Recap/Review: “Good Trouble” 3×02

“We need to fight against oppression, no matter the consequences.” – Malika

This week’s episode of Good Trouble saw our favorites take Malika’s statement to heart. Mariana and Davia both risked their jobs to stand up for what they believe in while Alice chose friendship over a program that would really help her blossoming comedy career. 

Without further ado, here’s what went down in 3×02, titled “Arraignment Day”.

Callie

It’s Callie’s first day as a real-deal lawyer and she has quickly come to realize that she still has a lot to learn.

Her first lesson comes from her new boss, Kathleen Gale. “Your job is not to argue the facts,” she tells her. “It’s to form your own narrative. The courtroom is theatre. You’re the actor trying to manipulate the judge and the jury.”

Callie is successful when applying this to her first argument in a courtroom, getting the judge to set her client’s bail at $500. But I personally think one of two things is going to happen by the end of the season: 1) Kathleen’s advice comes back to bite Callie in the ass and gets her in trouble OR 2) Callie doesn’t agree with something Kathleen tells her to do and quits her job… again. Either way, I think this sets up an interesting work storyline for Callie and I’m excited to see it unfold over the next few episodes. 

Mariana 

Things seem to be going great for Mariana at the beginning of the episode; not only are Act-ivism’s downloads up, but she and Evan are going on a “date” — FINALLY! 

But before that can happen, Mariana and the rest of her team have to find a way to stop white supremacists from taking over Act-ivisim and suppressing the crowdfunding for Malika’s bail (more on that in a minute). They try everything they can think of doing from a technical standpoint before Mariana relents and loops in Evan.

However, Evan’s response is quite disappointing, to Mariana and to me as a viewer. He tells her that they can’t just shut down the app because they can’t be seen catering to only users whose politics they agree with. While I get Evan’s point from a business perspective, I also think there’s also a difference between allowing hate speech to be directed at someone and disagreeing about tax policy. I still don’t understand why he couldn’t have suggested creating a user agreement policy that included language against hate speech and ban any user who violates it. 

Evan’s disappointing response causes Mariana – and ultimately the rest of her team – to decide they’ve had enough and quit their jobs to form their own startup. However, this unfortunately leaves Mariana and Evan’s personal relationship in jeopardy as well. I’m still hopeful these two can work things out, but only time will tell. 

Malika

Things pick for Malika right where last week’s episode left off. She’s going to jail while everyone on the outside is trying to get her out and ultimately trying to get the charges dropped. 

Thanks to crowdfunding, they’re able to raise enough to post her bail. But Malika, being the most selfless person on this show, has them use that money to post bail for several other women who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get out.

While everyone is supportive of Malika’s decision, they still continue their sit-in in hopes of convincing the DA to drop Malika’s charges all together. Gael and Dyonte compile some of the footage from the sit-in in a video for social media that ultimately goes viral; it helped bring attention to Malika’s case because not only was she released, but the charges were dropped all together. I’m glad that Malika was released but it feels like this storyline was wrapped up really quick. With that being said, I’ll be curious to see what Malika’s storyline looks like over the next few weeks, and to see what happens with her ‘relationship’ with Dyonte. 

Other Thoughts:

• We saw Davia struggle with the choice of whether or not to stay silent and keep her job, or speak out and risk losing everything she’s worked for as a teacher. Ultimately, she chooses to stand with her fellow teachers and speak against her school’s wrongdoings.
• Alice made it into the comedy program after she unexpectedly performed her set at the sit-in. Lindsay also made it into the program so we’ll continue to see that enemies storyline play out for the next few episodes.
• Speaking of Lindsay, is anyone else over that storyline? Just me? Cool.
• I miss Dennis. He can come back anytime now please.

What did you think of the episodes? Let me know in the comments below!

Good Trouble airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Freeform.