Directed by Matthew Penn
Written by Richard Sweren
We open with a courtroom, and the jury reads their verdict on a cop killing. They find the defendant not guilty. The defendant, his lawyer, and a couple of his buddies go out to celebrate. The lawyer goes out for a smoke. Said lawyer is shot and killed. Detectives Briscoe and Green are led to a white supremacist network. It is revealed that the victim's PDA was stolen, and the contacts list could turn into a hit list. Serena goes undercover to give the police probable cause. After the bail hearing, the defendant hires Danielle Melnick as his attorney. She tries to overturn the special provisions of the defendant's custody, namely the part where he could only communicate with his lawyer. When she fails, she starts passing messages for her client. Lo and behold, another lawyer on the hit list is killed. Jack gets Danielle removed as his counsel. The defendant makes a deal. At the end of the episode, Danielle is shot. Her condition is unknown at this time.
- Asshole Victim: Most defense attorneys in this series are either Punch-Clock Villains who are Only in It for the Money or simply doing their constitutional duties, but Vance Grody actually thought the acquittal of a man who put an honest cop in a wheelchair was cause for celebration. Danielle Melnick was very self-righteous about violating the court’s restrictions, even after learning that she helped kill a prosecutor.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Danielle thinks she’s fighting back against an overzealous government by violating the court’s order. She’s actually helping a terrorist commit murder.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: A cheerful secretary at the meeting American Patriot Union turns out to be the one who shot Danielle.
- Entitled Bitch: Danielle violated the court’s order and got a prosecutor killed, then told Jack that he should feel guilty for prosecuting her.
- Gone Horribly Right: Jack was trying to do Danielle a favor by tricking Preus into thinking that she had already turned on him. The deception got her out of jail, but it also got Preus’s assistant to shoot Danielle for her treason.
- Hollywood Law: Danielle violated a court's order, resulting in someone's murder. Even if Preus admitted that she didn't act with the intent to kill someone, she shouldn't have been able to simply walk away with no criminal charges.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Danielle saw Preus as a victim of government oppression, not the remorseless murderer he actually was.
- Karma Houdini: A subversion: the assailant of the cop at the beginning of the episode that left him a paraplegic ends up getting away with his crime, but in addition to the regular amount of hate mail and death threats he receives, he now has to go into hiding and look over his shoulder for the rest of his life.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Danielle goes through this *hard* when she realizes how Preus used her to have someone killed.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Danielle passes messages along for her client. Said messages turn out to be orders for his followers on who to kill next.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: It doesn’t take much to get Preus to launch into a racist tirade.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Danielle thinks she's doing this for her client. Preus takes advantage to have an ADA in Florida killed.Danielle: Jack, you know I would never knowingly...
McCoy: You did knowing violate the special administrative measures.
Danielle: Because it was WRONG! - Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Preus' first lawyer leaves the interrogation room fast when he realizes Preus is under arrest for killing another lawyer.
- Sympathetic Murderer: Subverted, the detectives investigate several sympathetic suspects, but they were all Red Herrings. The actual killer was a thousand times worse than his victim.
- Title Drop: In the last lineLennie: Better be careful, Jack. Looks like its Open Season on lawyers.
