A new season had begun. The cast came back, after a summer off, and had filmed new episodes through the first half of the fifth season. There had been many changes since the end of season four. Let's catch up with some of the changes that had taken place during the summer hiatus and in the first part of the new season.

First off: Renee. Renee had left Boston! Early last May, she had run into Peter Benton, an old friend -- well, if you could call him a friend. When Renee had been in law school, she'd had a hot and heavy relationship with this guy in med school that lasted through the last year and ˝ of school. Peter got an ER/surgical residency in Chicago and she had gotten on at the DA's office in Boston, and so, they went their separate ways. They tried to keep in contact, but over time, they simply had lost touch. And at the time, Renee hadn't thought it was that big of a loss -- as sexy and handsome as he'd been, Peter'd had his drawbacks. Now, six years later, they ran into each other. Peter was in town for a medical conference and Renee was attending a law lecture; both were being held at the same hotel. At the lunch break, they met up in the buffet line of the hotel's restaurant. The electricity between the two could be felt by everyone nearby and needless to say, neither Renee nor Peter ate any lunch, and they didn't make it back to the lectures that afternoon, either. You could say, they were having dessert in Peter's room. This time, after a whirlwind romance of only 4 weeks, Peter and Renee realized that they had something special and had gotten married. Ally had been the maid of honor.

"Always a bridesmaid, never a bride" she had said in a rather melancholic tone, to Renee the night before the wedding, when they sat up late talking, their last time as roommates to do that.

"Don't talk like that, Ally. I just know it's gonna happen for you one day. Maybe Lar.."

"Don't even mention his name Renee! He's out of my life and I've got to move on," replied a very uptight Ally. "Listen I'm sorry. And I am happy for you, Renee, really I am. Peter is wonderful! He's an incredible surgeon, he's incredibly sexy, and from what you've told me, he's not the arrogant, self-centered person he was back when you knew him before. And I truly, truly hope that this is YOUR happy ending."

And so, Ally had put on a bright face and made it through the wedding and hardly anyone there even suspected how upset she really was at losing her best friend and being a bridesmaid, yet again. After the wedding, Renee moved to Chicago with Peter. When she left, she promised Ally that she would come back for visits, and call and write in between.

"You call me anytime, Ally. You know I'm always here to listen. And . . ., I know, I'm not even going to mention his name, but you-know-who just might come to his senses and come back. Please remain open to that possibility, okay? ‘Love you, roomie. Take care of yourself, okay?"

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And Jackson -- well, he was history. He had gotten fed up with the crazy things going on around the law firm, or so he said. But most people suspected that the fact that both of the women he had been interested in over the past year were now occupied elsewhere (more on that in a minute) was his real reason for leaving. He had left for a high profile partnership position with a firm in D.C. and last that the folks at Cage & Fish had heard, he was getting biblical with an actual preacher's daughter!

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Mark had also left the firm, deciding that he was more suited to small-town law practice. He'd moved back to Stillwater, Minnesota, his hometown, to open a practice, and on last accounts, was getting reacquainted with his ninth-grade teacher (yes, THAT teacher).

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Richard Fish, the new and improved Richard Fish, felt sorry for Corretta, Larry's former associate, and had hired her at Cage & Fish. She and Ally had become good friends and then roommates. Before she moved in, Ally had insisted on a pact that they would not, under any circumstances, discuss Larry. So, even though Coretta was in contact with her former boss, she never let Ally know that.

She especially hadn't told Ally the biggest news of all, although she had come close a few times -- Larry had moved back to Boston in September, with Sam, and had reestablished his law practice. Jaime had decided to move to Canada after all. Instead of facing a court battle with Larry over whether or not she could take Sam out of the country, Jaime had agreed to let Sam try living with Larry. Helena had gotten close to Sam during her brief marriage to Larry and she was spending time with him in a "mothering" type of a role. Larry's parents were a few hours drive away in Hartford, Connecticut, and they had visited often, showering Sam with gifts every time they came and taking him to ball games, and the Public Garden for swan boat rides, and to Sam's favorite place, the Boston Aquarium. Sam went to Jaime's once a month for a long weekend visit and was scheduled to spend his Christmas holidays with her.

