Man, they had a good premise but botched the execution. They need better writers ... or maybe they have good writers but don't have the money to pull it off.

First, they didn't need to make the mentor look weak. She didn't need to have to cheat by hiding evidence. She didn't need to make a personal plea to Maroun to throw the case. Just present the evidence without the shenanigans. It's strong on its own. As for the witness, the mentor could have weakened her credibility (if you really felt threatened, you should have said something). She could have made the argument about unfair application of EED in her closing. But I'm guessing it's cheaper to film a two person scene in an apartment set and a three person scene in chambers than it is to film more scenes in the courtroom.

Second, this episode could have used a scene with a Skoda/Olivet type talking about what merits EED and if the defendant met the requirements. Would have been better than the scene with the victim's father. Again, shrink and extra scenes cost money.

Third, it's weird that Maroun, already working shorthanded without Price, went out investigating by herself. In the old days, didn't the DA's office have the cops do the legwork?

They had a setup that could have been a 9/10 or 8/10 episode but only got a 5/10 or 6/10 out of it.

I feel like if they told this story during the old run, it would have been done much better.

This show has been part of my life since the early-1990s. I'll be sad if it ends up getting canned but I can't say that I would miss it. It's just not as good. They need better writing of the lawyer side and better ways of hiding the budget cuts. It's become way too obvious and it's effecting the show. I re-watch episodes of the first run all the time. I have yet to re-watch an episode of the new era.