonna prove that she was a victim in a scheme conjured by her parents.
Lord! - The whole family was in on it.
- Hmm.
I don't want you listening to that.
Please tell me you don't believe that garbage.
I see trafficking victims every week at the rec centre.
See, Mom? In future Sunday dinners, leave me out of it.
[SOMBRE MUSIC.]
Don't worry about me don't worry, don't worry Do you worry about me Do you care when I'm all alone And I'm tired [CELL PHONE DINGING.]
IRIS: Happy Monday.
Oh, yay.
Um, what - Who did this? - I did.
Happy First Trial Day.
Okay, but today isn't my first trial.
But it's your first major crime.
I mean, you're trending across Canada.
We have a little tradition here.
Everyone in the office has to get you a gift.
REGGIE: Well now! Don't mind if I do.
You hear that, Reg? You gotta get me a gift.
Oh, it's coming.
I think I like this tradition.
REGGIE: Ha! Why did he say ha? Rule is, every gift has to have some kind of joke attached to it.
Oh, okay.
So what's your joke? One of those has a thumb tack in it.
I'm just kidding.
[LAUGHING.]
That was the joke.
Oh okay, I see what you did there.
Okay, that's funny.
Break a leg, Marcie.
[SIGH.]
Eating for two.
MARCIE: Gotcha.
PAM: Doug, hi.
I was wondering if you could do me a favour.
Uh, wow, not even nine a.
m.
on a Monday.
My sister Sam asked me to help with this workplace thing she's dealing with.
- Workplace thing? - Yeah, it smells like discrimination.
She's disabled, an academic Sorry, I'm slammed all day.
It's a quick meeting with the dean.
She just needs a lawyer to do some light sabre rattling.
- And you can't do it because? - Court.
I'll owe you.
[SIGHS.]
Okay, what's wrong with her? Nothing's wrong with her, why would you say that? You said she's disabled.
Hello.
PAM: Doug Paul, this is my sister Sam MacLean.
Very nice to meet you, Sam.
Wow, your fingers are so long.
Do you know that finger length is the only physical trait that's sexually dimorphic? Except for genitalia.
- [SNICKERS.]
How 'bout that? - Yeah.
I'm gonna go after the warrant, get the evidence thrown out.
- How bad's the evidence look? - Bad.
It's a laptop with client lists cross-referenced with favourite girls, sexual preferences.
It's bad.
But you know, even if it stays in, they can't prove Nikki was the only one - using that computer.
- That's good.
You gotta push that suspicion back onto the parents.
Judge Morrison's old school.
Remember, I saw him hold somebody in contempt for having cleavage.
Oh, well, you're making me nervous now.
IRIS: Aw, it's like the first day of school all over again.
BETHANY: The Crown intends to prove that Miss LeBlanc was a self-styled "Queen Bee" who ran a stable of up to 14 underage prostitutes from her parents' basement.
These girls will testify that Nikki systematically lured and groomed her friends after working as a prostitute herself and discovering she had a particular genius for the business of human trafficking.
I'm a genius, boss, hear that? JUDGE MORRISON: Control your client, counsel.
Apologies, your Honour.
Please continue, Miss Mayle.
BETHANY: That's all I have, your Honour.
JUDGE MORRISON: Counsel? Good morning.
Your Honour, the Crown's case against my client, Nikki LeBlanc is a fantasy.
The sad truth is that a young woman was exploited mentally and sexually by the very people she trusted most, her parents, Donna and Vernon LeBlanc, a mother with prostitution in her own past and a father so indifferent as to essentially be absent.
Indeed, the Crown has seen fit to charge both parents for the same crimes as Nikki.
They're currently being tried right now Your Honour, objection.
You're objecting to my opening statement? BETHANY: The trial of Vernon and Donna LeBlanc has no bearing on Miss LeBlanc's innocence or guilt.
Respectfully, if Nikki has been coerced into Even if the parents are found guilty, that doesn't necessarily exonerate the child.
Agreed, counsel.
Let's move on, Miss Diggs.
MARCIE: Up until two years ago, Nikki was a B plus student.
She was captain of her soccer team, an active and engaged student.
Yeah.
But at some point, her home life got the better of her.
This is a story of child exploitation, not criminality.
Thank you.
- [CHIMING.]
- CARSON: Marcie.
Fancy meeting you here.
I've been texting.
Yeah, I know.
Anything else? Okay.
I lied about where I was last week.
You did.
You were at some guy's funeral in Montreal.
Hugged up with the grieving daughter.
There are no more secrets, Carson.
I'm sorry.
Let me ask you something.
If I hadn't have found out and I answered all your texts and acted like everything's fine, would you be coming clean right now or would you have just kept lying? The situation, it was, it is complicated.
It's complicated? That's somebody's Facebook status.
RHONDA: Marcie? - Sorry.
- Rhonda.
Do you mind if I talk to you? Uh, Constable Myers, we're gonna have to pick this up later.
Rhonda, is everything okay? It's so crazy.
All of them being tried for the same thing.
I feel like if I root for Nikki, I'm turning my back on my parents.
And if I root for my parents, I am turning my back on Nikki.
MARCIE: I know, it's a tough spot to be in.
Like I feel like an idiot.
And my mom, she told me they were having a party.
[LAUGHING.]
I just really wanna give Nikki a hug.
I don't know if the Sheriff has brought her out yet.
Come with me, let's see if we can catch her, - yeah? - RHONDA: Yeah, okay.
Thanks.
DOUG: So what caused this big meltdown Sam had at the conference? There were a lot of things that contributed to it.
She was under a lot of stress.
Her medication makes her fuzzy sometimes.
The University knows that she has schizophrenia.
You're telling me your sister is seriously mentally ill? What do you mean by seriously? Is someone without the use of their legs seriously disabled or just disabled? Don't get defensive.
I'm just saying if she's throwing fits in public If an epileptic had a seizure in the middle of a conference and lost his job over it you would call that discrimination, right? Well maybe they're just worried she'd hurt someone.
Nothing I've told you about my sister would indicate that she's violent.
Do you think all people with schizophrenia are violent? Well, some are.
And some indigenous people are alcoholics.
Whoa, MacLean.
Exactly, whoa.
Kind of feels like an unfair stereotype, doesn't it? [SIGHING.]
RHONDA: Nikki? [TENSE INSTRUMENTAL.]
Hey Nikki, you can't sacrifice yourself for them, okay? No Marcie said maybe a year and then probation.
I'll be out when I'm 17, okay, big deal.
DONNA: You! See what you did? You little bitch! This is all your doing.
Me and your poor father locked in a jail cell because of you! You did this! [GRUNTING.]
RHONDA: Love you.
I'll be okay, I'll be okay, okay? Thank you.
[DRAMATIC INSTRUMENTAL.]
Now that's a first trial gift.
[TOOTING.]
REGGIE: Hold it! Pam wanted a shot of your face - when the box went off.
- [CAMERA CLICKING.]
MARCIE: Very festive.
Um, so where's, uh, where's your gift, Reggie? REGGIE: Oh, it's coming.
Doug and I are waiting till later till after the amateurs - have had their fun.
- Oh okay.
COLLEEN: Hey, how'd it go today? MARCIE: It was okay, I think.
It's funny, you were right, it's not exactly a love match between Nikki and the judge.
But you know, he didn't get all fire and brimstone on me either.
