All Rise Review: Hear My Voice (Season 2 Episode 15)

With two of the most emotionally intense cases we’ve seen all season happening simultaneously, All Rise Season 2 Episode 15, “Hear My Voice,” packs two hours worth of content into a single episode—and excels at it.  

Everything that takes place to bring Sheriff McCarthy to justice could easily fill an hour by itself. Mark takes the brunt of this on his shoulders with no outlet to vent to. He’s unable to talk to Lola and unwilling to reach out to Amy after hearing of her marriage.

His stress and exhaustion make the stakes of this case all the more real. He’s also not the only one willing to give it all. Against the advice of basically everyone else, Luke is fiercely determined to testify against McCarthy at the risk of his own career.

Omar returns as well, determined to see the sheriff held accountable. The anger with which he last left Mark has vanished, and he brings perhaps the best key to a guilty verdict. Yet efforts are shut down repeatedly in a grueling and frustrating process.

We see less of McCarthy himself than we do of his lawyer. Cuthbert has been an antagonist for several episodes now, and here moves from irritatingly smug to downright alarming. Anne Heche plays great villain on a show that has so few real ones.

In a last, climactic showdown, McCarthy bitterly and angrily tries to defend the pains of being a police officer. It would almost work if not for all he’d done, and Mark throws all that misconduct back in the man’s face in a searing examination.

The guilty verdict is more a relief than true justice. Omar and so many others hurt by McCarthy will never truly recover. Still, it’s enough to make seeing Lola and Mark finally get to talk to each other on the rooftop all the more sweet.

If you’re looking for moments to catch your breath amid this drama, they’ll be hard to find. In another court, Emily’s devotion to standing up for Nikki has lead to a trial with an accusation of child abuse with Sam taking the lead for the prosecution.

There are so many wrenching moments. Nikki struggles to accept her pain and lashes out briefly at Emily in defense of the mother she loves. Yet when Whitney’s lawyer tries to define the abuse as discipline, she is able to press back and demand her own justice.

Sam is at the top of her game, taking the ball Emily has handed with her and running with it for Nikki’s sake. We can all see she’s been ready to step into the role of first chair for a while and will hopefully do so many times over now.

We also can’t forget that this has been Sara’s cause from the start. Nikki will be safe and Whitney will get help because of her. I love the moment between her and Benner and hope her time reflect leads to a whole new path in her life.

But there are still more heartstrings to be pulled. Joaquin reappears and takes Emily to help reunite a mother and daughter separated by deportation. It’s a sweet story with a beautiful and moving end result.

Of course we can’t help but wonder why we’re shown these scenes of the two caring for a young girl overnight just as Emily seems to be pulling away from him and toward Luke. Is this just another way to delay the decision audiences are waiting for?

I’m choosing to believe instead that its more about giving Emily this thing to celebrate and showing that Joaquin is a good man even if he’s not her end game. Given how many shows treat the characters who “break” ships badly, that’s something I can get behind.

Lastly, just when we’re ready to celebrate our wins and enjoy Lola dancing down a hallway, David Sanders arrives to announce a threat to her job. Again. C’mon, All Rise, look at all the amazing and original things you’ve done here. Give Lola better!

Other Notes

• Wasn’t Bravo really opposing all this for most of the season? It’s great that he’s an advocate, but I’d largely expected to see him become a foe.
• Maybe save giving away pens you’ve chewed on away as mementos until after this pandemic is fully over, okay Mark?
• The bits of Mark/Amy drama are too quick to process. All I’ll say for now is that though Mark really should listen to Amy, he deserves the same time she got to process things. Jury’s out for now.

 

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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