There's always something a little off about dramatic tension in a story when the audience knows a specific conclusion will never be reached. In the case of Kings, it's that David Shepherd is never going to be killed. So, when last week's cliffhanger had him arrested for treason and this week put him on trial, there was never any question about his survival. The real drama would have to come from how he manages to survive.

I have to say, before getting into this episode, that Kings is such an ambitious show that it flirts with overreaching. The real test of these final episodes in the series is whether or not it'll be able to execute a story with as much punch and panache as it has consistently delivered in the tone and scale of the project. Given the way "Javelin" turned out, I'm conflicted about this at best.

With thankfully little cross-examination drama, David is railroaded by the ultimate kangaroo court. Witnesses are manufactured, evidence is tampered with, words are twisted. By now, this kind of business is par for the course when it comes to how Silas Benjamin runs his country. The better part of the episode is spent staging intimate conversations between all of the behind-the-scenes parties. And I do mean all. Silas and Michelle have an awesome exchange over a late-night steak, William and Reverend Samuels start colluding about the coup, and David talks to just about everybody by the end of the episode, among other pairings.

And then there's Michelle and the oldest of all drama-bombs. Thinking her cancer has come back, she goes to see her doctor. The disease isn't back, but that doesn't mean the thing growing inside of her won't still get her killed. She reveals to Queen Rose that she's pregnant with David's child. I have to admit, I was expecting Rose to apply her patented Evil Monarch technique and arrange for a surreptitious abortion, but then the writers decided to do something interesting. Rose knows that this is probably her last chance at a grandchild and therefore the continuation of the Benjamin line. She decides to send Michelle into protection instead (at least I think that's what she's doing).

When the moment of truth comes, Jack (who has been acting as the prosecutor) decides to blow the lid off the whole trial and publicly proclaim David's innocence, as well as exposing his father's lies. This is the part I'm conflicted about. Kings does well with the details, but when it comes to big moments I've never been thrilled with the results. From David's first big speech on the battlefield at the end of the pilot to the insta-revolution in "Javelin", the tone just seems off.

Best Moment: Silas hovering over that steak with the big knife. Ian McShane really inhabits this character's inherent brutality. Also, the smitten palace guard finally got to profess his love for Thomasina, and they even worked it into the larger plot. How's that for planning?

Biggest Shock: "Javelin" was a cluster bomb of TV shocks. A pregnancy! A dark secret (i.e. the alternate history of Rev. Samuels)! Son turned against father! Let's hope they didn't shoot their wad on this episode alone.

Episode Rating: 3.5/5- I liked all the intimate conversations, but that's pretty much all this episode was. Again, it almost feels like Michael Green et al knew this show was destined to be canceled, so they packed three seasons' worth of story into one hopelessly back-loaded season. I'm hoping the remaining episodes of the series will be tight, tense and a little more action-packed than the talky "Javelin".