How was Mayle? MARCIE: I don't think that Mayle really believes that Nikki did this on her own, you know? I think their plan is likely to scare her so that she's gonna testify against her parents.
And yet Mayle is not offering your girl a deal.
[PHONE RINGING.]
It's the group home.
What's up, Nikki? Nope.
No way.
Nikki, no, just wait.
Nikki, I will be there as soon as I can.
[SCOFFING.]
What is it? She wants to change her plea to guilty.
[PHONE RINGING.]
Emily? EMILY: Howard's return is messing up everything.
He wants to take the kids to Disneyland on Wednesday.
Well, they must be losing their minds then.
Yeah, we're all losing our minds! MARCIE: Well, I mean, at least you get a little break out of it, yeah? Sure, maybe I'll hit the spa.
Okay, he needs some kind of legal letter to take them across the border.
Listen, uh, I can't do it today Em, but tomorrow I absolutely can.
EMILY: He needs it yesterday.
MARCIE: All right just uh, come by the office at the end of the day, all right? I-I gotta go.
Oh sorry, I didn't wanna take up your precious time.
Ugh.
Okay, I have a hypothetical for you.
Okay.
No harm in that, I suppose.
MARCIE: Let's say that you had a client who was a minor, and she was thinking about pleading guilty Okay look, listen, Nikki cannot plead guilty.
- Hypothetically - Marcie, you need to talk her out of it.
I knew that you did not want Nikki for this, - I knew it.
- Look, I wanna win my case.
But my case is against the parents.
Donna specifically, okay? Personally I think she's a monster.
But look, if Matt Chaisson puts Nikki on the stand saying that she's guilty, then a woman who is happy pimping out her own daughter and all her little school chums will take a walk.
Yeah but she wants to protect her parents.
Marcie, it's not even worth it.
She's 16, Avery, she hasn't figured that out yet.
Okay.
Hypothetically, what if this client could get a deal? Well the hypothetical Crown prosecutor is not interested in that.
Okay, say, hypothetically someone were to have a word with her? DOUG: My client's service to your institution has been exemplary.
You'll get no argument from me, Mr.
Paul.
We're all big fans of Sam.
Fans of Sam, sounds like a Dr.
Seuss.
Sam's teaching evaluations are uniformly stellar.
And her publication records are beyond reproach.
SHEILA: Please understand, our issue is not with the quality of Sam's work.
We feel that Miss MacLean has misrepresented her ability to manage her condition.
Baloney, this woman is full of baloney.
Sam.
How can you say that someone performing at the level of Miss MacLean is misrepresenting her condition? Can I just say It seems to me that a competent and beloved member of your staff has been dismissed for no other reason than prejudice against her disability.
We have always done our best to accommodate Sam's condition.
The situation is a little more complex than that.
- Sheila.
- Complex than what? One second, Doug.
You knew about my condition.
But you acted like I'd made some terrible, shameful scene.
You had me escorted out by security guards.
You say you've accommodated my disability, but when push came to shove, you treated me like a criminal, an embarrassment for being sick.
And now I am just asking to go back to work.
I just wanna do my job and remain a part of the institution that I love.
I think that's a reasonable request.
BETHANY: Nikki, before we get into what this meeting is about, I'd like you to know something.
I think you pimped your friends.
And I think you prostituted yourself.
Hell, I know you did, the evidence is clear.
You're guilty and you should do time.
I say this because you're being offered a gift.
A gift you don't necessarily deserve, because Marcie has convinced me that you're a victim of your parents.
No, my parents didn't do it Just hear her out.
BETHANY: I have agreed you won't do any time.
It was a hard sell but I agreed.
A year in a group home and two years probation under your sister's guardianship.
You hear that, Nikki? What do I have to do? Testify against your parents.
But they didn't do anything.
Okay, Nikki, I know that you wanna protect them but what your parents did to you I'm not sending them to prison.
BETHANY: Okay.
So here's what's gonna happen.
After I walk out of here, I'm gonna give the judge notice of my intention to seek an adult sentence in your case.
- Bethany, that's not what we discussed.
- What does that mean? BETHANY: Well it doesn't mean pajama parties with your sister a year from now, that's for sure.
Up to 15 years in a Federal penitentiary, Nikki, with real grown up criminals.
Murderers, psychopaths- MARCIE: Bethany, hey.
That's enough.
Nikki, let's go.
We're done here.
Looks like.
Sam? I'm sorry if you felt we let you down.
No, no.
It was an unfortunate incident but no one let anyone down.
DOUG: Not only was my client let down, she was clearly discriminated against and she needs to be reinstated.
Not so fast.
We need to talk about this.
SAM [ON VIDEO.]
: Check it again.
That's my card.
I work here.
I work here! Dammit! What's this? SAM [ON VIDEO.]
: I work here! Let go of my hand! They cancelled my card.
Do I look like a fucking idiot? Check it again, again! Do you understand? I will make you eat this! You get it?! These are my books! This is my life, my work! MARCIE: The Crown believes that you and your parents are playing them.
NIKKI: I'm not, I just don't want them to go to jail for something that I did.
MARCIE: Nikki, nobody believes that you did this on your own, okay? I don't.
The Crown doesn't.
NIKKI: Then why are they doing this to me? Because someone has to go to jail for this.
And if it's not gonna be your parents, it's going to be you.
Do you think she'd really send me to adult prison? Maybe the judge won't let her.
Nikki, do not change your plea.
I mean you said it yourself, it's them or me.
IRIS: All right, bye.
- [KNOCKING.]
- Hey.
Hey, I didn't know you worked here.
IRIS: Come on in.
[BUZZING.]
Marcie never told you? Yeah.
That girl don't tell no one nothing.
She around? Hasn't come back from court yet.
Should have known.
IRIS: Sorry.
I'll let her know you dropped by.
EMILY: Tell her I said thanks a bunch.
Hey, Emily, right? Yeah, hi.
Colleen.
We met at Marcie's graduation.
I was one of her law professors.
Oh, of course.
Nice to see you again.
COLLEEN: You too.
Always love getting in on you Diggs-es.
Well, I'm known as the mean one.
Yikes, in that case, what's Marcie? The perpetually late one.
Is there something I can help you with? I need a notarized letter for my ex.
Oh my god, take five minutes.
Follow me.
It's just that if they take away my library card there's nothing that ties me to the university anymore.
The video looks bad, Sam.
How often does this kind of thing happen? If only that conference didn't happen right after my job interview, I'd be permanent faculty right now and they couldn't touch me.
What job interview? I interviewed for a tenure track position last year.
Chair said I was a shoo-in.
He told me to apply and I did and they hired me - pending a reference check.
- They hired you? So what happened? After the conference, the offer just went away.
So wait.
They told you you had the job.
Pending a reference check, the letter said.
The letter? There was a letter? Hi.
[LAUGHING.]
EMILY: I can barely remember what I ate there.
[GIGGLING.]
COLLEEN [GIGGLING.]
: Stop.
[MURMURING AND GIGGLING.]
Uh, Em? Marcie, hi.
MARCIE: Hi, I'm so sorry.
- I was with a client.
- It's all good.
It's all good.
Colleen helped me.
Mm, I've been hearing all the family secrets by the way.
You were a shoplifter, huh? What? It was one time, I was That's what made it so memorable.
Daddy's angel being marched back into Zeller's to apologize.
Mmm.
COLLEEN: The nail polish bandit of North Preston.
