History Recap / QuantumLeapS2E09SoHelpMeGod

Airdate: November 29, 1989.

* BlackGalOnWhiteGuyDrama: [[spoiler:It turned out that the woman, Delilah, had been in an abusive and initially non-consensual relationship with him (possibly referencing how white men would often rape their female slaves/servants). When she was about to leave him and stop being a servant in his father's house, he attacked her and his own mother shot him to stop it]].

-->'''Sam''': Listen, I'm here to save Delilah Berry from the electric chair.
-->'''Al''': We already ran that scenario. There's no problem.
-->'''Sam''': No?
-->'''Al''': No, she pleads guilty to a lesser charge, then she gets 20 years instead of the chair.
-->'''Sam''': [[OhCrap Uh...]] that's probably before I... pleaded her not guilty.
-->'''Al''': What'd you do that for?!
-->'''Sam''': [[AskAStupidQuestion 'Cause she's not guilty!]]

-->'''Al''': (arrives) Well, if it isn't Series/PerryMason!
-->'''Sam''': [[LateToTheRealization That's it!]]
-->'''Al''': What's it?
-->'''Sam''': Never mind, never mind.

* ThePerryMasonMethod: Variation [[LampshadeHanging and lampshaded]]: After Sam manages to browbeat the prosecutor and Sheriff Lobo into providing him with the information he needs for the case, he narrates to himself "Thank you, Perry Mason."

* ShoutOut: Sam compares himself to Series/PerryMason and the corrupt sheriff to [[Series/TheMisadventuresOfSheriffLobo Sherrif Lobo]].

* RageBreakingPoint: Sam's attempt to get a copy of all the information available for the case[[note]]Lilah's confession, the police report, the coroner's report, and so on[[/note]] runs into difficulty when Sheriff Lobo calls the prosecutor, Bo... and instead of actually bothering to get that information, the two of them just shoot the shit about their personal lives. As such, when the sheriff attempts to hang up:
-->'''Sam''': (rips the phone out of Lobo's hand; practically yells) Bo, I'm defending a woman accused of murder. Now, if you and Sheriff Lobo don't start cooperating with me, I'm gonna get a U.S. district judge to subpoena your files and charge you both with obstructing justice!

* ThePatriarch: Colbert "The Captain" Cotter is this to the entire town. It is unclear what his actual position is, but he clearly runs the town, is the richest man there, and employs almost everyone who lives there in one way or another. People treat him throughout the episode like he's royalty, which is one of the reason Sam takes an immediate dislike to him.

* CannotTellALie: Sadie Cotter is a pious and truthful woman, who when asked to speak the truth, said she "didn't know how to speak any other way."

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Next: Recap/QuantumLeapS2E09CatchAFallingStar]

'''Season 2, Episode 8:'''

* WhamLine: [[invoked]] Faced with no other options, Sam resorts to having Sadie Cotter on the stand to explain what happened the night of Houston's death[[note]]Given Lilah's earlier testimony, there was no way the jury would believe her claims of self-defense; they would need ''Sadie'' to corroborate it.[[/note]]. She then proceeds to recount how she tried to give Lilah money so she could get away and start a new life, only for Houston to come home and [[RageBreakingPoint lose his shit]] upon discovering this. [[ShockingSwerve And then she recounts the murder itself.]]

* ShockingSwerve: [[invoked]] Excluding Lilah and Colbert [[AwfulTruth (who knew in advance)]], ''everyone'' in the courtroom is taken aback when Sadie unknowingly admits to having killed Houston.

* TheReveal: Throughout the episode the one thing everyone can agree on, including Sam, is that Lilah killed Houston. Sam merely maintains she did so in self-defense where the prosecution (and the town at large) insists she did it maliciously. Even Lilah does nothing to dissuade people of the notion that she is the one who did it. In the end Sam calls Sadie to the stand expecting her to corroborate his self-defense plea but instead she takes everyone (except Colbert Cotter and Lilah herself) off guard by admitting she was the one who pulled the trigger.

->'''Sam''': Since the law requires a trial by a jury of one's peers, we have no choice but to reluctantly accept these white jurors as Lila's equals.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: The Bible is quoted more than once (see the title even), but most prominently where Sam uses it to get the truth of what happened to Huston out of Myrtle, who had been pressured into silence with religious threatening.

* TheGhost: Huston Cotter is dead by the time the episode starts (naturally, as the entire episode takes place almost entirely during the trial of his accused murderer), but he is the driving force of the episode and is talked about constantly.
* HappilyMarried: Colbert "Captain" Cotter and his wife Sadie. He's fixed the trial against Lilah to prevent Sadie from being exposed as the one who killed Huston.

* LoveMakesYouEvil: In the end, it is said this is what led to Huston Cotter to abuse Lilah, because he was in love with her (a black woman) but at the same time he was a racist in the segregated South. Those two things not being able to reconcile with one another [[FreudianExcuse led to his abuse]].
-->'''Sadie''': Sometimes, if you love someone... and you don't wanna love 'em, you get to hatin' 'em. Well, Houston loved Lila so much... he wanted to marry her. But her bein' colored, of course, he couldn't.
* MalignedMixedMarriage: This trope is cited as the reason Huston and Lilah never got married. The fact that such a union would have been illegal in Louisiana at the time was also a factor.

* OffingTheOffspring: It's eventually revealed that Sadie Cotter killed Huston to stop him from beating Lilah to death. The Captain and Lilah were both covering for her, and Sadie [[SanitySlippage is unable to retain the knowledge of this fact.]]

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Huston Cotter raped Lilah when she was just 14, given the society they live in this went unpunished and even worse being raped by him is usually referred to as one of ''Lilah's'' crimes, not Huston's.

* TheReveal: Throughout the episode the one thing everyone can agree on, including Sam, is that Lilah killed Huston. Sam merely maintains she did so in self-defense where the prosecution (and the town at large) insists she did it maliciously. Even Lilah does nothing to dissuade people of the notion that she is the one who did it. In the end Sam calls Sadie to the stand expecting her to corroborate his self-defense plea but instead she takes everyone (except Colbert Cotter and Lilah herself) off guard by admitting she was the one who pulled the trigger.
* SanitySlippage: After having to shoot her own son to stop him from killing Lilah, Sadie Cotter has had a break from reality. She remembers the event as it happened but cannot retain the information that Huston is dead. And even when she gives her testimony in court, she is unable to realize she ''publicly admitted to killing her son''. She just seems to believe he's "out hunting."
-->'''Sadie''': (cheerfully) So you see, Eugene, Lila didn't steal the money... I gave it to her. [[DramaticIrony And I'll see that Houston tells you the truth of that, soon as he comes home from huntin'...]]
* ShockingSwerve: [[invoked]] Excluding Lilah and Colbert [[AwfulTruth (who knew in advance)]], ''everyone'' in the courtroom is taken aback when Sadie unknowingly admits to having killed Huston.

* WhamLine: [[invoked]] Faced with no other options, Sam resorts to having Sadie Cotter on the stand to explain what happened the night of Huston's death[[note]]Given Lilah's earlier testimony, there was no way the jury would believe her claims of self-defense; they would need ''Sadie'' to corroborate it.[[/note]]. She then proceeds to recount how she tried to give Lilah money so she could get away and start a new life, only for Huston to come home and [[RageBreakingPoint lose his shit]] upon discovering this. [[ShockingSwerve And then she recounts the murder itself.]]