Reasonable Doubt – Season 2 Episode 5 Recap & Review

Guilty Until Proven Guilty

Episode 5 of Reasonable Doubt Season 2 starts with Jax having trouble sleeping. She can’t stop thinking that Shanelle is hiding the truth. On the other hand, Lewis can’t sleep because he is worried that Toni might be pregnant with his child.

The next morning, Jax visits Shanelle and asks her about Evan. Shanelle explains that she rarely interacted with Evans, but knew he worked with Tucker and Adrian. She says that out of Tucker’s friends; she was only close to Adrian. According to her, Adrian saved her and helped her through the toughest months with Tucker.

Jax presses Shanelle to talk more about Adrian and asks if he killed Tucker. Shanelle goes on the defensive and comes for Jax like she had just been waiting. She says some tough truths to Jax, but Jax holds her own and remains logical. She promises to get to the bottom of what happened to Tucker and save Shanelle.

Back at home, Lewis calls his brother and explains the whole Toni situation. He mentions he slipped up once and forgot to wear a condom. His brother, Terrence, advises him to find out for sure, but still stay away from Toni. Terrence also tells him to save Toni’s number to an assuming name and try to focus on his marriage. 

At the office, Jax shares her new scepticism on Shanelle’s case with her team. Corey ignores Jax’s theory and insists they stick to the plan. He is looking forward to seeing people’s reactions after Shanelle’s interview airs. Corey wants to be the face of the trial and reminds Jax to stick to her lane. However, Daniel and Krystal believe Jax and start looking deeper into Evan. 

Speaking of Evan, Adrian visits him and tries to reason with him. Adrian hopes that Evan can wait until Shanelle’s case is over to get the rest of his money. He threatens mutual destruction for both of them if Evan refuses to back down. Evan realises that Adrian never told Shanelle about the money or their shady business. Evan calms Adrian down and assures him they are all good. 

Later that night, Shanelle’s interview airs, and Jax watches it with Lewis. Lewis gets more scared when Jax mentions Toni might be one of the witnesses at the trial. Coincidentally, Toni calls Lewis after seeing his previous messages. Lewis quickly asks her to talk later and lies she is someone from work. Jax fails to notice Lewis’ strange behaviour as she is still thinking about Shanelle’s lies. The interview makes an impact and helps change most of the public’s perspective of Shanelle.

This restores Corey’s faith that they have a strong case. Jax offers to go over his opening statement before they go to the first hearing the following day, but he turns her down. On the other side of town, Lucy is also confident that she has a strong case. The prosecution department is pressuring her to save their reputation. 

The next day, Shanelle’s court case starts and Lucy makes a moving opening statement, painting Shanelle to be a cold, manipulative killer. Corey comes out and paints Shanelle as another woman, suffering in a toxic marriage. He paints Tucker as an influential abuser who couldn’t let go.

The first prosecution witnesses are called and Shanelle’s team does a job‌ in the cross-examination. They plant some seeds of doubt in the prosecution’s case. Later, Jax gives a press interview and Corey gets offended, as he wants to be the face of the case.

At home, Lewis talks to his son about a new art school. Spenser is excited to have his dad listen to his interest and agrees to check out the school. Later, Jax is not thrilled that Lewis spoke to Spenser before talking to her first. She also checks on Naima and learns that her mom is dating someone new. The following day, she calls her mom to ask about the new guy and asks Daniel to do a background check on the guy.

Meanwhile, Corey takes two of the partners to a cigar club and they talk about Jax. He asks the partners to help him keep Jax in line. The partners agree, stating they know Jax is a bit of a wild card and promise Corey a great future if he wins the case.

The following day, the partners summon Jax to a meeting. They ask her to allow Corey to shine and step back. Jax gets exactly what they mean and acts agreeable. Later, Daniel informs her that he couldn’t find more dirt on Evan.

At the couple’s therapy, Jax talks about the Spenser situation and they talk it over. Lewis apologises, and the therapist commends their progress. Later that night, Lewis meets Toni and talks about the pregnancy. Toni claims she doesn’t know who the dad is, but she plans to raise the baby herself. Lewis is relieved as this lets him off the hook. 

On the other hand, Jax has dinner with her girlfriends. Sally gets offended when Jax and Autumn raise their suspicions over Shanelle’s statement. She storms out of dinner and refuses to listen to her friend’s doubts.

The following day, the case continues with Tucker’s mom giving her witness testimony. She effortlessly paints Shanelle as a greedy wife who plans to kill her son. She recalls some of the strong-worded messages Shanelle sent her and claims she never saw Tucker hurting Shanelle.

The lies frustrate Shanelle, and she lashes out at her. Corey asks for a recess and Shanelle reveals that Tucker’s mom was also abusive to her kids. She is worried that Tucker’s mom brought the kids to the court to torment her. After the court resumes, Corey uses Shanelle’s words to weaken Tucker’s mom’s testimony.

After the court hearing, Jax meets with Evan and asks a lot of questions about Adrian. This causes Evan to sort-circuit and make the wrong move. He visits Shanelle in prison and tells her all about Adrian’s shady dealings behind her back. Shanelle is shocked and hurt. She trusted Adrian, and he used her. 

Back at Jax’s office, Daniel finds out that Evan’s company is linked to a sports gambling site overseas. Tucker was one of the players recruited to act as an agent and recruit others. It seems Adrian is actively and deeply involved in the gambling company. Jax asks Daniel to reach out to Adrian and set up a meeting. Jax also tells Jax that her new mom’s boyfriend is clean. 

After learning Evan visited Shanelle, Adrian visits him again. Evan puts Adrian in place and informs him of Jax’s visit. He asks Adrian to ‘contain’ Jax. 

After a long day, Jax meets with Corey at the cigar club. They have an honest conversation and promise to trust each other instead of fighting. They agree to stop allowing the partners to get between them and call a truce. She later heads home and is proud that her son got into the new art school.

She thanks Lewis and praises him for being a good, honest husband. The praise makes Lewis feel more guilty, and he calls Toni. He insists she has a DNA test and confirms the baby’s father.

The following morning, Jax receives a call from Adrian asking to meet at Shanelle’s house. She asks Daniel to come with her and wait outside in case of trouble. She finds Jax inside but unbeknownst to her; he is carrying a gun. 

The Episode Review

I don’t think Adrian will kill Jax, but I am curious about what they will talk about. If he is smart and truly cares for Shanelle, Adrain should recruit Jax to his side. He should tell her the truth and at least save Shanelle if he killed Tucker. 

It is nice that Corey and Jax called a truce. They will be better off fighting the prosecution in court instead of tearing each other apart. Hopefully, Corey will stop being so dismissive of Jax and listen to her once in a while. At the same time, Jax can step back a bit and run things through Corey first. A little courtesy goes a long way. I feel bad for Shanelle, the men in her life keep hurting her. One was abusive and toxic. The other one is a liar and a user. Now that she knows the truth, will she tell Jax who killed Tucker?

Lastly, Lewis is playing with fire. Jax will find out the truth soon. He better tell her what he did with Toni before she finds out from Toni on the court stand. He also should be praying that he didn’t get Toni pregnant because it would ruin his marriage. They are doing so well and this secret will tear them apart again.