S01.E04: Mother's Little Burden

[Cranberry]

Hayes' recent transgressions spark a media firestorm. Meanwhile, she and the team tackle the highly sensitive case of a mother, Penny, convicted for the death of her autistic son. The state's most compelling evidence originated from Penny's own video blog, expressing her frustrations and fears about her violent son. While the CIU team tracks multiple leads, Hayes must do damage control in an attempt to save her job, which results in a primetime interview. The outcome of both the interview and the case have shocking endings with lasting repercussions.

[paigow]

Is Hayes getting another Elizabeth Vargas ambush???

[Tiger]

Geez, even the male guest stars on this show suck ass.  Hayes' brother is a whiney bitch baby, and Iceman, Rachel's boyfriend, and the judge are snippy little bitches.

Welp, Hayley was amazing and her hair is venturing on being ' bringing peace to the middle east' good.  

[Free]

16 minutes ago, Tiger said:

Geez, even the male guest stars on this show suck ass.  Hayes' brother is a whiney bitch baby, and Iceman, Rachel's boyfriend, and the judge are snippy little bitches.

Welp, Hayley was amazing and her hair is venturing on being ' bringing peace to the middle east' good.  

They're all very annoying, I can understand some push back, but they're too ott.

[vibeology]

I saw the ending coming the minute they mentioned the younger sister but Teri Polo was a great guest actor and carried that predictable plot. Tim Guniee is no slouch either and the fantasy scene where he killed his son was devastating. 

Im going to have to learn Beth's name because she worked for me this episode. Hayes was still great and Maxine had some wonderful moments. I also enjoyed Frankie geeking out about the forensic expert. 

Tonight was the first time I put together that Hayes' parents named their kids after presidents. 

[CheshireCat]

Yeah, the ending was predictable, both that the sister did it and that the mother would protect her but I'm actually liking the show more with each episode. The cast seems to find a rhythm and I think the cases are working better and better, too.

I didn't get why Jackson was sulking though. If Hayes' interview was such a success then he doesn't really have to be mad at her, does he?

The one thing that I'm not buying is that no one that Hayes has interviewed in connection with the crimes has said anything to her about who she is. I think that especially after the video was leaked and she was all over the news people wouldn't have just sat there and let her interview them and let her accuse them of a crime like she was just another cop.  And even without the video I think that there are those folks who'd probably rant about her mother and why they'd never vote for her or gush about her mother or something. It just doesn't seem credible that no one's recognizing her/saying a single word.   

[RachelKM]

11 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

I didn't get why Jackson was sulking though. If Hayes' interview was such a success then he doesn't really have to be mad at her, does he?

The one thing that I'm not buying is that no one that Hayes has interviewed in connection with the crimes has said anything to her about who she is. I think that especially after the video was leaked and she was all over the news people wouldn't have just sat there and let her interview them and let her accuse them of a crime like she was just another cop.  And even without the video I think that there are those folks who'd probably rant about her mother and why they'd never vote for her or gush about her mother or something. It just doesn't seem credible that no one's recognizing her/saying a single word.   

I think the issue for Jackson would be that 1) she couldn't go one fucking day in which she just played by the rules and followed the script and 2) her #HayesKeepingItReal moment came possibly at the expense of their mother in that she played it as "yeah, mommy got me out and that is unfair and now I'm using the advantages my parents unfairly grant me to help others."  It makes Hayes look good; but not their mom, for whom Jackson is still working a campaign.  She's is still the woman who possibly bought/bribed/used improper influence to get her daughter a get out of jail free (literally) card and a cushy job to boot. But I agree that it wasn't well explained. 

As to you next point, I agree.  It's a little more than improbable that a former first daughter with a long string of her own scandals up to and including a drug bust and whose mother is presently running for public office would not run into people who reacted to her fame/notoriety in general, let alone while sitting in their homes accusing them of crimes.

