- "Thank you all for standing up for me and for fighting against oppression no matter the consequences. You all inspire me to do better and be better every day."
- —Malika to The Coterie group
Arraignment Day is the second episode of Season 3 of Good Trouble. The episode aired on February 24, 2021.
Synopsis[]
Callie receives some big news. Meanwhile, Mariana’s app becomes popular with the wrong crowd. The Coterie members join BLM in taking a stand to free Malika.
Plot[]
Callie enters a prison where she is bumped out of the way by a male lawyer who accidentally pours coffee on her shoulder. At the Coterie, Callie dresses in her new pantsuit while Mariana encourages her. She is only observing for now. At the prison, she is let in to see her client, Shai Haraz. While visiting she sees Malika on the other side of the bars.
Lindsay and Alice face-off in the Coterie bathroom when Kelly emerges fully-clothed from the shower. Alice calls dibs on the use of the material, which Lindsay objects to. They go back and forth with their comedic interpretations of the event until Sumi enters with a funnier joke. Alice asks Sumi for her opinion on who owns the joke, but Sumi refuses to get involved. She won’t come between her friend and her significant other.
Davia sulks in the kitchen as she remembers being approached by a fellow teacher about the equity committee meeting that she missed. Davia is hesitant to attend more meetings with her performance review coming up and the committee not being a school-sanctioned event. She wants to wait until she has job security before getting involved. The teacher understands that it’s hard to be an ally when she has something to lose. Davia sulks as Gael comes down. She admits that her principal is observing her class and if he doesn’t approve her for a third-year teacher they won’t pay for her masters. He jokes about her quarter-life crisis but knows she’ll be great. She hasn’t heard from Dennis as she’s trying to give him space. Gael knows Dennis is lucky to have a friend like her. She remembers them having sex.
Callie returns to her new clinic where she is nicknamed an impulse buy. The paralegals judge Kathleen for her impulsive choice to open the clinic but Callie reminds them that they did the same thing. Kathleen enters and announces they are all picking up cases at the arraignment court from PD overflow. Kathleen is still working on Jerod’s case, but pro-bono cases don’t keep the lights on. At the jail, Callie sees Malika, but Shai Haraz, Callie’s client intercepts their meeting. Callie asks her client to wait while she speaks to Malika.
Mariana hurries into the work elevator where she joins Evan. He is impressed by the work on her activism app and wants to celebrate with the team for the success. They make plans to meet trying to remain discreet in the presence of an employee who is in the elevator. She arrives at the office and her team tells her that something is wrong.
Callie asks if Malika needs anything, to which she points out a woman in a jean jacket. She remembers her first night in jail and crying.
The team tells Mariana that a white supremacist group is spamming Activism and using their app to spread hate. They are also pushing down Malika’s crowdfunding campaign. They decide to delete as much as they can and block the users before Evan finds out, as he might close down the app.
BLM walks into the courthouse with the family of Malika to deliver a signed petition demanding that DA Hanson drops the charges against her. Tye presents the paper and says they will wait to deliver the papers to DA Hanson personally. With it being a sit-in situation, Melina instructs the group to call their friends and fill the halls with allies and members. Dom is antsy and asks Tye about Malika’s bail money, to which she assures Dom and Joseph that they have almost reached their goal. If they can’t raise the money Malika will be moved to Lynwood, a women's prison, which Dom is upset with. Joseph tells Dom to be patient. Isaac calls Dom as he’s on his way, but this was what he was worried about in the first place.
Callie fills Kathleen in on her meeting with Shai, who was busted for indecent exposure while with her girlfriend in a car. They can’t call Shai’s parents as they don’t know she’s queer. Kathleen tells Callie to convince Shai she’s wrong as a plea deal is a wrong direction to take, though Callie refuses. Kathleen takes the case instead. She crosses paths with Tony in the stairwell and learns that he has Yvonne Buyers' case, the woman that Malika pointed out to her earlier. Yvonne, Cadence, and Brooke helped Malika feel more relaxed in the cell. Cadence offers Malika a candy bar while Brooke gives Malika her cell phone in case she needs to send a text. Malika broke down but Yvonne assured her that she wasn’t alone. Malika explains to Callie that Yvonne’s hearing date kept changing at the last minute making her unable to appear. She also has three kids and a job that she needs to attend tonight or she risks losing custody of her children. Callie promises to do what she can to help. Callie takes the case from Tony.
