Counterpunch – Director: Mina Shum/Writers: John Callaghan, Keri Ferencz
This one starts with a woman (Sarah) looking for her husband (Joe), an amateur fighter who came home acting all weird the night before, sweating and hallucinating before taking off. Sarah wants Frankie and Trudy to check the back alley gym where Joe works out, in case he’s dead or something. On the way, they pass a huckster selling Walcott’s Wonder Elixir and a pharmacist trying to peddle more traditional medicine. When they get to the gym, Sarah is too scared to go in, so Frankie and Trudy head inside to look for Joe. He’s not there, but they do find some bottles of Walcott’s Wonder Elixir. On the way out, they’re stopped by a guy with a rifle.
The guy (Leo) is pretty pissed off and doesn’t buy Frankie’s story about looking for a boxing coach. Luckily, Moses Page trains there and vouches for them. Frankie impresses Joe enough to let her train there, but he wants to see her fight first … against a bruiser named Sadie “The Anvil” Sawyer. Frankie says she needs some more training from Moses and there’s obviously still an attraction between them. Outside, Joe shows up and tells
them the Elixir he drank made him go nuts, so they take it to Flo to have it analyzed. Flo finds cocaine in the Elixir, so Frankie and Trudy go to confront Walcott, who’s demonstrating his Elixir’s efficacy to the crowd by showing off his muscular assistant, Doreen. Frankie tells Walcott about the cocaine and he denies it’s an ingredient in his Elixir. He shows them his all-natural ingredients and says he’s got a chemistry degree, so he knows his Elixir is safe. Frankie wonders if someone else slipped the cocaine into the latest batch of Elixir, which worries Walcott. A crooked cop (Crowley) shows up to demand his weekly protection money from Walcott, who wants to brew up a new batch of Elixir rather than keep selling the stuff that’s tainted with cocaine. Since Walcott 
can’t pay, Crowley threatens to arrest him, but Trudy distracts the cop long enough for Frankie to get Walcott away. Walcott turns out to be a stand-up guy (at least, as stand-up as anyone selling Miracle Elixir can be), so Frankie and Trudy offer to help him with Crowley. Frankie goes to the gym to see Moses, who mentions he’s been back in Canada for over a month … making Frankie wonder why he didn’t get in touch. That doesn’t seem to cool the heat between them and they end up banging back at Frankie’s place. The next morning, Trudy and Walcott stop by to let Frankie know that Doreen unknowingly sold a bottle of the coked-up Elixir … to an old man with a bad heart.
Doreen gives Frankie a few details about the old man and she goes to look for him. Trudy asks Mary about Crowley and she says he’s a real prick. Mary calls a friend at Crowley’s precinct to find out where he is, and of course she assumes Mary is hot for Crowley. They find Crowley talking to a bookie, to whom he owes a lot of money. They track him to a back alley craps game, where he loses even more money. Frankie figures out who bought the
tainted Elixir and finds him passed out in a side street. Frankie sends Flo to help Walcott brew a new batch of Elixir. She’s not happy about him being a snake oil salesman, but they bond over science and find out they’ve both had trouble being taken seriously in their work. Trudy and Mary report on their surveillance of Crowley, but Mary says he’ll have to do something pretty bad for his fellow cops to arrest him. Frankie figures they can lure him into a bet and set him up for a loss, so he’ll have to tell his cop buddies about his gambling debts … unless he wants the bookie he owes to break his legs.
Frankie sets up a fight with Doreen, then tells Crowley she’s a fighter and can guarantee him a big payoff by taking a dive in the fight with Doreen, since Frankie is the favourite. Crowley agrees, but Frankie realizes he’s 
dangerous when she sees the gun he carries. Moses coaches Frankie some more (no, not that … I mean he actually coaches her) in preparation for the fight, even though Doreen has agreed to take a dive. Trudy offers to lift Crowley’s gun while he’s distracted, thinking he won’t recognize her disguised as a cigarette girl. Mary goes undercover too (as a fellow gambler) to keep an eye on Crowley. Everything’s set, but Doreen accidentally knocks herself out by hitting her head on a shelf (!), so Frankie has to fight The Anvil, Sadie Sawyer … and she’s definitely not going to take a dive.
Frankie has to win to make Crowley lose the bet, so she has to go ahead with the match. Frankie sends Mary to get something and the fight starts. Frankie’s faster, but Sadie starts landing punches and she’s a lot stronger
than Frankie. Mary goes to the morgue to get some chloroform and when she gets back, Frankie tells her to put it in Sadie’s water bottle. (Flo and Walcott are really bonding at the morgue and end up making out.) Frankie causes a distraction and Mary puts the chloroform in Sadie’s water. When it starts taking effect, Frankie puts Sadie down (although Leo gives her a count so long it makes the Tunney/Dempsey fight look like nothing). Crowley takes off and Frankie follows him. Trudy lifted his gun and unloaded it, so Frankie decks Crowley and promises to 
keep Leo from pounding him if he turns himself in for his crimes. Later, Frankie goes to the morgue and finds Flo and Walcott smooching it up. Walcott tells Flo he’ll be moving on soon and Frankie realizes the pharmacist near where Walcott was set up must be the one who put the cocaine in his Elixir. Walcott and Flo threaten to expose the pharmacist, so he agrees to pay for the batch he ruined. Moses tells Frankie he might be sticking around for a while, which seems to make her happy.
This is a pretty good episode, that brings Moses Page back and shows off
Frankie’s boxing talents. The way Doreen got knocked out was pretty contrived, but it was nice to see Flo connecting with someone on a personal level. Mary had some funny moments, as usual, like her tough-gal routine when preparing to go undercover, or her snacking on a giant turkey leg while she and Trudy were tailing Crowley.
Noticeable Things:
- Moses mentions Kid Lewis and Mike McTigue, two real-life boxers of the 1920s. Frankie says McTigue is the light-heavyweight champ, which means this episode must take place in 1923, since that’s when McTigue became champ.
Favourite Quotes:
- “Put some chocolate on sale, then we’ll talk.” Trudy telling the pharmacist he’s wasting his time shilling medicine.
- “Agree to disagree.” Flo’s reply when Walcott denies being a charlatan; of course you know they’re gonna end up getting together.
- “I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, you know.” Mary being tough.