The Library Fountain is the fourth episode of the first season of For the People.
Short Summary[]
After Seth learns that the people of his hometown and former elementary school in Lincoln, Nebraska, have become seriously ill due to groundwater contamination, he becomes invested in seeking justice, potentially jeopardizing the future of his career. Sandra, Jay and Allison assist Jill with a potential murder case, but as they grow skeptical of their client, Jill only grows more passionate.
Full Summary[]
Seth checks his watch and then gets started setting up one wall of his new apartment. Just in time, he sits in front of his computer as his mom calls. She says it's the best thing for him. He doesn't want her to bring up Allison, but she says she's proud he has his own place. Then she tells him that back home in Lincoln, an aerospace plant built a few years ago, Kappler-Hays, has been allowing a chemical to run off their property into the water. It's affected his elementary school, too. A boy named Theo is on life support because of it. Miriam asks him what he can do about it, but he says he's not that kind of lawyer.
Jay comes in breathless and Allison is shocked that he biked there. They're both disappointed to see Sandra already there and hard at work. Jay was hoping to beat her, but Allison says the closest she's ever come is seeing her at home before work once. Jill comes in with the case of Chloe Daniels, who assaulted a postal worker. They all vie for the case, but because none of them have worked a murder case, which this has the potential to become, she decides to take the case for herself, with them assisting her and learned. Allison asks what exactly Chloe Daniels did.
Jill meets with Chloe, who explains that she was just getting her mail. The guy wasn't her normal mail person. He was creepy. Then he came at her and she stabbed him with a nearby letter opener. Then he was bleeding from his neck, so she called the police. She was just trying to defend herself.
Tina turns The Wheel to assign a judge for a trial. The judge sets bail for Chloe and when Tina goes to assign a trial judge, The Wheel jams, so he suggests just pulling out a name.
In the hallway, Tina cradles The Wheel and Jill asks how bad it is. Tina's worried they'll have to put her down. Jill shares a story of her first case. It worked out for her and she never doubts The Wheel, which Tina supports.
Seth rants to Kate about Kappler-Hays. Kate suggests that instead of whining, he do something about it.
Seth goes to Roger and makes a case to file charges in Manhattan against Kappler-Hays. In Nebraska, they depend on Kappler-Hays for jobs, so the AG won't go after them hard, but they're headquartered in Manhattan, so the Southern Court can go after them. Roger tells him it'll be a tough case to make, but Seth is prepared to make it. Roger says they can't use resources on a case they can't win. He's not Rocky Balboa. Seth is confused because Rocky wins. Roger is talking about the first one, which Seth has never seen. Roger tells him he can have the case on the condition he watches the first Rocky.
Leonard comes into Kate's office. She tells him it's not okay if he sits, but he doesn't anyway and starts talking about a fantasy embezzling scenario. She simply says she'd never embezzle. Tony interrupts any further conversation by bringing in a discovery binder for her. He then invites her to a party on Governors Island, but she turns down. After he's gone, Leonard tells her she was cold, shooting him down like that. She says she's not interested. When Seth comes in, Kate says she needs to move floors. Seth tells them about the lawsuit against Kappler-Hays he just filed. Leonard is shocked and says every big firm in New York is trying to get that case now and will spare no expense to destroy him. He wants Seth to know what he's up against. Seth gets an email and says he thinks he does know.
Seth has lunch with Todd Hardart. They used to work together. Todd says exciting things are happening at Stillman. They have nap pods. He used one that day. He made partner in record time. Three years doing Seth's job and he was in. It'll probably be even faster for Seth because he already has his first client lined up: Kappler-Hays. They hired the former firm of the prosecutor. Todd says he's glad Seth put pressure on them by filing the lawsuit. They know they messed up. Jack Lewis, the CEO, is personally overseeing the formation of a health fund for the people affected. They're going above and beyond because of Seth. Todd wants to make a deal to give Seth and win and get the company on the right track and takes care of the community. He tells Seth not to jump the gun and file charges. That would be unproductive.
Tina shows Nicholas that The Wheel is broken. He's excited because she agreed to go paperless once The Wheel was done. She goes to take The Wheel out, but he says his clerks can take care of it. She wants to take care of it herself.
Jay and Sandra come to talk to Jill about Chloe. She's not there, but there's holes in her story. She doesn't live in the building where she said she did. She didn't call the police. Jill calls Chloe, who is lost and confused. Jill races out to go to Chloe. She finds Chloe in Penn Station. A nearby man says she tried to jump in front of a train.
Kate sees Seth sitting in his office quietly and goes in to tell him it's distracting. He says he needs to talk to someone, so she offers him five minutes. She's relieved when he says he needs to talk to someone else.
Seth meets Allison outside. He called from his work phone, so it's about work. It's weird, but she knows him better than anyone else. She offers him the time it takes to walk one block. He tells her about the case and Stillman. She tells him that if doing the right thing messes with his plan, maybe he needs to think about whether it's a good plan. He says maybe they could be friends, but she's not sure they can.
Seth watches videos of parents from Carver as he cuts something out from the paper. Seth then tapes the picture of a little boy to his computer screen.
