
Back in Hartford after a few days in Maui to collect herself, Amy is faced with returning a room full of wedding presents, dealing with friends and family who can't resist commenting on her train wreck of a life, and trying to reach an ex-fiance who refuses to speak with her; a reluctant Kyle, saddled with the job of firing one of the nurses, ends up being threatened with a lawsuit after bungling the job; realizing that her recent career change is a bad fit, Amy returns to juvenile court and presides over the case of feuding teenagers who have been spurred on by their mothers; Maxine is at a loss in dealing with a teenager who is angry about being removed from an abusive foster home; Donna inadvertently keeps interrupting Bruce's attempts to explain why he missed Amy's wedding.
When Amy is transferred to criminal court, Bruce stays behind in juvenile court, and she inherits Spencer, an insolent clerk; Lauren has an extremely unhappy first day at junior high, but things brighten up on day two when, much to her mother's dismay, she finds a boyfriend who is a year older; after accepting Stuart's proposal, Amy begins to have nightmares about the wedding; recently unemployed as a result of budget cuts, Donna helps Peter care for his sons while Gillian languishes in a coma; Ellen, D.C.F.'s newest employee, uses her experience as a former foster child to help Maxine deal with a teenager who's run away from her foster home; fed up with his impudence and disloyalty, Amy fires Spencer and hires Donna, who's recently graduated from law school; Amy's predecessor in the criminal division threatens her with retribution after she considers overturning his decision to suppress evidence in a capital murder case; Gillian finally emerges from her coma.