MARCIE: Okay, one, it was a lip gloss and I forgot that I put it in my [SNICKERING.]
You guys are drunk! The University shall make employment decisions based on the qualifications and merit only.
It shall encourage the participation of women, visible minorities, aboriginal persons and persons with disabilities.
They explicitly violated their own hiring policy.
And you think it's 'cause of what she did at the conference? They told her she had the job.
They told her to apply.
They told her she was hired.
And three days after the conference they sent her an email saying that the offer's toast? This gives us way more leverage even with the video.
What video? SAM [ON VIDEO.]
: I work here! Dammit, check it again! Check it! Check it again! DOUG: The University says it shows Sam misrepresented her ability to manage her own condition.
We could put it back on them though.
Say that the outburst was caused by the stress of her firing.
In my opinion, it's not insurmountable, Pam.
I think your sister has a good case.
SAM [ON VIDEO.]
: These are my books, these are my life! Check it again! Check it again! An adult sentence, wow that's a pretty badass move on the Crown's part.
Mmm, the gloves are off.
COLLEEN: You think it was the parents' plans all along to make Nikki take the rap if they got caught? MARCIE: I don't know.
I just know that someone has a hold on that girl.
REGGIE: Or maybe she's telling the truth.
Maybe she's a criminal mastermind.
Ah come on, we've all seen the parents, they're not exactly the wonder twins.
[KNOCKING.]
- It's time.
- REGGIE: Oh, uh, I don't know, maybe you should hold off- Iris, you're gonna want to see this.
- Who are those - DOUG: Shh, shh, just wait.
Um [CLEARING THROAT.]
DOUG/REGGIE: Happy first trial! DOUG: Marcie Diggs, you've been served! - MARCIE: Wah! - DOUG: Oh geez.
MARCIE: Woo! Oh my gosh.
- Hey! - Um, this is gross.
Okay, all right.
No, no, no, oh boo! - IRIS: Bye.
- Let's go.
You girls really need to get out more.
[LAUGHING.]
[SOMBRE INSTRUMENTAL.]
I appreciate this, Matt, thanks.
Damn girl was out of control.
MARCIE: She had stopped going to school.
You had girls down in your basement every night.
You didn't think to ask what was going on? Ah, I work all day.
Nights, I got to take care of Vernon.
What about that new TV? The new recliner? All of these pricey gifts just showing up in your house? Nikki's pretty enough.
Maybe she got herself a boyfriend.
It was none of my business.
You're her mother.
Do you even understand what happens to Nikki if she's sentenced as an adult? Yeah, I'm not an idiot.
Look, those Crown lawyers, they're just playing chicken, waiting for us to blink.
I don't blink.
Except you're playing chicken with your daughter's future.
She could go to jail.
Oh, she is not gonna go to jail.
Look, if she gets sentenced, she'll appeal.
That's how the game's played.
But you can't count on her winning an appeal.
And we'll get a real lawyer next time.
Not some welfare lawyer.
Mrs.
LeBlanc, I am begging you not to gamble with your daughter's life.
Write Nikki a letter and tell her not to change her plea - so I can defend her.
- [SCOFFING.]
Please, she's sacrificing herself for you.
Yeah, that ain't happening.
Look, I got diabetes.
Nikki's dad, he's a goddamn wreck.
He's 60 years old, he's got a bad hip and high blood pressure.
If we go to prison, we die there.
They're not gonna put a kid away for long.
With this judge, anything is possible.
So? She gets out when she's 25.
I mean, that's when your life really begins as a woman anyway, right? PROFESSOR: We think of these models as having been created by the digital age, when in fact, temp agencies have used these models for years, but it was apps that allowed the on-demand model to dominate.
Why? FIVE ASPECTS: discovery, booking, transaction, payment and review.
And I guess we're out of time.
Okay, read chapter five, chapter five.
[STUDENT CHATTERING.]
Rhonda.
RHONDA: Marcie, uh, hi.
Um, is everything okay? I can't talk Nikki out of changing her plea and neither of your parents will talk to her.
RHONDA: Oh I'm sorry Marcie, but I could have told you that they wouldn't.
Rhonda, you must have known the truth about what was going on in that house.
RHONDA: I told the police everything I know.
But my mom knew what was going on.
Dad was oblivious.
I don't have proof, but that's just the pattern of my family.
What about Nikki? RHONDA: All I can say is, for the past year or so, Nikki's been very angry.
You know, fed up with my parents and their poverty and she wanted a different life.
And yes, I think she would have done anything to get it.
PROFESSOR: Hey Rhonda.
Heard your news, congrats.
Thanks, Lars.
- Congrats? - RHONDA: Ah yeah, I won the fellowship I was up for.
Two years at the London School of Economics starting next spring.
MARCIE: Wow, Rhonda, that's um, that's amazing.
Well it couldn't come at a better time.
You know, if, uh, Nikki goes to jail, I don't know how I'm gonna look at my parents again.
MARCIE: Nikki's crimes in no way meet the standards for an adult sentence.
That's for his Honour to decide.
MARCIE: Nikki may have contributed to the exploitation of these girls but there's no evidence of physical abuse.
She was a recruiter.
These girls all were willing participants.
In short, this isn't a presumptive offence.
It doesn't need to be.
It's a heinous crime that's inflicted untold damage on the community and on 14 exploited teenage girls.
Yes, Nikki herself is one of the 14 Any adult would receive a sentence of 10 years at least for Nikki's crime.
That's the only necessary standard here.
Your Honour, the Crown is making this proposal out of sheer malice.
I beg your pardon MARCIE: Yes, Miss Mayle wants to condemn a 16 year old child for whom this is, again, a non-violent first offence.
- We are just gonna - JUDGE MORRISON: All right, I've heard enough.
Miss Diggs, your point is taken.
True, Miss LeBlanc is not guilty of a presumptive offence.
But I cannot agree with you that her crime was in and of itself non-violent.
Your honour JUDGE MORRISON: Miss LeBlanc has done serious harm to young women who gave her their trust.
She lured her peers into prostitution for her own financial gain.
Now Miss Diggs has noted that Miss LeBlanc is a neglected youth.
And I have no reason to doubt this.
But the damage Miss LeBlanc has caused and the sheer lack of remorse that she has displayed in this courtroom convinces me that the suggested course of action is correct.
The Crown's request that Miss LeBlanc be sentenced as an adult is hereby granted.
[GASPS.]
BETHANY: Thank you, your Honour.
MARCIE: Thank you.
Okay.
[TENSE INSTRUMENTAL.]
BAILIFF: All rise, the sitting of the Provincial Court presided over by Chief Justice Morrison is adjourned.
PAM: I don't know, Sam.
You threatened that lady at the library.
I've never seen you do that before.
How often has this kind of thing been happening? Not that much.
I mean, maybe more than it did last year? What does Dr.
Burgess say? Oh you know, try this dosage, try that dosage.
Ah, and Soroya? Sam, tell me you didn't.
Look, she doesn't read.
Not even the Greeks.
We have nothing to talk about.
You can't keep firing your support workers.
Please don't tell mom and dad.
I don't wanna live in a group home.
PAM: You're not gonna live in a group home because we're gonna get Soroya back, okay? And if not her it'll be someone even better.
Or someone who's read Heraclitus at least.
Okay, sure.
And I will help you get on a regime that works.
SAM: I need the University to let me back in otherwise I don't have the credentials to do my research.
