In Dr. Ken: Ken’s an Expert Witness the doctor’s confidence takes a battering, going all the way down from a level 10, to an eight and dropping. The episode if full of surprises. That Ken can actually lose confidence in himself being the biggest. Other surprises follow with Dave revealing a natural talent in clothing manufacture and an attraction between Juan-Julio and Dr. Julie.
Juan-Julio actually has two surprises, that he apparently likes to perform at a local venue and he invites Damona and Julie to a lip-sync show where he will sing as “Prince” doing a Beach Boys number. (The theme is “celebrities” singing Beach Boy tunes in their style and not the style of the Beach Boys.) The second surprise is his ability to analyze people by the state of their cars.
Even though Damona gives Julie the “thumbs down” sign, the intern tells Juan-Julio that they will go. An excited Juan-Julio leaves the reception and Damona is more than annoyed. Exhibiting the thumbs down sign again she asks Julie:
“What? What do you think this means?”
Julie: “That we’re down to go.”
Later, Ken is asked by Pat to be the medical expert for a trial. The administrator reveals that the other eight doctors he asked refused. Ken is overjoyed to be an expert for the court. At home he excitedly tells Allison about now being an expert.
Molly comes down and makes an announcement.
Molly: “Hey, legal guardians. I just found a way to save our family a bunch of money.”
Allison: “Molly, we’ve been through this. We’re keeping Dave”.
It turns out Molly wants a new dress for the Spring Formal and she explains that she can wear the same garment to her wedding and even her parents funerals. Both Ken and Allison decline the purchase and Molly asks them what she will wear instead. The parents trot out ideas and Molly storms off into the kitchen.
Dave offers to make Molly the dress and after initially reacting poorly big sis agrees but only after seeing that Dave has reprogrammed the “Rhoomba into a robot that brings me fudge.” The exchange between the two is not promising at first:
Dave: :What’s wrong?”
Molly: “Grown-up stuff. When I have a “Yo Gabba Gabba!” related problem, I’ll come to you.”
At the Juan-Julio performance the valet comes out as Prince (formerly known as “symbol”) who then does “Kokomo.” He “ropes” Dr. Julie up on the stage to be part of the act and she is clearly having the time of her life.
Ken has his day in court.
As Dr. Ken leaps to enter the witness box, Clark tapes the proceedings on his mobile phone. Despite being giddy with the experience of testifying he starts giving his evidence clearly and professionally.
The attorney (Jim Rash) for the plaintiff then rips Ken apart on the stand. He mocks the doctor, imitates him and strips Ken of his credibility. Flamboyance and exaggeration allows the lawyer to confuse Dr. Ken and his actions devastate the doctor.
Dave makes the dress and dislikes it. He ask Allison to buy one instead. (This leads to a misunderstanding that is just brilliant. ) It seems that the little brother is anxious for Molly to appreciate and respect him. Allison offers to make the dress herself.
It is clear that Allison is out of her depth here as Dave has to point out that there is no thread in the sewing machine. Later her efforts as not appreciated by Molly at all, who believes Dave made the dress and she thinks there might be something wrong with him:
“Seriously, Mom. I thought something might be wrong with him. I was gonna say something to you privately.”
Ken complains to Allison later about the “triflin’ attorney” and she tells him not to worry but the doctor is stressed about the six jury member’s “he killed.”
“When I close my eyes I can still see their faces.”
At work, Ken is shaken after the trial and Julie feels that she and Juan-Julio have a connection. After Ken has a meltdown moment with a patient his staff try to help him after discovering the his confidence level is at an all-time low of eight. Clark tells Ken that he has nothing to prove and this motivates the doctor to action.
Forcing his staff to do an “all-nighter” they find the evidence that Ken needs to slam the attorney. While learning what his co-workers have found, the staff are all cranky and snapping at one another and Julie has heart palpitations.
Ken has a triumphant return to the courtroom and nails it.
Molly sees the dress that Dave actually made and loves it, declaring that he has real talent. Allison is not happy as Molly goes on and on about the dress Allison made. Ken is back to up 10 on the confidence scale and Juan-Julio gives Dr. Julie a pep-talk.
Standout Moments:
The attorney blithely killing off half the jury and Ken’s guilt about it.
“You’re dead. You’re dead. You’re dead. You’re dead. You’re dead. You initially recover but then, but then out of nowhere… boom. Dead. And you hope to get a second opinion, but you couldn’t… ’cause your doctor killed you.”
Allison’s reactions to Molly, and Dave, dissing her attempt at dress-making.
Juan-Julio.
Ken’s “Matlock” moment and “You can’t handle the truth!”
Pat’s listing of all the things that Clark, Damona and Dr. Julie say not to mention.
Dr. Julie’s line to Damona about Pat:
“I know you and Pat boned a bunch of times, but still.”
Dr. Julie again with her heart issues and Ken’s reactions to her problem.
Dave’s “you pinned the blame on me.”
Final Thoughts:
As usual the cast of Dr. Ken killed it. Guest star Jim Rash, another Community alumni, was hysterical as the attorney. Clarks “crush” on Rash’s character was brilliant as was the entire Molly dress-capade. The highlight of the show was Ken returning triumphant to that courtroom, but that short Prince sings the Beach Boys sequence was right behind it. Kate Simses allowed her character to look euphoric while on that stage.
The “all nighter” bit was genuinely funny and once again Dr. Julie lets out a little fire with her retort to Ken about the website.
Kudos to Krista Marie Yu, Albert Tsai and Suzy Nakamura for the entire bit of the Molly’s dress storyline. These three performers have meshed beautifully as family and the comedy was sweet.
Mad props to Marques Ray who plays Juan-Julio, he absolutely rocked it to the max in this episode.
Generally, the theme this week was confidence: An overabundance (Ken), too little (Dave and then later Ken again) and then the building of same.
Dr. Ken: Ken’s an Expert Witness was a good follow on from the Dicky Wexler episode with an emphasis on broader comedy, more light-hearted and a guest star that just killed it. Another win for Dr. Ken.
Dr. Ken airs Fridays on ABC. This show is not to be missed. Laughter is the best medicine and Dr. Ken provides it effortlessly.
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