Picket Fences - S1E20

Rights of Passage
First Aired: Thursday April 15, 1993

The local Chippewa tribe takes the county to court over plans to expand a golf course on the ground where their ancestors had been buried. When things don't go in their favor, the Chippewa take over the courthouse in an act of war.

The last couple of episodes are really taking big strides in this show. After the local Chippewa tribe fails to get Judge Bone to rule in their favor about a golf course, sixteen tribesmen take over the courthouse in a formal declaration of war. The golf course would unearth the ancestral remains of Chippewa people and the chief has had enough of being bullied. Jimmy at first defies the city council by not trying to violently take back the courthouse, but after negotiations don't work out, both by him and then by Judge Bone, he has no choice. The Rome sheriff's station, much to their misfortune, must reclaim the courthouse. Just as the police after about to win, the chief comes out, trying to invoke the officers into shotting him. Kenny wounds him, but the chief suffers a stroke and dies at the end.

Also, in a side story, a classmate of Zach's is getting bullied, most likely due to his small size. The mother of the child requests that Jill try using the hormone enhancing drug to speed up his grow process. Ginny takes an exception to this, however, and rallies a group of little people in protest. In defense of his brother, Matt decides to fight the bully and ends up winning.

Like I mentioned, the last couple of episodes have ended on very dramatic scenes, and this one is no exception. The writers again take another subject which is a tough one and tackle it head on. They try to evoke emotion for both sides of the argument and allow the viewer to make their own decision instead of shoving something down their throat. As always, Judge Bone and Wambaugh play their characters with grace and dignity. This was more or less a Jimmy-centric main story, and Skerritt does it again, making it easy to see the problems facing Jimmy. While certainly nothing this extreme has ever happened, it shows what could possibly, and maybe should, happen.

Score: 9.1 / 10