Seth tells Roger he wants to bring criminal charges. Roger thinks it's the same conversation they had yesterday, but Seth wants to go after Jack Lewis personally. He made the decisions. The fines are meaningless. Someone needs to go to jail. They have witnesses who can testify that Jack knew about the leaks and did nothing because of the money. Roger says they'll be looking to make a deal. Seth doesn't want to try a case against Stillman Pearce. As long as Jack Lewis does jail time, he'll make a deal.
Allison finds Jill at the hospital, where she is having a psychiatrist run tests on Chloe. Sandra's not there because she hates hospitals. Jill would like to go for a mental disorder defense. She's sure it explains everything. Jill wants Allison to wait for the results while she files paperwork. Chloe may need to be committed depending on findings.
Leonard asks Kate if she's not into guys. She confirms that it has nothing to do with gender. Or that he went to state school, which she did as well. She doesn't want what will happen if she goes to the party. There's no point to any of it. Leonard says some of it could be fun, but she doesn't want fun. She wants a challenge. He says she can go out with someone once in a while. She should send out a test balloon of her own, because she's a catch now. She maintains that she doesn't want to be caught.
Chloe's test results all came back negative. Jill wants to find another doctor, but the others are beginning to believe that Chloe is faking it. Jill is firm in that she's not faking it. The mail person is recovering now, so Allison wants one of them to take over the case for Jill. Jill just wants to talk to Chloe. Once she's gone, the others think they're missing something.
Seth watches video of Jack Lewis being arrested.
Todd and Seth meet again. Seth says it's not personal. He has a lot of respect for him and the firm. Todd says it goes both ways, but then makes it clear they won't make a deal while also putting Seth down and implying that Todd's the only reason Roger hired him. He tells Seth he has no future at any large firm in the city.
Seth questions Vanessa Shore at trial. She testifies that Jack Lewis knew about the leak, but didn't want to spend the money to fix it. Todd then shows her her mortgage application, on which she misrepresented her assets, showing she's willing to lie to get what she wants.
Next up is Michael Cantor, who also told Jack Lewis they needed to make improvements. Todd tells everyone he lied about having an affair during his divorce proceedings, challenging his credibility.
Bernard tells Tina the crankshaft on The Wheel just needs a little TLC and he'll do it for free. She says he doesn't have to do that, but he's just happy she's still in use. He made The Wheel himself.
Chloe serves Jill tea and Jill breaks the news to Chloe. Chloe says they never find anything. She's been called all kinds of things, but the only medicine that ever worked made her feel not like herself. Her ex-husband wanted her to stay on it. Her not wanting to stay on it led to their divorce. Jill wants to explore other options for her case. She asks her more about the attack. She doesn't remember. She wasn't always like this. She was on the Dean's list in college, was a cheerleader and a sorority girl. Jill picks out that she was a cheerleader. She was good at it.
Jill shows Sandra, Jay, and Allison a video of cheerleaders as she talks about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. She believes Chloe has it after her years as a cheerleader getting head injuries. It explains everything. It can only be diagnosed after death, but Jill knows of a doctor working on a way to test for it while the patient is still alive. They have to make the test admissible.
Kate sees Seth pouting in his office again. He needs to talk to someone again, so she tells him to talk to whomever he talked to last time. He tells her it got him into the mess. So she sits down and he tells her about his case. She encourages him not to give up. He says he has memos that show they company knew about the leak and the damage they were doing. Someone has to testify that Jack knew about it, but people are scared of him. He threw a piece of bacon at his former secretary. Seth needs to find the secretary.
Taryn Davis testifies about being Jack Lewis's secretary. Todd objects because she doesn't know about the factors of the case, but Seth says she saw every piece of paper that went across his desk for nine months. Taryn then talks about the day she was fired, during which he flung bacon at her face because he wanted her to do only what he told her, nothing more and nothing less. He's a micromanager. Seth then shows a memo about the cost of upgrading everything. Taryn knows that Jack saw them because nothing went through the company without him seeing and okaying it. And the memo is also covered in checkmarks in his handwriting. He was lying when he said he never knew about what was happening.
Chloe is getting an MRI. Alexander Cole says he's seeing evidence of CTE. Jill wants him to testify, but he says it'll never hold up in court. She says that's why they need his testimony.
Seth gives his closing statement, in which he talks about a fountain that's hidden behind the school, always in the shade, always cold. All the kids that came and went at the school drank from that fountain, including Theo Mars, who now has leukemia because of the library fountain. Because of Jack Lewis.
Jill tries to get the CTE diagnosis admissible in court. She says that other illnesses they wouldn't have to beg to get admitted. Chloe just had the misfortune of getting an illness before it was commonly recognized. Either way, she's dying. Either she dies free or in prison.
Jill says they offered deferred prosecution for two years. She'll be supervised during that time. Jill's still not happy because Chloe needs help, someone to take care of her because she's going to get worse. She's burned every bridge. She has no one. Jill says her sister was like that. She has a sister, but she doesn't know where she is.
The jury has reached a verdict of guilty against Jack Lewis.
