Spoilers

“Sacred Hearts”

Picket Fences was a very topic heavy show and one of the topics that David E. Kelley’s show covered a lot was that of assisted suicide/euthanasia. This was the first time the idea came up in Rome, Wisconsin as a singing nun, described by Maxine as a serial mercy killer, helped ease the pain of a leukemia patient by ending her life.

This topic is one that was extremely passionate on both sides and created a lot of uncertainty among all of the characters in Rome. This week, it was Judge Henry Bone who spoke about it on the bench as he made a shocking ruling in the case. Ray Walston was amazing in this performance.

The episode also dove deeply into religion and the questions surrounding what happens when you die, a question that was plaguing poor Zachary Brock after he had seen the leukemia patient’s dead corpse accidentally. His nightmares only confused him more with what Heaven, Hell or any kind of afterlife might contain.

As always, Jimmy is under the microscope as his own religious doubts are touched upon. I know that this is a theme that is returned to again over the life of the series. In this episode, Jimmy’s oldest son Matthew called his dad out on his own habit of breaking the 10 Commandments. This was a hilarious scene.

Picket Fences has never shied away from the controversial and this episode made that case clear. It is brilliant writing when you can take a controversy and make each side of the issue feel both right and wrong at the same time.

Another long term storyline is introduced here as Howard Buss, who made his first appearance recently, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Howard’s arc will continue for quite awhile and this is where he becomes a major character in the show.