Recap of Presumed Innocent, Episode 5: “Pregame”

Following the shocking conclusion of the previous episode, the fifth episode of Presumed Innocent picks up in the aftermath of Rusty beating Ratzer on his front porch. Barbara is, understandably, concerned Ratzer will go to the police, but Rusty remains confident he won’t.

At the prosecutorial offices, Eugenia meets with Tommy to discuss his plan to have her lead the trial as the first witness. Eugenia thinks Tommy’s plan is for her to bad-mouth Rusty on the stand, and she refuses to do so. Tommy suggests she and Rusty had something romantic going on and if she might need to recuse herself from the case, to which Eugenia tells him to go f**k himself. If anyone might need to recuse themselves due to their objectivity being in question, it’s Tommy.

Another nightmare, this time Raymond’s. For a second, I thought I was watching an episode of The Boys. I was not expecting his head to blow up; I think my jaw actually dropped. Presumed Innocent should probably cut back on these dream sequences and flashbacks. The actors are strong enough to convey what they’re thinking without the inserts every few scenes. It’s messing with the pacing.

Lorraine thinks Ray’s nightmare is indicative of Rusty’s guilt, especially since no other viable suspect has been identified.

Lorraine’s thoughts align with how Ray feels about the trial. He’s confident he can win and provide Rusty with a solid defense by poking holes in the prosecution’s case. They don’t have a murder weapon, for starters. Rusty’s obsession with pointing the finger at someone else isn’t necessarily going to benefit them and could just muddle things for the jury.

But Rusty is resolute in his belief that Ratzer is somehow connected to Liam Reynolds, the man currently in prison for murdering Bunny Davis. He gets Ratzer to come down to the defense office to chat with Ray and Mya, where he reluctantly admits he may have slept with Bunny, though Ratzer remains vehement that he doesn’t know who Liam Reynolds is.

Prison informants have claimed Liam’s gone around “intimating” he wanted to kill Carolyn as revenge for her putting him in jail, especially since Carolyn buried evidence, i.e., the inconclusive second semen sample. But Ray isn’t convinced.

Scenes at home show Rusty’s family life is also going off the rails, though everyone is doing a decent job of pretending things are okay. Jaden asks Barbara point blank if she thinks Rusty is innocent and Barbara says she does. Later, Ray questions the truth of this though, because Lorraine is convinced Rusty did it and since she’s close with Barbara, it suggests Barbara has been talking about his guilt to her friend.

Speaking of Barbara, her arc this week sees her finally taking things further with Cliffton, the cute bartender. They share a romantic evening together that ends in a steamy kiss. They don’t take things any further than that, at least, not yet.

Talking with her therapist, Dr. Rush, we get to see Ruth Negga’s powerful acting chops on full display as she reveals her complicated feelings right now. She feels guilty and ashamed of herself for forgiving Rusty and staying with him through all of this.

The fifth episode culminates in the opening day of the trial. Tommy delivers a pretty powerful and compelling opening statement and Rusty sums up his feelings to that in one simple word. “F*ck.” Indeed, it’s going to be a bumpy road ahead.

Source: Minute Media