“Part Ten” – Aired on February 14, 2021
Writer: Peter Moffat
Director: Bryan Cranston
Grade: 2 out of 5

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Notice: All episode reviews contain spoilers

The penultimate episode “Part Nine” ended with Adam leaving Michael behind at the house to meet his girlfriend Fia. It was passed as a mild cliffhanger, with Adam on his way to meet the father of the boy he killed, and Michael smiling about his son meeting a “girlfriend,” unaware that she also happens to be the his nemesis Jimmy Baxter’s daughter. That so-called cliffhanger is not pursued (did Adam meet Jimmy? How did it go?) as “Part Ten” begins, and the finale plows ahead as if that moment never existed.

And that example sums up this reductive, unambitious season (series?) finale during which contrived events and mostly pedestrian dialogues (outside of a couple, see below) fill the first 50 minutes or so, before we arrive at the final sequence of overwrought action at the Baxter hotel.

Michael’s nonchalance** about the identity of his son’s girlfriend, as it turns out, was a deliberate choice by the writers, in order to amplify the dramatic effect of his eleventh-hour realization that his son is dating Jimmy’s daughter.

** I could never buy into the notion that Michael, considering the close connection between Adam and Carlo’s court case, would neglect to severely limit his son’s movements, let alone learn every detail about his girlfriend. Little did I know that cogent storytelling across several episodes was being sacrificed in the name of elevating the drama quotient for a single scene in the finale.

Look, I am fine with the writing room leaving a storyline open-ended as long as it contains compelling characters dealing with the aftermath of a fallout. I am fine with an intriguing turn of event that seemed important during an early episode, but lost its significance as the show progressed, as long as there is some type of pay-off on its intrigue, or at least a nod to its existence. I am fine with the idea of tweaking the interaction dynamics between main characters to create a conundrum and leaving the interpretation up to the viewer.

It is not fine, however, to let subplots fall into oblivion, to expect viewers to completely disregard clues from earlier episodes, to overlook important details in editing**, and to offer a complex ensemble of characters, only to later turn them into mere sidekicks because, seemingly, the storyline of only one — Michael — genuinely matters at the end of the day.

** See my review of “Part Five” for the discrepancy about Trevor’s car pulling up to the gas station. Apparently, I gave too much credit to the editing team when I inaccurately believed that the blackmail photo did not come from Trevor.

For instance, do you remember when Frankie discovered Adam’s inhaler at the crime scene back in “Part One”? And when he confirmed in “Part Two” that he would have it tested for DNA and get the results back within 36 hours? I believe that was months ago in the show’s timeline. It now looks like that detail was swept under the rug for the sake of the WOW! revelation scene, when Jimmy and Gina are alerted by the sound of Adam puffing away at his inhaler outside the courtroom.

Do you remember the SUV that suspiciously followed Adam? Whoever was inside the vehicle witnessed an accident that involved the murder of a renowned mobster’s son, one that soon took the city and the media by storm. The camera work makes a conscious effort in the pilot to foreground the SUV, as it follows Adam and speeds away after the accident. Ten episodes gone… nothing! It never existed. What SUV?

Consider the Desire crew’s storyline over the season and this excerpt from my review of “Part Seven”: — For instance, wouldn’t it be fascinating to learn more, via a flashback or two if necessary, of the formation of the Desire Crew? Or the succession of events that brought Big Mo to its leading role? Was Kofi’s mother a close friend? How about delving for a scene or two into the history of Little Mo’s allegiance to Big Mo? — Well, the season is over and we still have no background information of substance on the Desire crew. Its narrative function was apparently limited to providing a plotline echoing racial tensions, except that Your Honor never dares to scratch beneath the surface and uncover the intricacies among the city’s legal system, police force, and gangs. Within that context, the show offers nothing other than off-the-shelf portraits: Cusack the officer is corrupt, Baxter the mobster is powerful, Frankie the brute bodyguard shadows his boss, and judges are corrupt. Oh-kay… yay?

Big and Little Mo are neither fleshed out beyond their single-dimensional portraits, nor given a chance to earn the viewer’s interest. Ask yourself, do you know anything more about them than you did since their first appearances? Desire’s sous-entendu intent to retaliate against Jimmy Baxter never materializes (read: classic red herring). As for the finale, Big Mo is reduced to the role of informing Lee that the no member of Desire was at the wheel when the fatal accident occurred. Don’t you love, by the way, the convenient simplicity of Lee readily taking Big Mo at her word, as if she weren’t the one who threatened her life seconds earlier?