Edited October 25, 2016 by RachelKM

[DeathQuaker]

The show is actually getting pretty good, EXCEPT for the DA. Hayley Atwell can have chemistry with a coffee cup, but yet somehow there is NOTHING but frigid air in the room between Hayes and Wallace in their scenes and the idea they have sexual tension between each requires far too much of my suspension of disbelief. I will accept a lady with a rift to an unknown dimension in her face who has people&rat dissolution powers as far more realistic (and good story-making) than the idea these two people have or ever had a "thing" going on. And her sympathy toward him at the end made absolutely NO sense. He's a weasel, he's been nothing but awful to her, she KNOWS he has been using and manipulating her for his own gains and has resented it, and he is getting exactly what he deserves for, you know, actually doing something wrong that he got caught doing.

Which, come to think of it, is the whole point of "conviction integrity": making sure you punish the right person responsible for the wrongdoing.  

(Of course the results of the case of the week muddies that, but it was an interesting outcome---in a way the mother still assumes responsibility for having neglected her daughter (for understandable reasons) in the first place. I would have liked to have seen the daughter herself developed better and see her deal with the consequences more though--as soon as they mentioned the autistic kid had a sister I knew she did it, and it took them way too long to bring her in.)

If they got rid of the DA and focused on Hayes, the team (which get more interesting when they're given time for development), and maybe some of the rest of Hayes' life outside the office (but beyond the DA). I know the blonde girl is hit or miss with viewers, but I liked her a lot in this episode, and I like that she and Hayes are opening up to each other. I love the ex-con and Maxine. I don't even mind the sleazy lawyer dude--he's not my favorite by far, but he's at least an interesting rogue element and fulfills the crooked lawyer role with more story and nuance than the empty suit cliche DA does or ever will. I'd love to get rid of the DA and have the antagonistic tension in the story be about Hayes and Iceman vying for the leadership of the unit.

I really loved the brother UNTIL this episode. I can't stand anyone IRL who refuses to respect someone else's boundaries when it comes to offering help: he wanted to help her, great. She said no. He should have backed off right there. He pushed his "help" on her anyway. She relented to keep the peace. (And relenting to keep the peace never works for long, and it's on her for not knowing better.) He's clearly just as desirous as their mom to shape and mold Hayes into what he and the Morrison family can use her for than respecting who and what she is. I see someone mention above he's helping mom with the campaign--so I guess it's clear where his loyalties really are and that he doesn't care about Hayes really at all.  Good riddance. He can find someone else to be his doll to play dressup with.

I want Hayes to get a friend, a real friend who is respectful but also calls her on her BS and indeed helps her #keepitreal. I hope some folks on the team become that in time. Of course we don't know how many episodes we'll have on that, but hopefully we'll see the good stuff--Hayes herself, the team, the cases--develop well enough before the show ends.

If the show weren't a legal procedural but a broader drama, I'd like to see her build on her sudden unexpected fame and run for Senator against her mother.

[Sakura12]

Hayes was sounding real fake when she going by that script. That's why the public liked her when she started talking like a person. Then they connected with her. I'm starting to understand why she rebels so much, it seems like for most of her life she was being dressed up like a doll and told what to do and say to make others look better. She never got to be who she is. The point of this show does seem to be Hayes figuring out who she is and what she wants without the influences of her parents and brother. 

The DA is so boring, am I supposed to feel bad that he go caught doing something shady for his own gain? Hayes flat out told him, he was doing this for his career more than helping her. He didn't have to do what he did, that's on him, not her. 

I did like that Maxine said she's starting to like Hayes. I loved in the pilot when they went to see that cop together. I hope they can become friends. Another favorite scene of this episode was when Maxine came in and Hayes said Jackson should talk to Maxine because he's always saying he needs more black friends. 

I'm one of the few that didn't mine Beth on TWD, she wasn't my favorite but I didn't hate her as much as most. She is getting better on this show though.  I should learn the rest of the teams names, right now they are Beth, Iceman, Forensic guy, and DA. Or maybe not since it looks like this show won't last. 

