Peacock’s crime drama series The Rainmaker, based on John Grisham’s 1995 novel, is centered around a young lawyer, Rudy Baylor, portrayed by Milo Callaghan. After graduating from law school, Rudy was full of hope and enthusiasm. He was one of the best students in his class, so a well-paying job at a prestigious law firm was somewhat expected. He looked forward to his first day at the Tinley Britt firm, but things didn’t pan out the way he expected. Just as he was about to leave, he got into an argument with Hank, his mother’s partner. The first episode does not delve into Rudy’s past, but we get the idea that it was not an easy one. After getting punched in the face, Rudy, in his blood-stained clothes, showed up late to his first meeting at the Tinley Britt firm. Did he face repercussions? Will his dream of becoming a lawyer come true? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Why was Rudy Baylor fired?
Before leaving home on his first day on the job, Rudy found his mother in his brother’s room. They missed him dearly, and Rudy believed that John would’ve been a great lawyer if he hadn’t left them so soon. When his mother mentioned that Hank thought it was time that they moved on and converted John’s room into his personal gym, Rudy got furious. After a brief argument, Hank and Rudy got into a physical altercation. Rudy was left with a busted lip and blood stains on his new shirt and coat. Since he didn’t have another suit, he had no choice but to show up at his workplace in his stained clothes. He was late, but thankfully his girlfriend, Sarah, saved him a seat for their orientation meeting. Since Rudy was the only one who’d walked into the room late, he caught Leo F. Drummond’s attention. He was the face of and the mind behind Tinley Britt, and Rudy ended up getting into an argument with him on his very first day.
Rudy didn’t back down when Leo asked him to cite examples of instances when victims of domestic violence were not treated equally. Even though Rudy provided a solid argument, Leo didn’t appreciate his boldness, and he ended up getting fired. Rudy was crushed; this job was supposed to transform his life, but here he was, back at the bar he used to work at. Being unemployed was not what Rudy had in mind when he graduated law school. He also had to find a place to stay, because clearly his mother didn’t want him around. So, Rudy was in desperate need of money, and his former boss, Prince Thomas, offered him a solution. While getting his job back as a bartender was always an option, Prince offered him something even better: a law firm for Rudy to work at. Now, Rudy had already contacted every reputable law firm in the city, but as it turned out, the law firm Prince had in mind wasn’t exactly prominent. They operated out of an old Taco Hut, and apart from Jocelyn ‘Bruiser’ Stone, the owner of the law firm, there was just one paralegal employee, Deck Shifflet.
What was Rudy’s first case?
Rudy wasn’t really impressed when he walked into Bruiser’s law firm. The place wasn’t exactly professional; it looked pretty much like a diner, and Deck was biting into a piece of fried chicken when Rudy met him. There was clearly a lack of professionalism and, of course, a severe lack of funds. Jocelyn offered to pay Rudy two thousand dollars a month, and Rudy couldn’t help but state that even a waitress made more money. But Jocelyn had already figured out that Rudy was in a tight spot; reputable law firms didn’t want to hire him, and he needed the money, so she was not ready to negotiate. They agreed on a five thousand dollar advance, and to keep his job, Rudy had to get clients. The next morning, Deck suggested that they go to a local hospital to spot potential clients. Patients involved in accidents, hit-and-runs, or insurance cases needed lawyers, and reaching out to a client even before they started looking for an option was pretty much a part of their jobs. Rudy felt embarrassed seeing how desperately Deck tried to talk the patients into hiring them. He was not up for this hustle. But Rudy needed a client if he wanted to keep his job, and he remembered he came across an intriguing case during his free legal clinic days just before he joined Tinley Britt.
