Trial & Error Season 2 Premiere & Episode 2 Review

Trial & Error was one of my favorite shows of 2017, with an intriguing and interesting premise, vivid and lively performances, and hilarious scripts. I wasn't expecting the series to be renewed for a second season, but it was, and I'm very happy to finally see that second season, starting with this duo of episodes. The brilliant Kristin Chenoweth joins the cast this season, which is great news, though we do lose the also-brilliant John Lithgow, which is not great news. Nevertheless, I'm still thrilled to return to East Peck.

Episode 1, The Suitcase: 

The episode begins with East Peck resident Lavinia Peck-Foster being pulled over. While the original reason for being pulled over wasn't the murder of her husband Edgar, that ends up being the major issue for Lavinia. Of course, she hires Josh, who is undefeated (1-0), to defend her. This means that the whole team gets back together, though that may not be permanent since neither Anne nor Dwayne wants to take the case. Josh goes to meet Lavinia anyway, where she explains what happened the night her husband died. She's not much help, but she does cry. Very loudly. Later at the courthouse, Josh discovers that Carol Anne is pregnant.

Josh worries that he is the father of Carol Anne's baby, but Carol Anne has no clue who it is. Carol Anne isn't very happy that she's prosecuting this case, as she's running for DA and thinks this could hurt her chances of winning. When the hearing begins, Josh is upset to learn that Judge Horsedich won't be the judge, and he's even more upset that he can't understand a word that Judge Kamiltow says. Luckily, Judge Kamiltow agrees to a $10 bail, and he even pays it himself. So things are off to a pretty good start.

Josh confronts Carol Anne outside the courthouse, but she just insults him and drives off. Back at the office, they bring out the murder board (Murder board! Murder board! Murder board!). Edgar's water-filled watch  (which Dwayne stole) is their first major piece of evidence, as they discover the time of death and come to the conclusion that the murderer was at a party Lavinia held that same night.

Josh and the team go to visit the scene of the crime, where Lavinia jumps into the pool despite Josh's warning. Meanwhile, Dwayne searches for clues in Lavinia's maze, because he doesn't trust her and just knows she's hiding something. And then he gets lost. Back at the pool, the fact that the pool is a saltwater pool causes Josh to have a revelation that, since Edgar had freshwater in his lungs, Edgar wasn't murdered at the pool. And then Dwayne finds dead bodies in the maze.

Score: 8/10
Grade: B

Episode 2: The Timeline:

Dwayne and Anne discover a podcast, M-Towne, which is focused on Lavinia's case. Dwayne also tells Josh that the bodies in the maze are hundreds of years old, so Lavinia isn't guilty of those deaths, unless she's a vampire. At the courthouse, Josh meets the M-Towne podcaster, Nina, and the interaction isn't exactly pleasant. Meanwhile, when the hearing begins, Lavinia arrives late. Then, Carol Anne starts faking pregnancy symptoms for sympathy. It works, and the case goes to trial.

Based on the autopsy photos, the team concludes that Edgar was hit by a clock (or killed by a vampire), and they determine a time of death. When they tell Lavinia about this, she tells them about a clock expect that killed her brother. During jury selection, Carol Anne manages to flush out everyone in the room due to conflict of interest, meaning that there will have to be a bench trial.

Lavinia shares some pictures from the party, but all they find is that Lavinia is on North Peck time, shrinking the timeline that the murder had to have occured in. So they talk to Jesse Ray, the only clock expert in town, who also happens to have murdered Lavinia's brother. In order for him to give them information, he needs to speak with Lavinia about her brother's murder. That's a problem. Josh asks Nina to speak with Jesse Ray, and she agrees. This is enough for Jesse Ray to give him the information on the clock, which is owned by the Jessup family.

Score: 8.5/10
Grade: B+

Wrap-Up:

While I didn't enjoy these episodes quite as much as the first season's premiere episodes, it was still a very strong set of episodes.

Lavinia is a fascinating subject, one whose innocence I'm not certain of. At all. This is a huge shakeup from last season, where I was pretty sure Larry was innocent the whole time. This adds an interesting dynamic to show that wasn't present last season. I still find Larry to be a better character than Lavinia (he's definitely funnier), but she has time to get even better. Kristin Chenoweth was a great choice to play Lavinia, and she's been one of the best parts of the season.

The show's other addition was much less successful, at least so far. Podcaster Nina didn't really add much to the story so far and I feel like most of her screentime could have been used in a better way. Of course, there hasn't been much of her so far, with just a small handful of lines during her debut episode, but I'm not too impressed at this point.

The rest of East Peck is just as insane as ever, and I love it. The "East Peck: A History Lesson" segments are a wonderful touch and I find them absolutely hilarious. I would honestly watch a half hour series of just them, but only if it was Dwayne hosting it! Carol Anne is just as nasty as she's always been, but now she's with child! I'm sure this will be a major part of the seaosn and I'm very excited for that. And then of course there's Anne, who I just love with all my heart. Her and Dwayne insisting that Lavinia is a vampire was a great running gag that I really hope continues throughout the season.

All in all, a solid return for one of TV's most unique and fun comedies, and a great addition to the very dull Summer broadcast slate. I'm very interested to see where this season goes, and spend ever more time in TV's most hilarious town. As always, don't forget to vote in the weekly guilty or not poll!

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