Speaking of Lee, the last shot deemed appropriate by the showrunners for the woman portrayed as the bastion of ethics and civil rights for over eight episodes consists of her giving the money collected from the sale of the baseball to Eugene and walking away.

And Nancy, the other woman portrayed as the efficient and meticulous bulwark of justice, the razor-sharp thorn in every criminal’s derrière, gets to perform a blank stare at the corrupt offer of Charlie Figaro in her last appearance on screen.

With Big Mo, Lee, Nancy, and Gina, seemingly euchred out of potentially riveting storylines and screen time, I now believe that my sustained rants over the season about Your Honor missing the boat on Gina’s character and shortchanging Hope Davis’s talent were naïvely narrow in scope. It’s not just Gina. The show had an overall difficulty figuring out what to do with female characters.

The only stories with any degree of genuine character exploration were Michael’s, and to a lesser degree, Jimmy’s. Carlo’s case being the centerpiece of how Michael has held on to his life and protected Adam, the verdict was bound to have consequences. Nonetheless, the moment of Michael reading the verdict fell flat because it was inevitable that Carlo would walk away a free man, despite how far that stretches the boundaries of plausibility. Explain please how the jury can afford to overlook Carlo’s blatant lie about murdering Kofi, exposed as the result of Lee’s apt investigative work of the prison door followed by Fiona’s shrewd questioning in the courtroom.

Actually, wait. Don’t explain. Who am I kidding? At the end of the day, the not-guilty verdict represented the most suitable avenue to attain the finale’s larger goal, which was to gather everyone in one location in order to amp up the degree of unbridled action-drama in the final minutes, instead of aiming to enthrall the audience via complex character conflicts amidst the ethical and social dilemma.

There is, after all, a couple of bright scenes in “Part Ten,” the only ones that attempt to truly grapple with the moral quandaries facing the leads. Michael is at the center of both – naturally –, with the first putting on display his helplessness, and the second, the depths of his hypocrisy.

The former takes place outside the courtroom when Charlie, in a well-written dialogue that Bryan Cranston and Isiah Whitlock Jr. deliver with dexterity, realizes that Michael has fallen into Jimmy’s clutches. Judge Desiato desperately needs Carlo to go free but faces the reality that the verdict is likely to go the opposite way – it does not, because the voice recording of Rocco’s last moments are somehow deemed more powerful by jury members than Carlo’s gross lie getting exposed, with camera footage to confirm. But yeah, sure, let’s roll with it anyway!

Charlie does, I presume, what any loyal buddy would do for his friend who recently joined him in the hellish pit of moral ruin. He attempts to persuade Nancy to stay quiet about Michael and Adam by promising to lend her his support once he becomes mayor in her quest to rid the NOPD of corrupt officers. How ironic! The outraged Nancy stares at Charlie and the scene cuts away because, you see, why would we be interested (?!) in the potentially fascinating analysis (not even asking for a resolution here) of how she deals with the conundrum.

The second meaningful scene takes place in Michael’s chambers where Lee confronts him about his “lies” and “manipulations.” It’s easily the outing’s most powerful sequence largely thanks to the duo of Cranston (also the episode’s director) and Carmen Ejogo giving tour-de-force performances.

At first, Michael tries a number of maneuvers to weasel out of various corners into which Lee puts him with her statements of brutal truth. Once he is left with no choice but to fess up, he moves onto his Plan B, which is to guilt Lee into not reporting Adam, mentioning something about her soul feeling cleansed. Lee exclaims, “It’s your soul that needs cleansing!” She adds, “Four children and their mother are dead because of you.” Michael then pulls the “I love you” card, the last one left in his deck. That earns him an angry slap in the face as Lee yells, “Stop talking about yourself!” Prior to walking out on him, she challenges him to show proof of what little sliver of moral ethics he has left by allowing Eugene to testify on behalf of his brother.

All traces of hesitation left within Michael quickly dissipate when he, as noted earlier, realizes in the courtroom that Adam’s girlfriend is Jimmy’s daughter. Much to the dismay of Lee and Fiona, he rules that “the prosecution’s case cannot be reopened.” Eugene is not permitted to testify.

