‘Pearson’ Season 1, Episode 4 ‘The Deputy Mayor’ Review: Deals

Pearson works under the premise of second chances and reconnection. When the main character lost her license to practice in New York, she decides to have a change of workplace. However, one cannot always count on what can and cannot go wrong. Chicago is an entirely different playing field; the rules of New York do not apply here. This game is not like Suits anymore.

On Wednesday’s episode of Pearson, Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres) looks into Nick D’Amato’s (Simon Kassianides) involvement in Carl Jeffries’ (Coier Amerson) death. Meanwhile, Derrick Mayes (Eli Goree) and Keri Allen (Bethany Joy Lentz) stall Deputy Mayor Lloyd Triple. Elsewhere, Pat McGann (Wayne Duvall) continues his corrupt business venture.

Business Investors

In this setting, Chicago’s local government works in a way that lets assholes such as Pat McGann thrive. That greedy cunt takes advantage of having Mayor Bobby Golec (Morgan Spector) on a leash. Things change when Jessica enters the picture, but Pat still has his way. Sure, Pat can ‘suggest’ anyone to his liking a position as one of Chicago’s Aldermen, but thankfully, Jessica handles that. Now, however, Pat is on the top of his game, accumulating and selling land to business investors. Jessica temporarily saves her extended family from eviction at North Park, one of Pat’s recently-bought properties, but it does not stop there. The investor, Albert Chan (Ivan Shaw) wants results in a week, or the deal is off, so Jessica’s victory is likely short-lived.

Fred Hampton

USA Network

The show also has its take on American Activist and Revolutionary Fred Hampton, known for being the chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party back in the late 60s’. Hampton died in a joint raid by the Chicago Police Department and the FBI. In this case, the Deputy Mayor Triple happens to be Hampton’s childhood friend. With that said, he wanted to honor Hampton’s legacy by naming a street after him. Sadly, doing that would cause Chicago PD to withdraw their support on Mayor Golec. Chicago PD does not share the same sentiments as Triple has for Hampton, given that the issue gave them a bad reputation. While no concrete action happened to change the fate of this fifty-year-old case, it did leave an impression as Lloyd advises Keri to take a side in the war known as politics.

The Price of Information

USA Network

Information is a valuable commodity. In Jessica’s case, information about a Carl Jeffries’ Murder is gold. Jeffries lived in the same apartment as her aunt, Lillian Cook (Juanita Jennings), and was the first to file a lawsuit against the City of Chicago. Since she and Lillian did the same thing as well (but eventually dropped it), Jessica thought that Lillian is in danger of being murdered. Jessica’s digging led to her finding out about Nick, a former cop, and now her driver has involvement in the case. Initially, Jeff Malone (D.B. Woodside), Jessica’s boyfriend, who works for the F.B.I, gave her enough evidence to mount an investigation by herself. In one of the photos, Nick is present at the crime scene, hinting that he is one of the police officers that handled the crime.

To make sure that Nick did not kill Jeffries, Jessica went to great lengths to obtain information. This quest brought her to a gang hideout with her cousin, Angela Cook (Chantel Riley), to talk to Angela’s childhood friend who is now a gang leader. Things did not go so smoothly, given that the gang leader did not trust Jessica. Regardless, they did come out alive and with what she needed. Her confrontation with Nick revealed that Nick did pay Carl to drop the case but did not kill him. Carl had debts to pay from dealing with other gangsters, and his use of Nick’s money likely caused his murder. Thankfully, this conclusion meant that Lillian is not in danger and that Carl’s blood money is untraceable to Mayor Golec.

‘Pearson’ Season 1, Episode 4 ‘The Deputy Mayor’ Final Verdict

This episode of Pearson significantly establishes itself on the question of work ethics. It presents the harsh reality of working in an institution with a culture of cover-ups and profiteering. Also, the show’s presentation of the marginalized trying to make it past the political bullshit is on point. However, the connection between Jessica and the Cooks does not mirror most cases of people living on the edge. Still, it is good to see that the show is using elements of history in the proper context. Fred Hampton’s case, for example, had its share of the spotlight in a way that did not alter history. At the same time, it arises curiosity about the man’s story. The show does have the potential to send out a powerful message to the airwaves if it continues down the path it chose.

Pearson continues Wednesday, August 14th with ‘The Former City Attorney’ at 10/9c on the USA Network.