Basic Maternal Instinct - S1.E24

CAPSULE: While Brandi takes anger management classes, Dottie goes after an elusive skip who abandons his 10-year-old daughter Melissa. Dottie takes the girl in temporarily, but then Melissa's long-lost mother shows up. Perhaps, though, this odd family unit is not what it seems.

Spoiler Alert! Key plot details revealed!

Dottie asks Ricky for a job that she can handle alone, since an incident with Brandi and a parking meter has landed the younger Thorson in anger management classes. Ricky sends Dottie after a burglary suspect, Marty Bates, who is a confirmed gambler with a known liking for redheads. Dottie traces him to a motel, where she confronts and handcuffs him, but just as she's about to take Bates away, his 10-year-old daughter Melissa appears. While going to the bathroom, Bates slips out the window, leaving Dottie with his daughter. She takes Melissa to social services, but not liking what she sees there, Dottie takes the girl home with her for temporary safekeeping.

At her clas