Closing Statement
After last week’s riot, For Life returns for a tense and action packed episode as we witness the aftermath of what happened. This causes ripples right the way across the spectrum too and all of this culminates in a climactic third act that leaves things wide open for next week’s finale. Episode 12 of For Life begins with Safiya facing the music following the prison riot. With four homicides and police swarming across the facility, she’s forced to hand over the CCTV footage and keep tight-lipped, saying nothing to the families affected outside the prison walls. Darius phones through to Marie and Jasmine, who manage to get information about Wallace’s condition from Safiya. With Jamal in critical condition and Dawkins unlikely to survive, Safiya learns the truth about the riot from a conscious Wallace. Captain Foster comes under fire from the police, who believe he’s the catalyst for what happened given the CCTV footage shows him letting Jamal go. As he’s taken out by police in handcuffs, Safiya arrives in Wallace’s cell and sees the note from Jamal, stuffing it in her pocket. In the morning, Wallace is told to wait behind given the prison is in lockdown but manages to relay the message on to Henry about his predicament. Before the judge, the prosecution manage to convince the Judge allowed a 24 hour continuance; precious time that Aaron Wallace so desperately needs. Maskins also learns about the prison riot and starts to spin this in his favour. It starts with Cyrus back in prison and replacing Safiya as the new warden. He immediately causes issues, destroying the rehabilitation wing and replacing it with solitary confinement. As inmates are thrown into the different cells, Wallace is transferred out to Riker’s before things become too heated. Hassan visits Safiya in her office and she tells him the inmates will need him more than ever now. It’s here he mentions that rumour has it Wallace was the one Jamal was supposed to go after but Jamal played the system and hit Cassius instead. Unfortunately Wallace hits another roadblock as he’s forced to be transferred back again and thrown into solitary. As things continue to look bleak, Captain Foster kills himself when he realizes the other prospect he faces is jail. Huey and Safiya meet in the aftermath of this and try to piece together the true story, given Dawkins was the catalyst for what happened. Clutching papers incriminating Maskins and Tom for their part in the prison transfer, Safiya blackmails Tom before her hearing and manages to get Wallace back into court. She also demands a replacement for Cyrus – someone who will continue her work. As the episode closes out, Wallace makes it into the court room for his trial but things are left ambiguously open for how this one plays out. Will Aaron Wallace make it as a free man? Is Jamal still alive? What is Cassius Dawkin’s fate? And just who were all four men that died? At a guess it appears like Wild Bill may have been killed alongside the prison guard we know about but hopefully this will be examined further in next week’s finale. The episode itself does a pretty good job building things up to a big climax though and it’s hard not to feel a little bad for Captain Foster given the difficult position he was put in with his family. Quite what Aaron Wallace’s fate will be next week remains to be seen but for now, the penultimate episode certainly lays the foundation for an exciting finale to come.
