S02.E16: Leap Of Faith

[WendyCR72]

Airing May 17, 2021:

Quote

Lola is tested like never before during a high-profile murder case when the women of Audubon and Associates- Rachel and Amy-combine forces with Public Defender Emily to represent the co-defendants. Also, David Sanders (Nicholas Christopher) helps Lola court donations and endorsements to prepare for her upcoming re-election campaign.

Putting in the description for posterity since the database was so damn slow.

[Izzy85]

Dude, I'm so sick of Emily always being right and so perfect that everyone pretty much worships her.

[KaveDweller]

Am I supposed to believe that a kid was murdered and the cops never went to the neighbors and asked if they saw anything or had security camera footage? Then this guy waits until the day before the trial starts to tell the defense lawyer (and not the cops)? 

Would Robin have an option of telling the FBI he doesn't want to spend a year undercover right after his daughter was born? I know

I'm disappointed because it doesn't seem like they will be able to wrap up anything by next week.

[milkyaqua]

Yes, definitely they shot this like they were getting another season.

How inept would the cops have to be to not have checked with the neighbors?  Also, mr neighbor who decided to turn the video over to the defense, shouldn't Amy have called the cops anyway?  As far as I'm concerned she's not that much better than the witness is.  Mark needs to run away.

Lola and her husband have always had a long distance thing going on.  How does this work with her running for election?  No one's supposed to know she's got a husband?

I'm still convinced Luke and Joaquin need to move on.  Or if Luke is so determined, he and Emily can be annoying together.  Luke's also going to have to get a thicker skin if he has any chance of staying with the DA's office.

Brenner looks like she's trying to move pretty fast with Georgia.

Sam and Vanessa...eh.

So DDA Choi gets assigned to Pamona by DA Bravo for some sort of payback of some sort?

I'll miss the show but I wish shows wouldn't leave so many cliffhangers like this.

Edited May 18, 2021 by milkyaqua

[illdoc]

6 hours ago, milkyaqua said:

Brenner looks like she's trying to move pretty fast with Georgia.

Exactly! At the beginning, when she kept asking "am I moving too fast?", I thought she was talking about moving in together. Not marriage! How long have they supposed to have been dating? Isn't it only a couple of months, at best?

[Irlandesa]

8 hours ago, milkyaqua said:

Lola and her husband have always had a long distance thing going on.  How does this work with her running for election?  No one's supposed to know she's got a husband?

I don't know that but this story threw me.  They always had long distance but going undercover usually means very little contact. He's going to peace out of his baby's life for a year? 

[HurricaneVal]

That UC story was jarring, as well as Lola's lack of reaction, but obvious resigned support.  It is almost like the baby didn't exist at all.

I like that Emily is realizing she needs to change her life, that she can't keep going, giving her all, all the time.  But leaving it all behind, to follow this do-gooder with no visible means of support?  Milk Eyes is just an all-around crusader, isn't he?  What exactly is his gig.  Immigrant rights, of course, but in CA, now FL, he was at the border earlier in the season, and he started the season being a BLM support crew.  Who the hell is he, really?  Who does he work for?  Where does he get the money for a motorcycle, skydiving, mountain climbing gyms, fancy grocery shopping, plane tickets to fly all over everywhere rescuing people, and I dunno, hotel rooms?  Have we seen where he lives?

And can I just say that I love Nessa's new hair?  Wow, what a change!

[buckboard]

This show might have had a chance with decent writing and a show runner who had a better understanding of race. 

As for the writing in this episode, Lola's husband spent most of the first season in Washington and now he's going undercover, with their new baby?  And he accepted the job?  And he's telling his wife two days before leaving for six months to a year?  BS writing.

Of course, that makes as much sense as Amy breaking up with Mark because of her husband's illness.  It's admirable that she has kept her husband on her insurance, but breaking up with Mark, whom she's been with for what, two years, to "support" the husband she hasn't been with for years?  Why?  Is she going to quit her law practice to give him home health care?

[possibilities]

It's like they wanted to make us hate Lola's husband. He gets cranky when she works late one night, or goes to a single schmooze event for her career, when he's been living apart from her because he took a job in DC and now he wants to go undercover for an entire year? The hypocrisy of it is too much.

I like Emily, which I know is rare. I do think she's going too fast, like Brenner is, and it's unclear to me whether the show is meaning to parallel the two situations, or if they are just accelerating it because they think it's a happy ending and they want that before the finale. The while handling of her and Luke's relationship was weird. They never really explained why he broke up with her, and him suddenly deciding he wants back in because he feel safe with her is not really enough for me. I like him, but he's been badly written all season. His career stuff, too-- they totally misrepresented what restorative justice is, and made Luke look like an idiot, when in the past he was very sharp. The writing has been terrible. I agree they also haven't answered key questions about NewBoyfriend. He may in fact work for an organization that pays his salary, but they didn't show any of that, they just had him swooping in and out of situations with no real explanation of how his life works. 

