Note: This article contains spoilers for “Reasonable Doubt” Season 3, Episode 5: “Threat.”
“Reasonable Doubt” star Brandee Evans said she was ready to have that big standoff as Monica with Jax Stewart (Emayatzy Corinealdi) in Episode 5, saying it was joy to go line-for-line with the sharp attorney.
“I was waiting for that! ‘All my life I had to fight!’” Evans told TheWrap, jokingly quoting the iconic line from “The Color Purple” character Sofia. “As a ‘Reasonable Doubt’ fan, who doesn’t want to go toe-to-toe with Jax?”
Ooowee! It definitely all went down in that parking garage scene in Episode 5, and Monica didn’t know what was about to hit her when Jax hopped out of that Benz to step to Monica like the grown woman she is. After Episode 4 left off with the reveal that Monica is Ozzie’s (Kyle Barry) longtime abuser, Ozzie officially confirmed it to Jax in Episode 5, and Jax decided to take matters into her own hands and confront Monica about sexually, mentally and emotionally abusing Ozzie as child and throughout his young adulthood.
“I can’t wait to expose you for the filthy monster that you are!” Jax tells Monica in the scene after revealing that she knows about her history of abuse. But that’s when Monica flipped it around and tried to call Jax out on for lusting over juicy murder cases.
“Ever since Ozzie got charged for murder, oh your eyes light up,” Monica said. “Is it the billable hours you’re racking up or is there a monster in you who likes all that s—t?”
Even though Jax ended the conversation by telling Monica to “stay the f—k away from Ozzie,” Evans said Monica was ready to give Jax a taste of her own medicine.
“I know you’re not talking because I’ve watched your career, ma’am!” Evans said as Monica, from her point of view.
“I got to get so snappy, and then I was like Jax got to come back with the comeback because that’s Jax,” Evans continued. “I was trying to give it to her as much as they would allow for that character to come at her.”
While Evans has enjoyed joining “Reasonable Doubt” — one of her favorite shows — she said playing a child sex abuser was heavy on her heart, and she wanted to handle the challenge carefully.
“Never that I couldn’t do [the role]. It was, ‘Whew, this is a lot,’” Evans said, who shared that she researched incidents of sexual abuse by women and the tactics abusers use while she prepared for the role.
Evans added that she even had to tap into her “P-Valley” character Mercedes — an erotic dancer who pivots to dance studio owner in the hit Starz series — to help her accomplish Monica’s big, risqué reveal at the end of Episode 4. During the sequence, Monica is shown wearing lingerie as she attempts to seduce Ozzie.
“I was a little timid, because it was like, ‘This isn’t ‘P-Valley.” We go there on ‘P-Valley.’ I did have a moment of, ‘What would Mercedes do?’” Evans explained, reflecting on the moment. “‘How confident would Mercedes feel in that moment, because Brandee is not that girl. Brandee is conservative, a little prudish at times, but this is not her, this is Monica. This is tapping into that inner sexuality that you have had three seasons on ‘P-Valley’ to learn about yourself.’ So that’s what I did.”
“Reasonable Doubt” Season 3, Episode 5 is now streaming on Hulu.
