A New Inmate
Sometimes all you need to spice up a show is a new character or angle to an already-established set-up. When it comes to For Life, the introduction of Cassius Dawkins is just the volatile cocktail this show needed to add some urgency and tension to proceedings. With plenty of drama and questions left unanswered this episode, intriguing foundations are set this week which promises some very interesting episodes to come. Episode 6 of For Life begins with Frank walking into the prison with the steaks holding drugs, heading out to the yard and taking Wild Bill aside and handing him the gear. Aaron finds evidence that could help his case while Maskins strikes a deal to transfer a difficult prisoner into Bellmore to cause headaches for the Warden. Wallace heads back to court with his evidence, but the DA hounds him to find out where he obtained the documents. The Judge sees through this though and O’Reilly feeds back the bad news Maskins. When he does, they figure it out it’s the cop from the previous case Wallace was working on and get to work trying to work out an angle to use. On the way back from the courthouse, they pick up a slew of new prisoners including Cassius Dawkins. The Warden briefs him on the rules at Bellmore before getting him processed. As he heads into prison population, Dawkins gets friendly with all the inmates but Wallace sees through this facade and keeps his guard up around the new inmate. Marie’s Father gives Darius a wedding ring and suggests proposing to Marie. Later that evening, things turn heated when her Father accuses Marie of spending too much money on Wallace. Eventually this spills over into a big fight outside and although this is resolved somewhat in the morning, Marie’s Father heads to prison in a bid to give Wallace a piece of his mind. Dawkins continues to rile things up at the prison, sitting at Wild Bill’s table before heading into Wallace’s cell later that evening and asking to use his burner phone. After a cryptic, but somewhat worrying call involving Frank’s name being mentioned, Wallace prepares to head back to court. Once there, the cop is interviewed by O’Reilly and he puts a lot of pressure to try and get some answers. It’s no good, the police officer doesn’t give up any information prompting Maskins and the team to try and find another angle. After the Court case, the Judge, O’Reilly and Wallace sit together and discuss the search warrant and validity of the witnesses interviewed. The Judge asks O’Reilly to hand over the warrant file without the redactions and it’s here Wallace sees the name “Angelo Torres”. After seeing this, O’Reilly is forced to bring him in so Wallace can cross-examine this witness. This good news is unfortunately hit with a bad run of luck as Dawkins puts him in a difficult spot with the burner phone, eventually forcing him to hand it over. Soon after, Marie’s Father shows up and talks to Wallace about Marie, imploring him to give her up. Frank heads home and finds his family tied up at gunpoint. As he sits down, the two men infront of him mention that Cassius has a proposition as the episode closes out. Cassius’ arrival at the prison has definitely stirred things up and with Wallace looking to become increasingly isolated in the future, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him forced to take on his case. Interestingly, the more Wallace improves his propositions to get out of prison, the bleaker things appear to be inside. The new inmate has certainly caused a good injection of tension into the show though and it’ll be intriguing to see what direction the show goes from here. So far so good, and For Life is settling into a good rhythm now. Let’s hope that continues.