 

[tennisgurl]

A whole lot of cliffhangers, it seems like everyone is in flux now. The case itself seemed a bit confusing, I find it really weird that no one went to just talk to the neighbors to see if anyone saw anything about this stabbing, the whole case just feels weird. I did really like Amy shutting down that half assed attempt at blackmail, even if Amy isn't exactly my favorite right now. 

I just don't know about Joaquin, what would the plan be in Florida? I thought he was doing work on the border but he also does other immigration things in Florida? How many jobs does he have? Or is he just volunteering everywhere and is living off a trust fund he never mentions? Emily has been less annoying the last few episodes then she was at the start of the season, but everyone talking her up as the best most caring and most awesome lawyer ever is just ridiculous, especially because that's something we rarely actually see. 

Can they really wrap all of this up by next week? 

[illdoc]

53 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Can they really wrap all of this up by next week? 

I don't believe they had enough notice to do a "series finale wrap-up" episode, so it's possible that there will be loose ends that they planned on addressing in the "season 3 opener".

[Dowel Jones]

Leonard the caller blew it.  He should have contacted Emily instead, and do it by third party, i.e., "I know someone who has evidence that implicates the other guy.  Are you willing to pay for it?"  That way he's kind of buffered from a charge of obstruction.  Offering it to Amy, who is representing the actual killer, puts Amy on the spot.  Does she, as a matter of discovery, have to offer the evidence to the police?

If I recall correctly, splitting the defense of two people accused of committing the same crime is called the Great Wall of China defense.  Some other legal show used the same premise, which is that each defendant accuses the other of doing the actual crime, and the prosecution has to convict them without the ability of offering immunity to either.

Just for reference, the distance between downtown LA and downtown Pomona is about 30 miles.  It's not like Choi has to give up Los Angeles and move his family out there.

[possibilities]

It's bizarre that they went to trial without even doing discovery yet. The key witness of the ex girlfriend being unavailable due to being hospitalized seems like a reason to delay a bit, and not having looked for security video from the neighborhood makes all the lawyers involved look like grossly negligent incompetents. They were all still interviewing the suspects for basic facts, as well. Don't you have a strategy before you actually file charges? Isn't there some time to research matters before a date is set? 

Edited May 19, 2021 by possibilities

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Leonard the caller blew it.  He should have contacted Emily instead, and do it by third party, i.e., "I know someone who has evidence that implicates the other guy.  Are you willing to pay for it?"  That way he's kind of buffered from a charge of obstruction. 

The problem with calling Emily is Emily's client doesn't have money.  That's why he's with a public defender and his friend, the real killer who is the son of a mayoral candidate, has two high powered private lawyers. I also don't know how much protection going through a third party would offer if he really was obstructing justice.  This is the kind of evidence the prosecution would likely work hard to find.  This guy was not very sophisticated.

3 hours ago, possibilities said:

It's bizarre that they went to trial without even doing discovery yet. The key witness of the ex girlfriend being unavailable due to being hospitalized seems like a reason to delay a bit, and not having looked for security video from the neighborhood makes all the lawyers involved look like grossly negligent incompetents. They were all still interviewing the suspects for basic facts, as well. Don't you have a strategy before you actually file charges? Isn't there some time to research matters before a date is set? 

I agree with most of this.  However, from what I understand, a delay might not be possible unless the defendant waives the right to a speedy trial.  The ex was a prosecution witness and a defendant has the right to a speedy trial.  Defendants will often waive that right to give themselves more time but if they don't, states usually have laws about how much time can pass before the trial begins.  In CA, I believe a trial has to begin within 60 days after an arrest unless the defendant waives that right. The prosecution would need to be ready to go whether or not all the witnesses are available.

[HurricaneVal]

I definitely think that Choi's "promotion" is less a promotion than moving him out of the way.   I love how Ian Anthony Dale is playing the DA.  Is he dirty?  Is he clean?  Is he just doing some delicate political moves?  Any which way, it is clear he's playing a very deep game, and IAD is playing the character in such a way that he remains mysterious.  But in every scene, you know there's something going on.

[WendyCR72]

This is a reminder. Political discussion is NOT ALLOWED. While I realize the name Maxine Waters was said, absolutely nothing about her politics was. As such, bringing that up is off topic. So please move on.

Thank you.

[jabRI]

Amy's reason for breaking up with Mark was just stupid. "it's going to get messy".  what does that mean? is she going to move back in with him in that hovel (sorry, just messiness annoys me).   it's not like she has time to be a full time caretaker if she needs to keep working to pay the health insurance.