Reasonable Doubt Season 4 Episodes 1, 2 And 3 Recap

Raamla Mohamed’s Hulu legal drama, “Reasonable Doubt” has returned with its fourth season, and the premiere, consisting of first three episodes, focuses on the aftermath of the cliff-hanger ending of the previous chapter which put our lead DA, Jax, in mortal peril. Jax’s high profile client, Ozzie, tragically passed away in the previous season after being exonerated of the charges of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Wendy, and Jax’s investigation had revealed the heinous abuse and grooming Ozzie’s manager, Monica, had subjected him to. As the exposé doomed Monica’s life and career, in her manic state of mind she decided to shoot Jax at her newly opened personal workspace. As the fourth season begins, a comatose Jax fights for her dear life, while her family and law firm faces new challenges.

Spoilers Ahead

Corey Comes for Assist, Jax Recuperates

The fourth season picks up three weeks after the events of the shooting incident, Jax is in a comatose condition in ICU, and as a loving, dutiful husband, Lewis is always by her side, desperately clinging on to hope for her recovery. Seeing Jax struggling in her unresponsive state is a punishment for Lewis, who wanted her to maintain a boundary in her work-life to avoid all the dangers it often entails. Jax’s situation has also left an adverse effect on her newly inaugurated private practice, Stewart Firm, as rival law firms are poaching their clients left and right. Lewis asks Daniel and Krystal to seek help from Jax’s associate, Corey Cash, to keep the firm running. Cash is two months away from getting married to his fiancée, Brandy, but he decides to fly right to LA after learning Jax’s team needs his expertise, due to the fact that he owes a lot to her for his fame and success as a defence lawyer. Brandy is not entirely pleased with the situation but Cash assures her that he will be back in no time. Bill Sterling, who is feeling guilty for his treatment of Jax, as he had betrayed her trust by revealing details about her case to higher ups of their old firm to secure his position. Upon being chastised by his wife for his past actions, Bill decides to make amends by leaving his firm as well, go solo, and meet with Jax’s team to offer his apology. 

On the other hand, the doctors appear unsure regarding Jax’s recovery, and warn Lewis about the possibility that he might have to decide about his wife’s fate as she might remain in the comatose state for the rest of her life. Lewis gradually spirals out of control as his anger, frustration and helplessness makes him lose his composure. Thankfully, their children, Spenser and Naima have become mature enough to offer their father some comfort during trying times. Jax regains her consciousness, much to Lewis’ relief, but the road to her recovery is longer than expected. 

Monica Received Unexpected Assistance

DA Regina, who is dealing with problems in her personal life due to work pressure leading to estrangement with her ailing mother, promises Lewis that even though Monica’s trial has been delayed due to her being injured in the prison, Regina will ensure Monica gets life imprisonment, and given that she doesn’t have any credible legal help, Regina believes she has the upper hand already. 

However, a shocking development takes place as Ozzie’s mother, Rosie, visits Monica in the prison, and assessing her situation, she offers the best legal help she can fetch with her wealth, just to spite Jax and her legacy. Rosie detests Monica for what she did to her son, but she hates Jax even more, going as far as blaming her for Ozzie’s death. Rosie reveals how relieved she felt upon learning Monica had shot Jax, hence, she is willing to fight for Monica’s freedom. Hating someone is understandable, but joining hands with a son’s abuser is a really despicable business. Rosie assigns a hotshot lawyer, Seth Edelman, who pleads innocence on Monica’s behalf, and it is clear he will try to pull through the case by using insanity plea. Regina is baffled upon learning about this, although she remains confident that Jax will receive justice. 

