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Proven Innocent - General Discussion


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A new show premiering on Fox on February 15, 2019;

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Proven Innocent is an upcoming American legal drama television series created by David Elliot that is set to premiere on February 15, 2019 on Fox.

Proven Innocent is set in a "wrongful conviction firm. Led by a fierce and fearless female lawyer with a hunger for justice, the team reopens investigations, putting their own lives in danger to exonerate the innocent that were 'proven' guilty. Our lead's motivation comes from her infamous past; as a young adult she was found guilty and later exonerated in a high-profile case in which she became a tabloid sensation, household name and national celebrity. While a hero and a victim to some, her bold and bullish tactics garner her some enemies—one of whom will do anything to see her go down for a crime we know she did not commit. We will watch her defend others as she fights to maintain her own innocence."

The cast includes;

  • Rachelle Lefevre as Madeline Scott
  • Russell Hornsby as Ezekiel ‘Easy’ Boudreau
  • Nikki M. James as Violet Bell
  • Vincent Kartheiser as Bodie Quick
  • Riley Smith as Levi Scott
  • Kelsey Grammer as Gore Bellows
  • Clare O’Connor as Young Madeline Scott
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The fact that this group is 6 pages  in doesn’t bode well for the show.  Or maybe the fact that I am actually looking forward to it is the ultimate death knell.  I didn’t watch Empire but if the creators who made that made this it will at least mean this won’t be a true lawyer show.   

Plus I like the idea of a girl framed for murder becomes a lawyer ten years later. It reminds me of the underrated “Life”.   Staring Damien Lewis and Sarah Shahl.

Edited by Chaos Theory
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53 minutes ago, Lamima said:

Didn't make it to the first set of commercials. Show is that bad.

Really I thought it was really good.   This has potential to be a good thriller.  I like all the main characters and the storyline is a good one.   By not watching it past the first five minutes you missed something. 

I like that both Madeline and her brother have taken very different directions and that Madeline is still incrediby bitter about her ten years in prison.   I am definitely in.

Edited by Chaos Theory
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It was okay. Reminds me of that show Haylee Atwell was in where they were also trying to free the wrongfully convicted. 

I'm more interested in seeing what happened to her in prison then her just getting revenge on a corrupt prosecutor. 

The reporter only be interested on writing a story about her kind of sucks for her. No wonder she doesn't date. I'd also like to see her actually bonding with people she's trying to help. Let me see that she's helping for more than revenge reasons. 

It's only the first episode so I'll give it my usual 4 to 5 episodes. Although starting on Friday is never a good thing for a show. 

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I know it takes awhile for new shows to get their footing. I like the premise but was underwhelmed. Nice to see Vince K from Mad Men & K Grammer. Did the brother fall off the wagon?

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Oh well, too bad.  The show was okay; production values were good and the premise was interesting. Tuned in for Kelsey Grammer; bonus = Vincent K.  But unfortunately, I just could not stomach the female lead!  Too many badly delivered jokes and she's way too much of a showoff for my taste. Since she's kinda' in every single frame, it really ruins the show for me.

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I thought this was pretty bad.  I had a low bar going in.  All I was looking for was something mildly competent that I could have in the background while I transitioned into the weekend.  That would have been just fine.

But no, this was distractingly bad. I was never the biggest Pete fan on Mad Men but Vincent K deserves better than being the third string sidekick.  Kelsey Grammar is doing what Kelsey Grammar can do well but there's no there there.  Is the premise of this show going to be that almost all of his cases involve putting away the wrong people?

The lead actress was the worst, though.  The line delivery was not great and the jokes that made people laugh in the courtroom were not funny. 

Easy is probably the character who fares the best--or at least he did up until he was given the clunker of a line having to do with Kelsey's character choking down carbon monoxide while he was sitting outside.  Hardeharhar.  We get it show.  He's about to confront Bellowes on the missing toxicology report. 

