The Rainmaker on USA episode 8 review: Everything is hard

SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for The Rainmaker Episode 8.

Episode 8 of The Rainmaker is a deeply unpleasant experience for all the characters, and it’s not great for the audience, either. As the USA show builds toward its conclusion — there are only two episodes left after this — it has become increasingly black and white. And that loss of the grey area makes it a tough pill to swallow.

Dot Black’s case against Great Benefit is still only in the trial preparation phase, so there’s not much legal drama in the episode. Most of the tension is personal, except for Sarah Plankmore‘s conversation with Great Benefit executive Wilfred Keeley, which is the most vulnerable conversation in the episode (and one of the best in the series). Keeley is honest with Sarah about why he covered up Melvin Pritcher’s crimes, and he pleads with her to get away from people like Leo Drummond. In turn, though, Sarah tries to convince Keeley that he’s not a terrible person. That scene plays in the grey where The Rainmaker has been so great. It’s a David and Goliath story, but it works best when the characters on both sides feel human.

Unfortunately, there’s a disturbing theme in the episode of women not being given their agency. Bruiser’s father, J. Lyman Stone, is released from…