S03.E11: The Spellbound Juror

[AnimeMania]

TENSION - While serving on a jury, Nick (Tunji Kasim) realizes that one of his fellow jurors may be the next target of the Frozen Hearts Killer as Carson (Scott Wolf) goes to court against his new girlfriend, D.A. Jean Rosario (guest star Erica Sera). In the aftermath of recent romantic turns, the Drew Crew (Kennedy McMann, Leah Lewis, Maddison Jaizani, Tunji Kasim, Alex Saxon) deals with tensions of their own. Also starring Riley Smith. 

Original Airdate: 1/14/2022   (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET)   The CW 

[Cheetara1986]

Loved this episode, had everything I loved about the show:

- Drew Crew solving mysteries together

- Ryan and Nancy bonding

- Ryan not reading a room

- Carson being a parental figure to Nancys friends. Especially seeing him push George into pursuing Law.

Tunji really acted his ass off in that final speech alone. And bravo to the writers for not making that speech sound heavy handed.

I am pretty shocked the writers actually pulled the trigger on Ace revealing his feelings. I thought for sure they wait till the finale, but they pulled the trigger and honestly thr perfect time. Kudos to Alex and Kennedy in that final scene alone. You have Ace, who fully believes he is not good enough for Nancy. He sees how Park is basically perfect for Nancy, and hes just a run of the mill dishwasher who only knows 3 languages. He just says "fuck it. This could change our friendship for ever, but I need to let it out".

Then you have Nancy you basically went from her humor to straight "what the fuck", to tears in her eyes, back to shell shock. Girl's brain short circuit and was left speechless tp the point that Ryan was basicslly just background noise and just kept staring at the spot Ace was at. It truly dors set up perfectly to Nancy having to digest this all next week, to the seaaon finale where she fully either jumps in the deep end with Ace or stick to safe with Park.

[Lady Calypso]

I thought this episode was a lot better than the last few, possibly the best of the season, and that's because: a) The Drew Crew were back together, working a case; and b) Every single main character was utilized well. 

It sucked to see George and Nick on the outs, but Nick got to convince a jury to let a kid get off of theft, and George got her own solo mission. Nick's scene with the other jurors was well done. Maybe the speech was a little shoddily written, but the intent was there and Tunji did a great job. It reminds me of the material he got all throughout season 2, and that's always a plus.

Carson actually got something to do, as he's been mostly in the background this season, and he got scenes with George! I would love to see George pursue something law related. She'd be kickass in it. And also, if this is George's storyline and it's not going to be about a guy? I'm all for her finding herself through her career.

Ace tells Nancy how he feels! Nancy is stunned by the revelation! Ryan awkwardly interrupts with no concept of what just happened! Oh, Ryan has been such a highlight for this season.

Plus, we got back to the horror aspects of this show. The scene where Nancy is hiding was so well done.

Seriously great episode. I think I've learned that a good chunk of the reason for me not liking this season has been the separation of the Drew Crew...on top of Temperance, in general. I actually think she's been a weak villain and the first actress was not really selling the role (unsure of how the second actress has been doing). 

All in all, finally a strong episode for this mostly weaker season. The show is at its best when the Drew Crew is working together. I'm all for mixing up the pairings, but they still need to be working together in some capacity.

[thuganomics85]

Definitely a step up from some of the past few episodes.  Having the Drew Crew mainly focused on an actual case was certainly a plus, but it also helped that some of the sillier relationship drama was either pushed to the back or handled in a way that was stronger compared to the previous attempts.

Nick managing to convince the jury single-handily to switch their votes was a bit on the hokey side of things (to put it mildly), but I thought Tunji Kasim did great work with all of it (he's usually really good whenever the show has Nick deal with the "social issues" that happen on this show.)  That said, this episode certainly didn't help with some of my misgivings when it comes to juries, because I personally thought the whole case was pretty flimsy and filled with so many questionable holes and circumstantial evidence that more should have been questioning it instead of automatically wanting to vote guilty.  No wonder most just wanted to accept plea deals when your fate can be in the hands of folks similar to them!

Carson and Jean have their first test at being on opposite ends of the courtroom while being in a relationship.  That is definitely something that needed to be dealt with, but hopefully they'll be able to maintain separating their work from their personal life.

Knew the Copperhead's next victim was going to be one of the two jurors that Nick initially spoke with first, so once he initially zoned in on the social media gal (who was Maggie on Supernatural!), I figured it would be the guy instead.

Aww, Ryan has a legit job now!  He's growing up so fast!  Can't wait for him to explore the world and learn about all the fun concepts of the workplace like keeping track of your paystubs, water cooler talk, and more.  Adulting is fun!

Nancy hiding from the Copperhead was probably one of the more intense scenes in quite some time.

Glad that Ace did stew for much longer and finally told Nancy how he feels.  While an awkward situation to say the least, I think it was handled well in that Nancy herself already established that she still isn't sure what Park is to her yet, so it's best she knows now and can make that decision.  And Ace made it clear that he doesn't expect anything from her, but wants her to know so that this tension won't escalate more than it needs to.  Hopefully this is handled in a more mature matter than most shows.

