This review contains spoilers!
This week “Conviction”, too, was back on our television screens wreaking havoc and trying to determine if justice was served for another convict. This episode also deepened our understanding of Hayes, Conner and their relationship and ended in a mighty cliffhanger, that got me excited for the next episode.
This show from the very beginning positioned itself as somewhat controversial, since the premise of the show is that the CIU is reviewing convictions and trying to determine if justice was truly just in these cases. And this episode upped the ante even more, since the Hayes’s team took on a case that dove into racism, Islam religion, the so called Islamophobia, terrorism and other current topics. But were the team happy about the case that their leader Hayes chose? Definitely not, since the conviction they were reviewing was that of a racist, ex-military man who supposedly bombed a Mosque, killing three people. So why did Hayes choose this case, if it was so badly received by her team? Mainly to stick it to Wallace, who told a reporter at her mom’s campaign event that she is new and conformed Hayes now that she works at the CIU, which put pressure on Hayes to stop being her rebellious self.
Of course, to most of us this type of comment wouldn’t warrant a such a sudden and crass move, but Hayes being Hayes, she decided that this was the way how to get back at Wallace. And lucky for the viewers, this allowed us to see more of their relationship and learn about their past, which confirmed my suspicions that they dated when they both were working in Chicago. Even more so, at the end of the episode even Hayes herself admitted that she shouldn’t have taken the case and that she even doesn’t know why she does some of the things that she does, which was great to see, because it indicates that Hayes is really maturing as a character and learning from her mistakes. And it also led to her and Conner kissing, which although happened quicker that I would have thought it will, because I would have given the buildup to the kiss a couple more episodes, it still was nice to see them together. They make a great couple that betters each other and keeps each other on their toes, which is what relationship should be.
Speaking of Conner Wallace, in this episode we also saw that besides him having feelings for Hayes, he also has quite the temper problem. The way he lashed out on Hayes in her office was intense and we could see that Hayes had fear in her eyes, which makes me think that this temper of his will play some type of role in the future episodes. I just don’t know if it will be related to the cases that are featured on the show or to his and Hayes’s relationship. But somehow I wager it is the latter one.
Since “Conviction” is a procedural, there obviously also was a case of the week, and, like I already mentioned, her team wasn’t thrilled that they are reviewing this particular case. Every single one of the team members were unhappy to be dealing with this case, but it was the hardest on Frankie, who almost quit the CIU, if it wasn’t for Tess convincing him to stay. I loved how Manny Montana played that, and it really gave some depth to his character, because we learned that there is a line in his belief system that he is not willing to cross even if it means that justice won’t be served. And then there was Tess, who also showed more backbone in this episode, standing up to Hayes and convincing Frankie to not quit his job. Until now Emily Kinney has played Tess as quiet, shy girl, who does what she is asked, but now we see that she also is passionate and loyal to her friends and will do everything she can to make sure that they are making the right decision.
And lastly, we need to talk about the cliffhanger that we saw at the end of the episode. Firstly, Hayes and Conner rekindled their romance via a heated make out session, but that even wasn’t the most surprising thing about that last scene. The biggest shock was the reason why their kiss was abruptly ended; a news outlet ran a story which told the whole world how Hayes Morrison got her job at the CIU and what she was doing right before the accepted the new position. This will sure to have some humongous consequences in the next episodes or two, and I can’t wait to see how Hayes will deal with the whole world knowing that she was busted for cocaine possession and that she was actually let off the hook for that just so that she would lead the Conviction Integrity Unit. On top of that, the person who reported the news was the same journalist, who we saw talking to Sam multiple times, so now there also is the mystery of did Sam finally decided to confide in her about how Hayes got the job. Hopeful, ABC won’t cancel this show before we have the chance to see how this plays out!
Highlights of the episode:
• Hayes admitting that she was wrong
• Hayes and Conner scenes
• Sam figuring out how to keep the potential mass murderer in prison
• The morning office scene when Hayes crawls from under the table in full on fancy wear
• Tess standing up to Hayes
• Frankie not quitting the CIU
• Hayes and Conner’s kiss
Let-downs of the episode:
• The secret of how Hayes got her job being revealed
• That secret disrupting Hayes and Conner’s epic make out session
• Hayes making a rash decision and taking this particular case
• The word bigot being used way too often in this episode
Quote of the episode:
Tess: Frankie, no! You can’t, this is a good job, one that’s not easy for someone with your record to get, don’t throw it away just because… because your boss is being a bitch.
Hayes: (looks at Tess in surprise) Well, Frankie, the bitch is asking, in or out?