Summary
“Forgive Us Our Trespasses” leaves two characters in jeopardy for very different reasons, as All Rise returns with a solid episode.
This recap of All Rise season 2, episode 11, “Forgive Us Our Trespasses”, contains spoilers.
It’s a while since we last saw All Rise, but “Forgive Us Our Trespasses” is a nice reminder of all the things the show does well. Unusual character pairings! Touchy, complex ethical issues! Faultless girl boss power attire! It’s all here and then some.
One of the unusual pairings is Ness and Emily – the former is nearing the end of her clerkship and is assigned to shadow the latter, which neither of them seems particularly happy about at first. Their case involves Julian (Antwon D. Jones), a repeat offender who’s up on the same charge as he was when Lola convicted him ages ago. Judge Campbell is presiding over the case and is finding it difficult to try the matter on its face and not the assumptions he has already made based on the prior conviction, but more on him momentarily.
Ness is, predictably, argumentative and annoying in All Rise season 2, episode 11, since she never seems to want to toe the line, but the tragic case of Julian ends up uniting her and Emily. And it is tragic since as soon as it becomes obvious that Julian is covering for people, he’s killed while trying to break up a prison fight. Emily, torn up about this, ensures that those close to him are able to speak about him in court despite the charges being dismissed, and Ness is so impressed by Emily’s devotion to her client that she says she wants to be just like her, like a kid might to their parent. It’s a touching scene both in how jarring it is for the eternally combative Ness to say something like that and for how modestly Emily takes the compliment.
Campbell’s involvement in this case brings Lola back into the courtroom for the first time in ages. She isn’t thrilled about him hanging up on her and wants to grill him in person about why the case is stressing him out so much, which is a good time for some needed backstory on Campbell, who has been an ever-present figure but always neglected, development-wise. As it turns out in “Forgive Us Our Trespasses”, he has never quite gotten over his brother being mugged and beaten, which has given him something of a slant when it comes to violent offenders – as much as he’d like to deny it. It’s an interesting reminder that there are real human beings behind the law, and however objective we would like the justice system to be, there’s still a subjective component. The fact he allows Julian’s friends and family to speak on his behalf shows that maybe he’s softening his biases a little.
Things are complicated for Mark in All Rise season 2, episode 11. For one thing, he’s grappling with the guilt of having kissed Rachel, which comes to the fore when Rachel accidentally confesses it to Lola. She thinks that Mark kissed her because he’s terrified of how much he cares about Amy, which is a theory he agrees with, but rectifying the situation is going to require him to come clean. As it happens, though, he won’t need to, since Lola accidentally spills the beans when Amy turns up on her doorstep for advice and she just assumes it’s about that. This is definitely something that next week’s episode will have to deal with.
But the other problem for Mark is that he has a list of names from his secret source which happens to include Luke and several other people who he knows intimately – including his training officer. Luke visits him and several of his old buddies in All Rise season 2, episode 11, and it’s clear that the “banter” has some sinister undertones. This is a tight-knit group, and Luke, having turned to the DA’s office, is considered a traitor. His pushing about Mark only angers them further, and quickly the jibes turn to punches. “Forgive Us Our Trespasses” ends with Luke being badly beaten down by his former buddies, his fate left uncertain.
