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Opening Statements is the sixteenth episode of Season 3 of Good Trouble. The episode airs on August 18, 2021.

Synopsis[]

As Tommy’s trial begins, Callie sees Jamie in a new light. After running into some old colleagues, Mariana wonders if she can ever make amends. Malika must learn to establish boundaries; meanwhile, Alice and Ruby’s relationship is revealed.

Plot[]

Callie and Mariana walk downtown as Mariana complains that there’s nothing for her to do at the office. She wants to be in court but Callie tells her to just supervise the painter. Mariana is a little paranoid about the murder case. They bump into Raj and Claire who are holding hands. Claire says things are going great. However, at Bulk Beauty, Claire and the team are falling apart. They can’t find product partners and focus on writing code. Now, Claire lies that they have more brands signing up than they can handle. Mariana states she’s working at Callie’s law firm doing a lot, even though she lays around most of the time. She stacks office supplies and plays in the copy room. The groups say goodbye with Callie questioning Mariana, who spirals that all she’s capable of is answering phone calls.

At the comedy troupe, Alice bumps into Lindsay and greets them nervously. Their exchange is awkward as Alice tries to not bring up her kiss with Sumi. Scott shows up with cuts to make everything work in the 45 minute time frame. Shaun and Alice’s unicorn sketch is in, and so is everyone’s except Derek’s. The team is ready to work Derek into their sketches but Derek pointedly looks at Alice as he notes that there’s no point.

Malia makes her case to the DPN manager about how women are being held in jails for weeks or months before even having a trial. She wants to expand her campaign to offer more services but has to raise money. The manager notes that Malika can apply for a grant. She then tells Dyonte that he needs to decide on his mini-campaign. They can only hire one of them for the full-time position.

In court, DA Rothman thanks the jury for serving their civic duty.

Before the case, Kathleen explains the purpose of opening statements to Tony, Callie, and Rowan. It’s when jurors often make up their minds about a case. They pick the side that paints the best story, which is why the prosecution will start with an emotional one-sentence theme to grab their attention. Sure enough in court, Rotham states the case is about competition, jealousy, and the loss of a college scholarship that ended in a grisly murder. Flashing sideways, Kathleen lays out what happens next; a riveting story about the case that makes the jury sit on the edge of their seats. They want the jury to feel like they were. Sure enough, Rothman does just that as he paints the picture that the victim, Zack, yanked away Tommy’s hopes and dreams of being a star quarterback. Rothman paints a picture and then the horror of the crime. He paints Tommy as an apathetic criminal. He plans to have his witnesses prove his version of events alongside the fingerprinted beer bottle that was found near the crime scene. He tells them to make sure Tommy Sung pays for the death of his friend. He states that while Zack was bleeding to death, Tommy went on a beer run. Tony realizes that Rothman just changed their timeline, and Callie confirms his suspicions. She remembers telling Kathleen about the video store's timestamps being five minutes slow. In the present, Tommy asks Kathleen what their defense is now that the prosecution has changed the timeline. Kathleen assures him that it’s the same as it always was. The judge declares a short recess before the defense delivers their statement. Callie assures Tommy that he’ll be okay, and is watched by Jamie and Nicolette.

Malika talks to Dyonte about the campaign and wants to help him figure out his plan. He wants to do a mini-campaign about rest, but it sounds trivial compared to Malika’s. Malika reminds him that people need permission to rest. He states that rest isn’t an award but a right. He wants to fund it and she tells him to apply for the grant. By both of them applying, they’ll double their chances of the money coming to DPN. He happily kisses her. She can’t hang out with him as she’s working late since she fell behind on bills. He understands so she asks how he affords to live. Dyonte is only getting by because Tanya supports them while he works the unpaid internship.

