The Rainmaker Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Murder, Suits, and Soap Opera Detours

If you were wondering when The Rainmaker was finally going to stop shuffling papers and start swinging, Episode 3 is the one. 

Suddenly, we’re not just watching a scrappy young lawyer try to prove himself — we’re watching him inch closer to uncovering a full-blown murder conspiracy. It’s unpredictable and sometimes clunky, but it’s always entertaining, which, let’s admit it, is rare these days.

This episode also dared to include way too many side stories. Some work and others… well, let’s just say they’re testing my patience.

Rudy Baylor, Hot Mess Extraordinaire

Rudy’s journey this week was part legal thriller, part soap opera. 

The kid is supposed to be studying for the bar, yet he spends half the episode spinning in a love-hate carousel with Sarah, lying to his mother, and, oh yes, having sex during the exam lunch break.

That’s a great way to clear your head before walking back into the most important test of your life.

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Sarah gifting Rudy a brand-new power suit was supposed to symbolize his rise. Instead, it mostly made him look uncomfortable. She claimed it was to help him “announce his presence with authority.” 

Translation: she doesn’t think he looks the part. That little dig, combined with her private chats with Leo Drummond, makes me wonder — is Sarah really on Rudy’s side, or are we building toward a betrayal? 

The way she deflects when he asks if she wants to talk about the deposition says a lot.

Then there’s Rudy’s mom finally catching him in the big lie about leaving Tinley Britt. That moment could’ve been played for sympathy, but instead, it underlined just how messy Rudy’s life is. 

His mother was asking the right question: Is this firm reputable? He insists it is, but come on — they’re working out of an only moderately rehabbed fast food joint, and Deck is cold-calling florists like he’s running a telemarketing scam. She’s right to be concerned.

Rudy might be the heart of this show, but he’s also a time bomb waiting to go off.

Bruiser’s Secrets Keep Piling Up

If Rudy is the show’s heart, Bruiser is the spine — but even she’s got cracks running through her. 

Visiting her father in prison opened the door to a whole new layer of backstory, and it’s a complicated one. He insists everything he ever did was to protect her. 

Protect her from what? Protect her from who? The show dangled that line like a loaded trap, and you can bet it’ll come back later.

Then the FBI showed up sniffing around Rosalee Sutton, and suddenly Bruiser was shaking baby rattles out of her desk drawers like it was just another Tuesday. A baby rattle linked to Rosalee’s child? 

That’s not a casual detail. That’s a giant neon sign telling us Bruiser’s history is going to blow up in her face.

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And yet, even with the FBI circling, Bruiser is the only one in this episode who plays offense. Her standoff with Leo Drummond was the first time anyone on Rudy’s team felt like they were holding the upper hand. 

She didn’t just ask for a settlement but named her price ($80 million, thank you very much) and shoved the truth in his face. 

She knows about Pritcher; she knows he’s a murderer, and she knows Leo knows it too. Watching her leave Leo speechless was easily the best moment of the hour.

Jackie vs. Pritcher, the Horror Movie We Didn’t Ask For

Jackie has been dragged from subplot to subplot since the pilot, and now she’s basically starring in her own horror flick. 

First, she’s hiding in a shed. Next, she’s running from Pritcher in the dead of night. And by the end, she’s sprawled on a cabin floor while he dances around eating cereal and listening to Blanco Brown.

I didn’t make that up. That’s literally how the episode ended.

On the one hand, it’s creepy and effective — Pritcher whispering, “It’s OK, I’m a nurse” while injecting patients is chilling as hell. On the other hand, the guy is popping up everywhere like a comic book villain. 

He’s too omnipresent to be believable. Still, Jackie’s story finally gave us something tangible: a witness who saw Pritcher injecting Donny Ray. That’s murder, not malpractice, and it changes the game.

The Case Finally Heats Up

The best part of the episode wasn’t Rudy’s bar exam meltdown or Bruiser’s backroom deals. It was Deck and Rudy actually finding their first real piece of evidence. 

Donny Ray’s hospital roommate, Ross, remembered seeing Pritcher inject him with something while whispering that creepy line. Suddenly, the case is no longer just about negligence or corporate indifference. It’s about a criminal conspiracy to kill patients.

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That’s huge. 

That’s the kind of revelation that makes this show feel less like a procedural and more like a high-stakes thriller. 

For once, Rudy and Deck aren’t just playing catch-up. They’ve got something that could bury Keeley, and the look on Rudy’s face when he realized it was murder said it all.

The Kelly & Cliff Problem

And now we come to the part of the episode that made me groan out loud: Kelly. 

If you recall the movie, you’ll recognize this subplot. It stood out then, and it still stands out now, like a sore thumb. At least then, there wasn’t a Sarah. 

Rudy offering Kelly a ride from the “spa” at 2 a.m., her stashing money in a tissue box, her abusive husband Cliff threatening Rudy with a weapon — none of it fits with the main story.

It feels like the writers had a checklist: “Don’t forget Kelly!” But why? We’re already juggling a conspiracy, a murder nurse, the FBI, and Rudy’s bar drama. 

Do we really need this clunky domestic violence storyline that makes Rudy look more like a voyeur than a hero? No. We don’t. And yet, here we are. 

Threads Worth Tugging

A few questions this episode left dangling:

• Will Sarah betray Rudy, or is she a reluctant pawn in Leo’s game?
  
• What exactly did Bruiser’s father “protect” her from — and how does Rosalee Sutton tie into it?
  
• Is Jackie alive, or are we watching the prelude to her tragic exit?
  
• How many more times can Pritcher appear out of the shadows before we all burst out laughing?
  

The Rainmaker Season 1 Episode 3 was far from perfect — in fact, it was borderline chaotic — but it finally gave The Rainmaker some teeth. 

The stakes are bigger now, the danger is real, and the characters are more tangled than ever.

Yes, some of the subplots feel unnecessary (Kelly, Cliff, I’m looking at you), but the murder reveal and Bruiser’s power play against Leo are enough to keep me hooked.

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Convoluted? Absolutely. Entertaining? Without question. 

This show might not know if it wants to be a courtroom drama or a pulp soap opera, but at least it’s not pretending to be safe. 

What did you think of this one? Is the murder angle pulling you in, or are the side plots dragging things down? 

Do you trust Sarah, or do you think she’s setting Rudy up for a fall? 

And, seriously, are we supposed to buy Pritcher showing up everywhere?

Drop your thoughts in the comments — I’m dying to know if you’re as baffled, entertained, and frustrated as I am.

And while you’re here, don’t forget to poke around the site — we’ve got fresh reviews, editorials, and plenty of other shows worth talking about.

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