Only issues I still have is the Nick/George stuff, because considering how miserable both are right now, it is obvious that this "break" is not benefiting either one of them.

Hope these last two episodes of the season finish up strongly as well.

[Shorty186]

After this episode I realized how confused I am by the whole Temperance/Copperhead plotline. I've just been hyperfocused on Nace, but now that actual progress has been made on that front, I don't know if I've just missed the explanations or if the writers haven't let us in on everything yet.

So the Copperhead is the FHK, right? And no one is controlling him, he's just a failsafe that was enacted when Temperance breached back into town? And he's collecting the 4 pieces of Charity's soul before Temperance can and apparently he does that by pulling the hearts out of the hosts. So he has 2 hearts and eventually Temperance is going to steal them from him/kill him? 

It doesn't seem like the Copperhead has a plan himself other than to get the souls and keep them from Temperance. I'm guessing Temperance would want to put Charity's soul into herself? Unless she plans to use someone else as a host. I would think it would be easier to manipulate Charity's soul if it was in her own body though and somehow it has the power to help her unleash something even more powerful/dark underneath the town. 

If that's all correct why the hell was Trott important? Did meeting the Copperhead just influence his MO for his own murders? Did we ever find out who killed the college kid and dropped him on Nancy's car? We know souls can be destroyed (rip Odette), so theoretically if Charity and Beckett wanted to make sure Temperance could never use her soul, shouldn't he have just destroyed it instead of splitting it? 

This season's overarching mystery seems to have way more plotholes than last season, which really tied up everything in a neat little bow. But hopefully the writers can pull it together. Ultimately though, as long as Nace happens this will be a 100% successful season for me 😊

[Simba122504]

I wasn't a fan of the court stuff, even though I understood the real reason behind the plot. Other than trying to identify a potential victim of the FHK/CH/BD. Any legal eagles? There's no way Nick, Jean and Carson can be on the same criminal case, right?  The chances of that happening were already slim to none. Ace finally admitted his feelings to Nancy! And she had the most amazing reactions ever!  She couldn't even react. It's officially canon, people. Ace and Nancy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. George and Carson team up. I can see George as a lawyer. Park is a Gary Stu. He wasn't in the episode, but he still is one. Bess and Ace have great friendship chemistry. The actors work well together. Ryan is such a sweet himbo. I know that jewelry is worth thousands. Nancy better either sell it or put it in a safe. @HorseshoeBae. 

Edited January 16, 2022 by Simba122504

[Lady Calypso]

2 hours ago, Shorty186 said:

It doesn't seem like the Copperhead has a plan himself other than to get the souls and keep them from Temperance. I'm guessing Temperance would want to put Charity's soul into herself? Unless she plans to use someone else as a host. I would think it would be easier to manipulate Charity's soul if it was in her own body though and somehow it has the power to help her unleash something even more powerful/dark underneath the town. 

I've been wondering for a while if maybe, Temperance is planning to put Charity's soul into Bess. Her mentoring Bess can't be just out of the goodness of her own heart (she doesn't have much good there) and can't just be her manipulating Bess because she needs a hand with magic. So my first thought is that she's preparing Bess for when Charity is brought back into her body.

[Shorty186]

2 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

So my first thought is that she's preparing Bess for when Charity is brought back into her body.

I think Temperance definitely needs Nancy and Bess somehow. Whether as a host for Charity or because she needs some Women in White power, I don't know. But it looked like the next ep's promo showed the knife that had all three's blood.

[quarks]

Agreed that this was a definite improvement over the last few episodes, though I still have some complaints. Most notably:

1. Look, I realize that this show (and all shows) are trying desperately to cut down on the number of day players/extras/guest stars right now because of Covid.  I also realize that the show wants to develop the relationship between Carson and the DA, which means giving them scenes together, and also wanted to deal as quickly as possible with the "but they're on opposite sides of the courtroom!" thing. Thus using both of the show's attorneys and putting a Drew Crew member on the jury.

With that said, there is no way that the judge - any judge - would have allowed a jury where a) one member admitted to knowing the defense attorney (and, as Nick pointed out at the start of the episode, a member with a criminal record), AND b) at least two other members knew the defendant. Especially a judge who later decided to sequester a jury on the mere basis that some people were gossiping about the DA and the defense attorney. Again, I totally get that the show genuinely needs to reduce the number of speaking parts, but Nick should not have been allowed on that jury.

2. On that note, what sort of judge is like, ok, fine, a few of you know the defendant and/or his legal team, but, OMG LET'S SEQUESTER THE JURY BECAUSE OF SOCIAL MEDIA STUFF! On a trial about a stolen laptop! I'm not saying that Nick and Bess's approach wasn't brilliant, because it was, but it only was because I have serious questions about this judge.

3. I have equally serious questions about the attorneys involved. Carson, although I know the answer to this is "to increase suspense," why are you having anyone investigate during the trial? You should be doing the investigations before the trial. Jean! Given how quickly your other witness came out of his coma, why on earth were you bothering with this laptop charge instead of waiting just a few more days to see if you had a chance on the assault charge - thus saving everyone time and money?

