Detox
With a couple of solid episodes under its belt, For Life returns this week for a more episodic slice of courtroom drama, as Wallace tackles his second case following his big win. This one proves to be much more challenging than Wallace first imagined and it brings with it a whole slew of issues. With the Warden now on his side, episode 3 of For Life begins with Wallace taking on prison inmate Hassan’s case. Wallace gives him advice and convinces him to phone his brother, who happens to be a police officer, where he subsequently heads down to the prison and hears out Wallace. He wants Hassan’s brother to testify given Hassan pleaded guilty during a detox to drugs and since then, he’s changed and is now sober. Only, Hassan’s past is dark and wretched, having torn his family apart thanks to his crack addiction. He tells Wallace that everyone behind bars deserves to be there and leaves. While Wallace talks to Hassan about how he got his law degree and what’s driving him to succeed, the Mayor hears from Micelli what Wallace is planning to do. He heads straight to the prison with a search warrant, intending to sift through the security footage, where they see first-hand Wallace giving his wife the forged note, which looks pretty incriminating, despite them not seeing exactly what he handed over. Scrambling, the Warden speaks to the officers to try and get to the bottom of what happened. In court, Aaron begins his case and the officer admits that his brother was detoxing when the sentencing was originally given. While the Judge deliberates on his decision, Wallace pleads with Hassan’s brother to check the police records and retrieve his file but he refuses, telling him he has a life and can’t risk jeopardizing that Of course, Aaron bites back but it’s not enough to convince him, and he heads back to his place in court, defeated. It’s also not enough for the Judge either, who declines his motion based on lack of evidence and planning. Marie is also brought in for questioning with the Mayor, who shows her the prison footage and gauges her reaction. After letting her go, Darius picks her up and berates his partner, telling her she needs to make sure she doesn’t get in trouble because of her ex. Wallace plays his trump card and phones Hassan’s brother with an idea to get Hassan out. He presents his new findings about Hassan’s dwellings to the Judge and it’s enough for him to begin looking into this newfound evidence. Only…it’s not enough to change his mind and despite the clever argument Wallace poses, the Judge hammers down the law and keeps the sentencing as it is. Back at the prison, the Warden speaks to Wallace about what he’s been doing and outright confronts him about lying. It causes extra security checks to take place both sides of the fence, as Wallace apologises to Marie for bringing her into this. She carries with her his police file, which Hassan’s brother managed to retrieve. He tells her this package is going to get him home and as she turns and walks away, Wallace heads back to his cell with a newfound purpose. Although the episode itself serves as a stand-alone segment and doesn’t do an awful lot to progress the over-arching plot, it does well to throw in some curve-balls and losses for Wallace to deal with. It’s this honesty and intention to try and show both sides of the law that make this such a compelling drama and the show does really well to present this in an exciting and engrossing manner. With Wallace now in possession of his file, all eyes turn to next week’s episode as we’re left with plenty of questions over what direction this one is likely to go.
