The Hulu legal thriller series Reasonable Doubt has always been a bit insane, but not in a bad way. Emayatzy Corinealdi has always been fun to watch as high-powered defense attorney Jax Stewart, and the things going on in her work and personal lives are lively without being out of control… at least most of the time. That vibe continues in Season 3.
Opening Shot: Jax Stewart (Emayatzy Corinealdi) knocks on a door and walks in; she’s horrified by what she sees and screams for help.
The Gist: Six months earlier, Jax wakes up next to her husband Lewis (McKinley Freeman). The two have reconciled since it was revealed that Lewis had an affair with Toni Holley (Tristan Cunningham); the resulting baby from that affair died soon after birth, and Toni has sued both Jax and Lewis, claiming that they’re responsible for the baby’s death.
Negotiations have been contentious, with Jax refusing to admit responsibility even if it means there’s a settlement. She’s fired three lawyers, and at a certain point, she’d rather just defend herself and Lewis. She just doesn’t want to capitulate to what she thinks are unreasonable demands from Toni. Lewis is more sympathetic, thinking that Toni needs some closure.
Jax isn’t exactly feeling great at work, where she’s a partner in a high-profile law firm. Too many of her civil cases are being settled, reducing billable hours, and she’s craving a criminal case, as she tells her assistant Krystal (Angela Grovey) and investigator Daniel (Tim Jo). She also pushes back when the other partners want to make an associate, Bill Sterling (Joseph Sikora), aka “Billable Bill”, an equity partner. She’s also annoyed that Corey Cash (Morris Chestnut) is getting an award for the murder case of her friend Chanelle, even though they worked as a team.
She gets a call from the family and agent of actor Ozzie Edwards (Kyle Bary), a former child star who is trying to reinvent his acting career as an adult. They’re concerned that a stylist Ozzie dated might spill details that will ruin his chance to take a more mature movie role, but Ozzie’s father is surprised when Jax tells them that if they want her to sign an NDA, they need to pay her.
At the award ceremony for Corey, Jax meets the stylist. Wendy (Rumer Willis) is not only ten years older than Ozzie, but is white. That’s when she puts it together that his family, who manages his career, doesn’t want him going around with a white woman. But Ozzie says he’s in love, and ends up going against his family. After an argument between him and Wendy, though, she disappears, and he’s the main person of interest, which is when he calls on both Jax and Corey to help. Jax takes the case, and after getting to know “Billable Bill” a little bit, puts him on her team.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Reasonable Doubt has a similar vibe to Scandal, a show that creator Raamla Mohamed worked on. Scandal star Kerry Washington are among the show’s executive producers (so is Larry Wilmore, oddly enough).
Our Take: At this point in the run of Reasonable Doubt, Mohamed has been able to balance some of the crazier moments that swirl around Jax Stewart with storylines and cases that actually have some grounds in reality. Are they gritty stories? Absolutely not; they generally involve the powerful and wealthy. The cases can get a little insane, and it seems that Jax’s personal life is always in some sort of turmoil. But things definitely feel like they’re not as frantic as the show’s previous seasons.
Yes, Jax is going to be dealing with three different significant scenarios. There’s the continuing situation with Lewis and Toni, which takes a strange turn at the end of the episode. Then there’s Ozzie’s case, which quickly turns from a civil case to a criminal one. Finally, there’s an as-yet-undefined plan by “Billable Bill” to either ingratiate himself to Jax, undermine her, or both, a plan that seems to have the approval of the firm’s senior partner.
That final story is weirdly mysterious, though, given the fact that every time Bill and Jax interact, he stares as she walks away, as if he’s up to no good. It’s creepy AF, but we really don’t know exactly what Bill’s plan really is.
Sex and Skin: Jax and Lewis have a couple of lovemaking sessions, but in a way that hides most of each other’s naughty parts.
Parting Shot: Lewis tells Jax what Toni’s condition is for her to drop her lawsuit. She yells “Fuck!” in response.
Sleeper Star: We’re not exactly sure what role Chestnut’s character Corey will have this season, given that Chestnut was likely busy shooting Watson. But he’s around, and charming as always.
Most Pilot-y Line: “I went to law school for him,” Jax tells Ozzie, with “him” being her father. “I became a lawyer for me.”
Our Call: STREAM IT. Reasonable Doubt is somewhat toned down in its third season, but still has its entertainingly crazy moments.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.