PAM: What about your teaching? I don't know, I get funding to go to conferences but I'd make more progress in my research if I Sam, focus.
When you go in for that meeting with the dean today, if there is one thing you're hoping to get out of it, what would you say that is? Somebody needs to take a breath.
MARCIE: I can't, I gotta be in court in 40 minutes and I gotta get to the parents' trial.
Marcie, take a breath and look around.
MARCIE: Okay, look, I don't need, you know, an inspirational metaphor thing right now.
Look around on your desk.
[CHUCKLING.]
[LIGHT AIRY MUSIC.]
MARCIE: Is it gonna explode? COLLEEN: I think you've had enough surprises for one week.
- Happy first trial.
- Aw.
MARCIE: I forgot about this picture.
COLLEEN: So did I until I ran into Emily and then I remembered meeting her at your grad and handing her my camera to take a picture of us.
I found that in one of my old albums.
Yeah but where's the joke? No, I never play the joke, it just annoys people.
MARCIE: Thank you.
All right, now I have to go.
Hey, um, your sister's great.
Yeah, you two hit it off.
Yeah, um Do you think she's seeing anyone? Oh I don't think so.
I mean, she's pretty down on men these days.
What? Oh she's not Um.
Oh my god.
COLLEEN: Yeah.
DOUG: Folks, it's very simple.
You flagrantly violated your own anti-discrimination policies here.
- We never even - DOUG: We all know that Sam has a case and if this goes to court, she'll not only be reinstated with full tenure, she's likely to obtain a substantial cash settlement.
So I assume you have demands? You could say that.
We're open to negotiation.
Well, let's begin.
My client would like her library card reinstated.
Done, what else? Yes! Thank you, Sheila.
You're welcome, Sam.
Come on, Doug.
DOUG: Pleasure doing business.
[UPLIFTING INSTRUMENTAL.]
AVERY: Your Honour, the defence is arguing that Vernon and Donna LeBlanc didn't have the mental acuity to commit the crimes of which they're accused? Mr.
LeBlanc has a Grade 8 education.
Mrs.
LeBlanc, Grade 11.
AVERY: The parents are the masterminds, your Honour.
You do not need a-a-a degree to operate a cellphone and a laptop.
CHAISSON: This goes far beyond cell phones and laptops, your Honour.
The material that was gathered on Nikki's computer points to the sophistication of the LeBlanc operation.
Look, you've got business spreadsheets, financial data, correspondence with their webmaster, app makers.
[TENSE INSTRUMENTAL.]
Hi, uh, sorry.
I know it's after hours.
Yeah, you-you good? MARCIE: We need to talk about the LeBlancs.
Your case, my case.
- Can I come in? - Um, now is not a good time.
WOMAN: Hey, is that the sushi? Oh, uh Wow, um, you know what, this-this can wait, this can wait.
No, come on, don't be silly.
Let's just No no, I'll call you bright and early in the morning.
Have a good night.
[SIGHING.]
MARCIE: Explain this chart to me.
On demand services, marketplace Don't read it.
Tell me what it is.
It's like a chart.
This is the basic structure of the prostitution ring that you oversaw.
Tell me how it works.
Your sister's the one you've been protecting.
That girl can't trick no one.
All she knows is books, I know business.
You can't even tell me how your business works, Nikki.
You know your sister is moving to the UK? She didn't tell you that, did she? Yeah, she's going to the UK on a scholarship.
You think she's gonna protect you, look out for you? Rhonda is gonna be enjoying her life halfway across the world while you sit in a jail cell.
Are you gonna be good with that? [SOMBRE MUSIC.]
Caramel cappuccino.
Got them to add an extra shot of syrup for you.
Hey.
I know that you're worried about the sentencing but it's gonna be just like I said, however long that old creep decides to give you, we'll appeal.
I'll still be in jail for however long the appeal takes.
Yeah, but it's not gonna be that long and I'll come visit you every week.
Marcie said you're going to London.
In the spring for a month.
Marcie said two years.
Well Marcie's wrong.
I wouldn't leave you.
I don't think I can do this, Rho.
I'm not gonna plead guilty.
- Marcie says that - Okay, but you can't listen to Marcie, Marcie's just some shitty Legal Aid lawyer.
Just stick to the plan.
Nikki, just trust me.
I've always looked after you, haven't I? I think you've been using me and now you just wanna dump me.
Hey, I love you more than anything! Remember how we wanted to escape this shit hole life we were born into? Do your time.
And don't be a snitch.
And you're gonna be set.
I don't think I can believe that anymore.
I think I'm gonna tell them the truth.
RHONDA: Come here.
The truth? Here's the truth.
You were a good little whore but who knew you were gonna be so good at recruitment? All those needy girls who need someone to tell them that they're pretty? Your talents and my brain made a lot of money.
I'll fix this.
[SOMBRE INSTRUMENTAL.]
Nikki? Guess you should have kept your stupid mouth shut.
[HANDCUFFS CLICKING.]
[SIGHING.]
I know.
This looks stalkery.
But I'm getting the feeling there's not much point in sending texts anymore.
MARCIE: I never do this.
I don't play games.
And I'm not the silent treatment kind of girl.
You know, Carson, but when someone lies to me I get- I get self-protecting.
- You - I'm married.
The funeral I went to was my father-in-law's.
Hence it's complicated.
She and I, we have been apart for years and we are both fine with that.
It was bad, my marriage.
But my father-in-law, he was a good guy.
And I felt as though I owed it to him to be there.
And lie to me about why you were going? Marcie, I didn't know where to begin.
And yes, I lied.
I was an idiot.
You're a married idiot.
CARSON: It is over, I promise.
You know, usually when someone says their marriage is over, they stop being married.
Well come back and see me when things are less complicated.
And then we'll talk.
[UPTEMPO INSTRUMENTAL.]
Hey.
Oh.
Sorry, I guess my timing's off a little.
Hey, excited to see Mickey Mouse? I wanna meet Elsa! EMILY: So I hear you won your case.
MARCIE: Yeah, she's gonna do a year in a youth facility but, uh, compared to what she was looking at, it's a win.
Who, the pimp? Mom, she's not a pimp.
Hey, how did you hear about my case? Talking to Colleen.
Colleen, huh? Yeah, mind your business.
It's good to see you smile.
Yeah.
VELMA: Well, I don't know why you're not going with them.
Howard invited her.
Did you know that, Marcie? Why anyone would let a man like that go- MARCIE: You know what, Mom? Shut up.
Hmph.
[BLUES MUSIC.]
- [TV CHATTER.]
- [LOUD HIP HOP MUSIC.]
[LOUD HIP HOP MUSIC.]
Bitch, you need Spanx! Lose some weight.
I got it just where I need it.
Yeah, but those old creeps will pay you more if you have lots up front.
[HIP HOP MUSIC.]
We got you covered.
Oh my God, our little girl's all grown up.
You up, you ready? Do I not look ready? Then get out there, girl.
Julie, where the hell's Julie? I just got back.
NIKKI: Yeah, well, then be less popular, bitch.
Go get that D, make that money.
[HIP HOP MUSIC.]
Beep me on my pager if the green is low Please don't be a stranger I won't be around [MUFFLED SCREAMING.]
[HIP HOP MUSIC.]
I'm already way up never coming down Promise when I wake up I'm all with the crown - [WOMEN SCREAMING.]
- [HIP HOP MUSIC.]
[LIGHT ROCK MUSIC.]
