Reasonable Doubt: Season 2 – Review

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Plot Summary

Following up on the end of season 1, we watch as Jax feels the push and pull between going all in on Shanelle’s case and trying to create a work/life balance to save her marriage to Lewis. As that happens, Lewis struggles as his extracurricular activities come to haunt him.

Review

Our Rating (77/100): Mixed (Stick Around)

Highlights

Jax and Lewis’ Fight For Their Marriage

While the show “Black Love” went through the highs and lows of real couples, usually celebrities, trying to keep their marriage alive, that doesn’t discount what you can get in a scripted format. It was important to see Jax and Lewis go to therapy and try to use the tools given to them, having setbacks but still working towards the goal of staying married. In a world where diversity often means you don’t get to see two people who share the same ethnicity, seeing a Black man and Black woman, neither who are racially ambiguous, be together, means something to a lot of people.

I want to give special attention to Lewis’ speech in episode seven for his plead and promise to Jax; I feel like that was what a lot of people want to hear. That is the type of impassioned speech you want to see between a couple that feels less about making you swoon and more about two people having an honest moment, with one willing to be vulnerable and put their heart out there. All while there being an acknowledgement that things aren’t perfect, but they still want to stick by that other person.

Domestic Abuse Was More Than Just A Storyline

In many ways, season 2 of “Reasonable Doubt” learns from season 1 by not only using a familiar character for the case but truly building up the evidence and what happened over the course of the season. But, the best thing it does is treat Shanelle’s situation with respect. It isn’t a storyline to create dramatic scenes begging for awards and recognition. It respects the fact many people, women especially, end up in domestic violence situations, and whether they are wealthy or not, getting out of it is hard.

I especially appreciated that Shanelle was allowed to walk through the entire relationship from when things were good and she was being pursued romantically to when JT showed his true colors. On top of that, with the involvement of Mavis, you got to see that additional layer of being denied your truth because that’s someone’s child and how that plays a role, especially if you share children with your abuser.

I’d even add in Lucy’s situation and the depiction of privilege, which allowed her to handle her abuser in a way that didn’t have her end up in a courtroom on trial for murder. Season 2 of “Reasonable Doubt” addresses the subject matter in multiple ways, and rarely, if ever, does it seem like it wants to sensationalize Shanelle’s storyline to cause a social media stir.

On The Fence

Lucy Didn’t Fully Live Up To Her Potential

Jax needs formidable opponents. Lucy stepped into the season seemingly like she would fit the bill. She wasn’t about politics; she was about work. It seemed she wasn’t the type to make friends; she just focused on winning cases. Yet, every chance they got, they undermined the build-up. So many mistakes were made that there came a point that, while Lucy had the looks and vibe of a bad ass, eventually her moving about so much seemed like it was because she was bad at her job, more so than her social skills, or lack thereof.

Now, with her son going to the same school as Jax’s, it did allow some reprieve for seeing Jax and her became friends, led to some cool, working mom moments. However, the main thing you’d expect from her didn’t deliver so as much as we loved seeing her and Jax’s friendship and how being a domestic violence survivor played out for her, it’s hard to say the two positives compensate for the huge negative.

Shanelle’s Case Having To Share So Much Time With Lesser Storylines

Is Shanelle’s case handled better than Brayden Miller’s? Yes. Did we learn about “Formal Felony Probation,” and did Shannon Kane deliver like she did last season towards the end? Yes. So, what’s the problem?

The problem is that things felt rushed in Shanelle’s case, and there were a lot of storylines that either felt like filler or had underdeveloped ideas. JT being part of some organization with his business manager that was illegal, what was the point of adding that? Especially considering how quickly Evan appeared and how that situation was handled. Yes, in season 1, there was this desire to know Jax’s friends more, but Autumn’s situation with getting pregnant felt like it wasn’t given the oomph it deserved, especially with it being IVF. I don’t think we even met her partner the entire season, despite her journey.

The list continues and includes Daniel’s love life, Krystal taking the bar, and the push for Cory, who Jax asked to be first chair so she could have a work/life balance, catching feelings for her while she works on her marriage. It all made season 2 feel bloated and like they didn’t know how to ensure every character had something going for them, even if the storyline didn’t add much value to the show.

Jax’s Kids

Spenser and Naima remain polarizing. Spenser made progress in showing his value by challenging Lewis’ perceptions when Spenser sought to go to a performing arts school and played a role in Jax and Lewis reconciling challenges. Naima? She was just an annoyance.

She hasn’t evolved past proving Jax and Lewis had unprotected sex for a second time and continues to push the need to ask, were the children necessary to tell Jax’s story? Yes, many parents have fought with the struggle to have it all, especially working moms in high-profile careers. But as much as I don’t expect these kids to be perfect, there is this feeling that while Spenser getting scenes outside of Jax and Lewis’ orbit allowed him to grow, Naima is either going to remain stagnant or we’ll have to wait until she is older for her to not feel like a liability, especially considering how “Reasonable Doubt” handles time management.

The Toni Situation

Season 3 is set to feature Toni, and throughout season 2, there was a push and pull regarding what she gave the season. The plus was that she gave Lewis a solo storyline, and when Jax got involved, and the topic of blended families came into play. However, after getting a hint of what Lewis’ job is actually like, meeting some of the staff, and it seeming he may finally be done with the long-gestating game we have been hearing about, I must admit, I’d rather see Lewis’ work drama than him have personal drama.

I mean, there was a mention of an assistant, a Black woman, who got promoted, and it would have been far more interesting if Jax had to get into a court case where Lewis had to be defended, having it be a case where Lewis played down a situation, be it harassment, discrimination or maybe something sexual, and it caused Jax and the audience to reexamine Lewis.

Yes, him having a break baby is one thing, but with the door Spenser opened about Lewis having blind spots, despite what has happened in his life, imagine him, the man whose wife is a criminal attorney, not recognizing the signs and not protecting a Black woman who thought he was the big homie, like an older brother, when really he was as much an enabler as any other man who would rather turn a blind eye than deal with hardship.

Mavis

JT’s mother is a piece of work, a nasty woman, and I’d submit that she has the history, and Donna Biscoe gives the type of performance that made me wish that, while she may have lost the criminal case, she would have pursued a civil suit. I get, dragging the Shanelle killing JT case another season, or shortening it this season, doesn’t sound great. However, with Lucy being such a disappointment, I felt like Mavis gave the energy that Shanelle’s case needed. She was the one who was cutting, despicable consistently, and all I needed from someone who was working against Jax.

Here is hoping, with “Reasonable Doubt” being renewed for season 3, Mavis comes back even with her on Shanelle’s sugar honey iced tea list.

Episodes

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