For Life Season 2 Episode 3 Review: The Necessity Defense
Jasmine Blu
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You can't win everything.
It's a lesson that Aaron learned after his case on For Life Season 2 Episode 3. Sometimes there is no winning; there's just surviving.
And despite Aaron's valiant effort, he's fighting a stalwart system, and he can't defeat it in one blow, but he can chip away at it a bit.
Aaron dealt with two battles on the homefront and at work. Spencer forced him to take Alice's case, but it's something that would've piqued his interest regardless.
Alice, a school teacher/mom, faced 25 years for pulling a gun out on healthcare providers until they helped her son. If you looked at the bare bones of it, that's a terrible thing to do, but as more details emerged, it was evident that Alice and her son were victims of healthcare discrimination.
Aaron faced an uphill battle with this case, but he couldn't have argued it better than he did in the courtroom. His scenes in court were impressive and moving. They were also a wealth of information.
Aaron would've made Annalise Keating proud with his display.
Alice's son was sick, and she took him to a hospital in a better neighborhood, hoping he would get quality care. She bypassed the county hospitals in the Bronx to attend the private one.
If you win this, then you know what message you're going to send? That anyone who walks into a hospital and isn't happy with the standard of care can pull out a gun on me.
Marie
And in turn, the hospital ignored her and her son for six hours. It wasn't until she pulled out her weapon and made a scene that she got help.
It's something reminiscent of John Q, which is a fantastic film about a father's love, but it also reminded me of something that happened to my brother as a kid.
My own mother made a scene and refused to leave a hospital despite threats of being arrested for disorderly conduct, but if she had waited any longer or went home as the hospital suggested, my brother would've died.
Healthcare workers and providers are sympathetic and heroic, but so was this mother who resorted to something awful to save her son.
And what started as a case about a mother's love evolved to a no-holds-bar, unapologetic discussion about racial discrimination in the healthcare system.
And For Life did a fantastic job of touching on it bluntly. Aaron understood then why Spencer gave him the case since he's such a community-oriented person.
The judge gave Aaron more leeway than you'd expect, and it made for a compelling courtroom scene where Aaron brought in charts and questioned one of the healthcare workers about hospital funding and racial discrimination.
You want to know what we're trying to do? Why don't you come to court and see for yourself.
Spencer
Aaron dug up a previous discrimination suit, where a man waited hours for pain medication and went through multiple nurses and doctors after his surgery.
And he found out that his coworker, under the same insurance plan, got quality care and pain meds.
It once again went back to an age-old belief in medical history that Black people have a higher pain threshold, and there was also the belief that he would be susceptible to drug addiction.
Armed with that and the information about the national medical database that the CDC and other agencies and organizations criticized for its racial bias, Aaron built a solid case and argument.
If I could have turned those nine and a half years into seven or even eight, I would. I would trade anything to not have lost that time.
Aaron
Aaron broke down how wealthy private hospitals apply for the grants doled out to those serving underprivileged communities. He then explained how, as a result, they reallocate funds to them rather than the hospitals in those communities who need it -- then they treat those from the communities poorly when they came in. It's incensing.
Aaron took on the entire healthcare system arguing Alice's case. Unfortunately, Alice did something illegal, and there's no way her small case would make that much change.
The D.A. offered her a deal with four years in jail, and it was something she needed to take. Spencer did want to make her a martyr for the cause, but as much as everyone thought Aaron would encourage her to fight, he knew better.
Alice's jury of her peers would be people in the same county she committed the crime in, and a bunch of rich, predominately white people wouldn't have understood the argument they were making about healthcare discrimination.
You were willing to make a martyr out of her to make a point?!
Aaron
To them, Alice was a criminal, menace, and a violent threat.
Aaron related to Alice and explained to her how hard prison was for him, and it was a moment of raw vulnerability that took a lot out of him.
Aaron is about the individuals he's serving, and Spencer is about the cause. Spencer went behind Aaron's back on the case, and that sucked, but as unlikeable as he is, Spencer's position isn't off.
Their relationship will always be contentious, and Spencer isn't the most trustworthy, but it feels as though they are for the same cause with different means. Maybe Spencer isn't the enemy.
You have to give him credit for how he called out Scotty. He knew Scotty was a virtual errand boy and that they were using him to get to Aaron and Spencer both.
Scotty isn't a bad person, and you can tell that he's uncomfortable with the position his job has placed him in. He seems like a good guy, trying to work within a system that he knows is imbalanced and make a real difference.
He was impressed by Aaron when he sat in on the case, and I maintain that he may serve as a surprising ally as the season progresses.
You're acting like you made some deal with the devil when you know how important this case is to our community.
Spencer
Aaron always has Henry, a plus, but he also has a new girl named Charlotte. She's a law student who took a year off to work with Aaron and Henry.
She's high-energy and obsessed with Aaron. He inspired her, and she's willing to throw everything into her new job working with them. She's the new "woke" ally, and something tells me that she'll provide more than a few laughs.
Aaron also has Jasmine, and I love that she's working with her father at the office. Her site is doing wonders, and she inspires Aaron and grounds him.
She's also observant, and she picked up that Aaron is dealing with a form of PTSD. It's still rearing its ugly head, and he needs to consult with someone, be it a therapist or a support group of some kind.
He was too quick to dismiss and downplay it with Jasmine, but she knows better. It's going to catch up to him, though. It always does.
Marie is also supporting him. She lets him tape post-its on their wall, and she got him a briefcase, even though the For Life fandom was not so secretly hoping it was a new suit.
However, their relationship is one that takes work. Marie's stance that Aaron needs to communicate with her more is sound.
He's not a lone wolf anymore, and he should consult his wife, but her irritation that he didn't tell her about the case with Alice was ridiculous.
He already has to answer to Spencer in some ways and Scotty, too, but why should he run each case he does by Marie?
I understand the point she made about him defending Alice with her specific crime, but it's his job. It also has nothing to do with her, and he didn't have to explain himself there.
They have fallen into a rhythm, and they're smitten with each other. The Wallaces are trying to make it work, but they haven't talked about everything.
Darius hangs between them like a thick fog, and neither of them wants to broach the topic. Marie told him she saw he threw the shoes out, and she also told him that Darius wants his number to call him. Aaron isn't ready for all of that, though.
Marie: I found Darius' shoes in the garbage can.
Aaron: He doesn't live here anymore, so I threw them out.
It's also getting to him a bit that the house he shares with his family now is the same one Darius stayed in too.
Jasmine is intuitive enough to know that they need a new place, and she's already looking. She also knew to approach it from the angle of needing a room for the baby.
But Aaron's time spent with Alice and her husband brought up feelings about Marie. She didn't wait for him. She almost divorced him to marry Darius.
He also saw his boxes in storage, and it made him wonder how long it was before Marie packed his belongings and stored them away as if ridding herself of Aaron in her life. Marie reminded him that their place was small, and they needed the extra room, but it was a gut punch for him.
Yeah, they love each other, and they're reunited now, but Aaron is probably struggling with the fact that Marie gave up on him. The pain and hurt over that linger are bound to cause some issues in their relationship.
The Wallaces are good together, but it won't be a smooth ride.
Over to you, For Life Fanatics. Did you enjoy this case? What are your thoughts on Aaron and Marie's relationship? Do you trust Scotty and Spencer? Hit the comments below.
You can watch For Life online here via TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
