Being a mom is hard. Being a lawyer...

Being a mom is hard. Being a lawyer is really hard. But apparently being a mom and a lawyer is like, the most monumentally difficult task ever attempted by a mere mortal. Annabeth Chase's first day back on the job after 12 weeks of maternity leave pits her against a mee-yow-worthy new boss (Diary of a Mad Black Woman's Kimberly Elise), a tabloid-making case of domestic abuse and the always-unfortunate need to pump breast milk at the office. And frankly, all three of those conundrums seemed to be tied up a little too easily by the end of the series premiere that last one with a shiny red bow, no less. But I did find myself pleasantly surprised by Jennifer Finnigan's grit as a no-nonsense prosecutor; I didn't expect her to wield that much gravity after last season's cutesy comedy Committed, or even after living through the barrage of Close to Home promos all summer long during my thrice-weekly Big Brother fix, when I usually found it necessary to mock the legal ramifications of sporting ultrashiny strawberry lip-smacker during an emotional deposition. Bottom line is, Lawyer Mom got the job done: Big Bad Dad's in jail, Cooing Baby's sleeping through the night and Snarky Boss just moved you up a rung on the respect ladder. Not bad for an hour's work.

And, by the by, we've got ourselves an Angel alum alert! Check out the hubba-hubba hubby keeping things together on Annabeth's home front. It's good to see you again, Christian Kane we all knew Lindsay McDonald wasn't down for the count.