EMILY: Michael, where are you? Come here and have your dinner! VELMA: Relax, Emily.
Let them take the plates in.
Thanks, Mom.
Can you not undermine me in front of my children? Emily's been a bit moody since Howard got home.
EMILY: Mom! Oh, so Howard's back from Chicago? Driving a brand new Escalade.
He got his real estate licence and everything.
From the cut of the suit he was wearing, I'd say business is good.
Hmm, I'm glad he's doing well.
I always liked Howard.
EMILY: Yeah, you two are peas in a pod.
What? Both always thought you were too good for up home.
Go to hell, Emily.
MICHAEL: Aunt Marcie's on TV! VELMA: What? Oh, Oh my god.
REPORTER: This morning marked the beginning of a bizarre teen prostitution ring involving a mother, father and their youngest daughter who can only be known as N.
L.
under the Young Offenders Act.
MARCIE: The Crown is contending my teenage client lured her classmates and her friends into a lucrative prostitution ring.
We're gonna prove that she was a victim in a scheme conjured by her parents.
Lord! - The whole family was in on it.
- Hmm.
I don't want you listening to that.
Please tell me you don't believe that garbage.
I see trafficking victims every week at the rec centre.
See, Mom? In future Sunday dinners, leave me out of it.
[SOMBRE MUSIC.]
Don't worry about me don't worry, don't worry Do you worry about me Do you care when I'm all alone And I'm tired [CELL PHONE DINGING.]
IRIS: Happy Monday.
Oh, yay.
Um, what - Who did this? - I did.
Happy First Trial Day.
Okay, but today isn't my first trial.
But it's your first major crime.
I mean, you're trending across Canada.
We have a little tradition here.
Everyone in the office has to get you a gift.
REGGIE: Well now! Don't mind if I do.
You hear that, Reg? You gotta get me a gift.
Oh, it's coming.
I think I like this tradition.
REGGIE: Ha! Why did he say ha? Rule is, every gift has to have some kind of joke attached to it.
Oh, okay.
So what's your joke? One of those has a thumb tack in it.
I'm just kidding.
[LAUGHING.]
That was the joke.
Oh okay, I see what you did there.
Okay, that's funny.
Break a leg, Marcie.
[SIGH.]
Eating for two.
MARCIE: Gotcha.
PAM: Doug, hi.
I was wondering if you could do me a favour.
Uh, wow, not even nine a.
m.
on a Monday.
My sister Sam asked me to help with this workplace thing she's dealing with.
- Workplace thing? - Yeah, it smells like discrimination.
She's disabled, an academic Sorry, I'm slammed all day.
It's a quick meeting with the dean.
She just needs a lawyer to do some light sabre rattling.
- And you can't do it because? - Court.
I'll owe you.
[SIGHS.]
Okay, what's wrong with her? Nothing's wrong with her, why would you say that? You said she's disabled.
Hello.
PAM: Doug Paul, this is my sister Sam MacLean.
Very nice to meet you, Sam.
Wow, your fingers are so long.
Do you know that finger length is the only physical trait that's sexually dimorphic? Except for genitalia.
- [SNICKERS.]
How 'bout that? - Yeah.
I'm gonna go after the warrant, get the evidence thrown out.
- How bad's the evidence look? - Bad.
It's a laptop with client lists cross-referenced with favourite girls, sexual preferences.
It's bad.
But you know, even if it stays in, they can't prove Nikki was the only one - using that computer.
- That's good.
You gotta push that suspicion back onto the parents.
Judge Morrison's old school.
Remember, I saw him hold somebody in contempt for having cleavage.
Oh, well, you're making me nervous now.
IRIS: Aw, it's like the first day of school all over again.
BETHANY: The Crown intends to prove that Miss LeBlanc was a self-styled "Queen Bee" who ran a stable of up to 14 underage prostitutes from her parents' basement.
These girls will testify that Nikki systematically lured and groomed her friends after working as a prostitute herself and discovering she had a particular genius for the business of human trafficking.
I'm a genius, boss, hear that? JUDGE MORRISON: Control your client, counsel.
Apologies, your Honour.
Please continue, Miss Mayle.
BETHANY: That's all I have, your Honour.
JUDGE MORRISON: Counsel? Good morning.
Your Honour, the Crown's case against my client, Nikki LeBlanc is a fantasy.
The sad truth is that a young woman was exploited mentally and sexually by the very people she trusted most, her parents, Donna and Vernon LeBlanc, a mother with prostitution in her own past and a father so indifferent as to essentially be absent.
Indeed, the Crown has seen fit to charge both parents for the same crimes as Nikki.
They're currently being tried right now Your Honour, objection.
You're objecting to my opening statement? BETHANY: The trial of Vernon and Donna LeBlanc has no bearing on Miss LeBlanc's innocence or guilt.
Respectfully, if Nikki has been coerced into Even if the parents are found guilty, that doesn't necessarily exonerate the child.
Agreed, counsel.
Let's move on, Miss Diggs.
MARCIE: Up until two years ago, Nikki was a B plus student.
She was captain of her soccer team, an active and engaged student.
Yeah.
But at some point, her home life got the better of her.
This is a story of child exploitation, not criminality.
Thank you.
- [CHIMING.]
- CARSON: Marcie.
Fancy meeting you here.
I've been texting.
Yeah, I know.
Anything else? Okay.
I lied about where I was last week.
You did.
You were at some guy's funeral in Montreal.
Hugged up with the grieving daughter.
There are no more secrets, Carson.
I'm sorry.
Let me ask you something.
If I hadn't have found out and I answered all your texts and acted like everything's fine, would you be coming clean right now or would you have just kept lying? The situation, it was, it is complicated.
It's complicated? That's somebody's Facebook status.
RHONDA: Marcie? - Sorry.
- Rhonda.
Do you mind if I talk to you? Uh, Constable Myers, we're gonna have to pick this up later.
Rhonda, is everything okay? It's so crazy.
All of them being tried for the same thing.
I feel like if I root for Nikki, I'm turning my back on my parents.
And if I root for my parents, I am turning my back on Nikki.
MARCIE: I know, it's a tough spot to be in.
Like I feel like an idiot.
And my mom, she told me they were having a party.
[LAUGHING.]
I just really wanna give Nikki a hug.
I don't know if the Sheriff has brought her out yet.
Come with me, let's see if we can catch her, - yeah? - RHONDA: Yeah, okay.
Thanks.
DOUG: So what caused this big meltdown Sam had at the conference? There were a lot of things that contributed to it.
She was under a lot of stress.
Her medication makes her fuzzy sometimes.
The University knows that she has schizophrenia.
You're telling me your sister is seriously mentally ill? What do you mean by seriously? Is someone without the use of their legs seriously disabled or just disabled? Don't get defensive.
I'm just saying if she's throwing fits in public If an epileptic had a seizure in the middle of a conference and lost his job over it you would call that discrimination, right? Well maybe they're just worried she'd hurt someone.
Nothing I've told you about my sister would indicate that she's violent.
Do you think all people with schizophrenia are violent? Well, some are.
And some indigenous people are alcoholics.
Whoa, MacLean.
Exactly, whoa.
Kind of feels like an unfair stereotype, doesn't it? [SIGHING.]
RHONDA: Nikki? [TENSE INSTRUMENTAL.]
Hey Nikki, you can't sacrifice yourself for them, okay? No Marcie said maybe a year and then probation.
I'll be out when I'm 17, okay, big deal.
