Watching Studio60

We’re taking a second look at “Intellectual Property,” the fourth episode of Sports Night. Following up on the review, here’s a recap of the episode. Still to come: memorable lines from the episode.

Casey’s been flinching, for a couple of nights. Or maybe it’s a tic. Casey says it’s a reaction to a fly the size of a bald eagle, but nobody else can see or hear the bug in question.

Soon, Casey’s also plagued by an ankle injury sustained when he kicked a fire hydrant while trying to kick Dan for knowing for some time that Dana was dating Gordon. Casey can’t quite pinpoint why it bothers him, but it was worth kicking a fire hydrant over.

Plaguing Dana, meanwhile, is Natalie, who’s pretty sure that Dana’s weekend trip to Vermont with Gordon and new lingerie is a sign that she finally has a strategy for “the Casey situation.” Dana disavows all interest in getting Casey to fall in love with her, and insists that going to Vermont with Gordon is about nothing other than going to Vermont with Gordon. Hard to get Natalie off the track when she’s got a good idea, though.

Dan thought it was a good idea to sing “Happy Birthday” to Casey on the air on his birthday, but a lawyer from business affairs breaks the news that it’s a copyright violation to do that, and the estate of the song’s writers are charging the network $2,500. That leaves Dan determined to sing only public domain songs for people’s birthdays, and he starts assigning them at once.

Casey’s looking for some help on the fly front from Jeremy, but watching the tape of himself flinching and waving, even Casey can’t see the insect. He’s starting to believe that it may have some sort of superpowers, which of course only makes people more certain he’s crazy.

Jeremy thinks Natalie’s crazy for trying so hard to get Dana and Casey together. But she prods Casey to say goodbye to Dana, and he does it in such a way as to open up old wounds from their past relationships. Apparently Casey has an old habit of taking up with Dana whenever his life falls apart, and dumping her when he gets it together. She’s not having it anymore, and is sure that his affection for her is as much in his head as that fly.

Except … after Gordon arrives, and Casey leaves, and she walks through the empty studio to grab her luggage, she flinches and bats at a fly that’s perfectly real. “Son of a gun.”

Sports Night, ABC, Intellectual Property, recap