Davia teaches class but none of her students can answer her question except Andre, who comments as he sits that she’s his favorite teacher. When class is dismissed, the principal tells Davia that she did a great job and will be recommended for the third year. In court, Kathleen stands before Judge Richard Patton, who is surprised that someone of her stature had time to spend in a misdemeanor court. She brilliantly tells Patton that two women kissing in a car is not indecent exposure but rather homophobia. She explains Shai’s great past and family, who are present in the courtroom. Shai is released on her recognizance and a date set.
Kathleen didn’t tell Judge Patton that Shai's father was in the court, reminding her that the courtroom is a theater and she has to manipulate the judge and jury. She tells Callie to read the jury and the judge to put on a show. At the Coterie, Alice is annoyed by her uneasiness for the comedy audition and invites a fellow resident who claims she's busy. Kelly brings Alice flowers from Malika. Alice told Lindsay that she won’t let her life or jokes be appropriated by Lindsay or Sumi, finally telling them that she’s had enough and will do her version of the Coterie jokes. She storms off though Malika follows to express her pride for Alice taking her pride back. Malika gives her a pep talk and makes her pinky promise to do her best. Kelly can’t believe that Malika used her one phone call to send Alice flowers. Alice, who had her phone off, is informed by Kelly that BLM is holding a sit-in to protest.
Mariana heads to the sit-in but is kept up-to-date on the white supremacy situation by her team. As soon as she hangs up she is confronted by a group of supremacists who call her racial slurs and intimidate her. Gael appears and records the protestors which continue as they chant for DA Hanson’s re-election and continue to scream “All Lives Matter” to Gael and Mariana. Gael helps Marian retreat into the courtroom. She calls her team who tells her that the activists are using the app to continuously protest and enlist others to help. When they shut down one user five more pop up. The team thinks they should tell Evan, though Mariana disagrees and instructs them to switch to shadow banning which they can fix later. Mariana assures the women in charge that they’re trying to shut-down the users but they’re using the chat feature to intimidate people who might show up. She warns Mariana that even if they shut-down the activists it might be too late to save the app. Patrisse emerges to tell everyone that they have raised the bail money but aren’t going to leave until DA Hanson comes out and they convince her to drop all the charges. Together, they chant “shut it down”.
Callie struggles in her first court appearance though Judge Patton reminds Callie that Yvonne has four bench warrants and the prosecutor is within her rights to remand Yvonne onto custody. Callie tries to explain as she remembers Tony convincing Judge Patton for OR, though Patton isn’t impressed by Tony’s confidence or attitude. Callie has an idea but asks her client to trust her. In the present, Patton asks Callie to take a breath and relax. She apologizes as it’s her first time in a courtroom. Callie argues that the crime is unpaid parking tickets so no one suffered, but Yvonne’s family will if they are put in the system. The judge isn’t entirely convinced but sets the bail at $500 which Kathleen is impressed by. Yvonne appreciates Callie but she can’t raise $500. The bailiff tells Yvonne that her bail is taken care of so she can be processed now.
At the courthouse, the BLM lawyer arrives without Malika. She explains that Malika asked them to use the funds to release the other women in the cells instead of herself as they need it more. Dyonte thinks it’s cool but Dom is angered that his sister is going to jail. The white supremacists arrive to advocate that Malika be in jail, with Gael and Dyonte instantly recording the confrontation. Dom advances on the supremacists but Joseph restrains him. The leader of the BLM group, Tye, tells them to leave but her shoe is spat on. The security pulls back the supremacist but warns the BLM group that if there is more chaos they will make arrests.
Yvonne and the other women thank Malika for her help but will pray for her. Callie tells Malika that everyone is heading to the sit-in but not to worry, as they’ll get her out. They hold their hands against the glass.
Mariana enters Evan’s office to see a bucket of roses he was planning to bring her. He asks if that was okay which she says it’s very okay. He asks about the comedy show but she tells him the truth about the app needing to be shut down. Alice and Kelly arrive at the sit-in along with Davia. Kelly tells Alice to do her act here instead and rallies the group to listen, and they decide to listen. Gael and Kelly help Alice onto a ledge where she is recorded by Dyonte and Gael. She gives her performance which everyone seems to love.
Evan tells Mariana they can’t shut down the app as while they created the product they aren’t responsible for what people say. They aren’t political so it isn’t their job to censor anyone. She is worried about bad publicity, but he explains that they are about to release a new media app and can’t shut down act=ivism without guaranteeing bad publicity. They can’t be seen as catering to either side. Mariana doesn’t agree with giving the bigots an online presence but Evan is thinking about business as his hundreds of employees have families they need to provide for. She understands that it’s his choice.
