Emayatzy Corinealdi as Jax Stewart and Morris Chestnut as Corey Cash in Episode 210 of “Reasonable Doubt.”
During the Season 2 premiere of “Reasonable Doubt,” Hulu’s legal drama about high-powered criminal defense attorney Jacqueline “Jax” Stewart (Emayatzy Corinealdi), the subject of mortality cues up another high-profile murder case waiting to be tried in court. The protagonist, still reeling from the traumatic events of her near-fatal kidnapping in the Season 1 finale, gets a call from her best friend, Shanelle (Shannon Kane), who confesses that she just killed her NFL star husband, JT (Christopher Mychael Watson), after another domestic violence incident.
The aftermath of the homicide and Jax’s inner turmoil are both set against the backdrop of the opening episode titled “Can I Live,” named after the classic track featured on Jay-Z’s critically acclaimed debut album, which shares the same name as the television series.
Jay-Z’s “Reasonable Doubt,” released in 1996, is the seminal masterwork that helped birth a hip-hop legend, arguably the best in the game. Mafioso rhymes about a hustler lifestyle and upbringing in Brooklyn’s Marcy Houses kick-started Jay-Z’s ascent to the upper echelon of rap. Decades before creating a show with nods to Jay-Z’s landmark album, veteran TV writer Raamla Mohamed was an avid fan of the New Yorker’s way with words.
“I was in high school when ‘Reasonable Doubt’ came out, and I’m dating myself, obviously,” Mohamed muses over a morning Zoom call. “I just remember we had to use the carpool for school, and someone put in the CD, and I remember the first song I heard was, ‘Can I Live’… I never heard anyone rapping over [a beat like that]. It just was so gangster.”
As a high schooler, Los Angeles native Mohamed cherished Jay-Z’s “Reasonable Doubt” (her favorite Jay-Z album) for opening her eyes to more pockets of gritty regional rap, from the East Coast to the South. But as she grew older, she also developed a deep appreciation for how the rapper’s opus jump-started his trajectory toward mogul status with his billion-dollar empire. It motivated her to strive for the same prestige in her career, in which she’s earned credits on hit shows like “Scandal” and “Little Fires Everywhere.”
“I just really appreciated his consistency, and I started to respect him as an artist and a creative,” Mohamed explains of her admiration for Jay-Z. “I connect to people who are all about always being better.”
When it came time for the television creator to give her show a proper title, she didn’t have to look very far. “It’s funny. I was thinking about what the name of the show could be, and I suddenly just looked over, and I had the Jay-Z [‘Reasonable Doubt’] album cover [propped] up.”
The title of the album and Mohamed’s show both play on the burden of proof in criminal trials, a perfect fit for a dramatic story about courtroom matters. However, Mohamed had a bigger vision for her Hulu series, which was to give it an edge against other legal shows, one that coincided with her outlook on Jay-Z’s legacy.
“I started thinking about this idea of Black excellence and that, in a lot of ways, Jay-Z has merged this idea of being gangster and street with this intellectual, sophisticated sense of hip-hop that I don’t think a lot of other rappers have done,” the showrunner explains.
That example of prosperous success for Black people weighed heavily on the creative development of Mohamed’s “Reasonable Doubt,” specifically regarding leading lady Jax.
Emayatzy Corinealdi as Jax Stewart in Episode 207 of “Reasonable Doubt.”
“I feel like [Jax] embodies that 40-plus Black excellence,” the TV creator says, noting that Corinealdi’s character is multifaceted in ways Black women aren’t often represented on television. “There’s still this wanting to strive to be excellent, to grow Black wealth, but also staying true to who you are and not feeling like you can’t be both things at the same time.”
“Reasonable Doubt” makes more obvious connections to Jay-Z, too, like episode titles named after his songs, cleverly used to complement Season 2’s storylines.
“One thing that’s great is that Jay-Z has so many songs, so I know I’ll never run out of titles,” Mohamed jokes. However, each Season 2 episode does conveniently have a track title from the rap legend’s catalog to chronicle everything happening with Shanelle’s murder case. For instance, Episode 202, “Say Hello” (featured on Jay-Z’s “American Gangster” album), introduces the new attorney running point on her defense, Morris Chestnut’s Corey Cash. Its follow-up episode, 203, “Part II (On the Run)” (named after the song on Jay-Z’s “Magna Carta Holy Grail” album), shows Shanelle literally on the run with her secret lover, Adrian (Vaughn W. Hebron), as she tries to avoid jail time.
“I do look at the titles and think about what are the songs that exemplify and personify what I want the theme of that episode to be,” Mohamed explains of her show’s creative process. “Every episode is definitely connected. I try not to make it random.”
The Jay-Z through-line mirrors this season’s murder trial in subsequent “Reasonable Doubt” episodes, such as “Guilty Until Proven Innocent” (205), “This Can’t Be Life” (206) and “Who You Wit” (209). But that’s not all that’s happening. Season 2 also focuses on Jax’s rocky marriage with her estranged husband, Lewis (McKinley Freeman), as they navigate relationship issues, including infidelity, in couples therapy. Things come to a head in Episode 207, “Venus vs. Mars,” from a track on Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint 3,” which recalls a romance that starts nice but ultimately sours.
The selection of these episode titles is largely handled by Mohamed, who sees these songs as “just as important to me as a story.” Because, according to the showrunner, the songs featured within the show or as titles are the story.
Mohamed points this out with the title of the “Reasonable Doubt” Season 2 finale, “Encore,” named after the song on Jay-Z’s “The Black Album.” The final episode in a sense gives everyone their encore, a second chance to get their lives back on track. Most notably, Shanelle is set free following her trial’s guilty verdict after a judge suspends her sentencing. Meanwhile, Jax finally gets closure from her kidnapper/ex-client, Damon (Michael Ealy), after seemingly having a breakthrough talk with his ghost.
The “Encore” finale could also be a hint toward a potential third season of “Reasonable Doubt,” as Jay-Z’s chorus line suggests, “Do you want more?”
Mohamed is certainly crossing her fingers that her Hulu series gets renewed again. With two high-stakes seasons in the books, the creator is proud to say “Reasonable Doubt” has grown an audience that appreciates her show’s storytelling and hip-hop influence.
“I think the best thing is when you see how it impacts people,” Mohamed concludes. “I love it when I go on YouTube and I see a song that I put on the show, and people are like, ‘I’m here ’cause of ‘Reasonable Doubt.’”
“It’s crazy what we do,” she adds. “You don’t know what the impact is, and I think that that’s just such a special place to be able to live and exist in.”
