All Rise Review: Uncommon Women and Mothers (Season 1 Episode 7)

An earthquake is an apt metaphor for interactions between multiple characters, including Lola and her mother, on All Rise Season 1 Episode 7, “Uncommon Women and Mothers.”

Until now, we’ve gotten comfortable in a groove of rooting for all our characters. Emily defends people who don’t deserve to go to prison while Mark prosecutes those who do. Lola works outside the box to find solutions that work for everyone.

Still, Mark works for the DA, and we must realize he’s sometimes going to go up against people we like. If they’re lucky, those people will have Emily Lopez at their side. So here we are, with the busiest episode of All Rise to date.

Before we even get to the courtroom where Emily and Mark will face off for the first time, we meet Lola’s mother, Roxie, and hear her frank opinion about Lola’s role in the justice system. Do we even need a literal earth shaking at this point?

The case itself is one of many working parts, all of which overlap. Emily’s client is a homeless nonbinary youth named Jax, charged with an arson they did indeed commit. Yet the extenuating circumstances are major—including what Jax will face in prison.

There’s no doubt we want Emily to win this one. It means we also want Mark to lose, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s important that we face the more unpleasant moments of his role as prosecutor head on.

The degree to which we really do that can be debated. Mark is so uncomfortable in his position that we’re able to avoid seeing him as a bad guy. There’s a good argument that we should be more uncomfortable that we are, even if he does have to do his job.

In the end, Emily gives a beautiful, passionate argument about guilt not being a black and white issue, and Jax is only found guilty of a misdemeanor, a sentence that will keep them our of jail. It’s a welcome end to a bumpy ride, complete with an important discussions of pronouns.

The biggest bump is certainly Roxie, and not only because Mark kind of has her put in a cell for contempt when she refuses to present incriminating information. The cross-examination may be awkward, but Roxie’s role as mother is much more interesting.

We knew, from past conversations and opening scenes, that she has real issues with Lola’s specific choice of profession that haven’t gone away now that her daughter is a judge. She’s never seen Lola in court, and that’s lead to some resentment for them both.

There are several frank conversations here, and while the two women move toward understanding, there’s always going to be a degree of disconnect. Roxie works on behalf of the disadvantaged. Lola, though she shares her mother’s views, must sometimes see them punished.

Roxie isn’t just a maternal figure to Lola. Her conversations with Mark outside of court (and that bit where he indirectly sends her to jail) are touching. If anything, he sees Roxie in a better light than her daughter does, contrasting her with his father.

Victor Callan is a whole other episode arc, complete with the unexpected revelation that Mark and his father lived out of their car for a time when Mark was just a kid. That connection to the homeless is just another part of his discomfort with his side in the case.

At the insistence of both Lola and Roxie, Mark goes to talk with his dad again. It does not go spectacularly. How much can we like a man who regularly chooses his shady business over his own son?

That’s a question we’re probably going to answer. That bit where Vic coughs and quickly dismisses concern is one of the oldest tropes in the book. The man is totally dying, by the end of the season if not before. So there’s that to…look forward to, I guess?

But wait, there’s more! This packed episode also has a lot of side plots to offer us, the most prominent being Lola turning down a warrant that is then approved by Benner, as both the detective and her fellow judge go over her head. Yikes.

This is as awkward as it sounds. Lola confronts Benner and immediately regrets it. Yet they both have a point: for serving the warrant, not serving the warrant, and taking advantage of the power to rule over a judge with less experience.

I feel like there’s a lot of work through this episode to make it so we can empathize with every person at every stage. There are positive and negative aspects to this goal, even if we do achieve it.

A couple final elements share a theme of feeling unnecessary but leading to positive ends. There’s a weird argument about whether Sara or Sherri should be an earthquake warden. A man keeps awkwardly bringing a document full of typos to Sherri.

When Lola is given the title instead, getting a little yellow vest to wear over her robes, and when we see the guy is actually flirting with Sherri, we can accept these bits as lighthearted distractions. That’s less true with Emily and Luke.

It’s just a bit too cliché that Emily should suddenly express reluctance about moving forward with Luke. At this late stage of her divorce, it shouldn’t be so much of an issue for her to start a relationship with a much better person than her ex

We make it all work when we get to the root cause. The emotional and physical harm Emily’s ex caused her has left her uncomfortable with her own role in relationships and reluctant to be so involved again. Can’t we prosecute this jerk?

It brings us to a wonderful scene where Sara argues on behalf of Emily loving herself and giving herself permission to be happy. The running theme of Sara not getting the amount of attention she deserves goes on, because this is a message we should all hear.

I’ve missed the focus on relationships a bit in some recent episode. This one is like getting it by ton of bricks from that department. It’s a lot to sort through, but that’s worth doing. These people are complex, flawed, and real. What good is a show without that?

 

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

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

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

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

What to Watch on TV This Week: His Dark Materials, Batwoman, Let It Snow