Even dumber was the fact that everyone still believed the lead and her brother to be guilty to the point that he was complaining about being unable to find a good job--but then we learn he's coaching youth sports.  As if it'd be easier to get a job working with children with a cloud of murderous suspicion hanging over his head.

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I'm impressed by anyone who made it through the episode; I tapped out after 10 minutes or so.

It wasn't that it was cheesy or boring -- it actively pissed me off. I was probably meant to like and/or admire Madeline but the character was way too smug and off-putting. I didn't make it far enough to encounter Kelsey Grammer, which sounds like it may have been for the best.

Edited by palmaire
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8 minutes ago, palmaire said:

impressed by anyone who made it through the episode; I tapped out after 10 minutes or so.

You made it farther than me. I turned it off before the credits finished. 

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7 hours ago, GaT said:

Kelsey Grammar is way too mustache-twirley, they need to tone down the evil to a believable level.

Interestingly, episode 2 is already on OnDemand.

And the premiere episode wasn't on demand. From the second I got the ideal that every bad case is suppose to come from Chicago where Frazier was State's Attorney and the lead wants payback. Which weakens the firms motivations as wanting to do the right thing for society but rather get back at Frazier so he doesn't move up one level before retirement.

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Well apparently the main actress is one of those actresses people hate for whatever reason.  I like this show.  It has potential to be gripping but with the overwhelming hate for the main actress it is bound to fail.  Oh well.  Still I will watch until it does.

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It could be the actress is not that great, but I think it works here. She went to prison when she was 17/18 and got out when she was 27/28, she missed her formative social years. Prison has a whole different kind of social standards, so she's bound to be socially unaware and awkward. Her smugness could come from the never show weakness mentality she would've needed in prison.  I hope they do delve into her time in prison because 2 teenagers in prison, I've seen shows about prisons. They have to have suffered a lot of trauma. While her brother turned to drugs, she turned to revenge which is it's own addiction. As Confucius said "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves." 

Or maybe being from Chicago is enough for me to continue with this for a few more episodes. 

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4 hours ago, Sakura12 said:

It could be the actress is not that great, but I think it works here. She went to prison when she was 17/18 and got out when she was 27/28, she missed her formative social years. Prison has a whole different kind of social standards, so she's bound to be socially unaware and awkward. Her smugness could come from the never show weakness mentality she would've needed in prison.  I hope they do delve into her time in prison because 2 teenagers in prison, I've seen shows about prisons. They have to have suffered a lot of trauma. While her brother turned to drugs, she turned to revenge which is it's own addiction. As Confucius said "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves." 

Or maybe being from Chicago is enough for me to continue with this for a few more episodes. 

I've been a fan of Rachelle Lefevre since "Big Wolf on Campus," so I can't really evaluate her acting ability. The people at home looking down on her and Levi reminds me of Rectify.

The problem is that the A plots are going to be solved by "hard to find, but not too hard to find at the last minute" clues because no one wants to see realistic cases where the person probably did it, but the DNA sample was tainted and so they get a new trial / go free. I hope I heard correctly that the murder mystery will be over this season, because Rectify dragged it out for 4 years and it was completely stale by then.

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8 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Well apparently the main actress is one of those actresses people hate for whatever reason.  I like this show.  It has potential to be gripping but with the overwhelming hate for the main actress it is bound to fail.  Oh well.  Still I will watch until it does.

1 hour ago, preeya said:

How about "Under The Dome"

Well I feel the same way about Glee but hating every actor that came from that means I need hate The Assassination Of Gianni Versace

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13 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Well I feel the same way about Glee but hating every actor that came from that means I need hate The Assassination Of Gianni Versace

Not every actor, just her. She is as terrible here as she was in "under the dome" and definitely cannot handle a lead role.

Dialog:

"She's hiding something."

"Amen. -But she recognized me." (chuckles)

Give me a break.