[lovelynn]

I really dislike the DA and don't feel for him at all. Tess and Frankie work really well together, I like this friendly coworkers getting stuff done. Maxine is great but I'm going to be disappointed if she gets stuck partnered up with Sam the dud (assuming the show doesn't get cancelled). Hayes having conflict with her brother and her parents doesn't surprise me and it also doesn't interest me. I enjoyed her acknowledging her privilege and choosing to use it for good. 

[zxy556575]

Tell me again why this isn't the Innocence Project? Yeesh. Seems like they deliberately pick cases where there may have been a miscarriage of justice for the accused. Wouldn't an actual conviction integrity team review cases at random, or perhaps those handled by specific police/judges/lab techs who are under suspicion?

Did her dad evict Hayes from the apartment? If we were told it wasn't hers, I've forgotten. Her brother is pissed at her so I doubt she'll end up there. I'm alone in my wish that she'd stay with Conner because I like their push/pull relationship. He's currently mad at her, too, but I don't mind them trading barbs.

I just hope Atwell inhabits the character more as we go along. She's currently skimming the surface of Hayes for me, making faces and reciting lines without a deeply felt portrayal. There's no .... conviction there.

[sjohnson]

Most of the time the Hayes character is just talking trash. It's at best mildly amusing, but it doesn't make a bad girl, or a bad ass, or much of anything except mouthy. My feeling of course, but when she throws her mother and her boy friend under the bus, which is what she did in that interview for no reason other than she didn't feel like controlling herself, that's the only time she's ever seemed like someone with a real problem of any sort. The symbolism of snapping her mother's pearls because they were "choking her" *not* underlines that I think. Personally I'm not so sure that people are going to fall over themselves just because she trashes her own mother. But she finally does something shitty so the script has to turn it around into a triumph she is unjustly punished for (by Jackson.) On one level the writers know exactly what she's done but they've also undone it so far as dramatizing it. 

Also, the mother already knew, which is why the toxicology report was suppressed at trial. They played it as if she didn't, but that's nonsense. 

In terms of conviction, a false cause of death means the conviction lacks integrity, which should merit a retrial. The thing is, the plot depends on the mother releasing the report when she had no intention in the end of using its results. And chances are good the father knew all along as well, which puts quite a different light on his relationship with his daughter, his wife and his mistress, and why the daughter really feels compelled to stay at home. 

[Bobcatkitten]

I have really liked this show and some of the cases are quite intriguing. But that was a big fail at the end of this one. Of course the mother knows the real cause of death. There is no way a defense attorney could hide it. And her appellate lawyer would have found it too. So she would have known it was not an accident regardless if that's the trial strategy chosen. Easily avoided by simply having the forensics guy be good at his job and stumbling on the glucose number.

Also, Hayes just went on tv talking about the case. What is she going to say now? Does she lie and say the conviction was solid? Somehow I'm doubting she's putting it all out there and naming the daughter as the killer. 

I don't mind the D.A. actually. And I thought they had chemistry a few times. 

I'm ready for a case where the team is convinced of innocence but the person is truly guilty.

[CheshireCat]

10 hours ago, RachelKM said:

I think the issue for Jackson would be that 1) she couldn't go one fucking day in which she just played by the day rules and followed the script and 2) her #HayesKeepingItReal moment came possibly at the expense of their mother in that she played it as "yeah, mommy got me out and that is unfair and now I'm using the advantages my parents unfairly grant me to help others."  It makes Hayes look good; but not their mom, for whom Jackson is still working a campaign.  She's is still the woman who possibly bought/bribed/used improper influence to get her daughter a get out of jail free (literally) card and a cushy job to boot. But I agree that it wasn't well explained. 

 

I guess, that's the part they should have explained better because I thought that once Hayes went off-script, she connected witht the people because she recognizes what she has been given, she showed that she is aware of the unfairness in life and wants to make it at least a little bit more fair and I assumed that a "real" person would reflect well on her mom. I certainly would prefer the answer that Hayes gave which sounded real and honest to a scripted answer that's just more excuses and I would certainly respect someone like Hayes more if they showed me that they know they are privileged and are aware of the advantage they have in life. But maybe the show will address the issue in one of the next episodes? After all, there will surely be more campaign events, so she will have to run into her brother at one point, right?

