Presumed Innocent recap, episode 7: The Witness

The penultimate episode of Presumed Innocent picks up in the immediate aftermath of the previous episode's shocking ending. Raymond Horgan is rushed into emergency surgery. But things go better than expected. The doctor says Ray had a case of bradycardia, not a heart attack. He's got a pacemaker, and after recovery, he'll be good to go, but that still leaves the question of the trial.

Nico Della Guardia thinks they should push for a mistrial, especially now that the jury has seen Rusty play the part of a hero in administering CPR to Raymond. Tommy thinks they can still win and Rusty appears to agree as he volunteers to represent himself, with Mya continuing as second chair. So he wants to pull a Ted Bundy? That sounds like a stupid idea, especially since if Rusty messes up and starts giving testimony, he'll find himself on the witness stand under cross-examination.

With the trial back underway, Rusty steps up to continue Michael's interrogation. He brings up angry texts Michael sent to his mother previously, where he said things like, "It would be easier if you were dead." Rusty establishes that on the night of Carolyn's murder, Michael's only alibi was his father and vice versa, implying they might have worked together to kill her.

Even more damning, Rusty shows evidence of Michael digging up his mother's past cases online. Including Bunny Davis, meaning he would have seen crime scene photos of how Bunny was tied—exactly like Carolyn. Rusty deliberately provokes Michael, and by extension, his father, until Dalton Caldwell leaps out of his seat and makes a spectacle of himself.

Backed into a corner, Della Guardia wants to put Rigo on the stand. Knowing that's where the trial is headed, Rusty talks with Eugenia to see if he can gather intel on what Rigo might say. Believing Rusty is going rogue, Eugenia starts having doubts about everything. What if he did kill Carolyn? What if he killed her because she wanted to keep his baby? Rusty kicks her out of the car into the pouring rain. Probably not the best way to convince her you're innocent, dude.

Michael's testimony seems to favor Rusty's, mostly thanks to Dalton's violent outburst, but Rigo makes things look bad for Rusty yet again as Della Guardia swiftly brings in a recording of Rusty bribing Liam Reynolds with a lesser sentence if he cops to killing Carolyn. Rigo is also forced to admit Rusty told her to get all evidence on the case and bring it to him and only him. Even Raymond, who has been watching the proceedings from his hospital bed, is shocked by this new information.

But Rusty is a good prosecutor, that's partly why his arrest was such a shock. On cross, his questions to Rigo convey that he wanted that information kept between them because he didn't trust Tommy Molto or Della Guardia to conduct a fair investigation.

Though he might seem composed in the courtroom, Rusty is losing it at home. He's taking Ritalin to help him focus, pills that Barbara finds and confronts him about. "You just should have told me, Rusty." A common refrain in their relationship.

Tommy mulls over the evidence board once again, recalling a tense moment during a celebration where Carolyn rejected a hug from Tommy. That man gives me the ick.

Well, sh*t really hits the fan the next day in court. Tommy wants to put Rusty on the chair as a witness because he technically opened the door himself during his questioning of Rigo. He slipped in his testimony, his assertion of innocence. Judge Lyttle warned him if he did so, even a little, he'd leave himself liable to being called. So now he has a choice. Declare a mistrial, or take the stand.

Of course, Rusty's egocentric self agrees to take the stand and Mya calls him out on his sh*t. "It is like Crime Junkie 101, you don't take the stand in your own defense."

He's an idiot for not taking a mistrial, and she's just as sick of his narcissism as she is of Tommy's. She quits—Rusty's flying solo. Come sink or swim, it's all on him now. And Jaden and Kyle know he's on Ritalin at this point, as Kyle overheard his mother talking about it on the phone. Apparently it's a popular pastime for him. He and Carolyn used to take some before big trials.

Mya does call Rusty the next day and they make amends. She advises him not to take Tommy's bait. And luckily for Rusty, even though he's kind of a dick, both she and Ray show up for him in court. But Tommy nails his questioning of Rusty.

Tommy pushes and pushes Rusty, trying to get him to have an outburst. He brings out the video footage of Rusty beating Brett Ratzer and mentions the moment when he physically throttled Dr. Kumagai for concealing evidence. In short, he gets Rusty to admit he's capable of snapping and committing acts of violence. Even Della Guardia is impressed with Tommy's performance. (Has anyone ever looked more smug on camera than Peter Sarsgaard in that scene?).

But then the episode ends with another shock. Tommy returns home to find his living room ransacked and a gift left for him on the kitchen counter. It's a fire poker with a note that says "Go f*ck yourself."

Did Tommy murder Carolyn? And does someone know it was him? If so, why haven't they come forward yet? Or is Rusty behind the message, grasping at the last chance of freedom he has? What about Dr. Kumgai, who previously said that exact phrase from the note to Rusty earlier in the season? If anyone was going to put two and two together, surely it'd be a medical examiner.

Is that the very same fire poker that murdered Carolyn, and if so, did someone find it in Tommy's house, or did they send him the murder weapon to hammer the final nail into Rusty's coffin? So many questions! Next week, finale!

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