Tina shows Nicholas that The Wheel is working again. She tells him about taking The Wheel home on the weekends to make decisions with her husband, like what movie to watch. Her son used it to decide where to go to college. Two days before her husband died, they used The Wheel to decide what book she should read him. She can't take it home because it's too sad now.
Kate goes to see Leonard and offers to go to get dinner with him. He says he has work and then he has a thing later with a girl. She says she'll be watching Charade in her pajamas if he changes his mind.
Roger says Jack Lewis is going to jail. He tells Seth to go home and celebrate. He didn't think Seth could pull it off. Seth explains that he never watched Rocky because he didn't just want to go the distance. He likes Rocky IV because he won against a 'roided up commie. After Roger leave, Seth calls someone.
Seth tells Allison he won his case and thanks her. He apologizes to her for coming to get for help after he left her. He can't have it both ways because it's not fair. She kisses him on the cheek and leaves.
Jill helps Chloe with her groceries. Chloe promises to call if she needs anything. Then she asks about her son. Jill says she wasn't able to reach him, but she'll keep trying.
Jill leaves Chloe's apartment, leans up against the wall, and starts crying.
Seth sits down on his couch and starts watching Rocky IV.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Hope Davis as Jill Carlan
- Ben Shenkman as Roger Gunn
- Jasmin Savoy Brown as Allison Adams
- Susannah Flood as Kate Littlejohn
- Wesam Keesh as Jay Simmons
- Regé-Jean Page as Leonard Knox
- Ben Rappaport as Seth Oliver
- Britt Robertson as Sandra Bell
- Anna Deavere Smith as Tina Krissman
- Vondie Curtis Hall as Judge Nicholas Byrne
Guest Stars[]
- Mary McCormack as Chloe Daniels
- Aaron Staton as Todd Hardart
- Patricia Bethune as Miriam Oliver
- Lou Beatty Jr. as Bernard
- Emil Beheshti as Michael Cantor
- Mandy Levin as Vanessa Shore
Co-Starring[]
- Peggy Dunne as Taryn Davis
- Kyriaki as Reporter #1
- Adan Rocha as Tony
- Dempsey Pappion as Dr. Alexander Cole
- Lloyd Gordon as Judge Daniel Waters
- Rahvaunia as Theresa Wood
- Angela Ai as Connie Fine
- Dan Woren as Homeless Man
- Kimberly Christian as Lincoln Mom
- Michael Andrew Baker as Lincoln Dad
- Ian Gregory as Jack Lewis
- Serena Laney as Foreperson
- Lisa Temple as Judge Erin Engel
Legal Cases[]
The United States v Chloe Daniels[]
Chloe Daniels was arrested and charged with assaulting a postal worker. She stabbed him in the neck in self-defense and then called the police. At her hearing, bail was set at $20,000. When they looked into it, they learned that she didn't live in the building anymore and the doorman had called the police, not her. Jill then found her in a subway station, where a man told her that Chloe had tried to jump in front of a train. Jill found a psychiatrist to evaluate her, but those tests showed no psychiatric disorder. She also told Jill that she'd been tested before, but nothing came up and nothing worked, except a drug that made her feel not like herself. When Jill learned she'd been a cheerleader, she suspected chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Jill also knew of a doctor who was working on a new test that can be performed while Chloe was still alive, so they took her to get tested and the tests showed CTE. The prosecution then agreed to deferred prosecution for two years.
The United States v. Kappler-Hays[]
Seth went to Roger to bring a case against Kappler-Hays, a company that was dumping poisonous chemicals into the water that children then went on to drink at the elementary school next door. Seth met with their counsel, a former colleague Todd Hardart, and was told they had set up a fund for affected people and cautioned him not to jump the gun by filing charges. Seth believed he could get more money and more reforms if he pressed charges, so he decided to file charges against the CEO, Jack Lewis, personally and not settle for anything less than jail time for him. Jack was arrested and Seth and Todd met again, but Todd said they felt they had been pushed into going to trial, so there was no deal to be made. At the trial, several people testified that Jack had personal knowledge of the dangers and refused to make changes to make more money, but Todd attempted to discredit all of them. Seth then found his former secretary. She knew for certain that Jack Lewis had seen the memo about the leak and testified that the memo had checkmarks in his handwriting on it. Jack was then found guilty of violating the Clean Water Act.
Music[]
| Song | Performer | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| "Sounds Good to Me" | Nelly |
|
| "First" | Baum |
|
Notes and Trivia[]
For The People 1x04 Promo "The Library Fountain" (HD)
- The episode scored 2.76 million viewers.
Gallery[]
Episode Stills[]
Behind the Scenes[]
Quotes[]
See Also[]
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A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here. |
| Season 1 | |||
| #01 | "Pilot" | #06 | "Everybody's a Superhero" |
| #02 | "Rahowa" | #07 | "Have You Met Leonard Knox?" |
| #03 | "18 Miles Outside of Roanoke" | #08 | "Flippity-Flop" |
| #04 | "The Library Fountain" | #09 | "Extraordinary Circumstances" |
| #05 | "World's Greatest Judge" | #10 | "This is What I Wanted to Say" |
| Season 2 >> | |||