Morgan served Carla the divorce papers at the end of War episode 1, which means an all-out war. Serving her papers at her movie premiere was a bold move, something that couldn’t have been possible without John’s help. Now that he is Cathcart’s inside man, the firm will almost always have the upper hand against the opposing party. However, the war has only begun, and there’s no telling who will triumph over the other.
As for Morgan, his typical morning starts with a walk in the park with St. John’s disdain for him that he absolutely enjoys. St. John wants to confirm that Morgan has kept his distance from Flora, which he has, but his lawyer doesn’t seem convinced. However, he does emphasize the fact that if Morgan doesn’t play it safe, he can end up losing everything.
The legal proceedings begin
Johnny begins his first day at Taylor & Byrne. He’s excited but also anxious because he’s starting his career with a lie. He’ll be Cathcarts’ man, leaking them information and willingly sabotaging a client’s case. Anyhow, John chugs down his moral values so they don’t bother him for the rest of the day while he’s working on Carla’s case.
At the firm, Serena, Nicholas, and Budgie discuss how Morgan would have known about them serving him. Although they can’t quite put their finger on it, Nicholas thinks that despite everything, they seem to be in a better position. They had a head start; they have done their homework, and they are ready to attack.
At both firms, Carla and Morgan’s teams discuss the three-day-long mediation process. It is a formality and a way to study the other party. Mediation rarely results in anything beneficial; however, it is a clever way to assess the other firm’s progress. They will all pretend to make this work out and deceive the other party into thinking they are open to negotiation.
After the meeting, Serena tells Nicholas she’s worried about Flora Monroe because she could be the reason Cathcarts knew about the divorce proceedings. Although she thinks they don’t know Carla was involved, they need to do everything they can to protect their client. Therefore, the best course of action would be to have Flora sign an NDA.
The next day, the cavalry marches down to the actual war room where the mediation will take place. The first session will include a one-on-one with Carla and Morgan and the mediator named Alanda. Beatrice warns Morgan not to say anything about his wealth and to give the impression that he’s accommodating. In the bathroom, Carla gives Serena a hard talk about being served before Morgan. She’s not happy that Serena keeps claiming they are the best out there, but they couldn’t tell what was going on under their noses.
The session begins, and everything and everyone remain surprisingly…civil. Morgan talks about how their work and time have led the couple to grow apart, but there’s no animosity. However, Alanda advises the couple to make their financial expectations clear. The divorce is obviously about the settlement, and with the prenup agreement, neither party can make a financial claim against the other.
However, Carla points out that the agreement was made a ‘lifetime’ ago, and since then, Morgan’s company has grown significantly. Unfortunately, Morgan also lets it slip that his earnings have grown, and he doesn’t want to look as if he’s hiding something. The couple then talk about Carla’s declining career, but Alanda knows how this will proceed.
She goes on to put it on the table that she has seen several wealthy couples do exactly what Morgan and Carla were doing. With expensive lawyers involved, things can get dirty quite easily, so it’s best that they proceed with the mediation with a number in mind. Both parties should have a value they expect from the settlement, and that’s where they should start.
After the session, Morgan informs St. John that he suspects Carla knows about Flora, and if that’s the case, things can get ugly. However, luckily for Taylor & Byrne, Morgan’s small slip-up will now make their case even stronger. Since Morgan admitted his wealth has increased, they can pick the prenup apart to produce a handsome number in Carla’s favor. Serena and Nicholas think they practically have this in the bag.
Now, the second session will all be about offer and counteroffer. Carla will offer, and Morgan will counter until they reach a common number. After the meeting, Serena tells Nicholas she’ll head down to Flora’s for the NDA. She doesn’t want Carla involved because her solution can legally complicate things. Serena’s hoping Flora is still on their side and hasn’t decided to go to their rivals.
John continues to sabotage Carla
Later that night, Johnny meets up with David Schill from Cathcarts in a parking lot. He informs David about Serena’s strategy to open up the prenup and go after every asset, especially Zephyr’s valuation. David thinks it is a smart move because if they agree, it’ll be over before it ever begins. Then he offers Johnny a good amount of money and Flora’s name for him to find out what Carla’s firm knows about her.
Serena visits Flora at her house, which is in poor shape, suggesting she’s struggling financially. Nonetheless, Flora agrees to talk at a café, where Serena urges her to sign an NDA to avoid being exploited by Cathcarts or anyone else. Serena tries to play it emotionally by making Flora believe that Carla thinks she’s a wonderful actress and friend, and she’s grateful for her help.
