Take a look at Hunter Reed, would you? Not only does he go to the same barber as Nick, but he shares his crooked smile, his earnest frown, and his dimpled cheek. No wonder Nick takes a shine to the kid. We first met Mini-Me in the pilot. His dad killed his mom because of bad medication, and dad's just been acquitted. Mini-Me wants to live with dad, which Nick would get, says Mini-Me, if Nick had a dad like Mini-Me's dad. And here's what makes this show different from those other shows - you know, the ones that don't need a support group. After watching this episode you could be forgiven for thinking it's just another courtroom drama. But this is The Guardian, and there's always something personal at stake (except for last week's Important Social Message episode, but I've already covered that). Every pint-sized client is a laser-sharpened steel blade with the potential to slit open our hero's scarred and battered soul, inch by inch, or perhaps hack it entirely to pieces with one innocent question.

Speaking of courtroom dramas (this is an aside), I would much rather see how Burton and Alvin's case involving Alvin's ex-wife Meryl affects Nick, than just see Meryl whining and Alvin throwing her impatient looks. Because this isn't Alvin's ex-wife's story. It's not Alvin's story. It's not even Burton's story. It's Nick's story and everything that happens should impact upon Nick. He gives a familiar "So what?" reaction when introduced to Meryl (see The Funnies, when Barbara introduces Russ's dad), which we the audience take as foreshadowing, but alas, there's no payoff, nothing comes of it, and they never meet again. A wasted opportunity. Nick could perhaps have offered some jacket advice for Alvin's court appearance, prompting a conversation about Alvin's past or an insightful comment from Meryl about her ex-husband's inability to "be around other people full-time" (Heart). This is all just my opinion. The bloody Nick Fix is fast heading the way of Ms Barstow's sexual harassment suit and I won't stand for it.

Oh, don't worry about me. I'll be calmer when I reach Step 3. End of aside.

Nick would much rather be within the safe and comforting walls of the F&A conference room helping Burton and Ms Barstow spit darts with their eyes while demonstrating their second-grade mastery of really big numbers. Instead, he suffers this little child and looks fit to burst with jealousy as Mini-Me describes his super dad. But Nick is a man now. We know this because Burton told us so. He can swallow the bitterness, take his own advice ("Don't beg for it") when summing up for the judge, and describe this mystical, alien rapport between a father and son with a wistful smile, as if he knows what he's talking about. He does well not to choke on those words because they are surely sticking in his craw. His own dad, who's now stuck in another courtroom having a catfight with Alvin over company memos and attachments and carbon black, never walked him to school, you can bet on it, but sent him away instead (I'm guessing it was an Australian boarding school, which would explain the accent thing) and certainly never sat around with his son singing songs from the radio.

Hunter lives with his wicked grandparents who cry all the time (at least, his grandma cries, when she's not suffering from Mute Grandma Syndrome) but Nick rescues him, and then my tape ran out. Despite the ultimate reunion between father and son (that's Dr Thomas I-should-be-in-jail-right-now Reed and Mini-Me, not Burton and Nick, obviously), this is an episode about breaking up. Alvin tells Burton he doesn't want to play with him anymore after Burton is mean to Meryl (only Alvin is allowed to be mean to Meryl). Nick tells Burton he still doesn't want to work with him any more, even though Burton gave the right answer to the pop quiz this time. And Nick tells Ms Barstow that he doesn't want to perform his "tricks" for her any more (hey, ask Dina - I don't know what it means) because she's too damned aggressive in bed...

...Look, I know I'm not the only one who noticed the way he collapsed on that mattress like a crucified demi-god about to be... well, nailed, by the succubus pawing at his chest.

Excuse me, I need to call my sponsor.

* Gives an impassioned plea in court on Hunter's behalf.

• Nick was getting sex with Meghan Barstow whenever he wanted it.
• Alvin was once married to Meryl Dimetrio and they lived in Lewisberg. Then she married Eric, who had money.
• Alvin used to practise labour law at Mandell & Moore.
• Nick has spoken highly of Alvin to Burton.
• Alvin doesn't know if he's happy.
• There are 17 associates at Kirk & McGee who have been there more than six years, and none of them is named Fallin.

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