Interesting thing I just noticed - while she seems to be earning more respect in her team, she seems to be destroying all of her personal relationships and her actions are reflecting on the people around her/she cares about. While Wallace's actions of getting her out weren't entirely unselfish, he did reveal that he still cares about her in episode 3, and I'm sure he was aware of what would happen if his bailing her out ever got out, so he did stick his neck out for her. And now, she came out on top because of who she is while he's the one in trouble.

Then there's her brother.

It'll be interesting to see how that'll affect her and what she'll do with it. I think it's easy to understand why she acts the way she does but I really want to see her grow and realize what her behavior is doing to the people she cares about. I certainly like how they've set up the relationships between the characters, especially the ones who already have a history. Love it when there's a history to be explored.

[romantic idiot]

5 hours ago, lordonia said:

Her brother is pissed at her so I doubt she'll end up there. I'm alone in my wish that she'd stay with Conner because I like their push/pull relationship. He's currently mad at her, too, but I don't mind them trading barbs.

Yeah, I didn't like them at first but they are gradually growing on me. And I like the topics they are bringing up. While the killer was predictable, it was still an interesting spotlight on how women are judged. I also appreciated the subtlety that in this episode of mothers covering their children's sins and on the burdens of a having difficult child, Hayes's mother was notable for her absence.

ETA: I also just realised that the daughter killed her brother at the same time that Hayes 'stabbed her brother in the back' / broke their sibling bond. Is that too on the nose?

Edited October 25, 2016 by romantic idiot

[Netfoot]

7 hours ago, DeathQuaker said:

Hayley Atwell can have chemistry with a coffee cup, but yet somehow there is NOTHING but frigid air in the room between Hayes and Wallace in their scenes and the idea they have sexual tension between each requires far too much of my suspension of disbelief.

Agreed.  HA is trying hard, but Wallissss has all the personality of a paving stone!

[RachelKM]

On 10/25/2016 at 0:43 PM, CheshireCat said:

I guess, that's the part they should have explained better because I thought that once Hayes went off-script, she connected witht the people because she recognizes what she has been given, she showed that she is aware of the unfairness in life and wants to make it at least a little bit more fair and I assumed that a "real" person would reflect well on her mom. I certainly would prefer the answer that Hayes gave which sounded real and honest to a scripted answer that's just more excuses and I would certainly respect someone like Hayes more if they showed me that they know they are privileged and are aware of the advantage they have in life. But maybe the show will address the issue in one of the next episodes? After all, there will surely be more campaign events, so she will have to run into her brother at one point, right?

Even if Hayes had come out in the first place with her honesty and direct acknowledgement of her privilege, i don't think this was likely to have reflected well on her mother, at least not with the way she said it.  The message was still mommy got me out and now I'm using it for good.  There was nothing about what Hayes said that in any way indicated that her mother shared this value. And the context lent little reason to think it was to her mother's credit that she had that attitude about privilege.  Mommy used her privilege to bury a story during a campaign; Hayes used hers to quietly do good.  That coupled with Hayes's rebellious history would make it unlikely that anyone would naturally assume this was a reflection Harper's values.  

In this instance, there was basically no way it would reflect well on Harper.  It was clear from the the scripted portion of the interview that Hayes was initially towing a party line and following traditional campaign rules.  She demonstrably snapped (to the point of braking her pearl necklace) and could not continue with the charade.  Anyone watching that would infer that Hayes's sudden real moment, the moment during which she connected with them, was a break from her mother's campaign's plan.  Thus, any benefit from it would likely attach to Hayes alone.

Edited October 27, 2016 by RachelKM

[partofme]

I really hate the main character which is making it hard to get into this show.

