Your Honor – Season 2 Episode 6 “Part Sixteen” Recap & Review

Part Sixteen

Michael’s ex-wife was Robin. She was murdered and that is why Nancy brought him at the end of the last episode. Nancy takes the lead on this one and asks where Michael was on the night she died but he does not say much.

The scathing piece of evidence that she has is a photograph of Michael with Kenneth in his house. This was the man with whom Robin had an affair. The reasons for Nancy’s suspicion seem to be intangibles like Michael’s lack of remorse and indifferent attitude when Robin died. She is insistent Michael knows something. Michael confesses he went to Kenneth’s house but nothing more. Since Nancy does not have any other evidence, he is let go. But not before admonishing her for how she brought him in. Where did that come from?

Monique gives Eugene oblique answers when he wants to know about Little Mo. We saw Monique’s men releasing him but mercilessly beating him before doing so. They have served all ties with Little Mo and the lack of clarity irks Eugene. She carries a certain amount of guilt that people feel when others around them get hurt due to their actions. Monique’s only emotional avenue right now is Janelle, who rocks the stage with her singing on the first night of the new club.

Nancy was right about Michael going by his confession to Elizabeth, who picks him up from the precinct. This is a bold claim considering Elizabeth never got closure on Robin’s death, her daughter. She decides to step up the investigation into Robin’s case, considering that it has remained unsolved for so many years.  They go to Kenneth’s place and he makes some shocking claims about the incident. Robin got a hint of some shady dealings by the local police force and wanted to confront them with a story along with Kenneth. She was on to the nexus between organized crime and law enforcement, and hence, paid for it with her life.

Michael is shocked to learn the truth. The man does not have much emotion left but his face said it all. The judge still had the justice worm in him and he was not about to let this one go. Kenneth mentions an informant, AJ, who was ready to provide more details. But backed out due to the omnipresent threat to his well-being. So, on their way back, Michael and Elizabeth decide to meet AJ and get to the bottom of this matter.

Things are getting tense in the Baxter household as well. Carmine Conti seems to have been riled up by his daughter Gina’s tender confession to him in the last episode. One must remember the conversation where Gina asks Carmine to take charge of things and help protect the family, something she insinuates Jimmy cannot do. It is a typical clash between the old, hardened style of conducting business that was amoral but assured vs. the new style where the moral conscience isn’t so clean but the standard is higher. Carmine undermines Jimmy’s authority by getting the Calabris. They are fierce merchants who have a prosperous drug trade.

Jimmy is insistent they cannot use his ports network to facilitate their business, something Carmine neglects. He does not care an iota about how Jimmy has a strict no-drugs policy, like Vito Corleone, except he is not the exclusive boss of the family – not anymore. That bossy feeling is passed down from Jimmy to Carlo, who does not understand why his father does not want him to sit in business meetings. Gina plans to go to the church with Fia and Carlo takes on babysitting responsibilities.

The church becomes yet another place for the mother-daughter to fight. Their ideological battle is more than just that of faith – it is about everything that they grew up learning about the world and the people. In that way, one can pair Gina with Carmine and Fia with Jimmy to compare their circumstances. It is difficult to point out who is correct; perhaps they both are in their respective places. Gina’s priest calms things down and tries to make Fia understand the point of the baptism without going against Fia’s belief system. It is a subtle way of working that Gina and Fia ought to learn from.

Carlo is still rough from what happened when he was in jail with Kofi Jones. He thinks his brother Rocco’s killer is still out there. When he learns that Eugene is in town, he instantly sets off to finish the job. It is all too chaotic as Carlo rams his car into the one he thinks Eugene is sitting in. But he is compromised as Carlo gets stuck and cannot get out. He lies defenceless in the rubble and Eugene grabs hold of a gun. As he is about to kill Carlo, the police arrive at the scene and he flees.  Elizabeth gives an impassioned plea to AJ to give her information about the police and their dealings. AJ is clearly affected by it and reveals that a policeman who did not want him to talk to Robin about police brutality killed her. His name is Walter Beckwith.

When Fia and Gina do not find Carlo in the room, they get furious. But when they learn the truth, they visit him at the hospital. Carlo tells his mother about Eugene, which comes as a shock to her since Jimmy had previously told them that Eugene “was taken care of.”

This puts a huge dent in Jimmy’s believability and confidence in the family about his ability to lead them. It puts huge question marks on his leadership. Carmine was already pissed with Jimmy and drags him out by the collar. He threatens Jimmy in a terrifying tone, something that is seen by Frankie, Jimmy’s trusted aide and his right-hand man. Jimmy is shaken after the incident and despite Frankie’s attempts to pacify his boss’ insecurities, it does no good.

Perhaps Carmine’s strong hand is what is needed to take the business back to its glory days. In his rage, Jimmy beats up Frankie without no fault of his. Monique is worried when she hears the news about the accident. Michael fears for his life and calls Nancy ahead that he is coming with vital information about the case. He reveals to Nancy about Detective Walter and that he is responsible for the murder. That is why they were never able to solve the case.

The shocking ending is a tough one to digest. We all thought Eugene would get away when he gets on the bus. But Rudy, who was earlier embarrassed because of not being able to find Eugene previously, spots him, boards the bus, and shoots Eugene dead.

The Episode Review

It would not be unfair to say that Your Honor has degraded in quality. The exposition of morality and justice weighing heavy on its characters has suddenly vanished, only to be replaced by vain family melodrama and dysfunction and over-the-top gangsterism that feels dated. Having said that, the contrast between ideologies through Carmine & Gina and Fia and Jimmy leaves some sharp remarks on what it is to wield and exercise true power.

Robin’s mystery was cracked by Elizabeth and Michael, something that intense police work could not do for years. It was one of the many enabling events from this incident-filled episode. Now that the show is ending, one must feel the urge of the writers to tie up all their “loose ends”. But perhaps some subtlety and panache could have served them better.