S02.E04: Bad Beat

[WendyCR72]

Airing on December 7, 2020:

When Lola's husband shows up in her courtroom in his official FBI capacity, Benner insists that Lola recuse herself; Mark Callan, in possession of a dossier of explosive evidence in an officer-involved shooting, enlists Sam for help.

[illdoc]

10 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

When Lola's husband shows up in her courtroom in his official FBI capacity, Benner insists that Lola recuse herself;

And she should!! It would be one thing if there was a jury (and even then she should recuse herself), but since all she seems to do is bench trials, she needs to recuse. She won't, of course, but the defense will have grounds for appeal.

[preeya]

Did anyone else think Lucky was going to turn up dead? Perhaps he still might.

What's up with Mark's friend (is it Sam) going on a mission to a very unsavory place wearing a tight white sweater with half her tits exposed?

I get the impression that at some point Luke will switch sides and become a defense attorney.

[cameron]

Emily and the "Lawyer BAE" moniker is getting old.

 

[HurricaneVal]

2 hours ago, cameron said:

Emily and the "Lawyer BAE" moniker is getting old.

Yes, yes it is.

I think Emily with her whole "Norma Rae" routine bought into her new Instagram fame, and you can see how when Milk Eyes called her "Lawyer BAE" she got all coy and giggled so she's really into that part.  It is feeding her ego in an unhealthy way.  I did see some cracks, though, when she realized her "Norma Rae" breakdown had impact on the rest of her team, and some folks--like the weird guy--drank the koolaid she didn't really know she'd mixed up.

Judge Bennett needs to step off and back up.  I agree with Lola, that was rude, abrupt, and not necessarily in the best interests of everyone who had carefully and painstakingly negotiated a delicate and multilayered deal with the fragile trucker.  They built a house of cards, and Hurricane Lisa blew into the courtroom.  I also agree with Judge Bennett.  The minute her husband walked into her courtroom and it was apparent it wasn't a social visit, Lola absolutely should have recused herself.  Would such a delicate deal be possible under a different judge?  Likely not.  But there wouldn't have been any whiff of collusion or conflict of interest to muddy the waters when the subsequent case goes to court and the inevitable appeals.

[Guest]

Emily has officially ruined the show for me. I only made it through 10 minutes and I skipped at least half of that. Her war against the DA office isn’t noble it’s being a shitty lawyer. 

Between that and Vanessa assuming pregnancy had made Lola stupid was enough to piss me off to much to continue watching. 

The actress who plays Sara needs to learn some subtlety. You could tell immediately that she was going to be card shark. 

[tennisgurl]

Emily is definitely feeling herself and her Norma Rae "Lawyer Bae" routine and her internet fame, but hopefully she can realize soon that her attempts at fighting the system for the principle of the thing could mean that she becomes more interested in making points and screwing with the DA's office than actually helping her clients. Emily was a little bit less annoying this week, but not by much. We are quickly getting to the point where whenever she shows up on screen, I prepare an eyeroll. This seems like its now less about her wanting to help fix a broken system than a boost for her ego. It doesn't hurt that Emily has turned her smug self righteousness up to eleven this season. 

For a card shark, Sara has a horrible poker face, she was practically giddy when the judges asked her to play poker with them. I thought her reaction to Judge Bennett calling her out for hustling them was weirdly over the top, Bennett didn't even seem mad, just bemused, I didn't think she was going to make her give the money back or anything. There is something up with Sara and her frustration over her families store being looted, and I think its going to come bursting out at some point. Maybe Emily defends some looters, even the ones who looted her families shop, and she gets upset? 

Bennett was wrong to come barging into Lola's case and taking over like that, but she wasn't wrong that Lola needed to recuse herself from the case the second her husband showed up. Its a clear conflict of interest and could come back and ruin any case that is being made. I am liking the whole running bit where people keep giving her baby advice, I have found that when a woman is having a baby, everyone is suddenly a baby/pregnancy expert and absolutely much share their knowledge with the mom to be. It did all lead to some fun Mark and Lola banter at least. "I don't care about you at all." 

I wonder if Luke will end up going to defense soon? Poor guy, it really sucks that he just keeps getting these sympathetic lovely victims of the system and not just random assholes who should clearly be in jail. Throw the guy a wife beater or skinhead or something!

[HurricaneVal]

Oh!  I also wanted to add that while most of the female characters--especially Lola--have amazing clothes, the wardrobe department is certainly bringing out the cray-cray for Sam's outfits.  Not only are they a little weird, but they're also wildly inappropriate for their settings.  A sexy tight white lycra tank top emphasizing her boobage to investigate a sketchy crime scene location?  But the one that I was the most WTF about was the see through blouse overtopped by the tight black leather dirndl dress for court.  That one had me wondering if she and Luke had a different sort of relationship. 

Speaking of relationships...I do NOT like courtroom!Amy or lawyer!Amy.  But Amy at home?  I kind of dig her relationship with Mark.  She's not strident, but she's firmly telling him things he needs to hear.  I like that Amy.

