S01.E07: The Witness

[aghst]

So Rusty manages not only to hide his violent acts and verbal outbursts in court, he saves Raymond’s life in front of the jury.

He has a chance for a mistrial but he decides to continue with the case and defend himself.  Is it because a mistrial could mean the prosecution files for a new case for the same charges and he was confident that he could win the case defending himself?  Everyone is telling him to accept the mistrial but Rusty wants to show how good a lawyer he is and he wants to beat Tommy.

Very cool and composed in Court, makes Carolyn’s son and ex look bad.

But he also gives prosecution the opening to put him on the stand.  Did he do it on purpose as Mya says?

Seems like a cocky guy and a lot of it seems to be the personal rivalry with Tommy and Nico.

Tommy has the video of Rusty beating up the guy on his porch.  How did that video not go public and viral long before it comes up in court?

He also says Rusty choked the Asian Medical Examiner, the guy with the mouth and the punchable face.

So the finger snapping apparently was huge for the prosecution, to show that Rusty could turn violent, despite him protesting many times that he didn’t kill Carolyn.

Then Tommy goes home to find his place broken into with a threatening message.

[AnimeMania]

Rusty is forced to pivot his legal strategy. Tommy receives a disturbing message.

Premiere Date: July 17, 2024

[Spartan Girl]

I was afraid something happened to the cat. Glad it was all right.

After all the shit he pulled in this episode, I’m going to be very disappointed if Rusty isn’t the killer. He deserves some kind of comeuppance for being an asshole. God that cross examination of Carolyn’s son crossed so many lines…she really was a terrible mother.

Tommy may be a creep, but I can’t lie: I was glad when that cross examination called out Rusty’s violent side. 

[EtheltoTillie]

I can’t believe this is being dragged out one more week.

Edited July 17 by EtheltoTillie

[Cheezwiz]

This had gotten very silly (no lawyer, no matter how cocky and narcissistic is going to defend themselves in court), and I'm actually rooting for Rusty to be the culprit at this point, because he's so unlikeable.

Does Ritalin make people impulsive and violent, the way steriods might? I'm wondering why that was included as a plot point.

Is there just one more episode left? I wish they would explore why he was so obsessed with Carolyn.

 

[MamaMax]

10 hours ago, Cheezwiz said:

This had gotten very silly (no lawyer, no matter how cocky and narcissistic is going to defend themselves in court), and I'm actually rooting for Rusty to be the culprit at this point, because he's so unlikeable.

Does Ritalin make people impulsive and violent, the way steriods might? I'm wondering why that was included as a plot point.

Is there just one more episode left? I wish they would explore why he was so obsessed with Carolyn.

 

At this point I feel like Rusty is just an asshole, but also an  adrenaline junkie. His home life was not exciting enough and they've gone to lengths to show how primal/hot/exciting  the sex was with C.  

Maybe he's just a narcissist. So was C. 

(shrug) 

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, MamaMax said:

Maybe he's just a narcissist. So was C. 

Ding ding ding!!!!

Carolyn also strikes me as the basic kind of woman that men like Tommy and Rusty tend to project their fantasies on.

[Madding crowd]

The casting doesn’t seem right on this. The woman who plays Carolyn is very plain looking and they haven’t shown enough of her personality for us to think she is some kind of femme fatale. Gyllenhaal doesn’t  look old enough to have almost grown kids ( I know he is 43 in real life) and I don’t see any chemistry between him and the actress who plays Barbara. I also think they are piling on too much with Rusty; it would be more interesting if it were more ambivalent.

[Dminches]

Do we think that the murderer brought the poker stick to Tommy’s house as opposed to the person thinking tommy did it? I think the former since anyone else expect Guardia would have gone to the police.

[topanga]

On 7/18/2024 at 2:16 AM, Cheezwiz said:

Does Ritalin make people impulsive and violent, the way steriods might? I'm wondering why that was included as a plot point.

No. It makes people either 1) alert and focused or 2) sluggish. 

I don't like anybody on this show, except Raymond and Nico of all people. They're the only ones who seem sane. 

[Bluesky]

On 7/18/2024 at 3:38 PM, Madding crowd said:

The casting doesn’t seem right on this. The woman who plays Carolyn is very plain looking and they haven’t shown enough of her personality for us to think she is some kind of femme fatale. Gyllenhaal doesn’t  look old enough to have almost grown kids ( I know he is 43 in real life) and I don’t see any chemistry between him and the actress who plays Barbara. I also think they are piling on too much with Rusty; it would be more interesting if it were more ambivalent.

Apparently Barbara got pregnant at 20 years old.  He looks plenty old enough to have teenagers. Rusty’s wife is even more plain looking and boring. 
 

I don’t get the story of Carolyn deserting her child. Why?that showed her as just being really cruel person. 

[KristenR]

On 7/25/2024 at 10:44 PM, Bluesky said:

I don’t get the story of Carolyn deserting her child. Why?that showed her as just being really cruel person. 

I guess it demonstrates how she and Rusty really were MFEO.

[love2lovebadtv]

On 7/18/2024 at 3:38 PM, Madding crowd said:

The casting doesn’t seem right on this. The woman who plays Carolyn is very plain looking and they haven’t shown enough of her personality for us to think she is some kind of femme fatale. Gyllenhaal doesn’t  look old enough to have almost grown kids ( I know he is 43 in real life) and I don’t see any chemistry between him and the actress who plays Barbara. I also think they are piling on too much with Rusty; it would be more interesting if it were more ambivalent.

I actually think the casting is good!

Gyllenhall looks like he's in his mid-40s and is believable as a dad of teenagers. 

I think the lack of chemistry with Barbara makes sense given the storyline. It's quite possible to decide to have a family with someone for whatever reason and then find yourself out of sync or lacking chemistry when your kids are teens. Maybe the chemistry was never there and now it's just more obvious.

Carolyn being plain (though that's subjective) makes sense to me. She's never referred to as gorgeous or even pretty. Carolyn had allure, intelligence, sexual prowess, and attitude. 

On 7/18/2024 at 2:16 AM, Cheezwiz said:

This had gotten very silly (no lawyer, no matter how cocky and narcissistic is going to defend themselves in court), and I'm actually rooting for Rusty to be the culprit at this point, because he's so unlikeable.

Does Ritalin make people impulsive and violent, the way steriods might? I'm wondering why that was included as a plot point.

Is there just one more episode left? I wish they would explore why he was so obsessed with Carolyn.

Ritalin affects people differently - Rusty said it made him sharp. That's why he was taking it. 

I thought the repeated sex scenes depicted how Rusty became obsessed. It may not be a big deal for some but not everyone can have intense sex without emotions, and Carolyn's detachment triggered something in Rusty. At least, that's what I got from it.