For The People – You Belong Here

By: Dustin Bradley

ABC’s For the People had a very Leonard-centric episode last week that was quite intriguing. “You Belong Here” was a powerful episode about race and power.

We open with Leonard (Regé-Jean Page) and Kate (Susannah Flood) as they have to prosecute a high powered community celebrity who is charged with real estate fraud. It seems like an easy case expect for the fact that the defense attorney they have to go up against, Philip Kaws (Obba Babatundé), is one of the most toughest and best in the game. After getting stood up at the office in a power move by Kaws, they get invited to his apartment where he dupes them again into changing things around regarding the arrest and trial of the defendant.

After scolding Leonard about getting sucked into Kaws’ mind games, Roger (Ben Shenkmen) tells Leonard that this case is from a higher up so he expects his best. Therefore, Leonard and Kate go to the drawing board and try to figure out a strategy when they get bombarded with motions and appeals galore. Now, they have to prep to fight against all of this instead of focusing on the trial.

Judge Byne (Vondie Curtis Hall) denies almost all of the motions and they start the trial. Kaws presents a case that contradicts and twists all the facts of the case from day one. Leonard has to then convince the jury that despite the defendant being kind to the neighborhood and a semi-celebrity, he still committed a crime and needs to be punished for it. The courtroom battle between Kaws and Leonard was a tough one but in the end the jury sided with Leonard and finds the defendant guilty.

The other big issue Leonard dealt with this week was the fact that he was chosen for the case simply because of his race, seeing as how the defendant and defense attorney are both black and the optics of the case needed a black prosecutor and his talent amounted to nothing. He struggles with figuring out where he belongs, but Kate reminds him that he belongs there with them fighting for justice.

Our other case this week was with Jay (Wesam Keesh) who takes on his first client in federal prison. It took some convincing, but Jill (Hope Davis) finally relents and takes a chance on him. It seems everything will be fine until his client seeks inside counsel in the form of Randy (José Zúñiga), an inmate who practices law for his fellow prisoners and the guards and their families. The two of them butt heads at first because Jay doesn’t understand the federal prisons and how they compare to state appointed ones. His client only has his case settled because the guard recanted his story. In the end, Jay and Randy begin to mutually understand each other, respect one another and are open to the possibility of working together again in the future.

Our last storyline this week was Sandra (Britt Robertson) learning to destress with the help of Ted (Charles Michael Davis), who introduces her to boxing as a way to clear her mind and stress of work. They seemed to really be connecting and headed towards something more until the end of the episode when Sandra completely shuts down the idea of anything romantic or sexual happening between them because she is solely focused on work.