A teenager is cajoled by a friend to rob a convenience store for kicks, but when the friend pulls a gun on the store's owner, everything takes a turn for the worst. Once arrested, the friend claims he wasn't the one with the gun, and the innocent teen is charged with robbery in the first degree. Legal Aid Attorney Ramon Rodriguez mishandles the case because he was having a tryst with an assistant district attorney and didn't have time to prepare. He puts both the teenager's life and his marriage to Cassandra in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Bobby and Cynthia reconcile.

Cynthia sees how the other half lives when a former maid's daughter and childhood playmate, Amanda, appears in night court. Amanda suffers from a bipolar disorder and currently doesn't have her medication and is living on the streets. When Cynthia tries to help Amanda get shelter and a Medicaid card, she's sent on a journey that has her navigating a social services system fraught with red tape. Cynthia, who was raised a millionaire, finds herself in check-cashing lines trying to pay a phone bill and in a hardware store bartering for an air conditioner for Amanda's mother.

Everyone must play along when a Vietnamese man tries to obtain justice for the murder of his parents by American soldiers in the Vietnam War. Judge Sims' courtroom is televised live for the country as Bobby prosecutes and Ramon defends the soldiers who have been forced to come to the court either in person or by telephone. Waiting in the wings are Cynthia and Fatima who can't seem to get along because of Cynthia's privileged background and Fatima's Brooklyn working-class roots.