[thuganomics85]

It's been a while since I've seen Teri Polo in anything, so it took a while to place her.  She did a good job, and Tim Guinee made the most of his screentime, as always.  But I totally pegged the daughter and that the mom would cover for her in the end.  Really, unless this was Hayes' plan the entire time (and judging from her reaction, I would say no), I don't understand why she revealed this to both of them at the same time.  Was she still considered a minor?  Because the daughter was clearly confessing to it, so unless Hayes wanted to give her out, that approach was clearly flawed. I do think it is getting to the point where they need to have the convicted criminal actually be guilty, because it is getting to the "Oh, of course!  Everyone is innocent!" phase, even if some of them are bad for other reasons (the bigot from last week.)

While I understand covering all your bases and questioning everything, I couldn't understand why Sam seemed to surprised over the idea that the mother had said she felt like killing her son at one point.  I've never been a point, but just by remembering my childhood alone, I would think every parent has thought and even said that at one point.  Again, I'll all for them still being suspicious of the mother, but he was acting like he literally saw her kill her son on screen.  Chill, Iceman!

On one hand, I get that Hayes "keeping it real" in the interview did only really benefit her, at the expense of both her mom and Conner, so I can understand everyone being pissed.  At the same time, I felt like her brother's coach speeches made her sound phony and fake, so I think it probably would have backfired on her, as she stuck to the script.  They really needed to find some way to have a mixture of both of those types of speeches, for it to work.  Still, it made sense that Hayes went the way she did, because while I do think she cares for her brother and family, she doesn't strike me as someone who can fall in line.

None of the team is still gripping me, but the women characters are faring much better (despite not finding Emily Kinney to be that great of an actress) then the men.  Frankie seems to only be there to spout forensic stuff, and Iceman... er, Sam, is just becoming annoying now.  I won't even get started on Conner.

Still mainly here simply because Hayley Atwell is awesome, and is even making this material better then it has any right to be.

[Margherita Erdman]

The blouse with the flying geese was gorgeous, Joan Watson perfection. That's all I  could like about this episode.

Everything else made me sick to my stomach. Overwhelmed parents killing their special needs kids, that really happens, and more than once an adult child with aggressive behaviors has harmed or killed a parent. These are issues that divide the special needs and disrrability rights communities in really painful ways and could have provided material for a good or even just decent case of the week.

Instead we get the (IMO) deeply offensive "Mother's Little Burden" — a weirdly disconnected Stepford mom unlike any autism mom I know online or IRL, who talks about her child as if he's an object right in front of him. That's not gallows humor (IMO) but a strange tone-deafness and willful ignorance by the writers. During the entire episode, each family member's perspective and pain was explored except that of Owen's himself. Everyone on the CIU team seemed shocked and horrified by the severity of his disability and relieved, honestly, by his absence in the present.

Coincidentally, and related because I think it reflects the same embedded, unexamined assumptions, just this past weekend at my book group (all of us are special needs moms, most of us with kids on the spectrum — book club is a time to get together as something other than "autism moms"), we got to talking about Of Mice and Men and why it's still required reading in schools. I love Steinbeck, but I think it's telling that here's a perpetual American classic with an inexorable tragic arc leading to death for the person with developmental disability. There's just no place for him in society. That's certainly the message I took from it when I read it in high school.

Back on topic: my son isn't aggressive, and he's highly verbal, but his manner is odd, and watching the actor playing Owen bounce on the yoga ball with his eyes averted, well, that could be my son, and seeing that story told in that way with the person with autism little more than a prop — it made my heart sink.

So sad even Hayley Atwell's shiny hair couldn't redeem it for me. 

[shapeshifter]

On October 28, 2016 at 0:00 AM, Margherita Erdman said:

The blouse with the flying geese was gorgeous, Joan Watson perfection. That's all I  could like about this episode....

....even Hayley Atwell's shiny hair couldn't redeem it for me. 

Me too! I only watch Elementary for Joan's wardrobe and Jonny's diction.

Atwell is a great onscreen cryer, but I shed no tears over this episode even though I did watching the MacGyver reboot last night.

*sigh* I just want the flying geese blouse.