Did anybody else want to have the scene with the Tik-Tokkers?  Or maybe the right choice was made, and Sam's throwaway line best left it to our imagination.

[Madding crowd]

I totally thought the last scene would be Lucky getting gunned down. I can’t stand Emily. She just assumes she is the only defense lawyer who cares. Defense lawyers are overworked and are trying their best for the clients. There are bad defense lawyers and bad people in every profession, but Emily is not the only one who wants to help.

Edited December 8, 2020 by Madding crowd

[jabRI]

This was such a throw away episode, I feel like it was a waste of an hour.  I can't stand that Mark feels he needs to tell Amy every move he makes because she said so.  And new clerk has no business getting into anyone else's private life. 

I almost wonder if the just knew she'd be a card shark and the judges wanted to find a way to help out her grandparents?  Because otherwise I can't see them inviting Sara to socialize, they've always been pretty stand-offish to her.  And by stand-offish I just mean professional, something not seen  much on TV, where your work colleagues of course become as close as your extended family.

[Irlandesa]

I do think Emily was starting to realize that she might have gone too far, especially when she was faced with a prosecuting attorney who was also taking it too far in opposition which was likely going to hurt her client.

I hope Luke doesn't become a defense lawyer.  I think it's more interesting to see the struggles he'd face trying to change the system from the prosecution's side.  In reality, he'd have more power from that position or a judge's position than he would as a defense attorney. 

[mommalib]

Both Lola and Judge Benner could have handled things better. Lola should have realized that the optics with her husband and the father of her child being to go along with her recent issues was a bad look. And Judge Benner shouldn't have barged in like that, I can see why Lola took it personally.

I like Luke and Sam together and I like that she's checking her privilege. World would be a better place if more people did that. I also like Luke as the crusading lawyer it suits him.

I don't care about Emily or her new dude.

 

 

[KaveDweller]

5 hours ago, Dani said:

The actress who plays Sara needs to learn some subtlety. You could tell immediately that she was going to be card shark. 

Was that the actress or the most cliched writing ever?

Lola really should have stepped off the case right away. I don't get why she was so resistant, it doesn't make her a bad judge.

[Irlandesa]

4 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

Was that the actress or the most cliched writing ever?

I definitely felt it was the very obvious writing.  I didn't get Judge Bennet's "don't hustle them."  Isn't that what poker is about?  Not showing your cards?

If they still think she's a novice after she won so much money off of them--they kind of deserve to lose it?

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

Was that the actress or the most cliched writing ever?

For me it was the actress. The look on her face gave it away before I even at a chance to think about the plot. 

[buckboard]

I glad that Lola's husband will be back in L.A.  

[driver18]

15 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

Was that the actress or the most cliched writing ever?

The actress. Definitely the actress. I'm sorry, ya'll, but I think she's just terrible. I have never liked her, not from day one, and this episode was yet another example that showed just how awful she is. I could maybe blame the direction if it wasn't always happening.

Let's take the last scene. Judge Brenner calls her out. She looks chagrined and then literally TWO SECONDS LATER is doing that wide-eyed grin as if NOTHING had just happened. As if the top judge where she works had just not called her out for bamboozling a whole bunch of judges out of their money. Bad, bad, bad. Ugh, she's awful.

Ugh.

Oh, and I still don't buy Mark/Amy even remotely as a couple. They have no chemistry, no ease, nothing, nada, zero. Once Emily gets off her high horse and goes back to being a defense attorney who actually starts just looking out for the best interest of her clients again, give me Mark and Emily. Heck, I'll take Mark and Sam--they had some good vibes, but Mark and Amy? Nope, nope, nope.

Lola? I get that you were upset with Lisa stepping in, but, uhm, she IS your boss. You kinda shouldn't maybe talk (rather, yell at) to your boss like that. Yikes. And she so should have recused herself once Robin showed up because while, yes, everyone who knows her *knows* that she can be totes impartial, but it's the optics, baby!

What I did love? Mark and Lola, always. Especially her: "Not you too? If one more person asks how I'm doing..." / "Nah, I don't care how you are." LOL! Loved that. These two are the best BFFs.

[cameron]

1 hour ago, driver18 said:

The actress. Definitely the actress. I'm sorry, ya'll, but I think she's just terrible. I have never liked her, not from day one, and this episode was yet another example that showed just how awful she is. I could maybe blame the direction if it wasn't always happening.

Let's take the last scene. Judge Brenner calls her out. She looks chagrined and then literally TWO SECONDS LATER is doing that wide-eyed grin as if NOTHING had just happened. As if the top judge where she works had just not called her out for bamboozling a whole bunch of judges out of their money. Bad, bad, bad. Ugh, she's awful.

Ugh.

Oh, and I still don't buy Mark/Amy even remotely as a couple. They have no chemistry, no ease, nothing, nada, zero. Once Emily gets off her high horse and goes back to being a defense attorney who actually starts just looking out for the best interest of her clients again, give me Mark and Emily. Heck, I'll take Mark and Sam--they had some good vibes, but Mark and Amy? Nope, nope, nope.

