Haley Fitzgerald

Haley Fitzgerald is the defense attorney brought in to represent Jonathan Fraser once he becomes the prime suspect in a brutal murder. Brisk, unsentimental, and clearly used to skepticism, she assesses the case and her client with the same cool, appraising eye, more interested in strategy than in reassurance.

Dumezweni plays her as the only adult in a room full of people drowning in feeling, and the contrast is delicious. She doesn't perform toughness so much as radiate competence, cutting through the Frasers' denial and hysteria with blunt, procedural clarity that makes her scenes feel like a cold shower the show badly needs.