[Cabarb]

I hope they don't go through the whole season without having any cases involving guilty folks.  Yes, of course there are wrongful convictions every single day, but it's not realistic that every case they choose to look at will feature an innocent person sitting in prison.   As much as I hate the DA, he can't be that terrible at prosecuting legitimate cases!

[sjohnson]

^^^They should be looking at cases for which the convicted have made serious objections to, not just reviewing random samples. So no, I don't think they should be finding many verdicts to uphold. Real life conviction integrity units do, which I'm afraid powerfully suggests they are about as serious at their job as internal affairs or community review boards.

[sinkwriter]

I far preferred Hayes' "keeping it real" speech because it was genuine, instead of that canned response bullshit she'd been trained to say. So I was glad that she broke free and spoke her mind with some honesty (even if it wasn't pretty).

However, I also feel for the brother, because I think this is far from the first or the tenth or even the twentieth time he's probably had to work with her or plead with her to stop making such impulsive, wretched decisions (like getting caught with cocaine), and her messes affect everyone in the family, not just her. So after all that work and time he spent with her only to see her publicly blow off everything they'd rehearsed and worked on (and after her telling him repeatedly how much she didn't give a shit about any of it and then showing that by speaking so off the cuff, damn the consequences), I think he was just done already. I do think they have a very interesting relationship and I'd like to see that rift explored further. At heart, I think they love each other very much, and understand each other well because they both grew up in such a stressful spotlight environment due to their parents' work. But they each have their own things to work on. For him, maybe it's to stop feeling like he has to fix things or make Hayes be something that he knows she'll never be. At some point, he has to say, I love you but I'm not fixing this for you.

Edited November 2, 2016 by sinkwriter

[Guest]

On ‎11‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 3:38 PM, sinkwriter said:

I far preferred Hayes' "keeping it real" speech because it was genuine, instead of that canned response bullshit she'd been trained to say. So I was glad that she broke free and spoke her mind with some honesty (even if it wasn't pretty).

However, I also feel for the brother, because I think this is far from the first or the tenth or even the twentieth time he's probably had to work with her or plead with her to stop making such impulsive, wretched decisions (like getting caught with cocaine), and her messes affect everyone in the family, not just her. So after all that work and time he spent with her only to see her publicly blow off everything they'd rehearsed and worked on (and after her telling him repeatedly how much she didn't give a shit about any of it and then showing that by speaking so off the cuff, damn the consequences), I think he was just done already. I do think they have a very interesting relationship and I'd like to see that rift explored further. At heart, I think they love each other very much, and understand each other well because they both grew up in such a stressful spotlight environment due to their parents' work. But they each have their own things to work on. For him, maybe it's to stop feeling like he has to fix things or make Hayes be something that he knows she'll never be. At some point, he has to say, I love you but I'm not fixing this for you.

I have a different and probably slightly less charitable take on the brother vis a vis his motivations on helping his sister.

It seems like they have switched places to a degree in adulthood compared to where they were in childhood. 

The brother wasn't put in the spotlight in childhood because of his appearance and sexuality wasn't desirable to his political parents.  But now he is his mother's campaign manager and towing the family line and getting the acceptance he always wanted.   I'm not sure that wanting to help Hayes is his primary goal.  I'm sure its one of them but not the main goal.  I think the main goal is getting the positive attention from his parents that he didn't get as a child and he does it by protecting them politically. 

 Hayes was the child that got trotted out to the media and is now rebelling.

The way they set up that interview is political scandal damage control 101 (the kind that never works and you always wonder why they are so dumb to bother).  Hayes does the mea culpa.  Had it gone to plan, I bet the Mother would have had a hand wringing follow up where she talked about the difficulty of having a child like Hayes and plead that any Mother would try to help save their child get out of trouble.

And there was a subtle and interesting line that indicates that this is the stereotypical political family ala The Goodwife.    The pearls they had Hayes wear were ones that her Mother wore when trying to cover up some rumored infidelity by her husband, the President.