Rectify “Jacob’s Ladder” 

I’ve always loved Daniel’s friendship with Johnny Ray Gill‘s Kerwin. It has somehow been reassuring to know that Daniel had at least one true friend during part of his time on Death Row. With the cherry-bomb incident at the beginning of the episode, I think we all knew something horrible was coming. Watching those masked man beat Daniel at Hanna’s grave was pretty awful, but for me the most affecting scene in “Jacob’s Ladder” was having to watch Daniel say goodbye to his friend.

Moment of Sadness

At first it didn’t seem like Kerwin was going to get to say his goodbyes. He was a dead man walking and he asked the guards to let him talk to Daniel. They seemed like they were in a hurry but they eventually relented. One of the guards didn’t thinking Daniel wanted to speak to Kerwin, but he lets him have his moment. Kerwin looks into Daniel’s cell and asks Daniel to look at him. It seems like Daniel isn’t going to do it, but after Kerwin calls him “brother,” he finally does and we see just what this is doing to Daniel.

Kerwin: “I know you didn’t do it.”

Daniel: “How do you know?”

Kerwin: “Because I know you. Because I know you. Because I know you. Bye brother.

Wow. Tears everywhere. And then Daniel watches at the guards take him away.

Other highlights (or lowlights, depending on how you look at it):

Jon listens to Daniel’s confession. It was really weird hearing Daniel confess. It was strange listening to the way he described things and the way he reacted to the questions he was asked during the interrogation.

Beau and Jimmy refuse to leave Marcy alone in the diner with Daniel. Part of me wanted to be offended on Daniel’s behalf, but the other part of me was glad that these two men were looking out fo their friend.

Amantha threatens a citizens arrest against the Sheriff. They’re more afraid of him then any mob that might be after Daniel. Even Janet admires Amantha’s willingness to “face the gun.” Later Daniel’s thrown when he turns up at Amantha’s apartment and finds Jon there. He handles it the best he knows how, which is awkwardly but Jon is great with him. Daniel suggests he and his sister go visit the pecan grove their father used to bring them to. There Daniel tells Amantha is was a relief when he confessed; he was finally free of all that unbelievable guilt and regret. After he confessed, he accepted she was dead. But the guilt returned on Death Row. He began to accept it as his destiny and embraced it as his purpose. Amantha calls is survivor’s guilt, but Daniel’s not sure. He asks her if he could ever really make it out in the world when he doesn’t believe in anything. Daniel says he’s caused so much pain and apologizes for his harsh words. He’d take them back if he could. Amantha admits there was truth in his words. Daniel doesn’t know what to do so Amantha suggests they go to Atlanta. There are people there who can help him with what he’s going through.

Foulkes can’t understand why Sondra isn’t moving more quickly on this case. If she doesn’t go after Daniel, people will make one of two assumptions: 1. Foulkes went after an innocent wrong man or 2. Sondra doesn’t have the ovaries to go after a guilty one. Sondra tells him that she’s not going to rush in without enough ammunition. The Sheriff can’t find George, who claims to have witnessed Daniel rape Hanna. Maybe they should start there.

Ted and Janet are thinking of talking to Daniel about leaving town for a while. Teddy Jr. thinks it’s a good idea, but when it comes down to it Janet can’t do it. Instead she tells him she’s going to rennovate the kitchen. And she asks Daniel to help her do it.

Tawney’s making an effort with Teddy Jr. I still don’t understand this relationship, but I do understand what Tawney’s trying to do. She even wears a new top she purchased because she knows he’d like it. And she tells him the baptism might have been a mistake – too much, too soon. Teddy Jr. reassures her that she had good intentions. After ignoring a call from Daniel, Tawney goes outside to listen to his message. He tells her he’s going away for a while to get better, to be different.

Trey finds George’s body. He strips off his own clothing and takes everything off George’s body except his clothes before he throws him in the water. Then Trey bathes in the stream – maybe he feels like he’s washing his own sins clean.

I can’t believe it’s the end of the season already, but I thought this was a great ending – for now. I’m looking forward to seeing how Daniel and his family deal with this act of violence and whether or not it will affect the case against them. I hope we continue to meet new characters and get to know the characters we’ve already met. But most of all, I’m curious to see how Daniel deals with all of it. I can’t wait for season 2.

Check out my exclusive Q&A with Aden Young. We talk about some of his favorite moments from season 1 as well as what to look forward to next year.

Season 2 of Rectify returns in 2014.