The Cheese Stands Alone – Wild Card Episode Summary 1.7

Overview: Business owners demand compensation to damages incurred from an electrical surge. A cheese monger declares that his expensive cheeses were spoiled due to the power outage. Loss of income due to the deletion of client information stored in a computer was the reason for the dating service’s claim. The last of the three is from the record storeowner who is also the proprietor of the building affected by the loss of power. Meanwhile, Zoe Busiek (Joely Fisher) is torn between a romantic weekend with Marcos and her attempt at setting a good example for her teenage niece.

Synopsis: The insurance company faces multiple claims from businesses that were affected by a building’s power outage. Sophia pulls rank and takes the case involving a dating service, while Zoe is stuck with a cheese monger. Dan, on the other hand, volunteers to check out the record store whose proprietor also owns the affected building. Interestingly, Dan an unlikely Mosher hits it off with the owner and punk-loving Janelle. He still does find it curious that Janelle’s building was the only one affected by the power surge. Zoe confronts the cheese monger, Carlo Nuovo, who filed a $12,000 claim. His business that relies heavily on refrigeration was terribly affected, since the expensive cheese he sells all got spoiled due to the power loss. Moreover, his losses force him to close shop. Although the damage to the dating service does not amount to the cheese monger’s, the owner claims for loss of income. The power surge wiped her computer’s memory and along with it are the videos and data of her clients. This could have been prevented if only her assistant did her job and made back-ups of these information. Sophia suddenly remembers Dan’s former assistant Penny who could have easily done the same mistake.  Continue reading...

Oddly enough, Dan bumps into Penny who is actually one of the clients of the dating service. Her profile was wiped out due to the power surge and was asked to return for a re-shoot. Dan could not help but feel sorry for her after learning that she had already spent $2,000 on this service. Meanwhile, Zoe is troubled with her weekend getaway with Marcos. What seemed to be a delightful idea turns sour when she realizes the need to become a role model for Taylor who as a teen is equally delighted with her aunt’s romantic weekend. After a painstaking debate with herself, Zoe finally decides to call off the weekend with Marcos. As always, the understanding boyfriend agrees to Zoe’s reasoning. However, it is her last request that caused his disappointment. Zoe asks Marcos if they could take it slow and unwittingly suggests that he might not be the right guy for her.

Of the three, only Sophia strongly suspects her client. Her suspicion stems from the huge amount of money involved, the supposed erasure of the computer’s hard disk and the dubious absence of back-ups. In addition, Dan learns from Penny that the dating service has been matching low-income with high-salaried clients. To get to the bottom of this, Zoe volunteers to sign up for the dating service. Given this new strategy, Sophia swaps cases with Zoe who has gone undercover as a woman looking for love. The plan that at first seems brilliant begins looking glum. After several dates, Zoe is left without any information about the other clients, not their last names, occupation not even their astrological signs. They enlist the help of Penny who interestingly was matched up with the same guys who Zoe went out with. True to her character, the smart mouth Penny lets it slip the office rumor that Zoe has a crush on Dan. This, however, was quickly disproved when Dan accidentally sees a picture of her in Marcos’ arms.

Dan’s research pays off as he learns the full name and occupation of one of Zoe’s dates. Dan plays Zoe’s disgruntled ex-boyfriend and confronts Cameron Philips at the bar he works at. In his attempt to clear things up with her now annoyed girlfriend/barmaid, he confesses to having employed by the matchmaking service to date its female clients. Given this new development, the two deals with the owner of the dating service. Having been found guilty of employing daters, the two investigators deny her application as a result of a fraudulent claim. In fact, she is now accused of misrepresenting her loss and overstating her income. Meanwhile, Sophia who is close to finishing up the cheese monger’s insurance claim comes upon new disturbing information. The deliveryman confirms the cheese maker’s inventory, but learns that the poor guy and his family suffered food poisoning the weekend of the incident. To confirm her suspicion, Sophia meets Carlo at the office and offers him the expensive cheese she got from Carlo’s driver Nuncio. Apparently, the good-hearted Carlo gives the driver free cheese when he delivers them from the farm to the shop. Sophia takes a bite off the cheese, alarming Carlo who confesses that the cheese was already spoiled even before the power outage. He caused the electrical surge, which inadvertently erased the dating service’s database. Thanks to the investigators, the matchmaking service could no longer scam unsuspecting clients as it was closed down. Moreover, Penny is no longer such a pity after surprisingly hitting it off with one of the daters.

After an enlightening chat with her teenage niece about her attempt to become a role model for her, Zoe realizes that Taylor is more mature than she thinks her to be. She rushes to catch Marcos to inform him that she changed her mind. Unfortunately, he already has someone else to spend the weekend with. Marcos who was misinformed of Zoe’s dates has become hurt of her seeing other men. To prevent herself from further embarrassment, she uses Cliff as a lame excuse for her surprise visit. Dan has given up on Zoe after seeing her picture with Marcos and pursues the record storeowner instead, despite him suspecting her earlier of fraud.

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