Scott re-enters the comedy club to add five extra minutes to the showcase. This means Derek’s sketch is back in. Scott also ran a sensitivity pass at all the sketches with the writers last night to make sure they are showing the most woke and inoffensive sketches. Before Scott, Shaun and Stacey’s sketch was titled “The Very Successful, Not Angry, Black, Female Lawyer”. The judge thinks the lawyer is the criminal and defending herself. The lawyer has to keep reminding herself not to get angry. Meanwhile, Derek, Sanjana, and Shaun’s skit is about a couple planning a small wedding that happens to feature stallions and a herd of elephants. Alice, Lindsay, and Shaun’s unicorn sketch is about a pig mistaking two unicorns for being twins. After Scott: Shaun and Stacey’s sketch is now called, “The Lawyer”, and features Stacey just yelling random infamous movie quotes at the judge then apologizing as it’s her first day as a lawyer. Meanwhile, Sanjana is now dressed in a bridal gown and hysterical about being a bridezilla. The unicorn skit starring Alice, Shaun, and Lindsay, has drastically changed. Lindsay as a bartender while two horses, played by Alice and Shaun, walk into a bar. Scott thinks his versions are great.

Callie talks to Jamie about changing his timeline. Jamie clarifies that the medical examiner never said Zack died instantly, so Tommy had time to make a beer run after the murder while Zack died a minute after Tommy returned. Callie calls Rothman out on selling the landscaping of that night, with Jamie chuckling over the line. He states that the jury seemed pretty engaged to him. Callie retorts that Rothman isn’t nearly as good as Kathleen when it comes to putting on a show. In a patronizing and sympathetic tone, Jamie realizes Callie is still under Kathleen’s spell. He asks if she’s heard from the FBI lately, but she hasn’t, which means the FBI doesn’t have a case. She sees Nicolette approaching and snips that she keeps Jamie on a tight leash. Callie leaves and Nicolette arrives.

Mariana vents to the painter over changing her occupation just as Callie texts her asking her to bring the team coffees. Mariana is enthusiastic about leaving. She stops at the coffee shop and gets the coffees, but notices the names on the cups are those of the Byte Club girls. She turns around and is shocked to see the girls behind her. Flashing backward, Callie got a text from Raj after she and Mariana ran into Raj and Claire. Raj tells Callie that BB is not working without Mariana. Callie admits that Mariana is miserable too. Now, Mariana realizes they’ve been set up.

The comedy group vents about Scott ripping the substance out of their sketches. They blame Alice for telling them to give Scott another chance. Some of them want to quit, but Alice reminds them that Scott is open to having hard conversations. They think they should suck it up and do what Scott wants. Alice and Ruby are ready to fight for them so everyone agrees.

Malika is working late at Douro when she’s given a coffee by Anjelica - a new waiter at the bar. Malika explains her activist work which is why she’s so tired. Anjelica gets it as she also works two jobs. She’s glad to know she works with cool people. Malika calls herself lame but Anjelica doubts that’s true. Malika then answers a call from Dyonte who just wanted to say hi before her shift. He’s working on the essay grant too. She offers to look at it after her shift so he agrees to send it over later.

Kathleen tells the jury that the entire case is a made-up story that didn’t happen. They don’t have any evidence to prove this was a homicide. The evidence points to this being a tragic accident. Flashing sideways, Kathleen tells Callie, Rowan, and Tony her plan to point out that the prosecution’s case is entirely circumstantial. They have to remind the jury that the burden of proof is theirs. Now, Kathleen presses that the beer bottle doesn’t prove that Tommy was there. The rock doesn’t have any prints or DNA of Tommy’s on it. Flashing sideways, Kathleen tells them not to promise the jury something they can’t prove as they’ll remember that. Now, Kathleen says the alleged fight was just them horsing around. Their witnesses will prove that. Their case will show a young kid with a promising future who had a lot to drink, fell off a cliff, and hit his head on the way down. It’s heartbreaking but there is no crime. Everyone lost someone they cared about including Tommy, who lost his best friend. She asks them to perform their solemn duty that the evidence will support - a verdict of not guilty. Tommy begins to get choked up so Kathleen tells Callie that he’s doing great at selling things.

At The Coterie, Mariana comes in to find Mariana eating hazelnut spread out of the jar. Her meeting with the Fight Club goes wrong. Rachel is insistent they’re meeting a coder for an interview. Claire realizes the name is an anagram for Mariana. Raj and Callie must have worked together to pull this off. Mariana wishes them luck on the app and apologizes for all of this. She then leaves. In the present, Callie apologizes as Raj said they needed her. Mariana thinks this was Callie’s way of telling her she didn’t want to work with Mariana either. Callie can see that Mariana is miserable. Mariana knows the girls are done with her and didn’t offer her the job. Callie thinks she should ask for the job, though Mariana doesn’t want to be demoted from partner to employee. Callie thinks it is the only way to prove she’s changed or get friends back. Mariana wants that so Callie tells her to humble herself, as being a coder at BB is better than not being at BB at all.

