Your Honor (Season 2), Episode 1: Your Honor’s first season showed a father’s persistent efforts to save his son from a legal conviction. We see a court judge’s life turning upside down after learning about a shocking revelation, which mentally removes him from his duty to law and ethics. You see a premise unfold, eerily similar to the actor’s previous show (arguably the best TV show ever), where a father goes bad for the sake of his family. However, despite the familiar themes, Bryan Cranston’s inimitable persona and his command over bringing the emotional depth of his characters, make this Showtime series, a riveting watch.
Now that it has reached its second season, we witness a number of new revelations in the characters’ lives.
Your Honor (Season 2), Episode 1 Recap:
Written by Joey Hartstone, ‘Part Eleven’ is directed by Peter Sollett. The first season ended with Adam Desiato (Hunter Dooham) getting shot dead by Eugene Jones (Benjamin Flores Jr.), brother of Kofi, who was wrongfully convicted in a hit-and-run case of the younger son of Baxters, to save Adam from jail time. Turns out, Eugene wanted to kill Carlo (Jimi Stanton) and misses the shot, which hits Adam. Carlo was responsible for Kofi’s brutal murder, and still, he was let go by the court jury. That was Eugene’s motive for the hit. However, before delving into that, the episode begins with the current state of Michael (Bryan Cranston) inside a jail.
Two security guards arrive in his cell to wake him up, and we see him with a long beard, unkempt hair, and a fragile body. He reached this stage because of not consuming anything in a while, probably owing to the terrible fate of his son he had to bear witness to. He is forcefully fed some nutrients by the guards since the prison does not want him to die out of starvation. Later, a psychiatrist tries to speak with him for him to open up about his terrible mental state. However, he keeps mum during the interaction.
On the other hand, we also see the event right after the shooting. Eugene runs out to save himself, and Carlo follows him to hunt down and bring him back. Meanwhile, Jimmy (Michael Stuhlbarg) and Gina (Hope Davis) bring Fia (Lilli Kay) back home, who has not been able to recover from the shock of her boyfriend – Adam’s death. Soon after, Jimmy’s right hand, Frankie (Tony Curran), informs that Carlo started following the shooter and that he is on the lookout for Carlo. Meanwhile, Det. Nancy Costello (Amy Landecker) arrives at the crime scene and learns about Adam’s death. While her initial instinct is to contact Michael herself to inform him about it, she learns that he witnessed Adam’s death in person.
After Carlo returns home safely, Jimmy calls Big Mo (Andrene Ward-Hammond) to speak about Eugene. Since he was under her wing, Jimmy considers her to be responsible for his actions. She notes that the isolated attack was not by her command and that it was done by Euegene out of his personal vendetta. She does not want this incident to turn into some war between their gangs. However, Jimmy does not let her get out of responsibility that easily.
In prison, Michael gets a visit from Olivia Delmont (Rosie Perez), who is an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana. She tries to make him open up about his confession, where he disclosed his personal involvement in the crime. In the confession tape, he stated the truth about helping Carlo not get convicted in exchange for maintaining his son’s innocence in the eyes of the law. Olivia wants this evidence to be sealed and Michael to get out of prison. She wants to use him to learn more about these crime families. Since that tape will show him as a snitch to the Baxters, she wants it destroyed.
Meanwhile, after getting hold of Eugene, he is kept in captivity by Big Mo in order to sacrifice him to maintain her peaceful relationship with the Baxter family. On the other hand, Carlo is pushed by Gina to act upon what happened instead of wasting his rage. So, he invites himself to Mo’s place, hoping to get hold of this kid. So, she calls Jimmy to inform him about Carlo’s impulsiveness, and since Jimmy does not want the matters to go overboard, he assures to keep his son under control.
Upon Carlo’s return, Jimmy tells him to be patient than senselessly impulsive. He wants his son to look at the bigger picture and not see patience as a sign of inaction. Contrary to that, Gina sees firm acts as a better way forward. Meanwhile, Fia goes to meet Michael in prison to learn more details about the late Adam. She wants to know if Adam truly loved her. However, Michael has no energy to explain anything in detail.
What does the prison rodeo scene signify?
After their interaction, all the prisoners are seen being taken to a prison rodeo, where they are supposed to be the target for the bulls in the game of convict poker. While being presented as a real event from their lives, it appears to be a part of Michael’s absurd dreamscape, where he is thinking of the terrible fate he is subjected to despite being a moral judge throughout his life. He sees other convicts from his table being attacked by the bull one after the other. When only one person is left besides him, the man says that the bull decides who wins and who loses. The very next moment, Michael gets attacked, indicating how his destiny is not necessarily dependent on the choices he makes.
Your Honor (Season 2), Episode 1 Ending Explained:
Does Michael accept Olivia’s offer?
Despite Big Mo’s orders, Little Mo (Keith Machekanyanga) decides to help out young Eugene by giving him some cash to get out of New Orleans to make better use of his life. Big Mo hears about it and tells him that she will take care of his irresponsible attitude later. She meets Charlie Figaro (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) along with police officer Rudy Cunningham (Cullen Moss). Since Charlie is hoping to be the next mayor of the city, he wants the city to be considered a safe place for his citizens. On the other hand, he also wants to get justice for the killer of his grandson – Adam.
Since Big Mo has lost Eugene, she tells Charlie a way out of this conundrum – by using a different body just for the purpose of showing people that they caught the culprit. Things work out accordingly when Eugene leaves the city to start a new life. In prison, Olivia gives Michael another visit and blackmails him with an old recording where he stated Charlie’s involvement in getting his wife’s car stolen. Knowing his close relationship with Charlie, she understands that he wouldn’t want to jeopardize this friend’s chances of getting elected as mayor.
As a result, he accepts the deal and, soon after, gets out on parole. Olivia calls him to congratulate him on his decision. It looks like Michael is out to be used by her to investigate the intricate details of this crime family. But who knows? Maybe he has come out to seek his personal vendetta against Jimmy Baxter, who did not keep his word and threatened to kill Adam even after receiving help in getting Carlo out of conviction. Only the future episodes will tell what lies ahead in the fate of this tormented man.
Also, Read: Velma (Season 1), Episodes 1 and 2: Recap and Ending Explained
Trailer
Your Honor (Season 2), Episode 1 Show Links – IMDb
Your Honor (Season 2), Episode 1 Show Cast – Bryan Cranston, Hope Davis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Amy Landecker, Margo Martindaleax
Where to watch Your Honor
