‘For Life’ Episode 2: Wallace loses round two, but earns respect of fellow inmates for freeing Joey Knox
Spoilers warning for Episode 2 of ‘For Life’.
A wrongly convicted Aaron Wallace (Nicolas Pinnock) is willing to go to hell and back to prove his innocence and believes that’s the only way he could help himself evade the imprisonment of a lifetime.
In Episode 2 of ‘For Life’ titled ‘Promises’, Wallace tells prison warden Safiya Masry (Indira Varma) that he is planning on suing the NYPD to release his police file. He promises to not involve the press or the District Attorney office in his proceedings.
Meanwhile, former State Senator Henry on hearing about Wallace’s case, volunteers to help him gather evidence against the system to prove his case and also helps Wallace acquire information about his wrongful conviction, which has been denied for over nine years.
While fighting his own case, Wallace is also asked by the warden to represent a Jewish inmate Joey Knox, who has been placed in the hole for attacking a guard. Although Wallace garners the wrath of his community and the COs within the prison for a “defending Nazi dirtbag”, he continues to pursue the case.
The day finally arrives and Wallace appears before the judge, only to be questioned by the opposition about handling drug operations inside the prison. However, Wallace has a leg to stand on as Maskins’ representative fails to name even one of his alleged convictions. He is given an extension of three days to re-appear at the court with detectives and required pieces of evidence to prove him not guilty.
Meanwhile, his pregnant daughter Jasmine Wallace (Tyla Harris) is anxious about her boyfriend and the father of her child, Ronnie meeting Wallace for the first time. Despite Wallace’s intimidating father talk, Ronnie manages to make a good first impression and promises to take care of Jazmine now and ever.
After digging deep into Joey’s records, Wallace learns that he was being attacked by the members of his own community, owing to his sexuality and uses the same to win Joey's case.
Although Wallace wins Joey’s case and helps him get transferred to a different prison for security reasons, his own case fails miserably when detectives do not show up during his hearing as Glen Maskins (Boris McGiver) yet again works his plans. Wallace’s case is dismissed as a new source has been named in his ongoing investigation which remains confidential.
However, when Safiya goes through Wallace’s case and witnesses his suffering at the hands of the system, she encourages him to pursue his dreams by finding a new way, willing to go head-to-head with Maskins, which could harm her wife’s campaign for District Attorney.
‘For Life’ airs on Tuesdays on ABC.