Unfortunately for Serena, Flora becomes agitated when she hears the NDA requires her to stay quiet, as if she can’t be trusted. All she wanted was to help Carla because she was hurting and knew her husband cheated; she just didn’t have any way to prove it. Furthermore, Flora says she found Morgan attractive and would have slept with him even without an agenda. Serena feels she can’t convince Flora at the moment, so she tells her to take time and think things through.
At the house, Johnny searches for Flora online and finds her photographs all over social media. As Bella talks about the case, Johnny gets distracted by googling Carla. He looks at her photo intently, but there’s something strange in his eyes, almost as if he’s attracted to her.
The next mediation session begins, and it is an excruciatingly long affair. Morgan comes up with a number, and Alanda thinks it is a very good start for the couple. However, when she gives the envelope to Serena, she gives a sarcastic smile because she knows it’s a bogus number. They reject the offer and urge the other party to try a number, but this time "with feeling."
Cathcarts offers Carla 17 million pounds and a monthly stipend till Morgan’s retirement age, which is sixty. Once again, Carla rejects the offer, and the team gives their number to the opposing party. After going back and forth multiple times, thankfully, both parties settle on a figure that’s reasonable and ensures an amicable outcome.
During the break, Beatrice and St. John try to convince Morgan to settle for a higher figure because they know Serena will drag this out. Since they’ll try to prove that Carla and Morgan built their business together, thus entitling her to sufficient compensation, it’ll be useless trying to undervalue the divorce. Beatrice thinks Serena will come to a round figure of 100 million, which is what they would have done if they were in her shoes.
However, they will bring Serena down to 85 million with an equal division of all estates and a 50k stipend each month till Morgan reaches the retirement age of 70. Coincidentally, that’s exactly what Nicholas suggests the team does, along with setting a timer on the offer, because it will only suit Carla if they drag out the divorce. The more this goes on, the higher the end value becomes.
But as fate would have it, before the deal goes down, opportunity walks into Taylor & Byrne in leopard tights. Flora’s mother arrives at the firm just as Johnny hits a dead end trying to find information on Flora Monroe. He overhears someone informing an associate of Melinda Monroe’s arrival. The name Monroe immediately sets off alarm bells for Johnny, and he makes a run for it.
Unfortunately, Melinda leaves before Johnny catches up to her, but he eventually finds her on the bus. Melinda immediately recognizes Johnny as one of the lawyers and tells him Flora will not be signing anything unless they pay her 20 grand. This changes everything for Cathcarts, and fortunately for them, Johnny informs David of this key detail right before Alanda was about to give Serena their final offer.
After learning about Flora, they pull out their offer, citing that the session has run its course, and leave both Carla and her lawyers flabbergasted. Cathcarts works it out that Serena must have asked Flora to sign an NDA, which could make the whole affair a pre-planned honey trap the opposing party can now exploit.
However, Beatrice is unsure how they can use Serena, paying Flora to their advantage. Admitting Flora’s existence would automatically put Morgan in a bad spot as a cheater. However, if Serena gives Flora money, they can label it as prostitution, something that can come back to haunt Carla if things do go to court.
At Taylor & Byrne, Carla’s team finally learns why negotiations were shut down. Johnny informs them about Melinda’s demands, and it makes Carla furious. However, when Johnny explains how he calmed Melinda down, she’s impressed and tasks him with sorting it out with Flora. Serena instructs him to go pay Flora and have her sign the NDA so they can put this behind them.
At Flora’s house, her mom is determined that her daughter is compensated for the favor she did for Carla. Although Flora argues she did it out of friendship, her mother thinks otherwise and insists Johnny pay her the amount in exchange for her silence. Luckily, Johnny convinces Melinda they’ll pay indirectly because the firm can’t be seen buying someone’s silence, and in exchange, Flora quietly signs the NDA.
The next day, Johnny sends a voice note to Serena stating Flora accepted the money and agreed to sign the NDA. However, he sent the same message to Cathcarts as proof, making Beatrice very happy. Meanwhile, Alanda tells Carla and Morgan in the third mediation session that if they don’t settle today, they’ll go to arbitration, and it could get nasty from here if they don’t agree to be reasonable. The episode ends with Flora sending a text to Morgan asking to meet him.
War is now available to stream on HBO Max.
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