DONNA: You! See what you did? You little bitch! This is all your doing.
Me and your poor father locked in a jail cell because of you! You did this! [GRUNTING.]
RHONDA: Love you.
I'll be okay, I'll be okay, okay? Thank you.
[DRAMATIC INSTRUMENTAL.]
Now that's a first trial gift.
[TOOTING.]
REGGIE: Hold it! Pam wanted a shot of your face - when the box went off.
- [CAMERA CLICKING.]
MARCIE: Very festive.
Um, so where's, uh, where's your gift, Reggie? REGGIE: Oh, it's coming.
Doug and I are waiting till later till after the amateurs - have had their fun.
- Oh okay.
COLLEEN: Hey, how'd it go today? MARCIE: It was okay, I think.
It's funny, you were right, it's not exactly a love match between Nikki and the judge.
But you know, he didn't get all fire and brimstone on me either.
How was Mayle? MARCIE: I don't think that Mayle really believes that Nikki did this on her own, you know? I think their plan is likely to scare her so that she's gonna testify against her parents.
And yet Mayle is not offering your girl a deal.
[PHONE RINGING.]
It's the group home.
What's up, Nikki? Nope.
No way.
Nikki, no, just wait.
Nikki, I will be there as soon as I can.
[SCOFFING.]
What is it? She wants to change her plea to guilty.
[PHONE RINGING.]
Emily? EMILY: Howard's return is messing up everything.
He wants to take the kids to Disneyland on Wednesday.
Well, they must be losing their minds then.
Yeah, we're all losing our minds! MARCIE: Well, I mean, at least you get a little break out of it, yeah? Sure, maybe I'll hit the spa.
Okay, he needs some kind of legal letter to take them across the border.
Listen, uh, I can't do it today Em, but tomorrow I absolutely can.
EMILY: He needs it yesterday.
MARCIE: All right just uh, come by the office at the end of the day, all right? I-I gotta go.
Oh sorry, I didn't wanna take up your precious time.
Ugh.
Okay, I have a hypothetical for you.
Okay.
No harm in that, I suppose.
MARCIE: Let's say that you had a client who was a minor, and she was thinking about pleading guilty Okay look, listen, Nikki cannot plead guilty.
- Hypothetically - Marcie, you need to talk her out of it.
I knew that you did not want Nikki for this, - I knew it.
- Look, I wanna win my case.
But my case is against the parents.
Donna specifically, okay? Personally I think she's a monster.
But look, if Matt Chaisson puts Nikki on the stand saying that she's guilty, then a woman who is happy pimping out her own daughter and all her little school chums will take a walk.
Yeah but she wants to protect her parents.
Marcie, it's not even worth it.
She's 16, Avery, she hasn't figured that out yet.
Okay.
Hypothetically, what if this client could get a deal? Well the hypothetical Crown prosecutor is not interested in that.
Okay, say, hypothetically someone were to have a word with her? DOUG: My client's service to your institution has been exemplary.
You'll get no argument from me, Mr.
Paul.
We're all big fans of Sam.
Fans of Sam, sounds like a Dr.
Seuss.
Sam's teaching evaluations are uniformly stellar.
And her publication records are beyond reproach.
SHEILA: Please understand, our issue is not with the quality of Sam's work.
We feel that Miss MacLean has misrepresented her ability to manage her condition.
Baloney, this woman is full of baloney.
Sam.
How can you say that someone performing at the level of Miss MacLean is misrepresenting her condition? Can I just say It seems to me that a competent and beloved member of your staff has been dismissed for no other reason than prejudice against her disability.
We have always done our best to accommodate Sam's condition.
The situation is a little more complex than that.
- Sheila.
- Complex than what? One second, Doug.
You knew about my condition.
But you acted like I'd made some terrible, shameful scene.
You had me escorted out by security guards.
You say you've accommodated my disability, but when push came to shove, you treated me like a criminal, an embarrassment for being sick.
And now I am just asking to go back to work.
I just wanna do my job and remain a part of the institution that I love.
I think that's a reasonable request.
BETHANY: Nikki, before we get into what this meeting is about, I'd like you to know something.
I think you pimped your friends.
And I think you prostituted yourself.
Hell, I know you did, the evidence is clear.
You're guilty and you should do time.
I say this because you're being offered a gift.
A gift you don't necessarily deserve, because Marcie has convinced me that you're a victim of your parents.
No, my parents didn't do it Just hear her out.
BETHANY: I have agreed you won't do any time.
It was a hard sell but I agreed.
A year in a group home and two years probation under your sister's guardianship.
You hear that, Nikki? What do I have to do? Testify against your parents.
But they didn't do anything.
Okay, Nikki, I know that you wanna protect them but what your parents did to you I'm not sending them to prison.
BETHANY: Okay.
So here's what's gonna happen.
After I walk out of here, I'm gonna give the judge notice of my intention to seek an adult sentence in your case.
- Bethany, that's not what we discussed.
- What does that mean? BETHANY: Well it doesn't mean pajama parties with your sister a year from now, that's for sure.
Up to 15 years in a Federal penitentiary, Nikki, with real grown up criminals.
Murderers, psychopaths- MARCIE: Bethany, hey.
That's enough.
Nikki, let's go.
We're done here.
Looks like.
Sam? I'm sorry if you felt we let you down.
No, no.
It was an unfortunate incident but no one let anyone down.
DOUG: Not only was my client let down, she was clearly discriminated against and she needs to be reinstated.
Not so fast.
We need to talk about this.
SAM [ON VIDEO.]
: Check it again.
That's my card.
I work here.
I work here! Dammit! What's this? SAM [ON VIDEO.]
: I work here! Let go of my hand! They cancelled my card.
Do I look like a fucking idiot? Check it again, again! Do you understand? I will make you eat this! You get it?! These are my books! This is my life, my work! MARCIE: The Crown believes that you and your parents are playing them.
NIKKI: I'm not, I just don't want them to go to jail for something that I did.
MARCIE: Nikki, nobody believes that you did this on your own, okay? I don't.
The Crown doesn't.
NIKKI: Then why are they doing this to me? Because someone has to go to jail for this.
And if it's not gonna be your parents, it's going to be you.
Do you think she'd really send me to adult prison? Maybe the judge won't let her.
Nikki, do not change your plea.
I mean you said it yourself, it's them or me.
IRIS: All right, bye.
- [KNOCKING.]
- Hey.
Hey, I didn't know you worked here.
IRIS: Come on in.
[BUZZING.]
Marcie never told you? Yeah.
That girl don't tell no one nothing.
She around? Hasn't come back from court yet.
Should have known.
IRIS: Sorry.
I'll let her know you dropped by.
EMILY: Tell her I said thanks a bunch.
Hey, Emily, right? Yeah, hi.
Colleen.
We met at Marcie's graduation.
I was one of her law professors.
Oh, of course.
Nice to see you again.
COLLEEN: You too.
Always love getting in on you Diggs-es.
Well, I'm known as the mean one.
Yikes, in that case, what's Marcie? The perpetually late one.
Is there something I can help you with? I need a notarized letter for my ex.
Oh my god, take five minutes.
Follow me.
It's just that if they take away my library card there's nothing that ties me to the university anymore.
The video looks bad, Sam.
How often does this kind of thing happen? If only that conference didn't happen right after my job interview, I'd be permanent faculty right now and they couldn't touch me.
