Her name means âthe all-watchfulâ. And Sandra Alvaro puts a crack in him, without even looking. (âPrince of Darknessâ, 3x08)
So Ben starts this one off practically praying
When he could have been using the glasses to read, or something
But both he and she are sitting under a fallen cross
Then he uses some testosterone against the devilâs advocate (whose name is Chris, ironically enough) on the other side; to the point where the hearing judge tells them not to have a fistfight.
And then, because heâs a macho man with a beautiful and supposedly compliant, helpful, and outside of the more-usual categories he deals with-woman sitting next to him (sheâs not a lawyer, sheâs not a defendant, sheâs not exactly a suspect and he sees most witnesses in his office or theirs or their homes; theyâre in Rikers this morning, for crying out loud), he takes a second and really looks her over. You can see his diagonal eyes on-screen. And it is deliberate, because they could have put Saundra Santiago in a less-clingy top with a higher neck if they were going for something else.
But Paul doesnât see it and she doesnât see it (so we donât get the âsomebody tries to sexually manipulate Benâ episode, here or ever) and nobody sees it, apparently.
But this is all before she makes it clear sheâs going to be uncooperative.
And the next time he sees her, weâve gone from her in off-white and him in a blue button-down⊠to her in a blue button-down and him in the rarely-seen black suit, making Paul be the bad guy, telling his own lies, and refusing to look at her⊠they are getting tangled up in each other, a bit.
Ben, this isnât your first week in court. She canât be your first threatened witness. She has literally not done a damned thing to help her case. And yet he goes to some very great lengths to either keep her safe or make her disappear, or both. This will have karmic consequences down the road for our flawed stone.ïżŒ
And when her testimony is read (and their names are read together) in court instead? Thereâs a guy in the jury box with a blue button-down.