TV Recap: All’s Fair “Pilot” — Three Women Rewrite the Rules of Divorce
The All’s Fair pilot wastes no time blending Ryan Murphy’s trademark glamour, scandal, and female ambition into a legal soap where power, loyalty, and lust are always on trial. In a world where divorce is war and image is currency, three women — Allura Grant, Liberty Ronson, and Emerald Greene — build an empire by weaponizing the very system that once dismissed them. But as their firm celebrates its tenth anniversary, old rivalries and new betrayals remind them that in the business of love and law, nothing stays settled for long.
Episode 1: “Pilot” - Written by Ryan Murphy, Jon Robin Baitz & Joe Baken
Ten years ago, junior lawyers Liberty Ronson (Naomi Watts) and Allura Grant (Kim Kardashian) decided they’d had enough of the senior partners who snicker at women and treat divorce law as a joke. Their conversation about striking out on their own was overheard by Dina Standish (Glenn Close), the firm’s lone female full partner and the very woman who once hired them. Rather than stop them, Dina encouraged their rebellion on one condition: they take no more than one employee and no clients.
They chose Emerald Greene (Niecy Nash-Betts), their sharp lead investigator, and promised to make her a full partner within two years. Bitter at not being chosen was Carrington Lane (Sarah Paulson), who considered herself Dina’s protégé. Furious that Dina blessed Liberty and Allura’s departure, Carrington accused her mentor of betrayal. “Figuring out who you want to be and how to be it, that’s the work to do if you want to be chosen,” Dina told Carr, which only deepened the wound. Carr smashed a model ship in Dina’s office and vowed to become their lifelong rival.
Cut to present-day Los Angeles, where Allura glides home in her convertible and slips into a dinner gown worthy of a magazine spread. Her husband, Chase Munroe (Matthew Noszka), barely remembers their fifth anniversary — until he produces a vintage Elizabeth Taylor ring as a surprise gift. Dinner is abandoned for the bedroom, and Allura’s life appears picture-perfect.
At the sleek circular conference table of Grant Ronson Greene LLP, Emerald reminds her partners that today marks the firm’s tenth anniversary. Over celebratory lattes, they trade favorite cases: Liberty cites a fund for abused women, Emerald recalls a client who turned her divorce payout into a Princeton science wing, and Allura quips that her favorite will always be “the next case.” Their toast is interrupted by an edible arrangement from none other than Carr, now a rival powerhouse who claims to have “out-billed” them, and warns the fruit may be coated in salmonella. The trio simply rolls their eyes and toasts “to ten more years of making Carr lose her mind.”
Their new client, Grace Henry (Grace Gummer), an actress-turned-trophy wife to tech mogul Lionel Lee (Steven Pasquale), seeks a “quick divorce.” But her lawyers see that the prenup would leave her with nothing. Under questioning, Grace confesses Lionel’s sexual appetites drew another woman, Emma (Clara Wilsey), into their marriage, only for Grace to fall in love with Emma herself. Emerald likens her to Rapunzel and promises the firm will be her “mama grizzlies.”
Meanwhile, Milan (Teyana Taylor), the firm’s receptionist and aspiring associate, sits in on the meeting to learn. She later receives a steamy text from Chase: “I can still smell you on me.”
A frantic call pulls Liberty to New York, where style icon Sheila Baskin (Judith Light) has barricaded herself in the bedroom while her cosmetics mogul husband, Theodore
Baskin (James Remar), rages outside. Liberty jets across the country, storms the penthouse, and demands entry.
Inside Sheila’s “treasure trove of sorry” — a safe full of apology jewels — Liberty advises her to take everything that qualifies as a gift. Estimated value: $40 million. As they leave, Theodore accuses his wife of theft; Liberty coolly cites California law on marital gifts. Sheila admits she cheated only because “he stopped looking at me the way he used to.” With that, she walks out — diamonds in hand.
Back in L.A., Emerald’s surveillance reveals Lionel Lee’s visits to a “wellness center” owned by dominatrix Devin Elisa Samartino (Kate Berlant). The info isn’t admissible, but it’s leverage. Liberty and Allura offer Devin five percent of the settlement in escrow for her testimony. Devin accepts, and soon Lionel’s negotiation meeting turns into mortification.
When opposing counsel Arch (Michael Nouri) invokes Lionel’s ironclad prenup, Emerald advances the PowerPoint: a traffic-cone-sized prop from Lionel’s extracurriculars, followed by a photo of him in a pig mask being “milked.” Liberty advises signing before the next slide rolls. Lionel capitulates instantly, securing Grace a multimillion-dollar exit.
Champagne — dubbed “victory fizz” — flows as Grace thanks the firm in tears. But celebration curdles that night when Allura’s husband packs a duffel bag. Chase admits he feels emasculated by her success: “Next to you, I feel hopelessly small.” When he reveals he’s seeing someone else, Allura’s poise cracks.
Liberty and Emerald rush to her side. They remind her she’s still formidable, that the best years lie ahead, and joke about bidding on Sheila Baskin’s jewels to lift her mood.
Yet the final twist shows Chase slipping into another woman’s house — Milan’s. “Allura’s going to find out,” Milan warns. Chase smirks: “Well, in the words of Allura Grant, all’s fair in love and war.”
Songs Featured in This Episode:
- “Someone to Call My Lover” by Janet Jackson
- “Why Can’t We Be Friends” by War
- “Players” by Coi Leray
- “Beginning Anew” by Xayne
Next Episode: “When We Were Young”