"I started all this and I have no control over how it ends."
Hey, all, sorry for the delay, I will be posting the review for the following episodes shortly. On this episode of For the People, we’re reminded about one of the best qualities of this show, the friendships. Not only Jay and Seth were great but that moment when Allison and Jay see Sandra trying to clean up her office after working with Kate was hilarious. I have to say I’m loving this new bond between Sandra and Kate, though Allison doesn’t really seem to agree, yeah, she was mostly joking, but I’m pretty sure I detected some jealousy there.
Seth is having trouble with his apartment and while they repair it he stays with Jay and his parents who are ecstatic about having proof that Jay’s friends aren’t imaginary and they get along wonderfully, so much so that he’s tempted to stay, but a stern talk from Leonard makes him realize he can’t do that, he still feels lonely so he ends up asking Jay to be his roommate and I’m always looking forward to new relationship developments here, so this is a great start.
Alison gets a stamp theft from 59 years ago; the National Philatelic Foundation just wants them back from an old man who, turns out, is trying to sell them to save his brother’s great-grand-daughter who has leukemia. Luckily Allison finds a way for the museum to pay him a reward for returning the stamps, a win-win that ends with an emotional family reunion.
Now, to the big case of the episode: A letter from Emma, a 12-year-old with a 4-year sentence in a Juvenile detention facility, gets Sandra to a much bigger case, a judge who gets paid to get that detention center at full capacity. Judge Grant Fitzpatrick (Robert Curtis Brown) is happily sentencing a kid with a year in Juvie for a school fight when we meet him and a horrified Sandra goes to Jill to pitch the case but she’s not allowed to investigate the Judge for his connection to the private juvenile detention center, so she goes straight to Kate.
Kate says no at first but Sandra is sure she can convince her if she can find a little bit more of information so she enlists the help of Ted who’s the one that figures out the money laundry scheme to pay for the whole thing. Am I the only one who finds Ted suspicious? I mean, honestly? Ted? I have a feeling that’s not exactly his birth name, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s something shady in his past, maybe that’s my years watching the good wife, but there’s something about investigators that just makes me wonder.
Kate’s not really happy about having so much proof and having to go against a respected judge. Still, she goes at him hard, but when things get tricky she starts doubting the whole case and her own identity as a prosecutor. Roger tells her outside of their comfort zone is where the good lawyers are and he pushes her to stick with the case until she can prove the witness is lying, which she does in spades by calling Judge Byrne to testify about the connection.
I might be alone here, but the comparison with the judicial system to one big happy family didn't seem like the right move to me, it was too much of a romanticized view of something that's not only far from perfect but it has caused too much pain in real life to let this sit quietly. Still, I'm glad she won the case and the kids were able to say their piece to the judge who just sat there expressionless, as if he wasn't villainous enough before. And then the episode ends with a fun party at Jay's new and Seth's old home.
What did you think about this episode? Let me know in the comments.