Next is Michael’s scheme with the fake note from the jury asking to hear the recording of Rocco’s last moments. I mentioned above the implausibility of this sequence swinging the pendulum in Carlo’s favor so I will not harp on it again, but the more significant moment occurs when Adam, Gina, and Jimmy exit the courtroom in order to avoid hearing Rocco’s gasps for air. Adam, having trouble breathing himself, pumps his inhaler into his mouth, leading Gina and Jimmy to notice him and experience the emblematic eureka effect.

Having heard the verdict and absorbed Lee’s empty words outside the courtroom, killing Carlo becomes Eugene’s mission. He buys a gun with the money from the sale of the baseball and sneaks into the Baxter hotel during the evening celebration. In the meantime, Jimmy calls Michael to inform him of Adam’s presence at the celebration (Fia had invited him). That is all it takes for Michael to rush to the hotel.

Thusly begins the choppy final sequence where Michael gets rejected twice by the guards at the hotel’s entrance and ends up banging on the windows of the main celebration hall from the outside, in full view from the inside, yet with nobody noticing him except Jimmy. Why not, right? Never mind that nobody outside seems to care either about an older man pounding as hard as he can on the hotel’s windows while yelling from the top of his lungs. Eugene aims for Carlo and pulls the trigger. The bullet finds Adam’s throat, standing in perfect angle behind Carlo who briskly moved aside by chance at the right split second. The season comes to a close with Michael crying while clutching Adam’s dead body in his arms.

Last-minute thoughts:

— It turns out that Elijah (John Beasley), the homeless veteran at the door of the cemetery, is not just any homeless man. October 10^th evokes a tragic memory for him, so he can confirm to Nancy without a doubt that Michael and Adam visited the cemetery on that day and not on October 9^th.

— Chalk another one up for shows that begin with a promising pilot and early intrigue, only to fizzle out at the end by doting too much on either run-of-the-mill action or hammy drama accompanied by plenty of hand-waving. I would love to read a study on the success rate of TV shows in terms of sticking the landing. Is it turning into a lost art form? As the years go by, I can think of less and less shows who truly triumph in their season/series finales.

— Let’s not kid ourselves about Jimmy taking into consideration Fia’s feelings for Adam, thus hugging the boy at the celebration as a gesture of acceptance into the family. Adam would not have survived long even without a bullet in his throat. Yes, it’s true that Fia’s happiness is high on Jimmy’s priority list, but it has also been demonstrated multiple times that he is powerless against Gina’s fury, and hell will turn to ice before she accepts her son’s murderer into the family.

— According to this report, there will not be a season 2 for Your Honor.

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“Part Nine” – Aired on February 7, 2021
Writer: Jennifer Cacicio
Director: Eva Sørhaug
Grade: 4 out of 5

Notice: All episode reviews contain spoilers

Alright!! I have a question. How on earth will the show wrap up in the season finale a plethora of open-ended plotlines that accumulated faster than the number of governmental crises in a pandemic? It almost feels like the writing room backed itself into a corner here.

There is the central court case of Carlo that needs resolution. There is the issue of Michael trying to concoct a way to save Adam from charges of murder or from being assassinated in the hands of Jimmy Baxter, not to mention Michael himself being in that same danger zone. There is the growing mystery surrounding the death of Robin a year prior to the show’s debut. Gina, for her part, manifests signs of being on the verge of going postal on just about everyone, including Jimmy, depending on how much she learns once the shit hits the fan. How will Lee proceed with her discovery of Kofi not being the murderer of Rocco? How will Charlie do the same with his of Adam murdering Rocco? Can the budding romance between Adam and Fia survive the foreboding storm coming their way? There is also the quasi-mathematical question of how Big & Little Mo, and the Desire Crew, figure into the various intricate equations. What will poor Eugene do? Detective Costello? Frannie?

My goodness! The finale has one hour to unpack a load heavier than an elephant.

The first half of “Part Nine” is largely preoccupied with the fate of Joey, Carlo’s ex-buddy and drug addict, who has been running for his life in order to steer clear of Jimmy’s cronies. His solution is to run into the arms of the police, eager to spill the beans on Carlo’s killing of Kofi and on how Gina orchestrated her son’s transfer to the OPP, as long as Nancy Costello and Fiona McKee, who are questioning him at the station, guarantee him some type of immunity.

