The Baby Shower
Episode 2 of All Rise Season 2 starts with Benner showing Lola, Ness and Sherri the video of Lola’s arrest. Benner is not happy with this and Sherri thinks this could show her as an unbiased judge, especially in the frost case. Benner then explains that she understands that her heart was in the right place but it is in the court room that they need to make a difference. Out there, they need to appear fair and unbiased. In the courtroom, Mark, Amy, Rachel and Luke get into a heated debate about whether Lola should still be the judge in the Frost case. Sherri arrives soon after and breaks it off. She then heads into Lola’s office and gives the judge some kind words of encouragement. Meanwhile, Emily tries to arrange a proper burial for Carrie Banks. She later finds out that the funeral is going to cost in the region of 10k and wonders where she will find the money. She discusses this with Sara too, just as a guy she helped in the protest arrives in the courthouse. He mentions that she is trending online as #lawyerbae. This gives Sara an idea and suggests she uses her social status to help raise the money needed. Lola arrives in the courtroom and delivers her decision. After reviewing everything, she has decided that the evidence the People presented was insufficient to warrant adding a hate crime amendment. Therefore, the People’s motion is denied. Mark and Luke later ask for an emergency meeting as they want to present a new witness, Jesse’s ex-girlfriend. This angers the parents and, of course, Jesse. Amy talks to Rachel about the situation and believes that they should look at other avenues for their case, in particular his mental health. Lola and Robin attend their last baby scan and discuss the current situation while Emily receives a call from Joaquin, the man she helped at the protest. He sent her pictures he took at the protest which shows her with Luke. In a flashback, we see Emily finding Luke in full riot gear. She asks him what has been going on with him. In reply, he tells her he has been trying to process everything as a lot has been going through his mind. Back in the courtroom, Jess’s ex-girlfriend Jenny gives her testimony. Mark starts questioning her about Jesse’s temperament which she describes to be very volatile and often violent; she was scared for her life. Rachel tries to counter-questions her but this causes Jesse to scream, claiming that she is lying and he starts holding his head. Lola orders Rachel to have him evaluated and he gets taken away. Rachel and Amy later meet with the parents to discuss Jesse’s test results. The doctor said there were physical signs of head trauma caused by football and fears that it could be CTE – but the condition is difficult to prove. Both lawyers want to go to Mark with a plea deal but are not sure he will go for it. The next day, Luke tries to talk some sense into Mark as he believes that Jesse may be suffering from CTE. Mark argues the case and insists. Luke then points out that he is doing this because of the video and Lola. Mark eventually agrees and heads into court, where Rachel gives Lola the plea that has been agreed: Count two, assault with a deadly weapon as a felony. Lola is surprised and wants to review everything first. In the staff room, Lola discusses with Benner the difficulties she faces everyday being a black woman. Benner tries to understand her and help see the situation more clearly. Lola decides to finally say something and be more transparent. Back in the courtroom, Lola invites the press inside. She summarizes the case then explains what happened the night of the protest. After this, she explains that there is a big part of her that feels that she should reject that deals because the lives of the victims matter. She explains that every crime requires both a wrongful action and a wrongful intent. While they can’t prove their thoughts on race, the impact of his actions are detrimental and have consequences. She accepts the plea but gives her terms on it, which include not playing football during probation and making restitutions to the victims. In the evening, Emily brings flowers to Carrie’s grave. Joaquin happens to be there too and mentions to her how impressed he is with her passion towards others. Eventually he invites her out for coffee. The episode ends with Lola heading to the rooftop where Mark has laid out balloons and lights, congratulating her. He apologises for what happened that night as he didn’t realize the impact of his words. She tells him she doesn’t expect him to understand completely but her biggest fear is to bring a little black child to this world. She’s worried and doesn’t know if she will be able to protect him or her. He promises to be there for them and suggests some funny names for the child. This clears the air between them and gives her a present for the baby.
The Episode Review
The second episode of All Rise sees the conclusion of a very difficult and important case for Lola. There were some strong and controversial subjects discussed here and the show has so far handled them quite well. Lola had a tough decision to make in court too as she was watched by everyone and was also under a lot of pressure. The current situation in America is of course very worrying and these episodes really reinforce these issues. Simone Missick continues to do a great job with her performance and really stands out compared to everyone else here. I do hope we start seeing different cases again in the coming weeks as the first season did bring some interesting ones to the table. Emily has someone new in her life too but I am sure her story with Luke is not over yet. It was also nice to see Lola and Mark return to their banter and I’m looking forward to seeing more interactions between them in the upcoming episodes!
