Mr. Mercedes S02E09 Review: Walk Like a Man – Did anyone expect that?By Salome G| October 20, 2018 TV Blogs One of the most important elements in the criminal judicial system, particularly when punishment or parole is being considered, is remorse. As in, does the defendant or convict feel remorse for their actions? It’s not surprising when the topic arises, unless you’re talking about someone like Brady Hartsfield, Mr. Mercedes himself. As it turns out, Brady walked himself out of the hospital, disguised as a doctor. He shows up in the Babineaus’ living room, a development that just kicks off a series of events that I have trouble buying. First of all, everyone knows he’s escaped, so why are y’all just sitting around with the door unlocked? You were literally just discussing him. I will admit, though, that it does make a fun scene when he just pops in. Then the Babineaus go along with everything he wants, despite the fact that he can’t have that much strength and that he has only a taser. And that there are two of you and one of him! Whew, I need to calm down. Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on Dr. Babineau. He did, after all, get introduced to Bill’s partner, the “happy slapper.” It’s…it’s a sock. Filled with ball bearings. That, plus the time Bill cut off Brady’s oxygen supply, will both come back to haunt him. But we’ll come back to that in a moment. First, Brady has the Babineaus drive him to the police station so that he can turn himself in. After he guilts Cora into kissing him, he has a long and sad tale to tell the police about the abuse he suffered while he was (pretending to be) comatose. Like someone navigating the 12 Steps, he’s making a fearless moral inventory of all the terrible things he’s done. He just feels so much remorse, you see, after Dr. Babineau fiddled around in his brain. It sounds like bullshit, but it’s working for him. And it’s working for the Babineaus. Cora is particularly brilliant at this, going on television to charm the world with a perfectly reasonable defense. Think of all the people–folks with Alzheimer’s, for example–who will be helped by Felix’s success with testing the drug on Brady. One of the people it’s not working for is Bill. In the wake of the news that Brady’s hired a legal eagle known for sticking it to the cops, an investigator has a sit-down with Bill. And it’s not great, she says, wildly understating the conversation. Bill is not just prickly–he’s full-on combative. True, the detective is on his case about everything–“stalking” both Sadie and Al, who later ended dead directly in Bill’s vicinity–but Bill doesn’t make things any better for himself. He storms out of the meeting in a flurry of obscenities. Meanwhile, the show remembers that Lou exists long enough for her to share her theory with Bill and Holly that comatose Brady was able to become code and worm his way into computer systems. Sure, but then we come back to a problem I highlighted in an earlier review–how do you prove that? Well, Bill will have some time to think that over, because he’s soon taken into custody. Don’t worry about his being alone, though. He’s got all his friends on the outside, although Donna is MIA, and Holly is feeding Fred the tortoise AND he’s got an acquaintance parked in the cell right next to him. That’s right–Bill and Brady are jail neighbors! 8/10 – I’m not sure any of us were predicting this turn, but I’m going to silence my quibbling and just go with it. It’s clear that the show is trying to say something in this episode about how we punish people, but I’m not sure they’ve laid the groundwork for that. Nevermind, I’m going with it. And speaking of going with it, do y’all really believe that Brady feels remorse?
