‘So Help Me Todd’ Episode 21 Photos, Cast and Season Finale Plot

So Help Me Todd Episode 21
Marcia Gay Harden as Margaret and Jeffrey Nordling as Gus Easton in ‘So Help Me Todd’ episode 21 (Photo: Michael Courtney © 2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc)

Fortunately, So Help Me Todd received an early season two renewal, so episode 21 is just the season finale and not the end of the series. The network’s other new dramas – True Lies and East New York – said goodbye after just one season, but So Help Me Todd‘s impressive ratings earned it a spot on CBS’s 2023-2024 primetime lineup.

Episode 21, “Are You There Todd? It’s Me, Margaret,” was written by Scott Prendergast and directed by Nancy Hower. The season finale airs on Thursday, May 18, 2023 at 9pm ET/PT.

Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden stars as Margaret Wright, Skylar Astin plays Todd Wright, and Tristen J. Winger is Lyle. Madeline Wise plays Allison, Inga Schlingmann is Susan, and Rosa Arredondo stars as Francey.

“Are You There Todd? It’s Me, Margaret” Plot: When Margaret is too sick to work on the final day of an important negotiation, Todd must step in and act as a proxy while Margaret uses her investigative skills. Also, Margaret and Gus finally share their first kiss.

So Help Me Todd Episode 21
Marcia Gay Harden as Margaret, Skylar Astin as Todd and Tanja Dixon-Warren as Jane Tippet in the season 1 finale (Photo: Michael Courtney © 2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc)

The Plot:

Marcia Gay Harden and Skylar Astin star as razor-sharp, meticulous attorney Margaret Wright and Todd, her talented but scruffy, aimless son whom she hires as her law firm’s in-house investigator. As the black sheep of the well-heeled Wright family, Todd is a laidback, quick-thinking, excellent former private detective who fell on hard times after his flexible interpretation of the law got his license revoked. Margaret’s penchant for excellence and strict adherence to the law is at complete odds with Todd’s scrappy methods of finding his way through sticky situations: by the seat of his wrinkled pants.

When Todd inadvertently teams with his mother on a case, she’s surprised to find herself duly impressed by – and proud of – his crafty ability to sleuth out information with his charm and his wide-ranging tech savvy. At last, Margaret sees a way to put her son on a “suitable” path to living an adult, financially solvent life she approves of, and she asks him to join her firm. Todd agrees since it means getting his license back and once again doing the job he excels at and loves.

Mother and son working together is a big first step toward mending their fragile, dysfunctional relationship, and they may even come away with a better understanding of each other at this pivotal point in their lives. But whether Todd and Margaret will be able to accept each other for who they are is another case entirely.

So Help Me Todd Episode 21
Rosa Arredondo as Francey and Skylar Astin as Todd in the season 1 finale (Photo: Michael Courtney © 2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc.)
So Help Me Todd Episode 21
Everick Golding as Barry and Marcia Gay Harden as Margaret in episode 21 (Photo: Michael Courtney © 2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc)
So Help Me Todd Episode 21
Jeffrey Nordling as Gus Easton and Marcia Gay Harden as Margaret in episode 21 (Photo: Michael Courtney © 2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc)
So Help Me Todd Episode 21
Marcia Gay Harden as Margaret and Madeline Wise as Allison in episode 21 (Photo: Michael Courtney © 2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc)
So Help Me Todd Episode 21
Inga Schlingmann as Susan in the season 1 finale (Photo: Michael Courtney © 2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc)