The Takedown – The episode begins with Charlie Croker (Jeff Daniels) admiring the view of his 29,0000-acre eco-lodge from the second-story balcony when Serena Croker (Sarah Jones) arrives with the news that breakfast is ready. She also encourages him to dial back his enthusiasm before parting. At breakfast, Charlie continues to impress Herb Richman (Josh Pais) by making him part of the ‘before breakfast’ tradition and gifts him his very own Stetson cowboy hat.

Wes Jordan (William Jackson Harper) spews his distaste for Norman Bagovitch (John Lacy) as he and Roger White (Aml Ameen) watch Norman’s tirade about inclusion on an early morning news show. It’s not long into their discussion that Wes turns that distaste toward Roger for looking down upon his ‘dirty tactics.’ Although this is practically how the rest of the meeting goes, it appears that Wes may have gotten through to Roger when he points out that what Charlie doesn’t isn’t any more moral.

Charlie finds himself surprised when he invites Herb out for a round of quail hunting. Herb tells him that he’s well aware of why Charlie invited him to the lodge and suggests transparency might be more equally beneficial. Although Charlie doesn’t offer a response, Serena later tells him that Herb isn’t going for his ploy and taking him Quail hunting will only make matters worse. Charlie says he’s not making anyone do anything and he’s going to start by introducing the Richmans to horse breeding.

After his settlement sex with Sirja (Eline Powell), Raymond Peepgrass (Tom Pelphrey) appears to have taken on a new persona as he informs Harry Zale (Bill Camp) about Charlie’s inviting Herb to the lodge. Harry only grows madder and insists on immediately initiating ‘Operation Takedown’ when he learns that Charlie is still living like a filthy rich man without a concern in the world.

Jill Hensley (Chante Adams) expresses her concerns about Roger being the right lawyer to defend Conrad Hensley (Jon Michael Hill). Despite him not having any experience in criminal law, he tells her that they are only entering a plea today.

Serena pleads with Charlie one more time as the Crokers and Richamns make their way to the breeding barn. Wally Croker (Evan Roe) shares her concern and both are well founded when Marsha Richman (Andrea Frankle) runs off in the middle of the act. Later that day, Wally confronts Charlie about his instincts as of late. Their discussion doesn’t get any further thanks to Serena’s arrival with the news that the Richmans want to go home.

Conrad’s plea hearing goes horribly awry. Judge Taylor (Anthony Heald) practically mocks DA Jennings (Neal Reddy) before adding an additional 30 days. Both Taylor and Roger grow angrier as the back and forth and bickering continue, but when Conrad decides to flat-out refuse the 60-day plea, Taylor orders the Courtroom Deputy (Adrian Rich) to prepare Conrad for transport to Fulton.

Roger continues to sulk over what happened in court and ends up snapping at Henrietta White (Jerrika Hinton) later that evening while attending Wes’s rally. Even with the spirited choir and pastor, Roger continues to sulk until Wes takes the pulpit and starts preaching about equality. What he says hits home with Roger and even inspires him to join in on the dancing.

Charlie has a similar experience while escorting the Richmans to the airport. His mood only worsens when he lands to find Mark Thorgen (Joe Kenezevich), along with a squad of Sheriff’s deputies, Raymond, and Harry, waiting to take possession of the aircraft. Charlie and Harry spend several minutes trading insults, but Harry appears to get under his skin when he mentions Charlie’s medical records.

While Charlie meets with Dr. Kai Okubo (Kurt Yue) to schedule his knee replacement surgery, Conrad arrives and is processed at Fulton.

Roger visits Charlie with the news of Conrad’s transfer to Fulton and extended 30-day stay while he’s preparing for the gala. Charlie wants to post bond, but Roger is hesitant that they could even get a bank to provide the million-dollar loan. This eventually leads to him suggesting they curry favor with Wes by helping him track down the woman that Norman supposedly assaulted. While Charlie’s considering it, Stroock (Christian Clemenson) busts into the room with urgency to encourage Charlie not to attend the gala. Stroock is concerned that their building debt and the gala costing $20,000 a table will only make the company look worse. Charlie’s defense is that it is a charity event and they need to continue to maintain appearances. Not only that, but Charlie suspects he might be able to use the evening to seek investors. Charlie stops by the front desk to reassure Jill that he is going to take care of Conrad before he and Roger go to the gala.

Conrad gets a harsh look at what the next 60 days are going to be like when a Deputy (William Leecan) escorts him to cell block 3. Elsewhere, the gala is starting to fill guests, including Joyce and Martha. Wes, Roger, and Henrietta have arrived as has Serena and Charlie. Despite Charlie telling Serena that they can leave after he makes an appearance with a few individuals, she expresses an interest in seeing the contortionist.

As the gala proceeds, Charlie becomes more self-conscious that people are talking about him. Elsewhere, Raymond bumps into Martha and they share what appears to be a genuine moment of admiration for each other. Later that evening, Charlie approaches Joyce and asks her for a meeting to catch up on old times. Her response is they don’t have any old times to catch up on. The horror/outrage can be read in her expression when he mentions her ‘old times’ with Norman. The episode ends with Charlie leaving the gala and seeing Raymond approach Martha.

 

A Man In Full Review

I can’t say the episode was horrible. I certainly didn’t care for the breeding scene myself. It had nothing to do with the violent and raw nature of the scene itself, but it was more about the horrendous lead-up to it. All the talk about liberal this and liberal that. That along with Conrad and Roger’s showdown with the judge was almost enough to skip the episode. Other than that, I felt that everything else was fairly enjoyable. Oh, I forgot about Norma’s newsreel. All in all, everything else was done fairly tactfully. I’d have to give the episode a 4.5 out of 10.

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