Trial and Error Review: A Family Affair / Bad Instincts (Season 2 Episodes 7 and 8)

Can you believe that we’re almost to the final two episodes of Trial and Error?

Now that the trial of Lavinia Peck-Foster has “officially” ended, the retrial of Jesse Ray Beaumont has begun in the town of East Peck. With Josh still struggling along at the helm, things have gotten much crazier, much funnier, and more twisty by the minute!

In Trial and Error Season 2 Episode 7, “A Family Affair,” Dwayne may have found his birth mother…Lavinia Peck-Foster. Since the Reeds and Pecks have been fighting since the dawn of East Peck time, this revelation (true or not) turned out to be another signature wrench in the story.

A family affair, indeed.

Holy Reed! I’m a Peck! – Dwayne Reed

Then, Trial and Error Season 2 Episode 8, “Bad Instincts,” really delves into the Jesse Ray Beaumont trial. In terms of being a client, Jesse Ray is much more like Larry Henderson than Lavinia, which makes for a lot of great gags.

Lavinia’s secret pregnancy and mysterious child adds a layer of familiarity to the story. It was not uncommon in old-fashioned southern towns for pregnant, unwed teenagers to be sent to boarding schools.

So Lavinia’s pregnancy and subsequent sending of the baby to Italy just fits so perfectly with the story. Then in true Trial and Error fashion, adding Dwayne as the potential grown-up version of the missing baby just works.

This story leads to all sorts of great bits of comedy, from Dwayne trying to use (not quite the right) big words, to wearing shoelaces, to being willfully ignorant of her stealing their evidence.

As alluded to previously, the Jesse Ray Beaumont trial is a more direct follow up to the Larry Henderson trial, thanks in large part to the silly gags.

Josh getting a naked tackle (repeatedly) and the repeated passbook and lawn-mowing references all really land and only make me wish a little for Larry to be the one participating in them.

Trial and Error is doing a great job planting seeds that grow into things later. Lavinia’s fake passport, for instance, was a seed planted over the better part of two episodes that grew into an episode-ending twist. This works as a gag, as a hook to go from episode to episode, and a way to keep focused viewers engaged.

I know that I spent the whole episode saying “THE PASSPORT IS FAKE” but I would never have guessed that Mickey Moose giving East Peck a second Friday would create the gaping hole in the case.

Seeds are planted early and pay off later.

Here are a few other stray thoughts:

• Judge Kamiltow’s plans to become a singer were actually a little bit heartbreaking. But it’s also funny because he has a dirty name and his voice squeaks.
• I can’t just pick one great name from these episodes, so here are some of the greatest hits: Dr. Rock ‘N Law, Dem Nutz, and Forge Clooney.
• Speaking of Dr. Rock N Law, can we get a real life album release?
• Alice in Wonderland syndrome isn’t my favorite (that’s reserved for inappropriate laughter) but it IS pretty great.
• “I put my lawnmower in your shed.” We all know what that means.
• I know Lavinia has since refuted those claims, but does anyone else think Dwayne might still be her child? Show of hands?

Trial and Error, at its core, works. The gags land, the twists are engaging, it never takes itself too seriously but can still be culturally relevant. It’s difficult to find anything not to like. You know what that means, right?

#SaveTrialandError

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Trial and Error airs Thursdays at 9/8c on NBC.

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