In Episode 8 of Reasonable Doubt Season 2, we see a shift in Jax as she tries to handle her complicated situation with Lewis in a mature way. After Jax gets to know that Lewis is the father of Tony’s son in the previous episode, she is understandably upset and thus kicks her husband Lewis out of the house because she no longer feels secure with him, and she almost makes the impulsive decision to get intimate with Corey to hurt Lewis. However, Jax ultimately chose not to do that as she knew it would only damage their relationship further. So, maybe that is why, in this episode, she tries to work things out in a better way. But, not only is her personal life in a mess, her professional life is also complicated, as the trial for Jamarion and Shanelle’s case still continues. In court, we see witnesses and the defense work hard to convince the jury that Shanelle is not a cold-blooded murderer but rather a victim herself who was trapped in a toxic marriage with her legendary football player husband Jamarion, whom she killed after she had had enough of Jamarion’s abuse. So, it’ll be interesting to see how things went in this recap of episode eight of Reasonable Doubt Season 2.Â
Spoilers Ahead
What was finally decided about Lewis’s baby?
In the previous episode’s ending, we saw that Lewis came to Jax to apologize and ask for forgiveness as he felt genuinely sorry for the pain he’d caused by lying to her and hiding the truth. Jax was heartbroken, but she didn’t want to let Lewis go this time, as she remembered her own mistakes in the past, especially when she cheated on him, and realized how Lewis had always stood by her to support her through everything. Therefore, Jax understood that being his wife meant accepting him, flaws and all. After all, that’s what real marriage is about. Hence, Jax was ready to forgive Lewis and move on, even with the reality that he had fathered a child with another woman (Tony). Jax knew it wouldn’t be easy, but they both decided to go to marriage counseling, where they had an open, honest conversation. This time, there was no blame or name-calling or shaming each other, but instead, they showed real maturity as they tried to deal with their relationship in an honest way. Therefore, the first step was confronting Tony face-to-face. When the three of them met, Jax made it clear to Tony that even though they shared a child, Lewis was her husband, and Jax was going to be part of their lives every step of the way and she wouldn’t tolerate being blindsided again. Tony seemed to understand, but there was tension around the upcoming home birth, which Jax and Lewis were not fully on board with as they would have preferred a hospital birth, which they thought to have less risk.
Meanwhile, Lewis’s brother Terrence arrived in town, and it was obvious that he and Jax had a strained relationship, as Terence was concerned about Jax’s history of making impulsive decisions and leaving Lewis feeling abandoned. So Terence wanted to know if Jax was truly committed this time. But we saw that Jax had matured through her experiences, so maybe this time she was determined not to make the same mistakes again. Because in the night after coming home drunk when Lewis asked for forgiveness again, Jax reassured him that it was a one-off mistake on his part. Sure, they were also getting old and a new child would change their lives, but also this addition would bring happiness in their lives so they must celebrate as well. So, Lewis was finally at peace and realized that telling Jax the truth was the right decision, even though her initial reaction was harsh. In the end, Jax was his wife, and they would stick together through the ups and downs.
What happened in court?
Even though things got steamy between Corey and Jax last time, Corey apologized and promised to keep things professional moving forward, and Jax was so secure now that she was okay with their new dynamic. Now, on the next day of the trial, we see Dr. Michaels, the Director of Prevention for Intimate Partner Violence came to court to testify and she explained how abusive partners often start by “love bombing” to hide their flaws, but once they are confronted about their mistakes, they switch to verbal abuse, which can escalate to physical violence. Dr. Michaels further shared that abusers rarely admit their mistakes and only give half-hearted apologies for repeating the same harmful behavior. She noted that there are some women who have resorted to drastic actions like hitting or even killing their abusers to break this cycle, as they know that the legal system, especially for marginalized and Black women, often fails them. Then, a handwriting specialist testified and she revealed that many of the checks supposedly signed by Shanelle showed signs of distress in her handwriting while some checks weren’t even signed by Shanelle at all, which suggests that someone else may have transferred the $30 million from Jamarion’s account without her knowledge.
An officer who handles restraining orders also took the stand and she recalled seeing Shanelle in her office and described her as a visibly scared woman with a large diamond ring. However, Shanelle left the office without filing a restraining order, which indicated how terrified she was to make any big decisions. At the end, Shanelle’s cousin, Sally, gave the testimony which we all have been waiting for. She shared photos she had taken of Shanelle’s bruises and told the court about how Sally herself had witnessed Jamarion’s violent behavior. She was at their house once and Jamarion reacted violently after Shanelle accidentally spilled water on his clothes. Sally called the police for help, but instead of helping, the officers took VIP football passes from Jamarion and left. And that’s why Sally revealed that she and Shanelle had slowly been moving Shanelle and the children’s belongings to Sally’s house, as Shanelle had been planning to leave Jamarion for good. Sally admitted they had sold some of Jamarion’s things behind his back to raise money, but she believed he deserved to die for all the abuse he had inflicted on Shanelle. Sally’s emotional testimony left the court wondering if it would help or hurt the case.
At the end of Reasonable Doubt episode 8, we saw that Shanelle had started to act a bit shady. After a long time, Adrian came to visit her in prison and even proposed to her by telling her that he loved her and that while all his assets were frozen and he was unemployed, Adrian was sure about his feelings for Shanelle. However, Shanelle didn’t seem too happy with the proposal and it was clear she needed time to process it. Meanwhile, in the end, Shanelle called Sally and said that they needed to come out with the truth in court because things were getting out of hand. This raised a lot of questions, as in What did she mean by the truth? Maybe Jax was right all along that maybe Shanelle did not kill Jamarion, and now they’re ready to reveal what really happened. We’ll have to wait for the next episode to find out!