S03.E16: Opening Statements

[Scarlett45]

Quote

As Tommy's trial begins, Callie sees Jamie in a new light. In an effort to make amends, Mariana asks for a job as a coder at Bulk Beauty. Malika must learn to establish boundaries, meanwhile Alice and Ruby's relationship is revealed.

Air Date: August 18, 2021

[circumvent]

As Tommy's trial begins, Callie sees Jamie in a new light. After running into some old colleagues, Mariana wonders if she can ever make amends. Malika must learn to establish boundaries, meanwhile Alice and Ruby's relationship is revealed.

[circumvent]

The courtroom story is boring and the description is off. I don't know what "new light" they are talking about. I am not sure why that story is even part of the show.

Mariana became so insufferable, hopefully they will do something good with her new plot.

I can't stand stand up comedy but I liked that they included the debacle of having sensitivity training, or whatever they are calling - diversity sensitivity? - because it is something that everyone seems to be doing but that data shows it is pretty much a waste of time (in the cases I read about). I don't know why the writers decided to go that way, maybe it was an accident to make Scott (is that his name?) look bad, yelling that he "never wins", but he is not wrong in the context that those trainings are just a big lecture that does not build on what the collective gains can be. It is not based on understanding, it is forced upon people who start resenting the whole thing, or on people who will take it as a gospel and go around virtue signaling what they heard. I don't have the answer on how to improve the environment of some places, but I know that having people telling others how terrible they are doesn't make them very open to really do the work. I have sat through discussions about this and it turned into a big mess pretty fast, even before any "training" started.

[JustHereForFood]

I have never been in a sensitivity training, or know anyone who did, so I can't speak to their effectiveness, but I would have expected that a program that was specifically made as a diversity group would have something like that at the beginning for anyone involved, especially the mentor, not just after someone complained. But I never even understood why he wanted that job, since he didn't seem interested in doing it in any productive way. Maybe he thought it would look good on his resume? 

I felt bad for Malika, I understand that she wanted to help, but she didn't really have any place to snap at Dyonte for winning, after she offered to help him. I wonder if it is good idea that they are mixing their work and personal relationship, because that can get messy, especially now that they are competing for the position. Her new colleague got so much focus, is it possible that she is being set up as a potential next love interest?

I don't really understand the case much and I agree that it is a bit disjointed from the rest of storylines. I am beginning to wonder if it was included just to give a storyline to Jaime now that he is regular, which is disappointing, since I don't care about him one bit. But I didn't really understand why Callie was upset with him, why would he tell her anything about the video if he knew? Should they even discuss the case at all? That seems to me like something that would be prohibited (just a thought, I don't have any legal knowledge).

I don't know what to think about Marianna at this point. I am strongly beginning to not care at all.

[possibilities]

I definitely got a vibe between Malika and her new co-worker, but I roll that way, so I can't tell if they mean it or if I'm just projecting.

I thought Malika was wrong to help Dyonte before she finished her own proposal. It wasn't his fault. But it does show that she's still having trouble with boundaries and self-care, and that differences in privilege can create real imbalances between people, not just personally but also professionally. I thought it was a fairly realistic portrayal, one of the more realistic things I've ever seen on TV.

I don't think the massage is really much of a compensation. It shows he cares about her, which is fine, but it does nothing to really solve her problem at all. Not saying that's his fault, either. But it's an inherent issue in their relationship and it won't go away until it's resolved at a deeper level than one conversation or gesture can address.

 

 

 

[circumvent]

43 minutes ago, JustHereForFood said:

Maybe he thought it would look good on his resume? 

If I remember well., he was told he had to do the training

43 minutes ago, JustHereForFood said:

But I didn't really understand why Callie was upset with him, why would he tell her anything about the video if he knew? Should they even discuss the case at all?