Gael made an ad shining a light on DA Hanson’s racial politics and that Malika is not a threat to society. They show footage of DA Hanson ignoring the community leaders and refusing to acknowledge their petition. They show footage of the women Malika released, and the bigots cheering for Hanson. The security guard unchains Malika to take her somewhere else.
Callie and Mariana return to the Coterie with Callie apologizing for what happened to her app. Callie’s nice suit smells as it’s become her cheap arraignment suit. Mariana wonders if Malika will be okay which Callie hopes for. In the kitchen, the Coterie group is saddened over their loss when they are joined by the BLM leaders. Malika enters a few moments later as everyone claps for her return. She thanks them for their help, and the video that Gael and Dyonte made was enough for DA Hanson to drop the charges. Isaac arrives and hugs her as they kiss, with him feeling bad for not being there sooner. Malika is appreciative of Alice missing her audition. Alice takes a call from Ruby who tells her that Sumi sent her a link to the live stream performance, and the judges unanimously agreed to accept Alice into the CBTV Comedy Diversity Workshop. Everyone is happy for her, though Lindsay and Sumi enter with Alice thanking Sumi for her help. Lindsay was also accepted into the program. Malika hugs Dom and Joseph, thanking everyone for standing up for her and fighting. Malika the Coterie group and BLM celebrate their win. Gael interrupts Callie and Mariana to tell them that Malika is back with her charges dropped.
Davia meets with Jordan who is protesting as one of the diversion students was arrested and put in juvie. Davia remembers a meeting with Andre’s mother who is enraged over the alleged infractions. She panics that the arrested student was Andre, but it’s Javier Cruz. Davia promises Andre’s mother to do what she can to make sure he doesn't get another strike.
Mariana packs up her desk and convinces her team that ever since they got here they aren’t taken seriously or own their work. She tells Evan that she is leaving the company which he is upset by, especially since she doesn’t know what their future looks like. Mariana walks out of the office and one-by-one, the Byte Club girls agree to leave to create their start-up.
Jordan does a press conference that Davia joins.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Maia Mitchell as Callie Adams Foster
- Cierra Ramirez as Mariana Adams Foster
- Tommy Martinez as Gael Martinez
- Emma Hunton as Davia Moss
- Sherry Cola as Alice Kwan
- Zuri Adele as Malika Williams
- Beau Mirchoff as Jamie Hunter
- Josh Pence as Dennis Cooper (credit only)
Guest Starring[]
- Sarunas J. Jackson as Isaac Hall
- T.J. Linnard as Evan Speck
- Richard Brooks as Joseph Turner
- Kara Wang as Sumi
- J Mallory McCree as Dom Williams
- Jayson Blair as Tony Britton
- Rhea Butcher as Lindsay Brady
- Marcus Emanuel Mitchell as Dyonte
- Patrisse Cullors as Patrisse Cullors
- Melina Abdullah as Melina Abdullah
- Anastasia Leddick as Kelly
- Shannon Chan-Kent as Ruby
- Joseph C. Phillips as Judge Richard Patton
- Rachel Rosenbloom as Gina Spero
- Seri DeYoung as Claire Badgley
- Maisie Klompus as Rachel Boyle
- Aisha Alfa as Jordan
- Tim Martin Gleason as Principal Dan Solomon
- Tiffany Yvonne Cox as TBA
- Terrell Ransom Jr as Andre Johnson
- Dinora Walcott as Dinora Walcott
- Isis D. King as Brooke
- Constance Zimmer as Kathleen Gale
Co-Starring[]
- Jessie Cohen as Justine Hillridge
- Emmett Preciado as Rowan
- Shondalia White as Yvonne
- Yuli Zorrilla as Cadence
- Nicola Lambo as DA Paula Hansen
- Annie Hsu as May
- Anisha Jagannathan as Shai
- Daniele Lawson as Jahzara
- Gabriel Maddox Maier as Bash
- Christina Palacios as DA Receptionist
- Sonya Wallace as Bailiff
- Frederick Lawrence as Night Guard
- Joe Lorenzo as Sheriff
- Adam Navas as White Supremacist
- Andrew Koyama as Shouting Attorney
Notes and Trivia[]
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Behind the Scenes[]
Featured Music[]
- Before I Die by Eamon
- When I Turn It On by MATS
- BattleCry by Jordan Mackampa
- It's Gonna Be Alright by Crush Effect (featuring Justin "J. Pierre" Bennett)
- If You Got A Problem by Joy Oladokun
- Here Together by Rezar
- Doin' My Thing by Dream Tingz