Malika writes her application as Dyonte sends her an email with the PDF he wrote. She pours over it and rewrites large portions of it. She ends up making him perfect while forgetting about hers until late the next morning. She had to drink coffee to stay awake. The application is due at 9 am with her not having enough time to read through hers completely before submitting.

Rothman calls Detective Beale to the stand. He asks how Beale determined the incident was a homicide and not an accident. Beale states the blow to the head seemed very unlikely to have been an accident. The rock was discovered only feet from the body, which is suspicious. He learned that the victim and defendant had been involved in a violent altercation. Kathleen asks Beale if he rolled the body over to examine the wound, but he didn’t. She asks if he’s a medical examiner and he isn’t. She asks how he came to decide the blow to the head was not an accident. She thinks it’s reasonable that the rock could have tumbled down after Zack. Rothman objects as Kathleen is testifying, so the judge sustains the question. Kathleen asks Beale if he would have jumped to the conclusion of murder had he not known about the fight. The Detective can’t be sure. She asks if the alleged fight had the greatest impact on his determination of the cause of death. He admits that it was. She remarks that it’s a rush to judgment and closes her cross-examination.

Nicolette calls Zack’s friends to the stand to testify over having seen the fight. They all saw it and agreed that Tommy started it. Kathleen cross-examines by asking if they had been drunk and high, which they were. She presses that their judgment over a fight or “just goofing around” could have been impaired. They both had seen them fighting before, and it was common for the rest of the guys to do the same. They claim it was just guys blowing off steam. Kathleen asks if this continued after Zack replaced Tommy, though both witnesses state that Tommy handled the situation surprisingly well. Jamie asks Rothman if they should redirect. Rothman tells them to let Kathleen hang herself as he has some tricks up his sleeves.

Alice talks to Scott about his rewrites which makes him visibly annoyed. Scott claims he’s trying to curate an inclusive showcase that is sensitive. Alice thinks he overcorrected. Shaun adds that as a cis-white man Scott can’t relate to their sketches. Stacey doesn’t think he’s in any position to tell them what is or isn’t offensive. Scott thinks that no matter what he does, he can’t win. He’s sick of this shit. He loudly outbursts in a dramatic outlandish apology before quitting. He then snaps that their leader Alice is only in this program because she slept with Ruby and still is. He takes his chair back with his name on it and leaves. The group scoffs over the allegation. Alice notes they weren’t official. Derek thinks Alice only gave Scott a second chance because she wanted to save Ruby’s job.

Malika and Dyonte look over their emails in anticipation. Dyonte gets his email that he got the grant.

The judge tells the prosecution to call their next witness. They call Christian Matthews to the stand. The teenager walks in and gives Callie a smile as he takes a seat. Rothman tells Jamie to take this one. Jamie asks Christian if he was drinking or smoking that night. Christian was sober that night and saw the fight. They weren’t just horsing around. Kathleen tells Callie to take this one as she thinks Christian likes Callie. The two lawyers pass on another as they leave the floor. Callie asks Christian how close he was with Tommy and Zack. They weren’t friends and she asks if she’s sure it was a serious fight. Christian chuckles that he’s seen the video a bunch of times and it looks pretty serious to him. This gets the entire courtroom’s attention as the idea of a video was never mentioned previously. Callie asks him what video he’s talking about and it’s the one Christian took that night. Jamie didn’t know about either, but Rothman just smiles triumphantly. Kathleen and Rothman approach the bench at her request. Kathleen accuses Rothman of withholding evidence. He denies it but notes that the defense opened the door for the video so now that jury has the right to see it. Kathleen wants to authenticate first and the judge agrees. He clears the court so they can see the video before the jury does.

Alice arrives at The Coterie to find Sum in the kitchen talking to Lindsay. Alice confronts Lindsay about them telling Scott about her and Ruby. She accuses Lindsay of being jealous of Alice being in the program. Lindsay states that their talk derailed the program so it isn’t an issue anymore. They press that whatever happened with Alice and Sumi just derailed their relationship too. Lindsay storms out so Alice asks why they broke up. Sumi lost respect for Lindsay when they didn’t have Alice’s back. She wants to talk about the kiss. Ruby walks in asking to talk with Alice, so she agrees and leaves Sumi.

