Finally, the day has arrived: the trial of Larry Henderson is beginning at last, and as we’re assured in the opening moments of the proceedings – by which I mean the episode, not the legal proceedings – there hasn’t been a case of this magnitude in town since the East Peck Witch Trials of 1994…and I’d tell you to take a moment and let that date sink in, but it’s not as though this is the first time we’ve experienced just how far removed from modernity East Peck is. Heck, it’s not even the first time we experience it this episode: it’s only a few minutes later when Josh is forced to wait an exorbitant amount of time for the prosecution’s witness list because it’s been declared in some edict or other that any fiber-optic communications of official documents qualifies as sorcery.
East Peck: it’s a heck of a town.
The opening statements from Carol Ann are about what you’d expect from the prosecutorial side of the fence, but there’s something about the way she describes Larry – he seems to be “a harmless, affable, bewildered poet,” but “a violent tempest of a man” is lurking just beneath the surface – that even Larry can’t help but appreciate, even if he doesn’t necessarily agree with the sentiments of her statement. When she further sways the assembled crowd with a computer recreation of Margaret’s murder that looks vaguely like the old ‘80s video game Karate Champ, the pressure’s on for Josh to really deliver with his own opening statement.
Too bad everything he’d planned out for that statement – most of which revolved around painting Rutger Hiss as an awful human being – ends up being wiped off the table when Hiss is wheeled into the courtroom.
A fair amount happens over the course of the next few minutes, including Clanton spilling his dip cup, Larry suffering the repercussions of going shoeless in the courtroom, and Hiss struggling for an absurd amount of time to get a straw into his mouth. Needless to say, Josh ends up walking away from the first day of the trial having made a really, really terrible first impression on the jury, but as he’s quick to remind his team, “Second impressions are also important.”
As they begin to plot out Day 2 by examining the witness list, they spot the name “Alfonso Prefontaine,” a.k.a. the gentleman with whom Larry shared some very special extra-marital moments. Larry decides that he needs to visit The Discipline Room – that’s the name of Alfonso’s gym, you’ll recalll – and talk to his former paramour, despite the fact that Josh has told him that it could be considered witness tampering. (This is in no way shocking, of course, since it’s not as if Larry has been particularly concerned about following Josh’s instructions up to this point.) Alfonso enjoys teasing Larry for a moment and pretending that he’s simply going to take the stand and announce that Larry killed Margaret, but he quickly reveals that he’s only joking. The problem lies with Larry’s repeated underlining of how Alfonso was and remains nothing more than “a piece on the side,” if you will, to the point of saying that if he ever gets remarried, Alfonso would once again be the one he’d have an affair with. It’s clear from the look on Alfonso’s face that this is in no way acceptable.
Meanwhile, Josh has decided that he needs to meet up with Carol Anne, having been startled by the presence of Rutger Hiss’s name on her witness list (not to mention the fact that he wants to make sure that they’re on the same page after having slept together at the end of last episode), but when he goes to her office, he finds her in the midst of a passionate kiss with Hiss. Oops. When Josh walks away from the scene and back onto the street, Carol Anne follows him out, but they still end up sniping at each other, and she informs him in no uncertain terms that their close encounter at the end of last week’s episode was purely physical. “I had a need,” she explains. “And you were there.” Ouch.
But you can’t keep a good man down: when Josh returns to court the next day, he’s armed with a vocabulary that’s ostensibly free of New York words and a spiffy new haircut, ready to take on Hiss. Unfortunately, things fall apart as a result of the level of respect Hiss earned as a result of having been in a coma – that noblest of all head injuries – and Josh’s general inability to conceive of how the jury can’t see that Hiss is using his coma to convince them that he can’t possibly be guilty. Suddenly, it’s looking like the oft-forgotten importance of third impressions could be the only way for the team to remain optimistic.
But no! With Larry’s help – or, more specifically, his willingness to take a photo which seems destined to pop up again at some point – Josh manages to gain access to the hospital security video, which proves that Hiss only faked his coma and confirms that there’s been a buttload of lying going on. At last, a win for the defense! (Shame about the ironic twist, though.) If only Larry had secured a similar win when he went back to the gym to meet up with the now-annoyed Alfonso and try to sway him back to their side. Instead, harsh words are spoken, Alfonso makes some remarks about Margaret which warrant his inclusion on the suspect list, and Larry pulls his signature move and throws Alfonso through the plate glass window of the gym, leaving him looking just as guilty now as he did when our story first started.