Hayes Morrison, Conviction

Hayes Morrison (Hayley Atwell)

Hayes Morrison was a former first daughter of the USA, a rebellious party girl and a brilliant lawyer. A series of news clips gave information about Hayes’ past in the pilot, and they included several stories of her dating men: White House reporter Marcus Nickel, Hollywood star Aaron Smith, an unnamed boss in the law firm she worked at, and a soccer star from North Ireland, Shea O’Brien.

There was also a photo of her kissing an unnamed woman, referred to as an “intimate friend”. Hayes had also been in a relationship with New York County District Attorney Conner Wallace, who blackmailed her to run his new Conviction Integrity Unit after she was arrested of possession of cocaine. In episode 2 Hayes was seen waking up next to an unnamed man.

In episode 5 the show mentioned an ex-girlfriend, Naomi Golden, who was also Conner’s ex. Naomi was not seen in episode 5. In episode 6 Conner hired Naomi to help him, Hayes was flirty with her and asked her out, only to find out that Naomi and Conner were back together. Naomi had one more appearance in episode 8.

In episode 9 Hayes and Conner ended up to kissing each other after they failed to save an innocent man on death row, and episode 10 opened with the two having sex. She asked Conner how Naomi was, he told her they were taking a break, and by the end of the episode, Hayes told him she wanted to be with him “for real this time”. They were together in a serious relationship until the end of the show. In episode 11, she was telling her father she loved Conner, and they exchanged “I love you”s in the finale, even though, as a cliffhanger, Hayes kissed someone else. The show was cancelled after season 1.

Hayes was the lead character, central to the entire season’s plot, but her interest in women was reduced to the mentions of her “racy” past, or her brief interest in Naomi, and another facet of her “rebellious” personality, while her character’s arc focused on her ditching that persona and after some will-they/won’t-they build-up, settling into a relationship with Conner.

Appearances:

• 13 episodes.

Female love interests:

• Intimate friend (uncredited, photo 1 episode, off-screen)
• Naomi Golden (Ilfenesh Hadera, bisexual, guest, 2 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a woman: No

Male love interests:

• Marcus Nickel (uncredited, photo 1 episode, off-screen)
• Aaron Smith (off-screen)
• Unnamed boss (uncredited, photo 1 episode, off-screen)
• Shea O'Brien (off-screen)
• One night stand (uncredited, guest, 1 episode)
• Conner Wallace (Eddie Cahill, regular, 9 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a man: Yes

Filter Relationship Arc:

• Male (Regular)

Storyline during sweeps? Yes

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.