Edited by preeya
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On ‎2‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 12:50 AM, Irlandesa said:

The lead actress was the worst, though.  The line delivery was not great and the jokes that made people laugh in the courtroom were not funny. 

I can't remember the last time I watched a show where I liked the lead actress. It may have been Hunter. If writers can't come up with better characters and lines for women,  I'd rather see the genre go back to the original Hawaii 5-O or Rockford Files.

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On ‎2‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 8:30 AM, Chaos Theory said:

   I like the idea of a girl framed for murder becomes a lawyer ten years later. 

I'd like an explanation as to how someone convicted of a felony was allowed to take the bar exam.

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29 minutes ago, eel2178 said:

I'd like an explanation as to how someone convicted of a felony was allowed to take the bar exam.

They gave the explanation.  Her conviction was overturned and she was able to go to law school.  She got her GED and College equivalncy while in prison.   The show takes place a good six or seven years after her conviction has been overturned and has started a law practice with the guy who got her out.     The show just doesn't say exactly how it happened.  It eludes to the fact that the DA guy can retry them if he gets new evidence which is an interesting concept.   This is just the pilot . I don't expect every answer in what amount to 45 minutes.   Add to that pilots are almost always a little iffy.  This did however have all the building blocks for a good show which is what I ask for in a pilot.   

Plus I don't think the main actress is as horrible as everyone else does.  Maybe not A list caliber but I would hardly give her an F either.  

Edited by Chaos Theory
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3 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

They gave the explanation.  Her conviction was overturned and she was able to go to law school.  She got her GED and College equivalncy while in prison.   The show takes place a good six or seven years after her conviction has been overturned and has started a law practice with the guy who got her out.     The show just doesn't say exactly how it happened.  It eludes to the fact that the DA guy can retry them if he gets new evidence which is an interesting concept.   This is just the pilot . I don't expect every answer in what amount to 45 minutes.   Add to that pilots are almost always a little iffy.  This did however have all the building blocks for a good show which is what I ask for in a pilot.   

Plus I don't think the main actress is as horrible as everyone else does.  Maybe not A list caliber but I would hardly give her an F either.  

I just googled this, and the results show that a felony conviction doesn't mean you can't take the bar exam, but you have to prove that you have good moral caliber. The fact that the conviction was overturned probably helped her do that. What I find interesting is that she managed to get into Yale law school upon release, while her brother can't get work? I guess he got into drugs, but still.

I thought the show was okay. I am much more interested in the friend's murder, why she and Levi were suspects, who really did it, and how she got out., than any new cases of the week. Especially if every case is going to be against Kelsey Grammar. But really, it seems like the friend died at a big party out in the woods. Why suspect the best friends unless there is way more to the story.

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54 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

I just googled this, and the results show that a felony conviction doesn't mean you can't take the bar exam, but you have to prove that you have good moral caliber. The fact that the conviction was overturned probably helped her do that. What I find interesting is that she managed to get into Yale law school upon release, while her brother can't get work? I guess he got into drugs, but still.

I thought the show was okay. I am much more interested in the friend's murder, why she and Levi were suspects, who really did it, and how she got out., than any new cases of the week. Especially if every case is going to be against Kelsey Grammar. But really, it seems like the friend died at a big party out in the woods. Why suspect the best friends unless there is way more to the story.

I think if a felony conviction is overturned, you are no longer a convicted felon.

There's a little more information in Episode 2, but my guess is that he police and the DA decided they were the likely suspects and everyone else went along with it.

Madeline was probably able to go to Yale because the school thought it would be good (publicity, diversity) to admit her and they are less hung up on the actual case. With Levi, he didn't leave town so he had an uphill battle with all the townies who figured he was guilty and got off on a technicality.

The stuff with the teenage murder and being let out of prison reminds me of Rectify. Of course, that show had better acting, writing and directing.

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8 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Plus I don't think the main actress is as horrible as everyone else does.  Maybe not A list caliber but I would hardly give her an F either.

