Hayes Morrison (Hayley Atwell) may have a 9-5 job with CIU, working to uphold the integrity of the U.S. justice system. However, Hayes hasn’t changed. She’s still the same girl. As this episode of Conviction opens, Hayes and D.A. Wallace (Eddie Cahill) speak with the media. Everyone (Wallace included) seems incredibly quick to imply that the girl in front of them is the “new” Hayes Morrison, and that they’ve tamed the former party girl.
This throws Hayes into a quest. She needs to show that she isn’t boring or predictable. When she comes up for air, it is with the case of Rodney Landon (Mike Doyle). Landon, an outspoken professor with anti-islamic beliefs, was convicted of bombing a mosque on the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. The conviction seems solid. However, there are whispers that evidence may have been planted on Landon by the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU). With questions building, CIU is on the case.
The team uncovers a lawsuit filed by a CTU agent claiming that pressure to close cases lead to agents plating evidence to assure convictions. The facts presented show that there could have been evidence tampering. However, this is just the start of a very long and complicated thread. When Wallace visits Hayes, and insists that she lay off the Counter Terrorism Unit, she knows they’re hiding something. The D.A. has shown his cards, and further digging yields new facts. An illegal search of Landon’s apartment produced the state’s most damaging evidence, which could not have been used in court to secure a conviction.
The battle over the CTU evidence sets Wallace and Morrison into conflict for the first time in the young show’s history. As Wallace points out, “I have a temper, and you have a rebellious streak.” The scenes between the two characters show the most development we’ve seen of their relationship yet. These two have a history. The memory of their relationship (and their polar opposite personalities) simmers under the surface for the entire episode. It can be certain that there will be feelings bubbling up for these two as the first season goes on.
As things build to a conclusion, it is Hayes’ dysfunctional family life which sways the investigation towards yet another successful outcome. It is uncovered that the victim’s wife, Kadisha (Anna Khaja) learned about her husband’s numerous affairs. In a fit of anger, it was actually the woman who planted the bomb, killing the four men in the mosque. Landon was completely innocent.
The episode ends with a rapid fire final act. Each soapy bombshell tops the previous. When it seems like Landon might go free, evidence surfaces that he assaulted a skin-head in prison. The felony will keep the unlikable Landon in prison, but how much did Sam Spencer (Shawn Ashmore) sway the incident? Then, Wallace and Morrison finally give into the sexual tension which has been simmering between them for the whole episode. However, before it can get truly steamy, scandal breaks. Somehow the media has discovered their deal, as well as Hayes’ ignored cocaine possession charge. Who on the team talked? More soapy drama will surely follow.
Conviction airs on your local ABC afilliate on Monday nights at 10/9c.
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