A mother, Dot Black, had approached Sarah with her son’s case. Since she didn’t have the money to appoint a lawyer, she filed the lawsuit alone, but as the case started to get complicated, she was in need of guidance. Mrs. Black’s son, Donny Ray Black, had died of flu at the North City General Hospital, and it was said that his prior opioid usage had exacerbated the flu, resulting in his death. But Mrs. Black stated with conviction that her son had been clean for the last year. She believed that the hospital’s negligence had resulted in her son’s death. Tinley Britt was representing North City in the case, and they’d offered Mrs. Black a settlement of fifty thousand dollars even before the case made it to court. The case was too complicated for the young law school graduates to take up, and since Sarah and Rudy were about to join Tinley Britt then, they believed it would be a conflict of interest. Now that Rudy was no longer employed by Tinley Britt, he considered speaking with Mrs. Black. She was initially hesitant because she believed Rudy would not fully understand her, but after he explained his personal angle, she was convinced. Rudy had a personal vendetta against Tinley Britt, and his desperation to get a client and win a case against Tinley Britt was reason enough to make him go above and beyond and ensure that Donny Ray got justice. Rudy believed that the fact the hospital had offered a settlement before the motion was even heard suggested that they were afraid that a can of worms would open if the case proceeded. The twelve-month sobriety chips were not enough to support Mrs. Black’s statement, so they needed to gather solid evidence before the trial began. Jocelyn was apprehensive about taking the case at first, but she recognized the conviction in Rudy’s eyes, and she couldn’t completely dismiss his argument, so she decided that they might as well try their best to fight the case for Mrs. Black. Since Rudy had brought the case (new business), Jocelyn referred to him as the ‘rainmaker,’ and she warned him that he was not allowed to back out or give up now that he had accepted the case. Rudy was ready to face the challenge ahead.
Who Killed Donny Ray?
Rudy Baylor has barely scratched the surface of the Donny Ray case, and it looks like we already have a suspect. In the very first scene of The Rainmaker episode 1, a house caught on fire. A man with a respiratory condition woke up to the smell of smoke. He tried to make his way to the next room, where a woman was lying on the bed with her eyes wide open. She wasn’t responsive, suggesting that maybe she’d died or been killed before the fire. Perhaps she even had a medical condition and was restricted to her bed? We don’t know that yet. The man managed to walk out of the house, but by the time help arrived, the house was already destroyed.
We come across this man once again at the hospital Rudy and Deck visited. He was handcuffed, and he had his wounds dressed. When Rudy started to study the Donny Ray case, he noticed that a couple of nurses who were on the floor at the time no longer worked at the hospital. One of the ER nurses was named Melvin Pritcher, and when Deck searched the name up on the internet, he realized that he was the same man they met at the hospital. Melvin had been arrested on charges of arson. According to one of the articles, Melvin was Evalene’s son (the woman who died in the fire); since he was the only one who was present at the scene of the crime, he was suspected of starting the fire. Melvin was being arraigned the next day, and Rudy and Deck decided to approach him outside the court. They wanted to interrogate him, but his lawyer refused to let Melvin answer any of their questions.
In The Rainmaker episode 1’s ending, Melvin Pritcher, who was granted bail, was seen outside an apartment at night. At first, he knocked on the glass door, but when no one showed up, he slyly opened the sliding door and walked right in. It looked as if he was somehow associated with the place, and he had hoped to find a familiar face there. An elderly woman approached him, stating that if he was looking for a woman named Jackie, then he should know that she’d already moved out (was Jackie escaping from Melvin? Maybe). Melvin turned around and faced the elderly woman. He stated that he was actually the new tenant, but she didn’t buy it. She’d already met the new tenant, and she remembered his face. Melvin had a syringe loaded with a liquid, possibly a sedative. He casually injected the syringe into her neck, and she immediately collapsed to the ground. Melvin was probably searching for something valuable at the apartment, maybe something that connected him with Donny’s case? Now that Jackie had left, he was afraid that whatever he was searching for was also gone. Melvin surely is a shady character, but was he responsible for Donny’s death? Well, we have to wait and watch.
Is the case going to cause a rift between Rudy and Sarah?
Sarah was enraged and disappointed when she discovered that Rudy had accepted the Donny Ray case. Sarah had met the CEO of Great Benefit Hospital Systems, Wilford Keely, and she thought Rudy was making a terrible mistake by going up against one of Leo Drummond’s cherished clients. And to make matters worse, Sarah had been chosen to assist on the case. They were about to be rivals in the courtroom, and Sarah didn’t feel good about it. Rudy thought it was not him that Sarah was worried about; she was simply concerned about her reputation and was afraid that Leo would lash out if he found out that her boyfriend was suing one of his most important clients. Sarah wanted Rudy to drop the case, but this was Rudy’s only chance to prove himself, and he refused to back out. The case will likely end up costing Sarah and Rudy their relationship. Also, Rudy didn’t come from as much privilege as Sarah, and sometimes Rudy felt that she didn’t really understand his struggles. Considering both Rudy and Sarah were extremely passionate about their jobs, they might end up prioritizing their careers over their relationship.
