Last week, Fairly Legal aired one of my favorite episodes. This week? It tried to do one better, as "Bait & Switch" brought Gerald McRaney back as Judge Nicastro.

I've been a fan of McRaney's for decades so I'll readily admit that I did a little happy dance when he appeared on this show. It didn't hurt that Nicastro was downright adorable when he doled out his fatherly advice to both Lauren and Kate. He's oh so good at walking the line between a personal and professional relationship with his colleagues and it made me want to see more.

As for Kate's personal life, the divorce was official and Justin wanted to talk about it. That simply wasn't going to happen. Kate's still hurt and angry and when Justin tried to make Kate see things from his side she shot back with this Fairly Legal quote:

I'm the cold bitch who made you sleep with another woman. | permalink

Ouch! Kate was definitely not ready to talk about it. 

Lauren, on the other hand, was still holding on to her late husband's memory so tightly that she looked awfully uncomfortable when a handsome attorney asked her out. Nicastro tried to help her see that her life wasn't over because Teddy's was. And in a surprising turn Lauren admitted that she was holding back because she was afraid that Kate might not think she truly loved Teddy.

Thankfully, the judge made her see how silly it was to forfeit her life due to someone else's perception and... wow! Once Lauren let her hair down she was an absolute knock out. Smart, beautiful, and feisty. Teddy was one lucky man.

The case of the week had enough twists and turns to keep my interest and certainly tugged on the heartstrings. I couldn't help but feel horrible for that entire family. One son was dead, another an amputee and the heartbreak was only compounded by lies and deception. 

But I did think that Kate was reckless both with her overtly sexy display in the bar and when she confronted John at the end. Both of those situations could have gone horribly wrong if her luck had changed.

Even Ben continued to grow on me this week. There's a certain charm in his annoying persistence to take every mediation to court. And he scored points when he wouldn't leave Kate alone in the bar, even though she didn't believe she needed any backup.

My only complaint, and it's minor, was that I thought Justin and Kate's reconciliation at the end was a little too quick. There's a lot for these two to work through. I'm hoping we see some more angst because getting them back together will be that much more fun if they have to work for it.

For a show that just gets better each week, it was another captivating episode of Fairly Legal.

C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.