The news drops like a bomb on Michael whose duress is visible thanks to the wonderful camera work of director Eva Sørhaug in the scene in his chambers, as Fiona tells him about how Joey’s testimony must be allowed to shine the conclusive light on the case. Michael will allow it, but he has a plan that undoubtedly comes as a surprise to Jimmy (delightful little twist here) who was initially told by the judge that he would give a day-long recess for the defense to prepare their case, thus allowing Jimmy enough time to eliminate Joey.

His plan works to perfection, although from a narrative point of view, it pushes the boundaries of plausibility. I mean, they laid it on thick to say the least with Joey guzzling down the drugged water while he was testifying, and the timing of his collapse could not have been more conveniently perfect. One notable detail is Nancy’s close observation of Jimmy’s reactions to Joey’s passing out on the stand followed by his relieved glance toward Michael.

Outside the courtroom, the vaping Nancy crosses Jimmy and Frankie and warns them to stay away from “Michael, Adam.” Upon hearing the name, Jimmy and Frankie put two and two together, with an assist from social media, to realize that Fia’s boyfriend is indeed Michael’s son. In what way could that serve Jimmy, I am at a loss. Knowing how much he dotes on Fia, I sense that he will be reluctant to hurt Adam, especially after seeing Fia defy the priest and her mother at the house as she declares her undying love for the boy.

Speaking of Gina… The fact that Joey confirms what viewers learned back in “Part Four,” that Gina is the one holding the reins when it comes to the intimate Baxter-family-related matters, is yet another reminder of one of Your Honor‘s major shortcomings, which is how underutilized the talented Hope Davis and her character Gina remain. Five episodes later, and with only the season finale to go, we have seen nothing more than an occasional camera focus on her face, or a brief sentence or two coming out of her mouth. After seeing “Part Three” and “Part Four” back in December, I thought my concerns that I had expressed in my review of the pilot episode about Gina’s character getting shortchanged – consequently stifling Hope Davis’s ability to showcase her talent – were just paranoia on my part. Almost two months later, it turns out that they were not misplaced after all. We have only gotten snippets of an otherwise fascinating character that could be fleshed out in so many riveting ways.

With Joey promptly discredited as a witness and dismissed by Michael, the last half of the outing focuses on other matters such as, for example, Eugene’s place in the Desire crew. He is a clever boy and gets Big Mo’s attention when he suggests a way for them to launder the gang’s illegal money.

Meanwhile, the punctilious detective that she is, Nancy has uncovered some disturbing details about Robin’s death. She was cheating on Michael – and Michael admits to having knowledge of the affair, but not the details, or so he says – and Nancy needs the secret to come out in the open in order to properly search for the murder suspect in Robin’s death. Michael wants no part of it, claiming that he cannot “cope now” and that it would devastate Adam to learn of his mother’s cheating nature. Nancy turns to Elizabeth, basically putting the Senator in charge of informing Adam of his mother’s salacious escapades in a hotel room paid with cash under a fake name. Imagine revealing that to your grandson, “dear son, my daughter who is also your mother is not exactly the marvelous individual that we deemed her to be.”

Adam, behaving as a trial about a murder that he committed did not exist, is busy grappling with the triangle consisting of the bitter Frannie and his lover Fia. Frannie attempts to convince him to let Fia go, to no avail. Frannie is about to face problems of her own when Charlie catches up with her at a bar and basically threatens her to leave Adam alone or she may be headed to jail herself for having sex with a minor. Charlie comes across as the pompous older male bullying a young woman, until the moment when he discovers from Frannie no less that Adam is Rocco’s killer. She seems to be the last of his worries.

In perhaps the most engrossing scene of the hour, Zander fails miserably, under the concerned eyes of Jimmy, to get into Carlo’s thick skull the concept that he must appear remorseful on the stand about killing Kofi in “self-defense.” Carlo’s essence has traveled so far into the land of deplorability that his conscious is no longer capable of recognizing the issue at hand, unable to even feign any penitence.

