This post contains spoilers from All's Fair season 1 episode 1 from this point forward.
Ryan Murphy's star-studded new legal drama series All's Fair has arrived with its three-episode premiere on Hulu! Kim Kardashian leads the cast that also includes Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash-Betts, Sarah Paulson, Teyana Taylor, and Glenn Close as a ruthless divorce attorney who gets even — especially when her own personal life is crumbling and she's fighting off competitors.
The pilot episode begins with a flashback to 10 years in the past as Allura Grant (Kim Kardashian) talks Liberty Ronson (Naomi Watts) through her frustrations with the senior managing partner and the other old white men at their law firm. In that moment, they team with Dina Standish (Glenn Close) to start their own all-woman boutique divorce attorney firm. They take Emerald Greene (Niecy Nash-Betts), a single mother of triplet boys, with them as their lead investigator.
Carrington Lane (Sarah Paulson) balks at Allura and Liberty about leaving the firm and taking Emerald with them instead of her. There's no love lost between them, especially when Carrington learns that Dina gave them their blessing to go off on their own. Carrington threatens to leave the law firm and start her own, too, and that's a promise she keeps.
Allura's husband and friend have a secret
In the present, Allura drives her convertible sports car up to her luxury mansion and speaks with her staff as she struts through her massive home. She prepared for her fifth anniversary with her decade-younger athlete husband Chase Munroe (Matthew Noszka), but he arrived late because he forgot... at least he pretends to forget and gifts her a diamond ring that belonged to Elizabeth Taylor.
Allura, Liberty, and Emerald also celebrate 10 years of starting their firm by reminiscing about their favorite cases. Milan (Teyana Taylor) delivers an edible floral arrangement with a note from Carrington gloating about the success of her firm. They brush it off and talk about their next case: Grace Henry (Grace Gummer), an aspiring Hollywood actress, who became the wife of tech mogul Lionel Lee (Steven Pasquale). They believe there's more to Grace's story than she's letting on.
When Milan leaves the room, she receives a text from Chase. Clearly, she's having an affair with Allura's husband in spite of Allura being a generous friend and offering to help her study for the bar exam. While talking with Grace, she reveals that Lionel brought another woman, Emma, into their marriage and she fell in love with Emma.
Liberty receives a frantic call from Sheila Baskin (Judith Light), who's in New York but needs a California divorce lawyer to get out of her marriage with cosmetics businessman Theodore Baskin (James Remar). Liberty rushes to Sheila's side, and Theodore insists that she won't be getting anything per their prenup since she cheated on him. Sheila opens her safe to reveal her extensive jewelry collection. Because they were gifts, she can keep them and sell them for up to $40 million.
The team's big win and Chase drops a bombshell
Emerald shares her findings about Lionel Lee with Allura, but she found nothing, which means there's a huge secret. By following him, she discovered he visits an acupuncture facility owned by Devin Elisa Samartino (Kate Berlant), who moonlights as a dominatrix. Meanwhile in New York, Theodore threatens Liberty and Sheila as they remove the jewelry from the property, but Liberty shuts him up.
All's Fair features a lot of slow motion shots of the team walking into huge buildings over catchy pop songs, which honestly sets the tone for the show. It's glamorous and opulent, even when some scenes feel hollow. That's all to say, Allura and Liberty's visit to Devin's facility couldn't be more glamorous, though it gets a bit dark when they enter her dominatrix room. They run a hard bargain with Devin to help Grace with her divorce case. She agrees, but Lionel's lawyers are tough.
Lionel's lawyers set the stage for Allura and the team to provide visuals that illustrate Lionel's various sexual fetishes. Their plan worked. Lionel signs the papers to quickly and quietly divorce Grace despite his lawyer's flagrant aggravation. The Grant, Ronson, and Greene team isn't afraid to get a little dirty when it comes to matters of love and war. All's fair, as the title says.
Back at home, Chase tells Allura that he's not happy with their life and marriage. He feels small with his three Super Bowl rings compared to her achievements, and he wants a divorce. He admits that he's seeing someone else and leaves her. Later that night, Liberty and Emerald rush to Allura's side to comfort her and hit her with some honesty about Chase. Of course, Chase runs straight to Milan for a hookup. It's going to be an unforgettable day when Allura and the team find out about his affair!