Things seemed to be working out really well. He was even casually seeing someone, a paralegal who worked for a friend of his. Although he wasn't in love, they had a good time together and Sam seemed to enjoy her company, too. He hadn't contacted Ally because he knew he didn't have a chance at getting her back, not after the way he had left her again. But he was lonely and Amanda helped to fill the void in his life. He'd been open with her from the start, but she didn't seem to expect more from him than he was willing to give, so the arrangement worked well and they had a lot of fun together. He kept in touch with Corretta, but they never discussed Ally, or Larry's love life, and Corretta was really amazed that Ally hadn't run into Larry at the courthouse.

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And what about the new and improved Richard Fish? He and Jane had a sweet relationship going on. Jane seemed to bring out the best in Richard. He was in good moods a lot; he was actually beginning to take on cases himself (and was winning some of them!) and he now gave raises on a regular basis!

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Ling finally realized that her one-night stand with Jackson was just that, and hardly worth giving it another thought. And Richard? Well, his main attractions to her had been his money, which she no longer needed since she'd inherited $45 million from a rich uncle. So when her former fiance, Randy, who had married her good friend Lisa last year, came back into the picture, she was a little more receptive this time. Lisa was divorcing him because he had finally admitted to her that Ling would always be his true love. He was able to convince Ling to give their relationship another try. And she was finding that there was something special about having someone truly love you for the person that you are, because Randy adored Ling, and treated her like a queen -- something that Ling simply couldn't say no to.

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There were also three new attorneys at the firm. Richard had hired all three in a mass hiring frenzy, after Jackson and Mark had left the firm at the end of May. Raymond Milbury was a heavy hitter, specializing in criminal defense work. [Richard, despite his new-found "softness" still wanted to earn LOTS of money (although he was now more willing to share it) and was looking to expand the services that Cage & Fish were able to offer.] Glenn Foye was a young attorney fresh out of law school and Jenny Shaw was a former colleague of Renee's from the DA's office who, according to a conversation overheard by Elaine in the unisex between Richard and John, was "quite a looker."

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And Elaine, well, Elaine was always Elaine. She had lusted after Glenn, when he first joined the firm, trying her best to corrupt him, until she got a look at the new guy, Raymond, who had a reputation for knocking ‘em dead in the courtroom and in the bedroom! This time, however, Raymond had met his match, in Elaine, and things were getting VERY interesting around the office.

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Soon into the season, Nelle finally learned who her online "friend" was. The man with whom she had carried on this year-long, online relationship finally convinced her that they should meet in person. Despite her misgivings, Nelle agreed to meet him, as long as it was in a public place. They arranged the meeting at a little ice cream shop (yep, the same one as the famous ice cream/whipped cream/hot fudge fight that had taken place in May between Ally & Larry). Imagine Nelle's surprise when John Cage walked into the place. This caused them to reevaluate their relationship and realize that they really were meant to be together. They were now engaged to be married, with the wedding planned for mid-January.

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And Ally . . ., well, Ally took it day by day. Her hallucinations continued, although Billy had not reappeared. Larry's leaving her in May had literally devastated her. She had taken a month off from work and taken a trip to Europe. She came back to Cage & Fish, determined to get on with her life. So, when Glenn began asking her out, she decided to go out with him. He couldn't have been more different than Larry. He was naive, innocent and quite young (six years younger than Ally), and he looked it. But he was sweet and really seemed to make an effort to show Ally a good time. So, although she knew she would never develop the kind of feelings for Glenn that she had had for Billy, and then, for the love of her life, Larry, they were now considered "a couple" by everyone at Cage & Fish.

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And the firm, well, some things DO stay the same. Cage & Fish continued to have their fair share of unusual cases. Everything from a man suing a hotel for not allowing him to keep his horse there (John won that case, using a law from the 1800s that was still on the books that required Boston hotels to accommodate a guest's horse) to a "sex in the stacks" case at the Boston Public Library (Richard, in his new-found state of love, won that one) to the stupid bank robber case (the robber had applied for a loan at the bank only minutes before he robbed it) which Glenn, the novice attorney, took without consulting any of the more experienced attorneys and which he lost, even with Raymond's help.

So, all in all, things were going along just fine at Cage & Fish. And this brings us to the Christmas break.