Riley tells Miss Spears that, by refusing to come to an agreement with the Mitchells, she risks never being allowed to see her baby again. Miss Spears tells her that she doesn't want her daughter to ever lay eyes on her again. "Miss Kessler, when my daughter grows up, I want her to hate me. I want her to be angry at me for leaving her. I want her to be so mad at me for screwing up my life. Because if she is, it'll be because she believes she deserves better and she'll expect better from everyone else. She won't let anyone treat her badly and she won't let anyone give her less than what she deserves!" This actress delivers this speech with such passion and conviction that it stands out as the best performance in the whole episode. Riley asks her if she's willing to take the chance that her baby won't get adopted and be shuttled in and out of foster homes for the rest of her life. "As kind as those people are, they don't know what it's like to live out there and they can't teach her that. Miss Kessler, I want my baby to have a chance. She was born unfairly and that's my fault but I can give her her dignity, I can give her her self-respect, because maybe if somebody had given it to me, I wouldn't be here." Riley responds by telling her all she went through in her life having a white mother that people didn't believe was really hers. She goes on to say that, throughout her life, she was faced with the fact that she was never enough of one race, but she never felt as though she were missing out because she had two whole parents who loved her. Interesting that they gave her this story line, because I do believe Sydney Poitier comes from a biracial family. Maybe not as much "interesting" as "obvious."

Back in the judge's chambers, both sides admit that they haven't reached an agreement.