Post Traumatic Stress
All Rise returns this week with its usual court drama, giving us a conclusion to the Benner story while carrying on developing its different characters and their story lines. It also tackles another interesting subject around veterans suffering from PTSD and not receiving the right treatment, which is an ongoing issue both sides of the pond right now. While the drama itself does feel a little repetitive, these subjects help the show from becoming too stale in its formulaic set-up. Episode 17 of All Rise begins with Sara and Emily out for a run where they each talk about their relationships. While Sara’s date with Ben is going well, she is not sure what to do because he is the son of Judge Benner. On the other hand, Emily is avoiding Luke as she’s not sure she is ready to tell him she loves him. Meanwhile, Lola meets with Judge Benner and relays what she found out; during the Capriani’s case, the lawyers she worked for withheld important documents, which in turn lowered the settling amounts the victims received. Benner denies knowing anything at that point and asks Lola if she believes her. Lola tells her that she knows she was a young associate reviewing the documents so she concludes that she must have seen them. Benner admits going into the office one night and leaked the memo. Emily has been given one of her colleagues’ work load as he has just retired. This makes her even more busy as she rushes to the mental health court for her next case. Luke tries talking to her about the three little words but wants to take them back. She tells him she is too busy at the moment but promises to talk about it later. In the mental health court, she is surprised to see their unusual method when the judge hugs the client. During the trial of Teflon Mitch, Mark questions the defendant who suddenly asks for a recess as he realizes something. In his office, he looks through one of his old files and speaks to Samantha about the possibility that he put the wrong man, Dougle Wardle, in prison for the murder of his brother and realises Mitch might be the guilty one. Emily’s client, Thomas Farrell, has been involved in a bar fight and she speaks to him about what happened. She realises that he used to be in the army and wonders if he could have PTSD after the things he did and saw while in service. As the trial begins, Emily comes forward and asks for her client to be trialed in the mental health court instead. After he gives them an insight on what he has gone through, Lola decides to look into it and calls for a recess. Benner finds Lola and tries to defend herself again, explaining that she eventually fixed the mistakes she made. Lola tells her it was too late and that she shouldn’t be attorney general. She then returns to court and explains to the lawyers that referring the case to mental health court will take too long, so she offers a defense motion for mental health diversion instead. Mark and Samantha visit Wardle in prison and ask him to identify the man he saw run out of the house. He identifies Teflon straight away. Mark returns to the office while Choi tells him to make sure he goes by the book, which frustrates him as it means it will take a long time. Emily tries to convince a reluctant Thomas to speak to a therapist, which in turn will help his case. She then heads home to research PTSD while Lola speaks to the judges about her decision in her latest trial. She explains that many war veterans have mental health issues which remain untreated. Benner follows her outside the room and tries convincing her to keep everything a secret. Lola refuses though as this could lead to both of them being disbarred. Back in his trial, Mark files to dismiss the case. As soon as it is agreed, the police arrive and arrest Teflon for the murder of Troy Wardle. This angers Laski as he sends everyone away. After much deliberation and thinking, Lola offers to give Thomas a sentence but with treatment. The lawyers agree to file for misdemeanor with a year in custody while undergoing treatment. Back in the office, Choi is angry with Mark for not listening and acting the way he did. Mark tries to defend himself but Choi dismisses him and sends him home until further notice. The episode ends with Benner coming to Lola’s office again and announces that she is withdrawing from the attorney general race, while Emily finally tells Luke she thinks she loves him. All Rise might not be the best court-room drama out there but it’s certainly far from a bad one. The cases the group deal with each week remain interesting and factual as they tackle many of today’s current issues. The episodes can sometimes feel a little repetitive though as they follow the same pattern each week, especially 17 episodes down the road. This week ended the Benner story as she finally decides to not run for attorney general after Lola made her see that she didn’t have any choices. This episode touched on PTSD and how it affected war veterans, which was quite the eye opener. It’s these different cases each week that make this court drama worth returning to but whether this one will be renewed for a second season or not, remains to be seen.