Maybe the producer(s) or the director are in love with her (or her hair).   I'll give her acting a "C" but I give her hair an "A".  It is featured a lot.  A LOT!

That amount/thickness of hair takes a lot of care.  She shows up with nice waves most of the time...a little different.  Maybe haircare is all she does with her free time.

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Eh, it's not great, but the show bought a little goodwill from me by having VK show off with that sword. Time for an Angel rewatch. 

I wish this show was a limited series and was only about them solving her wrongful conviction, the corruption behind it, and the friend's murder. I can't see how they're going to stretch out the premise into numerous cases of the week all involving innocent people and having been prosecuted by KG.

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On 2/17/2019 at 2:59 PM, eel2178 said:

I can't remember the last time I watched a show where I liked the lead actress. It may have been Hunter. If writers can't come up with better characters and lines for women,  I'd rather see the genre go back to the original Hawaii 5-O or Rockford Files.

35 years ago?  I think there have been plenty of wonderful lead actresses/characters since then.  Just not in this show.

7 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

I don't think it is an actress issue.  I think it is a writing issue.  Too often actors and actresses get blamed for lousy scripts.

I think it's a bit of both.  The scripts are lousy.  Some actors can somehow make that work.  Others can't.  But if she had better writing, I'd probably like her better.

39 minutes ago, cynic said:

I wish this show was a limited series and was only about them solving her wrongful conviction, the corruption behind it, and the friend's murder. I can't see how they're going to stretch out the premise into numerous cases of the week all involving innocent people and having been prosecuted by KG.

I do think they're going to reach some sort of conclusion at the end of thirteen episodes. 

Spoiler

I doubt it'll be the whole picture but I believe they'll go as far as--letting us, the audience, know who killed the friend.

As for Kelsey, I believe I read somewhere that, so far, he has only signed on for one season.  I suppose he could change his mind but I imagine he'd rather look for his next lead vehicle.  Not that this show will get a second season but unless he changes his mind, I suspect the big bad will be someone new in Season 2.

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On 2/16/2019 at 2:50 AM, Irlandesa said:

I thought this was pretty bad.  I had a low bar going in.  All I was looking for was something mildly competent that I could have in the background while I transitioned into the weekend.  That would have been just fine.

But no, this was distractingly bad. I was never the biggest Pete fan on Mad Men but Vincent K deserves better than being the third string sidekick.  Kelsey Grammar is doing what Kelsey Grammar can do well but there's no there there.  Is the premise of this show going to be that almost all of his cases involve putting away the wrong people?

The lead actress was the worst, though.  The line delivery was not great and the jokes that made people laugh in the courtroom were not funny. 

Easy is probably the character who fares the best--or at least he did up until he was given the clunker of a line having to do with Kelsey's character choking down carbon monoxide while he was sitting outside.  Hardeharhar.  We get it show.  He's about to confront Bellowes on the missing toxicology report. 

Even dumber was the fact that everyone still believed the lead and her brother to be guilty to the point that he was complaining about being unable to find a good job--but then we learn he's coaching youth sports.  As if it'd be easier to get a job working with children with a cloud of murderous suspicion hanging over his head.

I almost gave up when she killed that guy in the beginning.  I get that he was threatening her and that she was hardened in prison, but if she had truly never taken a life before I just don't see her that callous about it.  I decided to keep going and I found it just ok.  I'll probably keep watching it, but having two overturned convictions in one episode is a bit much.  I wish it were a bit more like the Hayley Atwell show (which I liked... so) where they weren't just focusing on one city and one prosecutor.  

On 2/18/2019 at 5:23 PM, icemiser69 said:

Not a bad episode, but if Madeline is going to have blinders on and do nothing but bitch about Gore (Kelsey Grammer) episode after episode, this series is going to get old fast.

I don't think it is an actress issue.  I think it is a writing issue.  Too often actors and actresses get blamed for lousy scripts.