What job interview? I interviewed for a tenure track position last year.
Chair said I was a shoo-in.
He told me to apply and I did and they hired me - pending a reference check.
- They hired you? So what happened? After the conference, the offer just went away.
So wait.
They told you you had the job.
Pending a reference check, the letter said.
The letter? There was a letter? Hi.
[LAUGHING.]
EMILY: I can barely remember what I ate there.
[GIGGLING.]
COLLEEN [GIGGLING.]
: Stop.
[MURMURING AND GIGGLING.]
Uh, Em? Marcie, hi.
MARCIE: Hi, I'm so sorry.
- I was with a client.
- It's all good.
It's all good.
Colleen helped me.
Mm, I've been hearing all the family secrets by the way.
You were a shoplifter, huh? What? It was one time, I was That's what made it so memorable.
Daddy's angel being marched back into Zeller's to apologize.
Mmm.
COLLEEN: The nail polish bandit of North Preston.
MARCIE: Okay, one, it was a lip gloss and I forgot that I put it in my [SNICKERING.]
You guys are drunk! The University shall make employment decisions based on the qualifications and merit only.
It shall encourage the participation of women, visible minorities, aboriginal persons and persons with disabilities.
They explicitly violated their own hiring policy.
And you think it's 'cause of what she did at the conference? They told her she had the job.
They told her to apply.
They told her she was hired.
And three days after the conference they sent her an email saying that the offer's toast? This gives us way more leverage even with the video.
What video? SAM [ON VIDEO.]
: I work here! Dammit, check it again! Check it! Check it again! DOUG: The University says it shows Sam misrepresented her ability to manage her own condition.
We could put it back on them though.
Say that the outburst was caused by the stress of her firing.
In my opinion, it's not insurmountable, Pam.
I think your sister has a good case.
SAM [ON VIDEO.]
: These are my books, these are my life! Check it again! Check it again! An adult sentence, wow that's a pretty badass move on the Crown's part.
Mmm, the gloves are off.
COLLEEN: You think it was the parents' plans all along to make Nikki take the rap if they got caught? MARCIE: I don't know.
I just know that someone has a hold on that girl.
REGGIE: Or maybe she's telling the truth.
Maybe she's a criminal mastermind.
Ah come on, we've all seen the parents, they're not exactly the wonder twins.
[KNOCKING.]
- It's time.
- REGGIE: Oh, uh, I don't know, maybe you should hold off- Iris, you're gonna want to see this.
- Who are those - DOUG: Shh, shh, just wait.
Um [CLEARING THROAT.]
DOUG/REGGIE: Happy first trial! DOUG: Marcie Diggs, you've been served! - MARCIE: Wah! - DOUG: Oh geez.
MARCIE: Woo! Oh my gosh.
- Hey! - Um, this is gross.
Okay, all right.
No, no, no, oh boo! - IRIS: Bye.
- Let's go.
You girls really need to get out more.
[LAUGHING.]
[SOMBRE INSTRUMENTAL.]
I appreciate this, Matt, thanks.
Damn girl was out of control.
MARCIE: She had stopped going to school.
You had girls down in your basement every night.
You didn't think to ask what was going on? Ah, I work all day.
Nights, I got to take care of Vernon.
What about that new TV? The new recliner? All of these pricey gifts just showing up in your house? Nikki's pretty enough.
Maybe she got herself a boyfriend.
It was none of my business.
You're her mother.
Do you even understand what happens to Nikki if she's sentenced as an adult? Yeah, I'm not an idiot.
Look, those Crown lawyers, they're just playing chicken, waiting for us to blink.
I don't blink.
Except you're playing chicken with your daughter's future.
She could go to jail.
Oh, she is not gonna go to jail.
Look, if she gets sentenced, she'll appeal.
That's how the game's played.
But you can't count on her winning an appeal.
And we'll get a real lawyer next time.
Not some welfare lawyer.
Mrs.
LeBlanc, I am begging you not to gamble with your daughter's life.
Write Nikki a letter and tell her not to change her plea - so I can defend her.
- [SCOFFING.]
Please, she's sacrificing herself for you.
Yeah, that ain't happening.
Look, I got diabetes.
Nikki's dad, he's a goddamn wreck.
He's 60 years old, he's got a bad hip and high blood pressure.
If we go to prison, we die there.
They're not gonna put a kid away for long.
With this judge, anything is possible.
So? She gets out when she's 25.
I mean, that's when your life really begins as a woman anyway, right? PROFESSOR: We think of these models as having been created by the digital age, when in fact, temp agencies have used these models for years, but it was apps that allowed the on-demand model to dominate.
Why? FIVE ASPECTS: discovery, booking, transaction, payment and review.
And I guess we're out of time.
Okay, read chapter five, chapter five.
[STUDENT CHATTERING.]
Rhonda.
RHONDA: Marcie, uh, hi.
Um, is everything okay? I can't talk Nikki out of changing her plea and neither of your parents will talk to her.
RHONDA: Oh I'm sorry Marcie, but I could have told you that they wouldn't.
Rhonda, you must have known the truth about what was going on in that house.
RHONDA: I told the police everything I know.
But my mom knew what was going on.
Dad was oblivious.
I don't have proof, but that's just the pattern of my family.
What about Nikki? RHONDA: All I can say is, for the past year or so, Nikki's been very angry.
You know, fed up with my parents and their poverty and she wanted a different life.
And yes, I think she would have done anything to get it.
PROFESSOR: Hey Rhonda.
Heard your news, congrats.
Thanks, Lars.
- Congrats? - RHONDA: Ah yeah, I won the fellowship I was up for.
Two years at the London School of Economics starting next spring.
MARCIE: Wow, Rhonda, that's um, that's amazing.
Well it couldn't come at a better time.
You know, if, uh, Nikki goes to jail, I don't know how I'm gonna look at my parents again.
MARCIE: Nikki's crimes in no way meet the standards for an adult sentence.
That's for his Honour to decide.
MARCIE: Nikki may have contributed to the exploitation of these girls but there's no evidence of physical abuse.
She was a recruiter.
These girls all were willing participants.
In short, this isn't a presumptive offence.
It doesn't need to be.
It's a heinous crime that's inflicted untold damage on the community and on 14 exploited teenage girls.
Yes, Nikki herself is one of the 14 Any adult would receive a sentence of 10 years at least for Nikki's crime.
That's the only necessary standard here.
Your Honour, the Crown is making this proposal out of sheer malice.
I beg your pardon MARCIE: Yes, Miss Mayle wants to condemn a 16 year old child for whom this is, again, a non-violent first offence.
- We are just gonna - JUDGE MORRISON: All right, I've heard enough.
Miss Diggs, your point is taken.
True, Miss LeBlanc is not guilty of a presumptive offence.
But I cannot agree with you that her crime was in and of itself non-violent.
Your honour JUDGE MORRISON: Miss LeBlanc has done serious harm to young women who gave her their trust.
She lured her peers into prostitution for her own financial gain.
Now Miss Diggs has noted that Miss LeBlanc is a neglected youth.
And I have no reason to doubt this.
But the damage Miss LeBlanc has caused and the sheer lack of remorse that she has displayed in this courtroom convinces me that the suggested course of action is correct.
The Crown's request that Miss LeBlanc be sentenced as an adult is hereby granted.
[GASPS.]
BETHANY: Thank you, your Honour.
MARCIE: Thank you.
Okay.
[TENSE INSTRUMENTAL.]
