Episode 5 of All Rise Season 2 begins with the first jury case since Covid and Lola is excited. She starts the orientation with all the jury members on a zoom call. Lola is also happy as she only has 7 days until she is reunited with Robin for Christmas. Emily visits the family of one of her clients, Leon, just as Roxy also arrives to bring them some food. Emily video calls Leon later in the day to talk about his case. He wants to take the stand to give his version of the facts but she tells him it wouldn’t be a good idea. The next day, the trial starts and Palmer brings her first witness, Jamie. He explains that he smiled and blew a kiss to Leon’s daughter. This in turn caused Leon to run at him and later pull a gun, shooting him in the process. Emily then cross-examines the witness and proves that Jamie was actually shot with his own gun. Meanwhile, Mark speaks to Choi about reopening his case before meeting with Sam and Tony to discuss their next steps. Sam later investigates and learns that the sheriff was transferred soon after the shooting. The next witness describes what she saw: both men were on the floor fighting and one got shot. During the cross-examination, we find out that it was Jamie who pulled the gun out first. After this, one of the jury members has questions for the judge; he wants to clarify the premeditated murder allegations. In his office, Mark talks with sergeant McCarthy, board member of the association of LA deputy sheriffs, and introduces him to Sam. Mark is worried with his presence and tells her how desperate he is to get Omar on board. Before heading back to trial, Leon begs Emily to let him testify as he wants to show that he is not guilty. Emily still thinks it is not a good idea but he insists. On the stand, Leon gives his version of the day. He explains that Jamie blew a kiss at his 15 year old daughter and when he confronted him, Jamie became agitated. Later in the day, he came back drunk and pointed a gun at him. Leon then tried to wrestle the gun feww, causing the two to fall to the floor. Finally when he saw that Jamie was about to pull the trigger, Leon managed to snatch the gun and shot to defend himself. He then panicked and ran off with the firearm. In his cross-examination, Palmer tries making him look guilty as he didn’t report the incident to the police and disposed of the gun. The same jury member gives the judge another question – can intent to kill be proven by circumstantial evidence. Lola has no choice but to answer yes as if he is found guilty he faces a long time in prison. Leon is devastated so Emily grants him a visit with his family. After having her mother removed from the gallery, Lola receives a call from Roxy who is not happy she has been told to stay out of the room. Lola tells her that she is trying to do her job but she is struggling at the moment. Before the Christmas party, Mark and Lola meet while they wait for their Covid test results. They discuss the different dilemmas they have and how difficult it has been. They finally get a negative and head to the party. Emily and Joachin arrive too, right at the same time as Luke and Sam. The party gets underway as everyone starts drinking. Mark tries to speak to Amy about her reason behind not celebrating Christmas while Luke calls Sam his friend. Lola receives a text from one of the jury members with a third question, which spells bad news for the defendant. The next day, Lola reads the question: can the willful deliberate and premeditated allegation be proven with circumstantial evidence? Lola addresses the lawyers as she has concerns the jury is not listening to the evidence properly. Lola asks Palmer to reoffer her plea deal and Lola advises that he should take it, considering the jury’s questions. Mark visits Omar again, telling him that he could clear his name and maybe even get a settlement. Omar tells him again he is not interested and knows that he is the one that needs to clear his conscience. Back in court, Leon feels he has no other choice but to plead guilty, which will give him a 6 year sentence, reduced to 5 on probation. If he does this, he will be free to go home but as a felon. Mark takes his case to DA Bravo, telling him how important this could be for many people. The DA is unsure at first as they depend on sheriffs to carry out investigations but because he has Omar to testify, tells him to send over the statement and then he will decide. In the evening, Roxy visits her daughter at the office. Lola tells her that things will need to change but she agrees that they should spend more time together. Mark heads back home where Amy admits that Christmas was always difficult for her. After suggesting that they make their own new traditions, he admits that he lied to Bravo about Omar. Thankfully, he gest a call from the latter who finally agrees to cooperate. The episode ends with Ness cleaning the courtroom and finding the paper with the jury verdict, which shows not guilty.
The Episode Review
Just like Grey’s Anatomy, All Rise is concentrating too much on the current issues surrounding the world without much thought to anything else. With 5 whole episodes dedicated to this, I really think it should start scaling it back a little. It is important of course to tackle these subjects but many will want to watch TV as a form of escapism from what’s actually going on in the world. Much like Grey’s Anatomy, both shows don’t really give the audience that opportunity. Still, All Rise had quite the interesting and unusual case in this episode as we see their first jury case since the beginning of the pandemic. The second half especially picked up the pace and was quite intriguing to watch. The ending was surprising too as the jury had actually decided on a non-guilty verdict, which means that Leon would have had no criminal record. Mark’s old case is also quite the controversial one and I am looking forward to see where the show goes with it. All Rise’s second season is still not quite as good as its first but if it tones down its current themes and focuses on delivering some authentic and original stories, this could change.