The penultimate episode re-introduces the character of Rudy Cunningham (ha! I forgot to include his name in my paragraph on top about the plethora of plotlines) who was first seen in “Part Two.” Remember when Charlie got the phone-call chain going to handle the matter of getting someone to conveniently steal Michael’s car that Adam was driving on the day he killed Rocco? Yes, Rudy was an integral part of that ill-fated scheme.

Lee unloads on Eugene the reality of his brother not only being innocent in Rocco’s murder, but also of him taking the fall as a loyal soldier to Desire. She urges him to tell her if he has any knowledge of who may have been driving the car on that day because she is convinced that someone from Desire is the culprit. This is when Eugene drops the name Rudy that he heard Little Mo mention in an earlier scene. That is all the motivated lawyer needs to further pursue the matter and following a meticulous search on the database, she discovers that Rudy Cunningham was the cop who arrested Little Mo many times and yet none of the arrests led to charges. Talk about entering someone’s radar at warp speed.

The hour ends with Adam informing his dad that he is headed to meet up with his girlfriend. For all the energy Michael has invested into the nuts and bolts of Carlo’s case, he has not even cared to learn the identity of his son’s inamorata. Oh dear…

Last-minute thoughts:

— Joey tells Nancy and Fiona that he has been running for three months from “them,” as in Jimmy Baxter. Three months have passed since Carlo was arrested two episodes ago in “Part Seven”? It sure does not feel like it.

–We have yet another case of a man running – hobbling but still running – with a broken ankle and/or tibia bone (or something) in a TV show. I always want to know whenever I see this trope, but forget to ask. Can one run with a freshly broken ankle/bone? Is that even possible? My instinct says that it’s a load of codswallop.

— Michael still had time to get his daily jogging in during all this mess? I call codswallop on that too.

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“Part Eight” – Aired on January 31, 2021
Writer: Frank Baldwin
Director: Eva Sørhaug
Grade: 5 out of 5

Notice: All episode reviews contain spoilers

“Part Eight” is a standout episode that grounds the court case – that may as well be labeled unofficially at this point, the Desiato vs. Baxter case – as the central development, while draining out (and I mean that in a good way) the various plot distractions that seemed to hinder, to some small degree, the organic progress of the show’s main storylines over the last two episodes. It accomplished that in the most preferable manner, via first-rate performances by every actor, and by challenging the audience to carefully observe the ominous courtroom scenes. This is an hour of characters with a purpose, dialogues with meaning, and visceral reactions stemming from genuine emotions, the best one Your Honor had to offer since “Part Two.”

If you are fan of the show, you should probably invest enough time to view this episode at least twice, in order to discern many of the subtleties in the characters’ behavior, and why they make certain noteworthy remarks that may at first sound trivial to the casual ear. There is a lot of commendable attention to details here, an often-underrated aspect in this era of binging, for which writer Frank Baldwin and director Eva Sørhaug should be praised.

After Sarah’s disastrous evening in “Part Seven,” undoubtedly orchestrated by the Baxter family’s cronies with collaboration from Michael – or should he also be counted as a Baxter crony at this point? To be contemplated – “Part Eight” opens with Sarah confiding in Michael her thoughts on the options offered to her. She opposes settling for rehab in exchange for charges against her dropped and her arrest record expunged. Michael, feigning to be the ‘concerned’ best friend, warns her about the dire consequences of losing if she goes to trial, which would mean that she would have a felony on her record. He states, “that’s your judgeship.” In fact, Judge LeBlanc’s oh-so-worried colleague and friend pleads with her to take the settlement: “Sarah, please, you’ve got to be smart now.”

Sarah remains unconvinced, suspecting that she was set up, and wants revenge against the culprits. She doubts that the D.A. “has the balls” to convict a judge. This is when Michael resorts to Plan B and shows her a video on his phone. It is an edited clip of her arrest that shows her as the one being confrontational and using profanity to insult the cops (this is also a nice tie-in clarification to why the one cop, in the previous episode, leaned into the car, and with a firm tone, whispered to Sarah, “hands on the fucking wheel!”)

Let with no choice, Sarah will take the settlement. She tells Michael what he wanted to hear all along, that he should take the case because he is the “only one” in the courthouse who will choose justice over corruption (Your Honor’s writing room can probably integrate bitter irony into dialogues in their sleep by now).

