All Rise Review: A View from the Bus (Season 1 Episode 4)

A tumultuous field trip puts a case at risk on All Rise Season 1 Episode 4, “A View from the Bus.”

For quite some time, a jury’s bus journey out to a crime scene feels more like a grade school field trip than anything else. Hot, cramped quarters, single-file lines, adults in authority checking lists of names and giving careful orders.

Of course, all these regulations serve a purpose. Dozens of children outside a confined setting are open to all sorts of externalities. The same thing applies here—and those externalities come in the form of gunshots.

It’s doubly unfortunate because the plan, on Lola’s request, goes surprisingly well until a shooter is seen in the area. There’s a lot of care put in to setting up the exact circumstances faced by Dylan, who is accused of murder.

The terrifying circumstances aren’t the point so much as the aftermath is. Can a jury really be fair after such an experience? How can Lola handle a man’s fate without reflecting bias?

This is the first time we see her not just discouraged or stressed out, but deeply affected by the possibility of a case falling apart. She does the best she can, but it’s hard to see her doubt herself.

It’s also the first time I’ve been completely unsure of a case going how we want it to. We feel a moment where Dylan loses his cool on the stand like a physical blow, almost as much as Emily does in defending him.

There are certainly points to be made about bias, but this case doesn’t directly call back to real-life current events. Our emotions lie directly in the hands of characters, and we are drawn in until the end, when Dylan is exonerated and we’re able to exhale.

The question remains as to whether Lola’s creativity will at some point backfire in a way that can’t be saved. If only because the law is often so adverse to creativity, I worry it may just be a matter of time.

Switching to a case with the kind of person we want to see locked up brings back one Jackie Leyland. You’ll remember her setting up evidence that would have put an innocent pregnant girl away, and only getting noticed by Luke in a stroke of luck.

Despite the defendant being a truly dangerous man, and despite the discouragement at knowing what it will mean for his past and future victims to bring evidence into question, we probably won’t remember him later. We will remember Leyland.

She’s already got a grudge against Luke, Emily, and Lola for playing a role in getting her manipulation of evidence exposed. Now, Mark sets the wheels in motion for consequences that could cost her career and reputation.

I’m not sure if All Rise is the kind of show to follow the “Big Bad” trope. If it is, Leyland is a prime candidate. She may well try and take as many people down with her as she can, and that spells trouble for everyone.

As solid and affecting as these cases are, the downside is seeing the interactions that are the show’s backbone be pushed into limited screen time. The moments we do get are wonderful, just short.

A few moments still stand out: Lola gently teasing Mark in the wake of disaster as only true friends can, finally getting a bit more time with her husband, and seeing Mark’s boss Choi step into a role as good guy again.

Better still, Emily and Luke’s relationship status is all but official now. I love that just watching her passion in court can inspire him to consider being a public defender, trying as such a career can be.

This is the point where many other shows decide to make something go wrong. I have confidence that this show can be happy just setting their characters be happy.

…Please, just let them be happy. They at least deserve that much.

 

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

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All Rise airs Mondays at 9/8c on CBS.

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