Conviction Review: A Simple Man (Season 1 Episode 7)

Conviction Season 1 Episode 7, “A Simple Man,” stays on the same path of keeping the attention of viewers, this time by changing the game up and having a documentary crew follow Hayes and the CIU around on their newest case.

I want to start off by saying that these cameramen really annoy me.

Not only do they try to get information for a documentary on Leo Scarlata, but they also push past their rights by driving wedges in between the members of CIU and filming more than what is needed to push buttons.

When Sam throws Maxine under the bus, I lose it.

Yeah, it’s a spur of the moment thing, and he tries to take it back, but as a lawyer who wanted to be head of the CIU, he should know not to talk about personal matters that don’t involve the case. No matter what the film crew wants.

Even though Paul, the documentary leader, is annoying and not wanted, he does a superb job at getting Tess and Frankie to open up about their past.

Tess has never shared what happened to her to the team, but the minute the camera is on her and someone becomes a little pushy she just starts to open up and spill information. It turns out she never finished the Bar examination because of Matty getting to leave prison.

The fact that Tess wrongfully accused someone and ruined their life devastated her, making her change her mind on what she wanted to do. So, instead of becoming a prosecutor she joined the CIU to help get innocent people out of prison.

I hope that later on we eventually see Tess and Matty sit down and have a one-on-one chat about what happened.

Tess needs to get her apology out to help herself grow, but Matty also deserves to know the truth. And, I mean, he can rightfully be mad at first, but I don’t think he would stay mad for long because Tess was just a child. A child who had her aunt murdered right in front of her.

As for Frankie, we now know just why he is obsessed with trying to help out Rey.

Rey helped Frankie turn his life around and focus on what he wanted to do while he was locked up. He helped Frankie get through that incredibly hard time in his life. So, Frankie is obviously going to feel indebted to him because without him he may not have made it out alive.

I’m very curious to see if Frankie is actually in love with Rey or if it was just because he was locked up with him for three years and got lonely.

The camera men don’t push Maxine to tell her backstory, but the suicide of George in Episode 6, “#StayWoke,” has shaken her up. It’s shaken her up to the point where she breaks her nineteen months worth of sobriety and takes a pill.

For some reason, that small scene by itself upsets me more than anything else that happens in this episode. Maxine was face to face with a mentally unstable man who could’ve easily killed her and then here comes Sam saying that she could’ve done something different and let him live.

Yeah, Maxine did have some thoughts about using again, but Sam was the one who pushed her to use, and that needs to be acknowledged later on.

It feels like Conviction has finally found its footing and that makes me euphoric. The beginning episodes were not that enjoyable, but now I look forward to the show every week.

Other Thoughts:

• I wish to accomplish the level of pettiness that is Hayes Morrison.
• Hayes had every right to call out the camera men, calling them whores, which isn’t an unreasonable stretch, but calling Wallace a whore along with them might’ve been a little much. Even if it justifiable since he’s the one who picked the case and sent them to Hayes.
• I didn’t like Hayes and Wallace together at first because I didn’t think he really cared about her anymore, but the more he keeps talking good about Hayes to other people without getting anything in return makes me want to see them together.

What did you think of this episode of Conviction? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Conviction airs Monday at 10/9c on ABC.

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