So, begins the trial, with Judge Desiato informing the involved parties that neither the press nor the public will be allowed in the courtroom.

Prosecutor Fiona McKee (Maura Tierner) addresses the jury first. She argues that she has proof to show that Carlo has the “nature, motive, opportunity” to kill Kofi. Her deliveries are effective, if you can overlook the excessively dramatic six back-fist bangs to the wooden area behind the judge’s bench. She also claims that Jimmy Baxter was tipped off about the arrest, noting his frantic calls to Carlo’s phone on his way to the hotel. This is when Michael makes his “first move,” one of many to come in order to keep Fiona in check, I presume, and wants to know if she has the evidence necessary to prove her claim. She does not (yet) know who tipped Jimmy off and that is enough for Michael to instruct the jury to “unhear” what they heard. “Let me do the work on what should be the evidence,” he tells them, adding in a soothing tone that that they should trust him.

Carlo’s lawyer Zander takes center stage next. He begins by quoting Shakespeare, honing in on the writer’s use of the word “home,” to somehow draw a parallel to Carlo’s cell being his home on that night at the OPP. Because, you see, Zander continues, Kofi invaded Carlo’s “home” that night with the intention of killing him, thus forcing Carlo to defend himself. He reminds everyone that Kofi confessed only a few days earlier to the killing of Carlo’s brother. Of course, Carlo would defend himself against the man who “bribed” the prison guards so that he could walk “300 yards from his cell” on his way to killing him.

During a recess, a member of the jury leaves a note to Michael that reads, “does the case law say NO self-defense in prison cells?” A problematic question for Michael who also faces the question of how he is going to manage the fact that everyone around him, from Sarah to the court clerk Betty (Geraldine Hughes, first appeared in “Part Two”), to the hostess (Rachel Whitman Groves) at the restaurant later, is cheering for him, assuming naturally that he will be motivated to take Carlo down, because he is “that judge” who stands tall behind the marginalized ones.

First witness is Justin James, the kid whose spine Carlo broke three years ago. Justin was also curb-checked – meaning that his jaw was placed on the sidewalk and head stomped from behind – six times. This is a damaging testimony against Carlo, and while Michael appears to be concerned for Justin, going as far as noting that surely Zander would not want to take up too much of the young man’s time so that he can back to the comfort of his home, he still finds a sneaky way to attract Zander’s attention to the tattoo of the letter “D” on Justin’s neck. Zander gets the subtle message and asks Justin to explain the meaning of the “D” so that the jury can know about him being a member of the Desire, the same gang to which Kofi belonged. Zander’s point goes unsaid. Carlo not being a popular figure among the Desire crew, it would behoove Kofi to kill him that night at the OPP.

During short break, Michael walks outside to get some air, which gets noticed by Nancy who is sitting in her car. She also spots Jimmy resolutely walking toward Michael, except that Michael, having seen Jimmy, quickly walks back into the building. Nancy gets out of her car to warn Jimmy that she has her eyes on him. This sequence is well-directed and shows in an harmonious way the contrasting intentions of all three characters. Nancy believes that she is protecting Michael, and Jimmy and Michael would probably prefer that she believes that. It would have been worse had Jimmy and Michael met outside the door and talked under the scrupulous detective’s suspicious eyes.

Later, Det. Cusack takes the stand and Zander asks him to describe Kofi on the day of Rocco’s death. Fiona objects because it calls for speculation, ironically unaware that she is the only one of consequence in that courtroom seeking justice for Kofi. Just to clarify how far the cards are stacked against her, she is essentially asking a corrupt judge, who is desperate to have Carlo exonerated, to sustain her objection against the corrupt opposing lawyer who is questioning the corrupt policeman working for Jimmy Baxter. Sadly, the only one who is unaware of how utterly lonely Fiona is in that courtroom, is Fiona herself.

Michael overrules the objection, naturally, and Cusack, feigning at first to be bothered by having to “speak ill of the dead,” states that Kofi “looked like nothing had happened” and that he had “just finished eating a bacon sandwich.” How could a man, wonders Cusack loudly, who just murdered a motorcyclist behave as if it were “just another Tuesday”?

Michael checks the notebooks of the jury members and figures out from the handwriting which one wrote the note about “NO self-defense in prison” (the camera frequently focusing on the woman during trial probably gave it away to the astute viewer long before this moment).