Ruby was asked to resign because of her relationship with Alice. With the drama and no director, they’re going to cancel the showcase this year. She’s sorry it’s ending like this and Alice is too. Ruby didn’t like who she became at the job and apologies for not having her back the whole time. She wants Alice to forgive her and give her a second chance at their relationship.

The court watches the video between Tommy and Zack. Tommy shoves Zack and shouts that he trusted Zack. They tussle as Zack tells Tommy to go home. They continue to scuffle on the film while Rothman smiles. The video ends just as Tommy throws a punch at Zack. Kathleen states it is improperly admitted evidence. Rothman counters that it came from witness testimony. The judge will take it under consideration and rule tomorrow. But he’s inclined to let it in. Tommy leaves the courtroom upset. Kathleen will lose all credibility and the case if this video gets in.

Callie confronts Jamie outside. He didn’t know about the video but she snaps that him not knowing is his go-to line. She finds it hard to believe that he’s so in the dark about what’s happening on his team. He admits he’s naïve but she knew the witnesses were going to testify and walked right into the trap. She points out that he admits it was a trap. She then snaps that considering his ethical fluidity, he’s landed the right job. She then storms away from him.

Anjelica tells Malika that the flower lady is back. Malika doesn’t have the heart to throw her out as she’s trying to make a living. They agree that it’s annoying for the customers, but they both find it interesting to watch customers struggle with buying a rose and dinner. Anjelica asks about the grant but Malika admits she didn’t get it. She leaves to wait tables just as Dyonte walks in. He wanted to surprise her. He wants to talk about the grant more as he doesn’t think they should apply for the same grant again. Malika thinks he should just write his essay alone next time. She’s mad she didn’t get it but he counters that she offered to help. She retorts that he knew she was working two jobs while his bills are being paid by someone else. She did want to help him but she let down the women who needed the money. She knows people need rest but she stayed up all night and is exhausted. She wants someone to support her so she doesn’t have to work two jobs. Dyonte knows he has the benefit of two relationships and that she needs rest. He offers to give her a massage until she falls asleep then slips out. He wants to support her. Anjelica interrupts to give her a rose to cheer her up and they exchange playful banter. Malika thanks her for the rose as Dyonte looks at her intrigued.

Mariana visits the fight club girls as she’s there to interview for the new coding job. She gives them her resume. They look at her incredulously as they know she’s overqualified and will be underpaid. She’s okay with that if she gets to work with the right people. She also needs to work on her code per their feedback, so this allows her to do that. Before, the team wanted to hire Mariana as a coder and think she deserves a second chance. Claire is the only skeptical one. Mariana is hired on the spot and starts right away. They don’t let her sit at the table with them as her desk is in the corner. Mariana takes her seat but is visibly hurt by the lack of inclusion.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Starring[]

Co-Starring[]

  • Emmett Preciado as Rowan
  • Jacy King as Elise
  • Bryson Powers as Ryan
  • Charles Jackson as Dylan
  • Ethan Smart as Christian Matthews
  • JF Davis as Detective Beale
  • Jordan Preston as Harris Everson / Juror #1
  • Noah Devore as Zack
  • Lisa Carswell as Jeanne Smith
  • Blaine Gray as Trent Smith
  • Mellany Smith as Shelly Smith
  • Courtney Hawkins as Woman #1
  • Allison Reeves as Woman #2
  • JJ Batteast as 14 Year Old Child
  • Britany Giles as 12 Year Old Child
  • Melissa Carvajal as Woman #3

Notes and Trivia[]

  • Opening Statements reached a 0.9 demographic which ties it with Whoosh, Pow, Bang for the highest demographic of the season.

Gallery[]

Images[]

Videos[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Featured Music[]

GT 316 Music
  • Watch Me Go by RUSL, Ark Woods
  • Big League by J-MAN
  • Close Calle by True
  • Touch by Alice Phoebe Lou
  • Get Free by Daemon (featuring Rory)
  • All Love by Kelli Wakili
  • Feel Good About It by Marching Band

References[]

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