How much help is too much? This is something that Lola is wondering after she was pleased to discover in the previous episode that there were plenty of people who would rally around her if she needed them.

Now, though, all the attention and fussing is getting a little bit wearing, and the one person whose company she’d most appreciate, her husband Robin, turns up out of the blue not to see her but to interfere in her latest case.

That case concerns a gentleman named Lucky, a rather unwilling FBI informant, which causes problems for both Emily, his lawyer, and Lola, the presiding judge, since Robin failed to mention this to her despite the pretty obvious conflict of interest. Of course, both are used to not discussing their work with one another, but this feels different. Eventually, Benner takes over, which feels right professionally, and Emily is able to negotiate Lucky a good deal – she even sits in on the undercover sting he’s to participate in, which is, thankfully, a success.

Luke’s case in “Bad Beat” involves a young man who only just turned 18 being charged with possession for sale; all he sees when he looks at Jamal is a child, but he’s well aware that all his office sees when they look at him is a young Black man who should be made an example of. The obvious difference in treatment received by young Black boys prompts him to call Emily – a minor celebrity given her recent speech – and offer to go back over some of her old cases where similar mistreatment occurred. Luke’s able to get his own case dismissed, perhaps a little easier than is strictly believable.

And then there’s Mark, ignoring the advice of almost everyone, but most especially Amy, in pursuing the case from his past that he has come to strongly believe was a cover-up he became unwittingly involved in. Sam joins in here for idealistic reasons, but it’s still an on-going thing, and it clearly isn’t winning Mark any friends.


“Bad Beat” spares plenty of time for some smaller character moments that are appreciated. I’m a big fan of Sara hustling the judges at poker, and it’s good to see the current Covid-19 pandemic being used primarily as an obstacle in Emily and Joachim’s relationship rather than in a heavy-handed way. They both have to officially test negative before they can hook up, and when the moment finally comes it feels earned.

Going forward, it seems like Lola will get to spend more personal time with Robin, who seems to have a bit more to do this season. Hopefully, that’ll prevent any more undue shocks, but I won’t hold my breath given the kinds of things that tend to happen in her courtroom.

This recap of All Rise season 2, episode 4, “Bad Beat”, contains spoilers. We recapped every episode — check out the episodes tag.