Lola? I get that you were upset with Lisa stepping in, but, uhm, she IS your boss. You kinda shouldn't maybe talk (rather, yell at) to your boss like that. Yikes. And she so should have recused herself once Robin showed up because while, yes, everyone who knows her *knows* that she can be totes impartial, but it's the optics, baby!

What I did love? Mark and Lola, always. Especially her: "Not you too? If one more person asks how I'm doing..." / "Nah, I don't care how you are." LOL! Loved that. These two are the best BFFs.

Yes, that actress who portrays Sara does a terrible acting job.  Can't stand the faces she makes.

[buckboard]

Sorry, but I don't agree with those who are calling out the actress who portrays Sara for bad acting because she grinned after being called out by the presiding judge.  Seems to me she was just doing her job, acting.  Judge Brenner had called her out for scamming the other judges, but it seemed to me that Brenner understood what happened even if none of the other judges did.  It  looked to me like little more than a wink and a warning that now that she was on to her, Sara shouldn't do it again.

Sara, in response, was at first worried, but when she realized she wasn't going to be disciplined, she grinned.  I think a lot of the criticism of the actors is unwarranted.  Emily didn't leap on top of the table because the actress playing her craves attention.  That was what the scrip said she should do.   Now, if you want to start a discussion about the script writers ....

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, buckboard said:

Sorry, but I don't agree with those who are calling out the actress who portrays Sara for bad acting because she grinned after being called out by the presiding judge.  Seems to me she was just doing her job, acting.

I’m not saying she’s a bad actress for grinning after being called out. I think she’s a bad actress for her reaction when she was invited to play. I knew just by the look on her face that she was lying. 

[Court]

Weren't we supposed to know Sara was lying? We already know she's good at poker. It was in the first couple episodes of the first season where she kept beating Mark. 

Also, poker is about hustling and bluffing and taking people's money. I see nothing wrong with what she did. 

[j5cochran]

FYI for most of the folks above: It's Judge Lisa Benner, not Brenner, not Bennet!

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Court said:

Weren't we supposed to know Sara was lying? We already know she's good at poker. It was in the first couple episodes of the first season where she kept beating Mark. 

Also, poker is about hustling and bluffing and taking people's money. I see nothing wrong with what she did. 

My problem with it is that the entire plot required her to have a good poker face and she just didn’t. I didn’t find her believable as a good poker player who could hustle and bluff. 

[TVForever]

On 12/8/2020 at 9:59 AM, cameron said:

Emily and the "Lawyer BAE" moniker is getting old.

 

Actually, it got old about 2 episodes ago (or whenever he first said it).

On 12/8/2020 at 2:16 PM, Dani said:

Emily has officially ruined the show for me. I only made it through 10 minutes and I skipped at least half of that. Her war against the DA office isn’t noble it’s being a shitty lawyer. 

Between that and Vanessa assuming pregnancy had made Lola stupid was enough to piss me off to much to continue watching. 

The actress who plays Sara needs to learn some subtlety. You could tell immediately that she was going to be card shark. 

Do NOT get me started on Vanessa again. At no point during her Harvard education and likely internships in law offices in-between, did this woman ever learn that the judge is the BOSS, and not your friend?

On 12/8/2020 at 3:55 PM, jabRI said:

 

I almost wonder if the just knew she'd be a card shark and the judges wanted to find a way to help out her grandparents?  Because otherwise I can't see them inviting Sara to socialize, they've always been pretty stand-offish to her.  And by stand-offish I just mean professional, something not seen  much on TV, where your work colleagues of course become as close as your extended family.

 

19 hours ago, buckboard said:

Sorry, but I don't agree with those who are calling out the actress who portrays Sara for bad acting because she grinned after being called out by the presiding judge.  Seems to me she was just doing her job, acting.  Judge Brenner had called her out for scamming the other judges, but it seemed to me that Brenner understood what happened even if none of the other judges did.  It  looked to me like little more than a wink and a warning that now that she was on to her, Sara shouldn't do it again.
 

I actually assumed that from the moment Benner invited Sara to play, that this was a way to give her money without wounding her pride. We've seen nothing to this point to suggest that the judges socialized informally with anyone but each other. At first, I thought all the judges were in on it, but later I wasn't so sure. But Benner, definitely.

[illdoc]

On 12/8/2020 at 8:59 AM, cameron said:

Emily and the "Lawyer BAE" moniker is getting old.

"BAE"??? I always thought he was saying "BABE"!

[cameron]

I think that the character Sara is immature (sleeping with a guy she picks up in a bar just after meeting him that night, and her other antics.)  The actress always does that smirk in all her pictures.  But I was surprised to read that she was Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway.

Edited December 10, 2020 by cameron

[Fiftyninth]

On 12/10/2020 at 4:54 PM, cameron said:

I think that the character Sara is immature (sleeping with a guy she picks up in a bar just after meeting him that night, and her other antics.)  The actress always does that smirk in all her pictures.  But I was surprised to read that she was Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway.

She’s a Tony Award winning actress. I assume if they didn’t like what she was doing, they’d ask her to adjust her performance.