Eric’s Case and Jax’s Struggle With Recovery 

Right after joining Stewart Firm, Chase was asked by Daniel and Krystal to attend to the case of Jax’s marquee client, a renowned, rich R&B musician, Eric Crocker, who is having a feud with his wife/ business associate, Brooke. An egotistical, narcissist, and deeply misogynist Eric wants to hide the true six million hundred dollars worth valuation of his streaming platform from Brooke, who helped him to build his business and at present is trying to part ways. She has managed to craftily obtain country club surveillance footage of Eric insulting and threatening her in public, which she is willing to use as leverage if Eric decides to dupe her. Chase is initially disgusted after having a conversation with Eric and straight up refuses any assistance, believing the unpredictable, greedy fool will turn out to be bad news for Stewart Firm.

After gaining her senses, Jax begins her journey to recovery, and it soon dawns upon her that more than physical agony, the trauma her mind experienced during the shooting incident has left a lasting impact. Seeing others empathising with her makes Jax feel herself to be a pity case, something she literally abhors. She isn’t able to get close to Lewis as memories of the tragic incident flashes in her mind, and Jax is stubborn enough to not let others know how her insecurities and fear are eating her away from within. Jax decides to meet with Monica, and gets herself even more riled up by his remorselessness and provocations. On the other hand, as Brandy arrives at LA to meet Chase, she finds her somewhat distant due to work pressure, and questions about his commitment regarding their relationship. Chase has a hard time assuring her that his loyalty and priorities lie with her and their future. 

After learning about Chase’s decision to let Eric’s case go, Jax decides to steer things by herself and reels Eric back to her firm. Brooke has learned about Eric’s deceit, and threatening divorce, she lets her husband know that she is going to take her fair share one way or another. Things take a shocking turn when Brooke gets kidnapped right from the outside premises of Eric’s mansion, and by the time he rushes outside with his gun, the kidnappers have fled in their van. 

Did Eric Try to Have Brooke Murdered?

Brooke’s abductors provide Eric a small window to pay the ransom of fifteen million dollars, and Eric’s brother/ business partner, Tyger, and even Jax believes he needs to keep the amount in handy just in case things go south. However, Eric’s greed and possessiveness is too damn much to let him consider Brooke’s safety as utmost priority, and he appears too lax to liquidate his assets to arrange the amount. Media sparks a chaos by linking the separation rumour of the couple with the abduction, and Eric’s volatile tendencies, short tempered approach regarding to its response, make it troublesome for Jax to handle the situation. Investigating detectives raise red flags about Eric’s past misconducts, and start to consider him as a possible suspect, and seeing the situation going out of hand, Jax asks Eric to publicly appear as a concerned partner in his media address. Jax is trying everything she can to save her valued client, but she is getting more restless upon realizing what a mess Eric is. Daniel finds out Brooke had dug up dirt on Eric’s prolific music business and his shady dealings, which doesn’t put him in a good light all things considered. 

In the meantime, the kidnappers have learned about police and media involvement thanks to Jax’s obnoxious media address, they have doubled the ransom, and to threaten Eric, a torn fingernail of Brooke is sent as a token. Eric finally appears shaken, and this time, Chase approaches him as fear of losing someone who used to mean a lot to him, grips Eric. Chase believes there is still hope for Eric, who finally shows some urgency in arranging funds, as he is too late at this point. The kidnappers call Eric one last time to let him know he failed by shooting Brooke over the phone. Eric is devastated, and blames himself for the tragedy, and to assure him, Jax finally opens up about her trauma and acts of defiance to it by choosing to persist nevertheless. 

However, things take a complete 180 degree turn in the final moments of the third episode, when a dishevelled Brooke reaches a police station to report against her husband, Eric, who had tried to have her murdered. On the other hand, Eric, who has just been lamenting the passing of his wife, is shown to be receiving carnal pleasures from Layla, a young singer who recorded a song under his label not too long ago. From the looks of it, Eric might really be the culprit the media was trying to portray him to be, as he has the motives, the means and mentality to orchestrate Brooke’s killing and cover up his role. The question is, will Jax be able to stay on the right side of things after the situation inevitably blows up, and will this case also impact Monica’s trial? Upcoming episodes will highlight whether Jax made a major mistake by choosing to take Eric’s case, and how she gradually gets back on track in her personal and professional life by dealing with her trauma. 

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