- Ted and Joanna enter the courtroom. Shaunessy gives Ted some last-minute tips that boil down to this: Keep your answers short and to the point. Tell the truth. Don't get emotional.
- Judge Atkins shows up, and they're off and running. Joanna's attorney, Gressen, calls Joanna to the stand as his first witness. "Motherhood," Shaunessy whispers to Ted. "They're going right for the throat."
- Gressen questions Joanna. The highlights: She quit working after she had Billy, even though she wanted to keep working. Ted told her that she probably couldn't find a job that would pay enough to make putting Billy in daycare worth it anyway.
- Now she has a job as a sportswear designer here in New York. She makes $31,000 a year. (That would be roughly $110,000 in 2017 money.) At the mention of her salary, Ted looks up from the notes he's been scribbling as she talks. You can practically see his ears perk up. We're guessing it's more than he's making.
- Gressen asks Joanna if she loves her son. She says she does, and explains that she left because she was extremely unhappy living with Ted. She felt stifled. Ted didn't care or listen to her because he was too wrapped up in work.
- Her self-esteem was reduced to zero. At that time, she thought the only choice she had was to leave, and that she was incapable of taking care of Billy.
- She continues: Once she started seeing a therapist, she learned that she wasn't broken, and that she had worth as a person. She could be Billy's mom, but also be more than just Billy's mom. Ted listens intently. Gressen submits a report from Joanna's therapist into evidence.
- Joanna gives a long speech from the stand. Her argument goes like this: Billy needs her. She's his mother. She was his mommy for five-and-a-half years; Ted stepped into the role for 18 months.
- (BTW, Streep composed that speech herself. Screenwriter Benton melted when she used the "mommy" line.)
- Then it's Shaunessy's turn to cross-examine Joanna. He establishes that Ted never hit Joanna or Billy, wasn't an alcoholic, never cheated on her, and always provided for her. Then he asks her how long she plans to live in New York and digs into Joanna's love life while Gressen repeatedly objects. We can't help but wonder if he'd question a man the same way.
- Shaunessy's point is this: According to him, Joanna's never done anything stable in her life. She says she's going to living New York, but why should that be believed? She has a boyfriend right now, for example, but she can't say that they're going to be together permanently. How does the court know she's going to stay in New York permanently or want to be in Billy's life permanently? Gressen objects on the grounds that Shaunessy's harassing Joanna.
- Shaunessy then asks Joanna what the longest relationship in her life was (outside of those with her parents and girlfriends). Of course, it was her eight-year marriage to Ted. Shaunessy says she failed at that. Joanna disagrees; she feels more of the blame lays with Ted. Shaunessy keeps laying the responsibility on her and generally being really vicious while Joanna protests.
- Finally, Shaunessy straight-up yells at Joanna, demanding to know if she was a failure at the one most important relationship in her life.
- Joanna, face covered in tears, smiles feebly and silently mouths back "Yes."
- We see Ted's reaction shot to the question: he looks at Joanna and shakes his head no.
- No further questions.
- Ted asks Shaunessy if he had to be so rough on Joanna. "Do you want the kid or don't you?" Shaunessy replies.