The Necessity Defense
Episode 3 of For Life Season 2 begins with Aaron savoring every moment of being back at home, calling Marie beautiful and even having a cheeky lie-in before work. With a big case and a new office to boot, things are definitely looking up for him. When Aaron shows up with Jazz to work, an enthusiastic woman named Charlotte (part secretary/part paralegal) becomes a member of their team. While she decides to work with Jazz over racial bias in hospitals, Aaron and Henry head into prison to talk to their client, Alice Martin. They hear her side of the story, including how Alice and her son waited for nearly 6 hours for care at Westchester Hospital. Josh had a nasty head injury, eventually starting to vomit and becoming disorientated. In a desperate bid to her son seen to, she brandished a gun to get everyone’s attention which prompted doctors to race in and save their son. Aaron promises to help but given they have no play, it’s difficult to know how they’ll win at Richardson’s case. There may well be clear racial bias from her statement but how do they prove that? Well, Richardson is not willing to settle for a deal and even lends a helping hand when Aaron and Henry go to see him later that day. It turns out that very same hospital was tried for racial bias several years prior. Richardson wants to essentially use Alice as a weapon to hit back at the system itself. Meanwhile, Jazz and Charlotte get talking about Aaron and his inspirational play to get out of jail. However, they’re interrupted by his probations officer, Williams. He shows up to see how Aaron is settling in. The greeting is frosty, to say the least, and eventually ends with Jazz heading out with her father for lunch. When plates clatter in the distance, signs of Wallace’s PTSD continue to bleed through. Jazz notices this and exhibits her concerns, asking her father whether he’s okay. Well, Aaron has a lot on his plate right now and that’s only exacerbated by Darius coming back into the picture. When the conversation turns to the case itself, Marie expresses her concerns given the woman brandished a gun in hospital. As Marie herself mentions, what sort of message does this send if she’s found innocent? Given she’s a nurse herself, there’s a clear divide in how this should play out. Aaron goes in all guns blazing, marching up before the Judge and playing his Necessity Defence case. It seems to work too and the judge agrees to let him collect up evidence and return before him with what they’ve found. Meanwhile, Williams reports back to his boss about Wallace. So far he’s squeaky clean and given Aaron has a job too, things are looking up for him. However, that’s not enough for Williams, who’s told to head over and speak to Richardson instead in a slightly different power play. In his office, Richardson sees straight through Williams’ façade. He talks about how the people Williams works for hold “his people” down. Williams bites back though, telling him he’s confident that he’s doing a diligent job. In fact, he’s even encouraged to show up at the courtroom to see Wallace in action. When Williams shows up, he listens as Wallace flexes his law muscles. Apparently the algorithmic system they use at the hospital is flawed and is less likely to give out pain medication to black people. Wallace continues, talking about the entire medical system and how it’s unfairly skewed toward those in richer communities. He does, however, do a good job persuading the judge and those in attendance. After his rousing speech, it turns out the Westchester DA has offered up a deal for Alice. That deal includes dropping the kidnapping charges and serving 5 years in jail; 4 for good behaviour. While Wallace believes they should take the deal, Richardson is not so sure. Taking Alice and her family aside, Aaron gives an impassioned plea to take the deal given it means more time with her family afterwards. Using his own experience as evidence that this is the right thing to do, a teary-eyed Alice decides to take the deal. Afterwards, Aaron and Richardson butt heads over this case but he’s disappointed that Wallace hasn’t followed through with what he promised. He tells Wallace he has a lot to learn as he turns and walks away. Thankfully the funding is still there and the plug hasn’t been pulled just yet. Back home, Wallace speaks to Marie about the past and specifically what happened when she packed his things up and put it in storage. This really hits home to Aaron, given what he went through in the past, and hugs Marie tightly.
The Episode Review
For Life returns for another episodic case, this time revolving around racial bias that works incredibly well in the context of this season. Wallace continues to suffer the effects of his PTSD as well and I’d imagine this will continue to get worse as the season progresses. Now that we’re outside the prison, this series has taken on a slightly different tone and for the most part, it does work quite well. The oppressive feel of the prison does take some of the tension out of this one but it’s thankfully replaced by some good court work and the probation officer plot line instead. Still, For Life continues to deliver decent drama and with a slightly more vulnerable side to Aaron Wallace this time around, the second season certainly hasn’t disappointed.
