The Elements – Episode 6 opens in the courtroom with Tommy Molto (Peter Sarsgaard) questioning Herbert Kumgai (Jams Hiroyuki Liao) about the autopsy of Carolyn Polhemus (Rennate Reinsve). Although there is a bit of back and forth about her wounds and murder weapon, things reach a crescendo when the news of Carolyn’s pregnancy comes out. It is quickly identified as Rusty Sabich’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) baby. There is also mention of the skin under her nails, but Raymond Horgan (Bill Camp) does an excellent job of explaining this away on cross later.
Initially, Raymond turns down Judge Lyttle’s (Noma Dumezweni) offer to cross but then asks one question about the murder weapon. Against Nico Della Guardia’s (O-T Fagbenle) advice, Tommy takes the bait and redirects. This ultimately leads to Raymond making both Tommy and Kumgai appear as if they have a personal bias against Rusty. Tommy hears about this later in private when he and Nico return to the offices.
When Rusty and his team return to the offices to discuss strategy, a tangent about body language leads Barbara Sabich (Ruth Negga) into a bit of meltdown. Barbara doesn’t appreciate the fact that Raymond and Mya Winslow (Gabby Beans) want her to play the helpless, scared victim, with Rusty as her protector. She spends several minutes vehemently explaining why she isn’t going to do that.
Jeremy Buck (Christopher Thornton), an expert forensic pathologist, is called to testify the following morning. He spends most of his time explaining DNA and where it was found on the scene. In a long-winded way, Tommy attempts to use his testimony and the evidence to claim that Rusty acted in a fit of rage and then took great pains in an attempt to cover his guilt. On cross, Raymond introduces the Liam Reynolds (Mark Harelik) case and the similarities between the two. However, when he mentions the threat that Liam made, Lyttle calls a sidebar to negate the validity of this claim. It is also at this time when Raymond uses the expert to explain away the skin cells under Carolyn’s nails.
Sometime later, Barbara is inspired to return to her painting and spend an afternoon cleaning out the pool house so she can do so. The next day in trial Tommy calls Eugenia (Virginia Kull) to the stand. This leads to her sharing the story of how she discovered Rusty and Carolyn’s affair late one night when returning to the office to drop off a forgotten file. Sometime later Eugenia would approach Rusty about the relationship after witnessing him arguing with Carolyn in the underground parking garage.
For the defense, Mya is charged with questioning Eugenia. This ultimately leads to the discovery that she never reported Rusty and Carolyn’s affair to Human Resources. Carolyn herself never reported Rusty to HR either, but she did report Tommy Molto. In addition, Eugenia admits to personally disliking Carolyn. Despite the success of the day, Raymond later tells Lorraine Horgan (Elizabeth Marvel) over dinner that he fears Rusty still might get convicted.
In the Sabich house, Jaden (Chase Infiniti) and Rusty discuss trauma and disassociation. Apparently, Jaden is currently studying the topics in her psychology class and fears that Rusty’s brain may have automatically disassociated him from certain memories with Carolyn. In a long-winded way, she appears to be asking if it’s possible that his brain has convinced him that he isn’t guilty when he really is. Rusty’s night doesn’t get much better when shortly after this, Barbara tells him about spending time with Clifton (Sarunas J. Jackson). He initially asks rather calmly but it doesn’t take long before it segues into a full-blown argument that ends with him asking how it feels to make a mistake.
Breakfast at the Sabich house is very awkward the following morning and only becomes even more so when Barbara announces that she will be skipping the trial to spend the day with Lorianne. Much to his surprise, Jaden not only offers to take Barbara’s place but she attempts to comfort him.
At the courthouse, the lawyers discover that Dalton Caldwell (Matthew Alan) has filed a motion to stop Michael Caldwell (Tate Birchmore) from having to testify. At the same time, Lyttle tells them that she is denying the motion but understands Dalton’s concerns. It is because of those concerns that she encourages both sides to settle the case. It doesn’t take long to realize that neither side is willing to compromise.
Tommy’s questioning of Michael is pretty standard and doesn’t reveal much that isn’t already known. Michael does continually refer to Rusty as a murderer throughout which doesn’t help matters. Although Raymond constantly objects, the jurors’ perception of Rusty is now likely skewed. Despite all of this, the most damning party is when Michael reveals that he had a conversation with Carolyn about her being afraid of ‘some man’ at work.
The episode ends with the courtroom in hysteria once Raymond faints after stepping up to cross Michael.
Presumed Innocent Review
If I am not mistaken, it was Raymond’s fainting where the novel starts. This would have been a good way to start the series as well, but I can understand why an alternative route was chosen. I enjoyed this episode and the majority of it being based around the trail was ever intriguing. I feel as if the staff did a thorough job of simplifying the court terminology and scenes. In light of the way this episode and the previous one ended, I’d have to say that Raymond is up on the scoreboard. That said, it would also be just as easy for any juror to deem Rusty guilty.
In my opinion, this was one of the better episodes of the series, but what really hurt it was Michael’s testimony. I understand that he’s an inexperienced actor and he might be portraying a confused, weird, and scared kid, but his scenes have always been lacking. I’d give the episode a 5.9 out of 10.
Get more Presumed Innocent recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by donating. Learn how advertising with us can help build brand awareness. Join our newly established forum to discuss the latest TV shows and movies.