Elsewhere, Eugene is resisting Lee’s offer to help him, saying that Little Mo takes better care of him via weekly cash. He hands over Kofi’s baseball to Lee when she promises to sell it for him.

Frannie tells Adam that she is resigning from the high school and cheerfully announces that the two of them will not have to hide their love for each other anymore. They can live happily ever after in New York where she can find another teaching job and Adam will be 18 years old soon anyway. Adam grimly informs her that he did not get accepted to NYU. Little does Frannie know that Adam just lied through his teeth (he has yet to hear from NYU), that he is no longer in love with her, and that he’d now rather stay in New Orleans with Fia. The acceptance letter arrives but Michael opens it up first without Adam’s knowledge and decides to throw a surprise celebration for his son at a restaurant, with Elizabeth, Charlie, and Lee present.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, Michael notices Frankie at the bar, which means that Jimmy is waiting for him outside at the back. Jimmy scolds Michael for allowing Justin James to make his son look a racist killer. Cranston produces what I consider to be the season’s best Michael Desiato delivery thus far: “I am Gregory fucking Peck in there!”

According to Michael, the jury is looking for someone to be their dad, and Judge Desiato is “giving them that.” Once they start trusting him as such, he plans to use it to his advantage when it matters the most:

“I tell them what to think. They won’t know what’s happening. They won’t ever see it happening. But it will happen. Twelve of our peers will do exactly what I want them to do.”

Jimmy approves and places a burner phone in Michael’s pocket with only his number to dial. His message is clear. Judge Desiato has until 10 AM in two days to fulfill his promise, or else. Jimmy emphasizes that “deadline” has a literal meaning as he walks away. It’s easily the best Michael-Jimmy dialogue to date, certainly a step up from their trope-filled, cloying confrontations over the previous couple of episodes.

Elizabeth notices Jimmy and his “Celtic goon” (her quote) outside the establishment getting in their car when she arrives for the celebration. When she tells Michael later about it, he brushes it off as coincidence, imploring Elizabeth not to fall into the clutches of paranoia. At this point, I cannot tell who is the better “actor.” Bryan Cranston or Michael Desiato.

Once the secret revealed, Adam does not appear excited about getting accepted to NYU and mentions something about wanting to take a gap year in New Orleans. Everyone is stunned, except Charlie who suspects that a woman has something to do with his change of heart. As Charlie drives him home later, he gives the young man some godfatherly advice about not interrupting his life for someone else.

Also looking for ways to convince Adam to take the offer and leave for New York, Adam solicits Frannie’s help. He asks her to talk to him, but Frannie is stunned herself to learn that Adam lied to her about his non-acceptance to NYU, although she hides her surprise from Michael.

On the witness stand, Dr. Grether, the examiner from “Part Five” who, following his autopsy of Kofi’s brain, confirmed that the youngster was indeed beaten to death, manages to paint a gruesome picture of Kofi’s brain to the members of the jury by only using words because Michael did not allow graphic pictures to be shown in the courtroom. Grether punctiliously notes every detail of debris found in Kofi’s skull following the repeated bashing of his head against the cement wall, to the point where Michael probably wondered if he would have been better off allowing Fiona to use photos.

Remember Ms. Long (Deneen Tyler), the jury member with the note? Her phone got hacked and contains a message that violates Michael’s established rules in court. He informs her “regretfully” (wink) that she must be replaced. She is not convinced, so he advises her to put her daughter’s happiness first (a lot of subtext here) and assures her that Carlo Baxter will pay for his crime with or without her on the jury. Never has a jury member been this emotionally manipulated by a judge, I reckon.

The episode comes to a close with a montage sequence, a tradition by now for Your Honor, in which Frannie snoops on Adam and sees him holding hands with Fia, Jimmy gazes upon the streets of New Orleans from his balcony, and Michael stares at the empty jury chairs in his courtroom.

Last-minute thoughts:

— In another moment of irony, Sarah informs Michael that she was on her way to his surprise party when the police stopped her.

— I hope to see a close-up of the jury member sitting in the back corner so I can check out his authentic-looking, white, rolled mustache.

— Isn’t Michael worried one bit that the baseball somehow made the rounds from Adam’s car to Kofi, to Eugene, and now to Lee?

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