My knowledge of law procedures are very rudimentary but the sides have to disclose any evidence they find to the other side. It does't mean they always do, the courts are full of cases of prosecution malpractice - and probably defense malpractice too. The prosecution is wrong in this case, they knew about the video and didn't disclose it. The "she opened the door" would not make any sense in any court. As for discussing the case, I don't think it is forbidden, it is just not a good practice in case you say too much. Any discussions would be "on the record", as in a plea deal. But I might be completely wrong, which would make every courtroom TV show also very wrong. The only law school I went to is the TV law

Back to Callie, if she wanted to make her case, she should have said that they didn't disclose the video and they would take it up with the judge, who would dismiss it. The way they made her angry at Jamie as if he deceived her personally was just silly

[KaveDweller]

23 minutes ago, circumvent said:

If I remember well., he was told he had to do the training

My knowledge of law procedures are very rudimentary but the sides have to disclose any evidence they find to the other side. It does't mean they always do, the courts are full of cases of prosecution malpractice - and probably defense malpractice too. The prosecution is wrong in this case, they knew about the video and didn't disclose it. The "she opened the door" would not make any sense in any court. As for discussing the case, I don't think it is forbidden, it is just not a good practice in case you say too much. Any discussions would be "on the record", as in a plea deal. But I might be completely wrong, which would make every courtroom TV show also very wrong. The only law school I went to is the TV law

Back to Callie, if she wanted to make her case, she should have said that they didn't disclose the video and they would take it up with the judge, who would dismiss it. The way they made her angry at Jamie as if he deceived her personally was just silly

I actually don't think the prosecution knew about the video. It is super helpful to their case, if they knew about it they would have introduced it from the beginning. It would make no sense for them to hide it and hope that it comes up. It seems pretty stupid on everyone's part that no one asked the kids at the party about filming the fight.

I think they are showing Callie continually be upset with him because they want us to think she's still in love with him.

Malika should not have offered to help Devonte, let alone stay up all night and ignore her own grant. I guess she thought she'd be able to handle it better?

I don't get Mariana. Of course she is bored answering phones, she is way overqualified to be a receptionist. She had an offer to work at another tech company a few weeks ago, she could have taken that, or applied for others. She doesn't have to lower herself to work for her former partners whose idea doesn't even make sense.

I really hope the diverse comedy troupe storyline doesn't end with the showcase just being cancelled. How pointless.

[possibilities]

Canceling the showcase would be stupid, but stupid things happen, so who knows.

The comedians should take their story to the press, if that happens, and get the show produced anyway, which the publicity would probably make possible. 

 

[circumvent]

10 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I actually don't think the prosecution knew about the video. It is super helpful to their case, if they knew about it they would have introduced it from the beginning. It would make no sense for them to hide it and hope that it comes up. It seems pretty stupid on everyone's part that no one asked the kids at the party about filming the fight.

It was implied that they knew, at least the lead prosecutor did. The only reason why the kid was there was because of the video, since he wasn't friends with the others. The fact that Jamie was surprised, and the look of satisfaction on the prosecutor's face, his comments about how the defense didn't know what was coming, all show that he knew. Which is another blunder. Your co-chair needs to know what you have but he kept Jamie in the dark

[JustHereForFood]

21 hours ago, circumvent said:

If I remember well., he was told he had to do the training

Yes, I meant why he wanted to work with the group in the first place. 

21 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I really hope the diverse comedy troupe storyline doesn't end with the showcase just being cancelled. How pointless.

I think they will keep it, but Alice will probably be kicked out. Which makes for a parallel with Marianna, after her colleagues found out about her dating Evan.

[KaveDweller]

3 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

Yes, I meant why he wanted to work with the group in the first place. 

I think they will keep it, but Alice will probably be kicked out. Which makes for a parallel with Marianna, after her colleagues found out about her dating Evan.

Well I don't care about anyone in that troupe except Alice. The only other name I even know is Lindsay, and I really dislike Lindsay. So that would suck and be pointless too. Let something good happen to Alice for more than one episode.

