Night Court Recap: Dan Gets Shoved Back Into the Dating Pool — How Are You Liking the Sequel Series So Far?

Night Court‘s Dan Fielding isn’t ready to start dating again… but that won’t stop his new courtroom pals from nudging him along.

In this week’s episode, we learn that Dan has been quite a magnet for the ladies since his return to night court. His latest client can’t resist groping him (“My husband’s in a coma”), and he tells Abby that another woman randomly yelled out at him: “I’d like to climb that!” He’s so besieged by sexual offers that when a woman played by sitcom great Wendie Malick approaches him, he instantly cuts her off, thinking she’s trying to hit on him. She was just looking for the records room, though, and after Dan sheepishly apologizes, they hit it off. (They both still read newspapers… and do the jumble!) Her name is Julianne, and Dan gets her number, but he’s hesitant about opening his heart again after his wife’s death. When Abby tells him she and the courtroom gang are all the emotional connection he needs, though, that’s enough to spur him to pick up the phone.

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Abby’s social calendar is empty with her fiancé still living upstate, and Neil is equally lonely, so they decide to pop in on Dan’s date with Julianne to make sure he’s OK. (Neil’s been stood up a lot, so he knows the feeling.) When they get to the restaurant, Dan is indeed dining alone, but he admits he never texted Julianne in the first place. He did compose a text to her that he never sent, and when Neil goes ahead and sends it, Julianne eagerly shows up. Dan is hopelessly awkward when she arrives — his opening line, for some reason, is “Hello, sailor!” — and Neil has to pull him aside for a breather. Abby chats with Julianne and grows wary when she says she’s just out for a fling… but once Dan hears that, his nerves suddenly disappear, and he and Julianne ditch dinner to go home together.

Back at Dan’s place with a cheap bottle of wine, Julianne quickly makes a move, but Dan gets nervous again, fending off her advances with a rainstick. (“How about we move to a different room with a different stick?” she counters.) He starts to wax sentimental about getting the rainstick in Costa Rica with his wife, but she stops him mid-anecdote, admitting that this seduction was all just “a revenge plot” after Dan prosecuted her years ago for torching her ex’s house. (He’s on her vengeance list “between my ex-mother in law and Boost Mobile.”) She wanted to steal his identity and ruin his life, but she sees now it’s already ruined. Oof. A despondent Dan confides in Abby the next day at work, and she admits she’s been lonely, too. Maybe they can rely on each other for emotional support — although we know Dan hates all that mushy stuff.

Elsewhere in “Dan vs. Dating”: Olivia desperately needed a new office after working out of the courthouse’s ladies room, so she agreed to share an abandoned office with Gurgs. Soon, though, Olivia found Gurgs and her calendar of “hot mugshot guys” a little too distracting and looked for a way out. But after she and Gurgs bonded over their shared anxieties, they decided to stick it out as officemates. (“Are we work wives now?” Olivia asked.) Oh, and Gurgs acted out the movie Die Hard for Olivia, who had somehow never seen it before. And she calls herself educated.

We’re now four episodes into the new Night Court — what’s your verdict so far? Give it a grade in our poll, and hit the comments to share your thoughts.