4. And (yes, there's more!) what sort of court/police force sequesters a jury and then doesn't notice when one of them just....leaves the hotel for a nice bonfire and some ghost chasing? I know, I know, they moved Nick to Murder Room so he could easily leave without getting detected but this was still sad.

5. Also, if memory serves, that's a relatively small hotel. And yet they had 12 rooms plus the Murder Room available for a last minute jury sequestration?

I am declaring a mistrial.

6. That said, great scene for Tunji Kasim. 

Moving on!

7. Add me to the list of people kinda confused with the Temperance storyline. Largely because, to be honest, I don't care much, and with just two more episodes left this season, I'm not sure I am going to care much. I cared more about the day player from the questionable family and the cook who could potentially lose his job if he testified at the trial, and the people who could potentially go hungry, than about Temperance....which just doesn't say much about this whole storyline, does it?

8. Finally, a George and Carson teamup - and Carson thinks that George can go to law school! I'm with Carson, George, although I should warn you that Carson apparently wants Nancy and Bess to also go to law school. Which....no reason why the three of you can't all try to go together.

9. Is it just me, or in combination with everything else on this show, is the sale of the Hudson estate going seriously quickly? 

10. Speaking of the Hudson estate, it's quite something that one of the things that wasn't sold or lost just happened to be a nice letter from Charity sorta explaining things - especially since Nancy barely had to do anything to find it. I'm kinda hoping that will turn out to be one of Temperance's manipulations, honestly. 

(And maybe those manipulations also explain the trial issues above.)

11.  Speaking of the Hudsons, Ryan, you really need to learn how to read a room.

12. Speaking of that....aww on Ace thinking that knowing three languages isn't enough, especially since he's a dishwasher, and aww on all of his various Jealous of Park moments. And kudos to the show making a point of saying that Nancy and Park haven't defined what they are yet, given that they barely got together just a couple of days ago, apparently? (The ball was to celebrate the solstice and this episode was the solstice.) And aww on the ongoing Bess/Ace friendship. And...no, not aww on this: I hope this teaches you to do something to ensure you won't be interrupted next time, Ace!

[akg]

On 1/15/2022 at 11:19 AM, Cheetara1986 said:

Carson being a parental figure to Nancy's friends

I will never not love this. I really hope the show follows up on this and we get many more George and Carson scenes. I also loved that George knew that Carson would understand why the alibi backed out and wouldn't push back so the trust and support went both ways.

21 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

the whole case was pretty flimsy and filled with so many questionable holes and circumstantial evidence that more should have been questioning it instead of automatically wanting to vote guilty

Definitely. I kept waiting for Carson (or anyone) to ask more questions (especially about the security guard's classism which turned out to irrelevant) but I guess they ran out of time.

12 hours ago, quarks said:

although I know the answer to this is "to increase suspense," why are you having anyone investigate during the trial? You should be doing the investigations before the trial.

To be fair to Carson, he did mention over breakfast that he had gotten this case last minute so hadn't had much time to prepare. Plus, he thought he had an alibi for his client all lined up. 

[quarks]

32 minutes ago, akg said:

To be fair to Carson, he did mention over breakfast that he had gotten this case last minute so hadn't had much time to prepare. Plus, he thought he had an alibi for his client all lined up. 

See, yet another reason to request an extension!

[tennisgurl]

After a string of episodes that didn't quite live up to this shows high standards we finally got a return to form this week. It had so much of what I love about this show all wrapped into one delightful hour. I think it really helped that the whole gang was being well used and got to interact a lot. It seems like this season has struggled because they keep breaking the team up and have been dragged down by the complicated Constance story, but this episode did a good job at getting everyone together whole also giving everyone time to shine. 

Like I said so many of the things I love about this show all together! 

Carson being parental with Nancy's friends! And George might become a lawyer!

Ryan and Nancy bonding and Ryan's inability to read a room! 

Nick getting to stand up for teens in need! 

The gang working together on a supernatural case! 

Creepiness! Nancy hiding from the creature and its long fingers was one of the most suspenseful sequences the show has had in awhile!  

Ace/Nancy goodness! I am shocked that Ace already told Nancy the truth about his feelings, but I am so glad that he did. Poor Nancy looked so in shock, Ryan about knocked her down coming in. I like that they already established that she and Park have something going but are keeping it casual, it has only been a few days I think, and that Ace just tossed it out there in a very "no pressure, just want you to know" kind of way. Poor Ace, he is so convinced that he isn't good enough for Nancy, he only speaks three languages. 

Edited January 18, 2022 by tennisgurl

[bettername2come]

I like the continuity of George finding the jury duty notice when Nick disappeared and speculating that was a something he was avoiding, then showing him with jury duty a few episodes later. Nick was super awkward looking for info at jury duty, but I was amused at the other juror being interested in his supposed pick-up lines. Nice use of the secret passageway in the hotel, especially Bess as Amanda informing the officer "you know this place is haunted, right?" presumably to prevent them from checking on mysterious noises they might hear. 

I love Ryan kindly interrupting Nancy/Ace moments 2 eps in a row. 

Aw, I like our new semi-possessed guy. Hope he doesn't die.