14 hours ago, circumvent said:

It was implied that they knew, at least the lead prosecutor did. The only reason why the kid was there was because of the video, since he wasn't friends with the others. The fact that Jamie was surprised, and the look of satisfaction on the prosecutor's face, his comments about how the defense didn't know what was coming, all show that he knew. Which is another blunder. Your co-chair needs to know what you have but he kept Jamie in the dark

I thought the prosecutor was just being obnoxious about thinking the kid made a good witness. It made sense to call someone who wasn't friends with the others, because the other could be looked at as making excuses for the defendant. If he really knew and planned for the video to come out that way he is dumber than I thought, and a bad lawyer.

I don't think Callie's client did it though. But I don't think it was an accident, I think it was that girlfriend Marianna was suspicious of. 

[circumvent]

10 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

It made sense to call someone who wasn't friends with the others, because the other could be looked at as making excuses for the defendant.

It makes sense only on TV shows but even if this is the case, prosecutors do interview witnesses because he could have said something damaging to either side. But this whole courtroom story is already a mess, the writers are just throwing this there for reasons I cannot really understand, so anything goes. The smirk of the prosecutor's face, and Jamie's little outrage seems to indicate that he knew. I predict that Jamie will end up confirming that, and invalidating the witness, maybe losing his job again because he wants to look good in Callie's eyes. Rinse, repeat

[KaveDweller]

14 hours ago, circumvent said:

It makes sense only on TV shows but even if this is the case, prosecutors do interview witnesses because he could have said something damaging to either side. But this whole courtroom story is already a mess, the writers are just throwing this there for reasons I cannot really understand, so anything goes. The smirk of the prosecutor's face, and Jamie's little outrage seems to indicate that he knew. I predict that Jamie will end up confirming that, and invalidating the witness, maybe losing his job again because he wants to look good in Callie's eyes. Rinse, repeat

You may be right....I guess they need some way to mess up the prosecutor's case and have Callie somehow be a hero for revealing what Jamie told her. 

[Brian Cronin]

On 8/19/2021 at 5:45 PM, JustHereForFood said:

I have never been in a sensitivity training, or know anyone who did, so I can't speak to their effectiveness, but I would have expected that a program that was specifically made as a diversity group would have something like that at the beginning for anyone involved, especially the mentor, not just after someone complained. But I never even understood why he wanted that job, since he didn't seem interested in doing it in any productive way. Maybe he thought it would look good on his resume? 

The whole plot is pretty much a "ripped from the headlines" story about an actual diversity spotlight led by a guy very much like this dude. They seem to do it for the prestige (and, just like this show, he works on the show with a network VP, so it presumably keeps him connected to the networks). In the real life version of this story, the Ruby character was also pretty offensive (and yet, one of the showcase members over the years was the great Kate McKinnon who specifically credited the VP in an Emmy speech, so I guess mileage might vary depending on much success you get out of the showcase). The real life incident even had a deal where they were told about the guy, "disciplined" him but he still continued as the head until even more criticisms came out. 

[yourmomiseasy]

On 8/20/2021 at 1:15 PM, JustHereForFood said:

Yes, I meant why he wanted to work with the group in the first place. 

 

It may be a type of gaslighting or he's just narcissistic enough to believe that he's not a problem.  The biggest sexual harasser I've ever dealt with is now making the speaking rounds as an expert in lifting up women in tech.  He's got a woman doing the speaking tour with him, likely for the prestige that being a speaker at these big events gives -- there's literally no way she doesn't know how bad he is, it's openly talked about.  

[possibilities]

He may also enjoy having power over people, and running this program gives him that.

[tennisgurl]

It might just be me, but none of these sketches in Alice's comedy workshop have really wowed me, for as funny as all of these people are supposed to be. The ones that the comedians came up with, like Alice's unicorn sketch, are certainly less cringy and offensive than the terrible ones they were doing before, but they don't strike me as that funny either, so much that I didn't fully even get the point when they removed all references to their culture in the edited sketches for a second. None of these sketches are funny, so who cares? I guess I'm not the target audience? Even in their off time none of the comedians seem all that funny or witty, except for Alice.