Life Sentence

Previously on “Life Sentence”...

Peter: The Nortons wanted a fast escrow,

so they offered to let me stay in the guest house.

My brother would make the best barista.

Woman: Welcome aboard.

Put them on the bottom of the coffee cup

and I'll pay you in the tip jar.

What the hell?

You're under arrest.

Those pills that I was selling...

Schedule II drug, which means...

You're facing a felony charge.

I'm married to an incredible man,

and it really sucks to know that he might never understand

what I'm going through the way that you do.

Wes: Do you have feelings for him?

Yes, I have a connection with him,

but he's just a friend.

There aren't words to describe how that makes me feel.

Are we going to be okay?

I don't know.

Stella: The funny thing about my family is,

when times are good, we fall apart,

but throw in a crisis

and we come together to battle as one.

We're strong.

We're focused.

We're brave.

And compassionate.

We're like the Justice League,

bonded together in a sacred mission to fight crime.

Sure, in this case,

the crime was a felony committed by my brother.

Still, we were there for him to lean on.

But the real hero of my family was Dad.

Aiden: Oh, wow.

I just got off the phone

with Asheville's top defense attorney.

He's taking the case, and he thinks we can fight this.

Even though I'm guilty?

Let's not say that anymore.

I appreciate you stepping up for me.

Of course.

A night in jail was one thing, but this is your future.

Okay, hands in.

Come on, hands in.

- Come on. - Um...

“Innocent until proven guilt”" on three.

One... two... three.

All: Innocent until proven guilty!

- That was weird. - Hey, Peter.

- Oh, hi. Uh, this is my whole family. - Hi.

- Hi - Hi.

It's nice to meet you all.

Woman: It looks like quite a meal.

You guys celebrating something fun?

Just my recent drug arrest.

It's a nice, narcotic-free family dinner.

Oh, I may have taken a Valium earlier.

- We should go inside. - Yes, uh, we should.

It was good to meet you all.

Good one.

Yep, it felt like everyone in this family

was closer than ever.

- Night. - Night.

Almost everyone.

Hey.

So, I've been thinking...

Mnh-mnh, you're not going to try to convince me

to adopt a hairless cat again, are you?

No. Wait, why? Have you changed your mind?

Okay.

Well, actually what I was going to say is

I know that things between us have been...

well, not great.

I just... I can't figure out the right word.

The point is...

I want to fix things.

How do you propose we do that?

By fast-forwarding to the end of this fight.

We both know you're eventually going to forgive me

because that is what we do... we fight, forgive, repeat.

We're like relationship shampoo.

Let's lather up and rinse.

Eh, probably wasn't my best metaphor.

Babe, I don't know how I can fast-forward

past the fact that you told another man

that he knows you better than I do.

Neither do I. I hate knowing that I hurt you.

I love you,

like, a whole big bushel full of whole-kernel corn,

and that is a whole lot.

My grandmother used to say that to me.

She was an odd woman who loved corn.

Wes, I'm trying here.

And I appreciate the effort,

but I don't think there's anything you can do...

except give it time.

I wished Wes and I were as united as my family was

behind Aiden, but we weren't.

We were divided. And we weren't the only ones.

Okay, and so, while Fiona is very advanced,

Frank is actually struggling to keep up.

We'd like to recommend holding him back next year.

Seriously?

It's kindergarten. They're making hand roosters.

Is that what those were?

Frank's look like a little lumpy dinosaur. It...

I'm sorry. What you were saying?

At this age, we look for social markers,

and Frank seems to be showing all the signs

of being a people-pleaser and a follower.

So, he's nice and popular.

- Mrs. Rojas... - We're not holding our son back

because he's easy-going and bad at tracing.

W-Which is a conclusion that we will draw at home,

after we think about it.

You sure you don't want breakfast?

No, I'm good.

Dad's got me jogging to clear my head.

- It's actually kind of working. - We'll see you when you get back.

Bye.

How do you like your coffee?

You made my coffee every day for 30 years.

You know how I like my coffee.

I thought I knew how you liked your sex, too,

- but apparently I... - Milk and sugar is great.

We're, though... yeah.

Hey.

How are you doing with everything?

- Good. - Oh.

You know, I haven't been on my own since before I met you,

and it's kind of nice.

That's a lie.

It's terrifying.

But Lizzie and Diego are helping me through it,

which is good.

Must be weird living in the shadow of our former life.

Peter: It's awful.

I've spent so much time watching the Nortons,

my elbow wore the paint off that windowsill.

Oh, buddy, don't do it.

I'm warning you.

Wait for it. Wait for it.

I guess I should have fixed that years ago, huh?

Oh, no. It's part of the charm.

- You miss our old house? - I miss our old life.

Well, maybe just the good parts I remember.

Ah, we're still a family, Peter.

No matter what life throws at us,

although I wish it would stop throwing

quite so much in our direction.

A lawyer's going to help,

but he is expensive.

That's what I wanted to talk to you about.

I'd like to use some of the money we made selling the house

for his retainer,

but I wanted to run that by you first.

That is a pleasant surprise.

Old Peter would have just taken the money.

And if this money helps keep him out of prison,

you have my blessing to use every penny.

I'm supposed to work today,

but I don't see my name on the schedule.

Oh, right.

That's probably because you don't work here anymore.

What do you mean?

Stella, there's no easy way to say this.

- You're fired. - That seemed pretty easy.

Look, over time, I've come to not hate you so much,

but after your brother's arrest,

corporate said I had to let you go.

Your father owns this coffee shop.

Anyway...

Oh... best of luck.

I'm so sorry about your job, Stella.

I can't help but feel responsible.

Mm, that makes sense because you are responsible.

I'm going to make it up to you.

- I promise. - Stella: Oh, it's okay.

I'm getting that job back.

How are you going to do that?

Don't know yet, but I will figure something out.

Okay, folks. I come bearing good news.

Now, the DA has made us a very generous plea deal.

Instead of three years in prison, if you plead guilty,

you'll receive nine months in a minimum-security facility,

which means you'll be out in five with good behavior.

- Okay, then... - No, absolutely not.

What do you mean, no?

I mean, I'm not letting my son

go to prison for five minutes.

Dad, it sounds like a good deal,

considering how guilty I am.

Okay, you really need to stop saying that.

Peter, do you really think that we should go to trial?

Oh, notice how she asked him what he thought.

Not our moment. Got it.

Mr. Berg, can you win this case?

Well, it's going to be tough.