The Defense Rests
The episode begins where the last left off, with Larry confessing. Summer then confesses to save Larry, then Dwayne, and then Josie comes to clear Summer. Larry then takes the confession back, but the judge gets angered with the team's lies. On the news, an "anonymous source" (AKA Carol Anne Keane) destroys the chances for Summer to be a helpful character witness. Josh now tries to find someone to speak badly about Rutger, and he wants to call Carol Anne to the stand. Carol Anne is really upset by this, and develops a "tiny" rash. On the stand, Carol Anne confesses to being in a relationship with Rutger, and makes Rutger seem like a liar (well, that's because he is). Carol Anne starts to get emotional on the stand and talks about how by loving Rutger, she lost herself. The jury falls for it. And so does the judge. That really backfired.
At the office, Larry begs to be put on the stand. Josh finally agrees, and Anne tries to get a witness coach for him. She gets Sebastian Rappaport (FRENCH STEWART!!! IT'S A 3RD ROCK REUNION!) to help. Sebastian has a lot of advice for Larry, and criticizes almost everything he does. And then he "storms out", but it's just an act. In court, Carol Anne's rash is getting even worse, and she's trying to convince Josh to not put Larry on the stand. He does anyway, and Larry head to the stand. He reads a poem he wrote, and Larry does well with Josh. Now it's Carol Anne's turn, and she asks about a "Harrison Weeks". We don't think we know a Harrison Weeks, but it turns out to actually be Larry, who changed his name after his mother's death.
At the office, Larry tells Josh that he was depressed after his mom's death, and that lead to him changing his name to "Larry Henderson". Josh is upset because he could have made this less suspicious. Josh remembers finding Carol Anne in Larry's room, and it turns out that that is when she found out about "Harrison Weeks". Anne then reminds Josh that everything is recorded, meaning that they have footage of Carol Anne stealing the pictures. But it then turns out that they don't, and that Josh lied to the judge. Carol Anne tries to pul the sympathy card again, but this time the judge doesn't but it. Josh rests the defense's case, and now it's time for closing statements.
It's time for closing arguments, and Carol Anne tries to make the jury believe that Larry isn't a family man. She wants the jury to "reunite" Margaret and Larry by finding him guilty. Josh now argues that there is no evidence linking Larry to Margaret's death. He then says he needs to speak from the heart, and tries to assure the jury that Larry is a good man who isn't a murderer, and then Larry hugs Josh. And now the jury has a verdict.
This was another great episode. The final scene, between Josh and Larry, was really touching. The whole season has been great, and this episode was no different. It managed to be interesting and still throw interesting twists until the bitter end.
Episode Score: 9.5/10
Episode Grade: A
The Verdict
Josh is feeling nervous, as the jury decided on the case really quickly. The team now heads to court, and the jury delivers the verdict. It's not good, and the jury finds Larry guilty. And then Larry runs away. At sentencing, Larry speaks to the jury, and he says that he will haunt them if they sentence him to death. Carol Anne then says she wants to recommend life in prison instead of death. Larry is then sentenced to life in prison without parole. At the prison, Larry gives Josh a skate wrench, and he asks Summer to get married at the prison when she's ready.
It's now four months later, and Josh is in New York. But he still can't stop thinking about the case, and he's worrying about Larry. When investigating a crime scene photo, Josh finds out that a rake is in one picture, and missing in a photo taken an hour later. He's really obsessed with the case yet, and he's still got a murder board. Summer is still in East Peck, and she doesn't want to sell the house. She decided to go with a broker that will make selling the house very unlikely- Anne (who now has a real estate license). Dwayne has been reinstated at the police department, and one thing is still true in all four- they all still care a lot about the case. Josh calls Dwayne, and Dwayne finds grey hair, which was missing from the "murder book." Josh now flies to East Peck. He confronts the
At the prison, the team speaks to Larry. He's so happy that Josh is back. Josh tells him about the new evidence, and Larry thinks that someone in the office stole the evidence. Then the team remembers about Dave the Taxidermy man, who worked at the office with them and has long grey hair. They go to find Dave and get evidence. In Dave's office, they find the rake. Dwayne then heads to arrest Dave, but he goes to the wrong house. At the real house, Dave finds them.
Dave asks them about the rake, and he confesses to stuffing the owl, meaning he isn't the murderer, but he's still a criminal. So now they're back to square one. When looking over some notes, Summer and Anne discover than Margaret was dyslexic. Summer uses Anne's spelling of Larry's name as the password, and she gets in. There, she finds out that Margaret has an unsent video. They send it to Larry's phone, andJosh and Dwayne watch it. In it, they see an owl some in, causing Margaret's death. Josh shows this to Carol Anne and the judge. The judge orders Larry to be releases pending a new trial, and Carol Anne drops the charges. At the prison, Josh goes to get Larry, who is now a free man at last. Josh tells Larry this, and they embrace. In East Peck, Larry goes to see Josh at his office. Dwayne gets Josh, and they see on the news that there may be another in the town. Someone calls Josh, and during this call, Larry leaves. Josh goes into his office, where he finds Larry's skate wrench.
Wow. This show certainly went out with a bang. This was a fantastic way to end the series, but I hope that isn't the case. I want there to be more, because this could truly be one of the great NBC comedies. I loved all of the characters, and the actors just did phenomenal. The ending was upsetting though, since I really wanted Larry to become a part of the team somehow and not leave. Quite honestly, Lithgow deserves an Emmy for this. As does the entire cast and the show itself. But especially Lithgow, he killed it, even if Larry didn't (I always believed in you Larry!).
Episode Score: 10/10
Episode Grade: A+
Poll: Who was your favorite character?
I've traditionally ended my reviews with a poll asking if you believe Larry to be guilty. Since the murder is solved, I won't do that. But I would like to know, loyal readers, who your favorite character was. Mine was always Anne, but these episodes made Larry my favorite character.
