S01E06: So Help Me Pod

[The Crazed Spruce]

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Margaret and Francey enlist the help of a popular true crime podcaster to help exonerate a client who is serving a life sentence; Todd solicits dating advice from his sister and Susan when sparks fly between him and Lea.

[AnimeMania]

Thomas Cadrot (Chet)
Vella Lovell (Lea Luna)
Milagros Vidal (Antonia)
Ava Colorado (Kacey Suarez)
Darren Dolynski (Devin Deleon)
Darla Fay (Olga Szabo)
Bronwen Smith (Evelyn Wilder)
Alistair Abell (Det. Phil Ekert)
Brent Stait (Det. Trip Walsh)
Edem Nyamadi (Officer Lupo)
Lee Shan Gibson (Doorman Steven)
Ramona Kim (Judge)
Laura Mac (Officer Kendrick)
Jasmin Dring (Agnes)

The show was light and breezy considering the subject matter. I can't believe that Raya Chen would have enough novels "hand-written" to keep that author successful for 13 years. It is hard to believe that translating something from Chinese into English would give everybody the exact same translation. I can't understand why the police wouldn't look at the evidence if they could easily identify a murder, rather than put an innocent person in prison, I don't see how that could save time.

[iMonrey]

Hey, it's a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Reunion with Vella Lovell  and Skylar Astin! Maybe some day they can get Rachel Bloom on the show. Cute episode, although I wasn't sure where Todd stood with Lea by the end of the episode, she didn't seem to want to respond to his request for an actual date and it never came up again. 

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 I can't believe that Raya Chen would have enough novels "hand-written" to keep that author successful for 13 years.

I can't either. The only thing I could think of was that the author was unfairly criticized for her early works under her own name until she plagiarized Chen's work under a pen name. And then everything she wrote afterwards was well received because of a bias towards her work rather than against it.

This is a cute show and an easy watch, but that final scene at the book reading was a little too Scooby-Doo with everyone standing up and calling out the author's crimes. And I wasn't sure who that was at the door that stopped her from leaving. It wasn't a cop and without the fingerprints they didn't have enough evidence to arrest her at that point.

Edited November 4, 2022 by iMonrey

[HurricaneVal]

This show is actually starting to catch on with me.  Marcia Gay Harden owns every scene she's in, and I think she's having a blast.  As others have said, it is very reminiscent of Psych--even to the kind of goofy background music whenever Todd is doing his detective stuff.

[Daff]

6 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

This show is actually starting to catch on with me.  Marcia Gay Harden owns every scene she's in, and I think she's having a blast.  As others have said, it is very reminiscent of Psych--even to the kind of goofy background music whenever Todd is doing his detective stuff.

I keep watching because of your (and others’) references to Psych, which I did like. My main problem is that the intro and lead up to the weekly plot is just not that humorous or engaging. All the episodes seem to have strong endings, but it’s still tedious getting to them. 

[Daff]

18 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I can't understand why the police wouldn't look at the evidence if they could easily identify a murder, rather than put an innocent person in prison, I don't see how that could save time.

At the time of the conviction, as the former detective in the wheelchair explained, the chief just wanted easy, quick solutions that were seamless prosecutions, as did the ADAs. They had a (dubious) suspect, and apparently they thought it would be closed more quickly if the weapon was never found (as they would need to investigate further, perhaps to no fruition). Completely corrupt, immoral, prejudicial, etc. The detective wasn’t willing to sacrifice his family and career at the time, but he also wasn’t willing to destroy evidence. He did admit he should have come forward “sooner”. I agree, he should have. 

[The Crazed Spruce]

Friendly reminder that anything that happens in later episodes is considered a spoiler, and should be treated as such in earlier episode threads

[RedbirdNelly]

this was my favorite episode so far. This show has to be watched lightly with not a lot of focus on reality--but if you are willing to do that, it's a fun, light show and I felt they were hitting their stride more in this episode. I hope the new possible love interest for Todd returns--he has a lot more chemistry with her than the engaged exgirlfriend. 

My favorite moment was when the geeky investigator (sorry I can't remember names) tells the person translating the Chinese to feel free to read out loud. 

[incandescent]

I know that the ex who is now engaged has been very clearly set up as the love interest but I dearly hope they do not do it. Her discussion with Todd about what he should not do on a first date shows that they just aren't very well-matched, since her advice went against what other people who know him better suggested and would have him hide parts of his personality that a more compatible woman (like the podcaster) would find engaging.