Reviewer Rating: 3.1/5.0
3.1
As the penultimate episode of the season, The Accused Season 2 continues to go out with a whimper.
Is anyone else having trouble with most of the cases this season?
Given that most people are used to seeing Ken Jeong in a comedic light, he does some solid dramatic work here. But it’s not enough to make for a compelling or entertaining episode.
But that’s the pattern this season, isn’t it? I’ve noticed before that it seems like every other one has the same spark that keeps viewers so hooked and keeps us coming back for more than The Accused Season 1 did.
Then other episodes become so bland that at best, you just dutifully watch, and at worst, you don’t care at all.
I have no idea how the series handled it or how it could improve or do anything different to appeal to viewers. All I know is that this is one of the most inconsistent TV seasons I’ve seen in a while.
“Eugene’s Story” is pretty good. It’s basically boring, has a weak script that doesn’t inspire much interest, and doesn’t offer any twists or turns to keep us engaged at any point during the hour.
It was great to see Jamie Chung, she’s usually a delight in most of her work, but here she couldn’t bring Grace to the screen at all, maybe because the character was so poorly written Too weak.
Sadly, I found Chung’s performance to be uncharacteristically wooden and bland. We don’t have to talk about the lack of chemistry between Zheng and Zheng here.
I can only imagine that portraying Grace as a repentant, broken soul filled with guilt to the point of interfering with her happy life and marriage simply doesn’t translate well.
Instead, this leads to a seemingly unbalanced relationship, where Eugene seems devoted to Grace, but Grace is such a flat character that there is no sense of her life, motivations, or any emotion she displays. A convincing place.
The annoying Rex with the ridiculous Texas marker tattoo painted on his neck is so singular that there’s nothing to capture, good, bad, ugly or complicated.
He’s just there, filling a villain’s shoes, that’s all. It’s a shame, but one of the greatest successes of “The Accused” is its ability to have a cast of the most unexpected and talented actors playing these interesting characters, who can tell a comprehensive and compelling story in 45 minutes or less story.
Again, I don’t know what’s wrong with “The Accused” this season because the actors are definitely there. This season brought support to Felicity Huffman and Cobie Smulders. We have stage and theater legends and comedians who commit themselves to dramatic roles and succeed.
The cast and talent are great, but everything else this season is so hit or miss, you don’t even know what you’re going to get from one issue to the next.
In the words of my precocious, round-eyed, earnest toddler nephew, “What’s going on?”
Yes, defendant, what happened? Curious to know? What’s out of character, is this just one of the byproducts of strikes and rapid turnaround of production?
I really don’t know. But sadly, the last thing I want to do is harshly criticize one of the most enjoyable anthology series I’ve ever experienced. But here we are.
Back to Eugene. What can we say about him? He was a devout Christian who found meaning and purpose in his church community and in his lifestyle as a jeweler working with his father-in-law.
Eugene thought he had a perfect life and was doing everything in his power to live as God intended, as a good person who conveniently swindled people into purchasing engagement rings beyond their means, but more so did it because he believed in love and all that good thing.
He’s a man who tries to survive by turning the other cheek, which often makes him look weak in front of obnoxious and racist dog walkers who don’t clean up his dog’s poop and make fun of Eugene eyes.
Eugene is very loyal to Grace, and Grace seems to be his whole world. Yes, we know he has some darkness inside of him, as he hints that he also has a past.
We also see how dangerous his initial anger seems to be. Keeping his father-in-law’s gun in his back pocket was a bit inappropriate, considering he didn’t always have a valid reason.
Looks like he did consider threatening that bastard before “leading with kindness.” But that’s the nature of being human. It’s not your initial thoughts and instincts, but your final actual actions.
Eugene spent most of their time together. His weakness is Grace.
Suspecting her of cheating on him was a big turning point for him, but after confronting her and hearing about her past with Rex, he realized that he was the real villain and the one who caused the damage.
He then focuses on making Rex pay to save Grace because Eugene is happy, loyal, stable, and seemingly perfect.
It’s understandable for someone as flawed as Grace, with her past, to come to the conclusion that maybe she wasn’t good enough for Eugene, or that if he knew all the deep, dark details of her past, he’d I won’t love her anymore.
Rex was a horrible part of her past that she could put behind her for a while, but when Rex got out of prison it all came flooding back.
Eugene’s idealism and positivity establish high standards and expectations, whether he intends to or not, which is central to this issue and to Eugene and Grace’s relationship.
In that sense, they touch on a lot of what you’d expect from an hour that touches on religious and Christian themes heavy enough: that sinners can be redeemed, that God and Jesus can forgive.
Grace is a flawed woman with a past, but she deserves forgiveness and love, and Eugene can give her that.
But he couldn’t forgive Rex. Instead, he is ruled by revenge and other human instincts that make us flawed and constantly at the mercy of seeking prayer and forgiveness for the big shot.
In a lot of ways, I wish they’d delved into the religious aspects and not touched on things lightly as background. It feels forced, immature, and perfunctory, if you will.
However, much of this installment has an overall vibe to it, as aside from Cheng’s entertaining enough breaks in comedy, there’s little that’s compelling about the hour.
Season 2 also spent a lot of time with people on trial for some form of death, and I wish they had changed a little more.
Eugene was left with a felony murder conviction, his actions leading to the death of the woman he loved, and while tragic because of the outcome and his love for her, the way things unfolded rarely made me think about anything about the justice system and human nature or the complexities of caring.
I hate this.
But these are my thoughts on the matter, and maybe I’m too pessimistic about this time, so I’ll happily leave it to you.
Accused Fanatic, what are your thoughts on this case and the entire season so far?
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