*Jax Stewart knows how to make a jury believe her. In Season 4 of Hulu’s Reasonable Doubt, the Los Angeles defense attorney played by Emayatzy Corinealdi is trying to convince her family, her colleagues and herself that she’s ready to go back to work after a shooting. She’s still in pain, and she’s growing dependent on painkillers.
In an interview with EUR, creator and showrunner Raamla Mohamed Hunter said she wanted to examine why women get praised for how much they can take.
She described Jax getting her hair and nails done, hoping that looking like herself again would help her feel like herself. It’s a familiar impulse. So is the expectation that a successful Black woman will pick up where she left off, especially when everyone is used to depending on her.
Mohamed Hunter hopes viewers will ask themselves, “Why was it so uncomfortable for me to watch Jax be this way?”
Season 4, Episode 7 spoiler ahead.
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At Jax’s birthday intervention, her son Spenser gets through to her. In an earlier version of the scene, Mohamed Hunter said, Jax planned to stay home and prove to everyone that she could handle her recovery herself.
As she wrote the episode, she gave Spenser more room to challenge his mother. She sees a resemblance between the two. Spenser pushes Jax the way she might push someone else who insisted they had everything under control.
Writing a season that asks fans to spend weeks with Jax at her lowest also means trusting them to stick around. Mohamed Hunter said the weekly release gives new viewers time to discover the show while longtime fans debate each episode. It also means viewers react to Jax’s choices before they know where those choices are taking her.
Getting the show back in front of those viewers is part of the business of making it to Season 4. Mohamed Hunter aims to return annually when production allows because a two-year gap can leave fans trying to remember where the story left off. She credited 20th Television and Onyx Collective with supporting that goal and said fans who speak up about wanting the show to stay on the air help keep it there.
“I will never sell out the audience,” Mohamed Hunter said. She measures that promise across a whole season. An episode can leave viewers frustrated with Jax, and the larger story can still feel like the one they came to see.
Season 4 of Reasonable Doubt premiered October 6 with three episodes. New episodes stream Tuesdays on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ for eligible bundle subscribers.
Jill Munroe is a Los Angeles-bred entertainment journalist, producer, and host. Follow her socials @StilettoJill or visit JillMunroe.com. Catch her live M-Thu on KBLA Talk 1580 from 6PM to 7PM.
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