The best thing going for it is that it airs on Friday nights on Fox.  The ratings shouldn't have to be that great to keep it on the air.

I think the writing is pretty terrible.  Hopefully it gets better.  Shows are often clunky until both the writers and the actors get into the roles better.  I don't mind RL.  I liked her role in Mary Kills People.  She keeps popping up on things I'm watching.  She has fabulous hair that I'm super jealous of. 

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54 minutes ago, Whimsy said:

I almost gave up when she killed that guy in the beginning

I thought that guy shot himself? So he wouldn't go to prison. If that was his response to prison then yeah she's probably been hardened by her time there. 

I also hope they work on cases from other prosecutors and not just Kelsey Gramer's. 

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1 hour ago, Sakura12 said:

I thought that guy shot himself? So he wouldn't go to prison. If that was his response to prison then yeah she's probably been hardened by her time there. 

I also hope they work on cases from other prosecutors and not just Kelsey Gramer's. 

You may be right.  I wasn't paying full attention.  That makes me feel better lol

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On 2/16/2019 at 12:50 AM, Irlandesa said:

I was never the biggest Pete fan on Mad Men but Vincent K deserves better than being the third string sidekick. 

Still...that generally means Kartheiser did his job.

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I'm still enjoying this show has something to watch when I'm not doing anything on Friday nights. I also like that she's not just going after Bellows' cases. But I do agree that the writing is weak. 

Making the brother actually guilty would add more to show. His drug use might be more from that guilt too. 

I'll probably keep watching until it gets cancelled. 

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1 hour ago, icemiser69 said:

I think it is a writing issue more so than anything else.  Too many characters are on their soapboxes giving speeches.  They should just solve the cases clearing their clients and let those deeds speak for themselves.  That all being said, the lead actress is like a bull in a china shop, she needs to cut back on her abrasiveness and obnoxious.

At some point she needs to represent a client that is truly guilty.  If they writers do that, it will add much more depth to this series.  Then that client can go off and commit some other crime or admit after he or she has been acquitted that he or she was really guilty to the lead character.

Finally, the writers should write into the script that her brother is really guilty.  I suspect they won't do that, but they should.

Groups that do these cases don't hinge their support on the innocence of their clients. Many times it's about a matter of law, using bad police and prosecution methods to show reasonable doubt. 

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On 2/22/2019 at 10:48 AM, Sakura12 said:

I thought that guy shot himself? So he wouldn't go to prison. If that was his response to prison then yeah she's probably been hardened by her time there. 

He did shoot himself.  But her reaction was to first call the police but then changed her mind and wanted to know how to take custody of a dog.  I don't know if it was supposed to show her as both hardened by prison (since she was unaffected by death) or cuddly wuddly because she wanted the dog. 

It also made me realize this show might enter it's so bad it makes for good snark territory. 

And that's why I watched episode 2.  It wasn't as actively bad as the first episode.  The writing wasn't great but I think the fact that Howie Deutch directed the episode settled it a bit because of his longtime experience.  But ironically, that also took away some of the fun of watching because it still wasn't good.

1 hour ago, HaaCHOO said:

Still...that generally means Kartheiser did his job.

Yes.  But I think people still liked Pete. 

53 minutes ago, Sakura12 said:

Making the brother actually guilty would add more to show. His drug use might be more from that guilt too.

Except I find him more likable than his sister. 

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On 2/22/2019 at 11:48 AM, Sakura12 said:

I thought that guy shot himself? So he wouldn't go to prison. If that was his response to prison then yeah she's probably been hardened by her time there. 

Yes, that guy shot himself.

I don't know how long I'll last on this show, Maddie is kind of unlikable. I get that being wrongfully sent to prison for a decade is awful, but can she go five minutes without mentioning it? She was totally obnoxious to that waiter, who was just doing his job. I found her really annoying to watch, I can't imagine how her colleagues handle working for her.