BAILIFF: All rise, the sitting of the Provincial Court presided over by Chief Justice Morrison is adjourned.
PAM: I don't know, Sam.
You threatened that lady at the library.
I've never seen you do that before.
How often has this kind of thing been happening? Not that much.
I mean, maybe more than it did last year? What does Dr.
Burgess say? Oh you know, try this dosage, try that dosage.
Ah, and Soroya? Sam, tell me you didn't.
Look, she doesn't read.
Not even the Greeks.
We have nothing to talk about.
You can't keep firing your support workers.
Please don't tell mom and dad.
I don't wanna live in a group home.
PAM: You're not gonna live in a group home because we're gonna get Soroya back, okay? And if not her it'll be someone even better.
Or someone who's read Heraclitus at least.
Okay, sure.
And I will help you get on a regime that works.
SAM: I need the University to let me back in otherwise I don't have the credentials to do my research.
PAM: What about your teaching? I don't know, I get funding to go to conferences but I'd make more progress in my research if I Sam, focus.
When you go in for that meeting with the dean today, if there is one thing you're hoping to get out of it, what would you say that is? Somebody needs to take a breath.
MARCIE: I can't, I gotta be in court in 40 minutes and I gotta get to the parents' trial.
Marcie, take a breath and look around.
MARCIE: Okay, look, I don't need, you know, an inspirational metaphor thing right now.
Look around on your desk.
[CHUCKLING.]
[LIGHT AIRY MUSIC.]
MARCIE: Is it gonna explode? COLLEEN: I think you've had enough surprises for one week.
- Happy first trial.
- Aw.
MARCIE: I forgot about this picture.
COLLEEN: So did I until I ran into Emily and then I remembered meeting her at your grad and handing her my camera to take a picture of us.
I found that in one of my old albums.
Yeah but where's the joke? No, I never play the joke, it just annoys people.
MARCIE: Thank you.
All right, now I have to go.
Hey, um, your sister's great.
Yeah, you two hit it off.
Yeah, um Do you think she's seeing anyone? Oh I don't think so.
I mean, she's pretty down on men these days.
What? Oh she's not Um.
Oh my god.
COLLEEN: Yeah.
DOUG: Folks, it's very simple.
You flagrantly violated your own anti-discrimination policies here.
- We never even - DOUG: We all know that Sam has a case and if this goes to court, she'll not only be reinstated with full tenure, she's likely to obtain a substantial cash settlement.
So I assume you have demands? You could say that.
We're open to negotiation.
Well, let's begin.
My client would like her library card reinstated.
Done, what else? Yes! Thank you, Sheila.
You're welcome, Sam.
Come on, Doug.
DOUG: Pleasure doing business.
[UPLIFTING INSTRUMENTAL.]
AVERY: Your Honour, the defence is arguing that Vernon and Donna LeBlanc didn't have the mental acuity to commit the crimes of which they're accused? Mr.
LeBlanc has a Grade 8 education.
Mrs.
LeBlanc, Grade 11.
AVERY: The parents are the masterminds, your Honour.
You do not need a-a-a degree to operate a cellphone and a laptop.
CHAISSON: This goes far beyond cell phones and laptops, your Honour.
The material that was gathered on Nikki's computer points to the sophistication of the LeBlanc operation.
Look, you've got business spreadsheets, financial data, correspondence with their webmaster, app makers.
[TENSE INSTRUMENTAL.]
Hi, uh, sorry.
I know it's after hours.
Yeah, you-you good? MARCIE: We need to talk about the LeBlancs.
Your case, my case.
- Can I come in? - Um, now is not a good time.
WOMAN: Hey, is that the sushi? Oh, uh Wow, um, you know what, this-this can wait, this can wait.
No, come on, don't be silly.
Let's just No no, I'll call you bright and early in the morning.
Have a good night.
[SIGHING.]
MARCIE: Explain this chart to me.
On demand services, marketplace Don't read it.
Tell me what it is.
It's like a chart.
This is the basic structure of the prostitution ring that you oversaw.
Tell me how it works.
Your sister's the one you've been protecting.
That girl can't trick no one.
All she knows is books, I know business.
You can't even tell me how your business works, Nikki.
You know your sister is moving to the UK? She didn't tell you that, did she? Yeah, she's going to the UK on a scholarship.
You think she's gonna protect you, look out for you? Rhonda is gonna be enjoying her life halfway across the world while you sit in a jail cell.
Are you gonna be good with that? [SOMBRE MUSIC.]
Caramel cappuccino.
Got them to add an extra shot of syrup for you.
Hey.
I know that you're worried about the sentencing but it's gonna be just like I said, however long that old creep decides to give you, we'll appeal.
I'll still be in jail for however long the appeal takes.
Yeah, but it's not gonna be that long and I'll come visit you every week.
Marcie said you're going to London.
In the spring for a month.
Marcie said two years.
Well Marcie's wrong.
I wouldn't leave you.
I don't think I can do this, Rho.
I'm not gonna plead guilty.
- Marcie says that - Okay, but you can't listen to Marcie, Marcie's just some shitty Legal Aid lawyer.
Just stick to the plan.
Nikki, just trust me.
I've always looked after you, haven't I? I think you've been using me and now you just wanna dump me.
Hey, I love you more than anything! Remember how we wanted to escape this shit hole life we were born into? Do your time.
And don't be a snitch.
And you're gonna be set.
I don't think I can believe that anymore.
I think I'm gonna tell them the truth.
RHONDA: Come here.
The truth? Here's the truth.
You were a good little whore but who knew you were gonna be so good at recruitment? All those needy girls who need someone to tell them that they're pretty? Your talents and my brain made a lot of money.
I'll fix this.
[SOMBRE INSTRUMENTAL.]
Nikki? Guess you should have kept your stupid mouth shut.
[HANDCUFFS CLICKING.]
[SIGHING.]
I know.
This looks stalkery.
But I'm getting the feeling there's not much point in sending texts anymore.
MARCIE: I never do this.
I don't play games.
And I'm not the silent treatment kind of girl.
You know, Carson, but when someone lies to me I get- I get self-protecting.
- You - I'm married.
The funeral I went to was my father-in-law's.
Hence it's complicated.
She and I, we have been apart for years and we are both fine with that.
It was bad, my marriage.
But my father-in-law, he was a good guy.
And I felt as though I owed it to him to be there.
And lie to me about why you were going? Marcie, I didn't know where to begin.
And yes, I lied.
I was an idiot.
You're a married idiot.
CARSON: It is over, I promise.
You know, usually when someone says their marriage is over, they stop being married.
Well come back and see me when things are less complicated.
And then we'll talk.
[UPTEMPO INSTRUMENTAL.]
Hey.
Oh.
Sorry, I guess my timing's off a little.
Hey, excited to see Mickey Mouse? I wanna meet Elsa! EMILY: So I hear you won your case.
MARCIE: Yeah, she's gonna do a year in a youth facility but, uh, compared to what she was looking at, it's a win.
Who, the pimp? Mom, she's not a pimp.
Hey, how did you hear about my case? Talking to Colleen.
Colleen, huh? Yeah, mind your business.
It's good to see you smile.
Yeah.
VELMA: Well, I don't know why you're not going with them.
Howard invited her.
Did you know that, Marcie? Why anyone would let a man like that go- MARCIE: You know what, Mom? Shut up.
Hmph.
[BLUES MUSIC.]