The gaps between crime and punishment, victim and justice can be devastatingly wide. In such a vacuum lives can be broken, sometimes beyond repair. The temptation to fill it with morality – and its skewed cousin vengeance - can be irresistible.
Devised by Myrna Jelman, after a real life encounter with a victim who had escaped from the misery of modern slavery, Blind Justice is a twisting and turning tale that will have you question your own morality and notions of justice. I was transfixed by the initial one page synopsis Myrna shared with me, and flattered that she should invite me to flesh it out fully into teleplay format.
A full Season 1 has been outlined in great detail (including full length pilot script/Episode 1), along with overviews for a further four Seasons 2-5.
Devised by Myrna Jelman, after a real life encounter with a victim who had escaped from the misery of modern slavery, Blind Justice is a twisting and turning tale that will have you question your own morality and notions of justice. I was transfixed by the initial one page synopsis Myrna shared with me, and flattered that she should invite me to flesh it out fully into teleplay format.
A full Season 1 has been outlined in great detail (including full length pilot script/Episode 1), along with overviews for a further four Seasons 2-5.
Season 1 Synopsis:
Two domestic slaves are found brutally assaulted in the basement of a Hampstead mansion. The elder of the pair is dead, while the younger is critically ill and – it emerges - pregnant. The mansion owners, construction magnate Mr. Hassan and his family, are away at a charity event.
The case is assigned to DS Lois Fletcher, who has fought institutionalised misogyny and a deep-seated victim complex (owing to her mother’s murder) to be recognised as a top homicide cop. An instinct-driven lone wolf by nature, she reluctantly agrees to be shadowed by DC Ayodele Adebayo, a prodigious mentee from a neighbouring force.
Lois’s revulsion at a family keeping domestic slaves leads her to obsess over Mr. Hassan’s guilt, while Ayodele urges caution. When Lois is frustrated by Hassan’s impeccable alibi and legal brief, her maverick instincts take over – hounding him in private, unbeknown to Ayodele. However, this harassment goes drastically wrong – resulting in Hassan’s accidental death at Lois’s hands.
Faced with confessing to her crime, removal from the case and probably the force, Lois opts to cover it up. Acting on impulse, she arranges a rendez-vous with the enthusiastic Ayodele, and thereby secures herself an alibi. The next morning the new Hassan murder investigation commences and Lois puts forward a revenge killing scenario. As they work together and she becomes increasingly dependent on his support, feelings develop between Lois and Ayodele. But before long he starts suspecting Lois’s involvement in Hassan’s death as he alone knows how to interpret details from that night that point to her guilt.
Pressure grows on Lois as she grows aware of Ayodele’s suspicions and when DNA evidence proves Hassan’s innocence for the slaves attack. Now seeking a culprit for both attacks, she hauls a number of credible suspects in for questioning – each with viable motives and means, but also watertight alibis. After conducting his own private investigation into Lois on the quiet, Ayodele finally confronts her and insists she confess to killing Hassan.
Liberated from her deceit, Lois concerts all her energy back into cracking the slaves attack before turning herself in. She finally deduces that the elder slave was killed by the younger in self defence, when she attempted to perform an unconsented DIY abortion on her (knowing from experience that pregnancy itself was a death sentence for any young domestic in that household). Lois is also vindicated somewhat by Ayodele’s unearthing that Hassan had indeed been responsible for the murder of several previous domestic slaves.
Series One closes with Lois facing up to her suspension and uncertain future. In an intimate moment, she makes her peace with Ayodele who has helped re-locate her moral compass following the most harrowing case of her career… the consequences of which will echo through subsequent investigations.
Two domestic slaves are found brutally assaulted in the basement of a Hampstead mansion. The elder of the pair is dead, while the younger is critically ill and – it emerges - pregnant. The mansion owners, construction magnate Mr. Hassan and his family, are away at a charity event.
The case is assigned to DS Lois Fletcher, who has fought institutionalised misogyny and a deep-seated victim complex (owing to her mother’s murder) to be recognised as a top homicide cop. An instinct-driven lone wolf by nature, she reluctantly agrees to be shadowed by DC Ayodele Adebayo, a prodigious mentee from a neighbouring force.
Lois’s revulsion at a family keeping domestic slaves leads her to obsess over Mr. Hassan’s guilt, while Ayodele urges caution. When Lois is frustrated by Hassan’s impeccable alibi and legal brief, her maverick instincts take over – hounding him in private, unbeknown to Ayodele. However, this harassment goes drastically wrong – resulting in Hassan’s accidental death at Lois’s hands.
Faced with confessing to her crime, removal from the case and probably the force, Lois opts to cover it up. Acting on impulse, she arranges a rendez-vous with the enthusiastic Ayodele, and thereby secures herself an alibi. The next morning the new Hassan murder investigation commences and Lois puts forward a revenge killing scenario. As they work together and she becomes increasingly dependent on his support, feelings develop between Lois and Ayodele. But before long he starts suspecting Lois’s involvement in Hassan’s death as he alone knows how to interpret details from that night that point to her guilt.
Pressure grows on Lois as she grows aware of Ayodele’s suspicions and when DNA evidence proves Hassan’s innocence for the slaves attack. Now seeking a culprit for both attacks, she hauls a number of credible suspects in for questioning – each with viable motives and means, but also watertight alibis. After conducting his own private investigation into Lois on the quiet, Ayodele finally confronts her and insists she confess to killing Hassan.
Liberated from her deceit, Lois concerts all her energy back into cracking the slaves attack before turning herself in. She finally deduces that the elder slave was killed by the younger in self defence, when she attempted to perform an unconsented DIY abortion on her (knowing from experience that pregnancy itself was a death sentence for any young domestic in that household). Lois is also vindicated somewhat by Ayodele’s unearthing that Hassan had indeed been responsible for the murder of several previous domestic slaves.
Series One closes with Lois facing up to her suspension and uncertain future. In an intimate moment, she makes her peace with Ayodele who has helped re-locate her moral compass following the most harrowing case of her career… the consequences of which will echo through subsequent investigations.