The thing with the brother and his current legal issue. I thought last week the other guy hit him with a baseball bat and Levy punched him in response? How come he was arrested and the other guy wasn't? I mean obviously the guy and his bitchy wife lied, but didn't Levy tell his own story?

I like that they gave the DA some backstory about why he goes after defendants so hard. I can't decide if I like the new lawyer working for him though.

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I liked the show, but I didn't care for Madeline.  She was written just too smug, too perfect and too happy.  I liked the investigator the most.  

The parents were completely useless and seemed "dim" to me.  

I don't like Kelsey Grammar - I think he's swarmy IRL.  That being said, I liked him in this.  I agree with other posters though in that if every episode is going to be an inmate who was wrongly imprisoned because of KG and set free, then this show is going to get old real quick.  I stopped watching Bull after 4 eps because he won every single time.  

I'm sure it was Brian Husband (guy who hit Levi with the baseball bat) who is the murderer.  I'm curious why the law firm couldn't hire Levi to be a runner, etc.  Instead a drug addict (former) who was exonerated for murder can only find a job working with children?  I don't think so.  

As much as I like Riley Smith (Levi), he has the "Eddie Cibrian touch".  Everything either one of them are in only lasts one season...if that.    

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On 2/23/2019 at 6:26 PM, KaveDweller said:

The thing with the brother and his current legal issue. I thought last week the other guy hit him with a baseball bat and Levy punched him in response? How come he was arrested and the other guy wasn't? I mean obviously the guy and his bitchy wife lied, but didn't Levy tell his own story?

Maybe he did and they didn't believe him. Or he thought they wouldn't believe him.  I guess he was the one who left without any injuries.

9 hours ago, juliet73 said:

I'm sure it was Brian Husband (guy who hit Levi with the baseball bat) who is the murderer

Totally. 

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eel2178: Without trying hard...for dramas, THE GOOD WIFE, THE GOOD FIGHT, MAD MEN....for comedies, MOM, THE GOOD PLACE, SUPERSTORE, YOU'RE THE WORST...

Separately, can someone tell me why so many TV characters and even commentators think "affadavit" is pronounced "affadavid"?

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I  going to hate coming to this board with all the Madeline hate.  I love the character.   Her story is so fascinating to me.  I don’t understand why people think she is smug.  I find her angry.,,but understandably so.  Who wouldn’t be?  She spent ten years in prison for something she didn’t do and people are telling her to get over it?  And the guy who put her there is running for a high office and again she is being told to get over it.  

That would piss me off to. 

It would really piss me off.

and I am wondering at the people that it wouldn’t. 

Edited by Chaos Theory
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10 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

I  going to hate coming to this board with all the Madeline hate.  I love the character.   Her story is so fascinating to me.  I don’t understand why people think she is smug.  I find her angry.,,but understandably so.  Who wouldn’t be?  She spent ten years in prison for something she didn’t do and people are telling her to get over it?  And the guy who put her there is running for a high office and again she is being told to get over it.  

That would piss me off to. 

It would really piss me off.

and I am wondering at the people that it wouldn’t. 

You're not alone. I like her too. I just hope we learn more about her time in prison and not just about the dead friend. Both are interesting stories to tell. 

I also found her date behavior more socially awkward then rude. She missed 10 years of her social life and probably didn't date much or at all after she got out. Especially since all the date would want to ask her about was her case. 

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It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Madeline was still a virgin.  She went to jail as a teenager.  Spent ten years in jail.  Got out and went to Yale.

if she has had sex it would probably have been with the celebrity stalker type.   Have sex with the ex-con bucket list type.   

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11 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Madeline was still a virgin.  She went to jail as a teenager.  Spent ten years in jail.  Got out and went to Yale.

if she has had sex it would probably have been with the celebrity stalker type.   Have sex with the ex-con bucket list type.   

Or if they want go there, her sexual experiences would've been in prison with women. 

Did they say if she went to min or max prison? 

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