Spoilers

“When in Rome”

Paranoia and hysteria engulf Rome, Wisconsin in one of the most uncomfortable episodes of Picket Fences.

Adam Wood came to Rome. Adam Wood had spent 16 years in prison for child molestation. By law, he had to announce himself to his new neighbors, which just happened to be the Brock household.

The town rallied against the man. Fear of what could happen with the children of the community sent the people of Rome into a tizzy. While completely understandable, it put the people of Rome’s prejudices front and center. It made some normally good people look unfair and bloodthirsty.

This show is not afraid to make their main characters show their warts and their own dark sides. It is quite amazing.

To throw yet another twist, Adam Wood was revealed, after his own suicide on the steps of the court house, to be the son of Judge Bone. Ray Walston gives a wonderful performance as a grieving father, shamed of his response to his son.

By the way, Ed Lawson is still in the freezer.

“Heroes and Villains”

The Dancing Bandit returned to Rome to wish Zack a happy birthday. The FBI was able to capture her. Marlee Matlin comes back to the show to reclaim the role of Laurie Bey, and she went to trial for the bank robbery she committed in season one.

Marlee Matlin brought a remarkable charm and charisma to this character. She was a trigger for a fight between the Brocks, of course, because this is Picket Fences.

Jane Kaczmarek appeared as the prosecutor for the federal government who, for some reason, wanted to try the case in Rome. She had some of the best moments of the episode, reacting to Wambaugh and looking perplexed when so many of the past things from Rome popped up during the trial (cows giving birth to humans, anyone?).

Though the jury found her not guilty, Judge Bone threw that verdict out and assigned Laurie 3000 hours of community service, meaning Marlee Matlin would be sticking around the town.

Oh, and Ed Lawson is still in the freezer.

“Changing of the Guard”

Hey! They finally pulled Ed Lawson out of the freezer!

Laurie Bey started her community service when Jimmy asked her to help find Ed Lawson, thinking that he had run off with his wife after murdering George the massage guy. They had no idea that Ed’s wife Marsha had killed both men.

When Laurie wanted to go see the Lawson house, they finally found the freezer with a lock on it. Freezers in Rome have now claimed three victims.

When Marsha returned from her trip, she put on an act that she did not know what had happened. Wambaugh was front and center in her defense. However, when she told him that she had killed both men and wanted to get through the trial without testifying so she could avoid perjury because she had book and movie deals waiting for her story, Wambaugh had a crisis of faith in himself and his job.

This case was used to look at the character of Douglas Wambaugh and it gave us dimensions that we may not have seen before. He has always been portrayed as a shyster, a character as he always said. This looked at the toll taken by defense attorneys and how difficult it could be to put guilty defendants back on the street. This is a theme David E. Kelley has used in several series, including The Practice and Boston Legal.

Meanwhile, Laurie Bey was asked to be the mayor of Rome, a job with a short life span. In not even three full seasons, we have had multiple mayors including Bill Pugen, Howard Buss, Rachel Harris, Jill Brock (and the guy who was a temporary co-mayor with her), and Ed Lawson. Three of them are dead now.