I think a lot of Caitlyn’s arc towards humanizing the criminal can be defined by her “Benefit of the Doubt™️”
let’s break it down. so we can see that piltover’s prejudice comes fearful negligence of the monster they created. abuse of resources, labor, then the Day of Ash solidifying that divide. because of this, their opinions are based on rumors of how dangerous Zaun is, not because of what they know. they quite literally fear what they can’t see.
If we analyze Caitlyn’s interactions with all s1 criminals, we see this gentle nature displayed despite what she’s taught against them. First with Gustave on the airship, then with releasing Vi, then with Huck in the sumps, and finally with Jinx, choosing to lower her rifle. Caitlyn gives all these characters the benefit of the doubt, and over the course of the show, all of them betray her (to varying degrees, Vi included).
After the memorial is when Caitlyn decides enough. These criminals have lost the benefit of her doubt. Her guard is up, she’s doesn’t trust strangers anymore. There have been far too many unforeseen consequences because of that, and her mother and other innocents paid the cost.
Caitlyn decides she will no longer give the criminals she encounters the sympathies she once did. As seen by the Hellfire montage and the loyalist spy found in Jinx’s gas trap, that she then sends to jail. She treats them as information sources, not people that deserve to be heard or sympathized with for the choices they make. We see Vi’s concern with this and then the tenderness that resurfaces before they kiss, displaying that gentle nature again as though to prove it’s still there, buried under guilt and revenge.
Then, comes the final betrayal that is Vi. The line “I keep telling myself that you’re different but you’re not” has layers, and while intended to be about “Jinx’s blood in her veins”, that sisterhood, also could reference the way she keeps trusting people that everyone told her to doubt and having it thrown back in her face.
It’s not that Caitlyn believes all residents from Zaun are criminals like Piltover does, out of fear and Ambessa’s abuse of military power and martial law. Caitlyn is shown by her constant checking of Ambessa in Act 2, “Arrests require cause.” She focuses away from Jinx and tries to detach her bias from the investigation, going back to her roots and most importantly herself.
We can feel the benefit of the doubt creeping back and now they’re raising alarms, pointed at Ambessa. But she’s still tangled in her web, unable to prove anything or make any moves. So the investigation continues, it’s all she can do.
Then we see that all roads lead to Singed. The most evil criminal of them all, surely irrational and irredeemable. And we get this beautiful quote, “Why does anyone commit acts others deem unspeakable? For love.”
And it just shoots everything into perspective for her. That she can’t blame or hate criminals for their choices, that everything has Context and we are all just products of our environment, trying our best. Even the worst, like Singed. Even people like Caitlyn. She understands why people make mistakes now but no good deeds can erase them. There’s still damage that demands to be answered.
Now we’ve come full circle. Caitlyn in Act 3 displays this ultimate Benefit of the Doubt™️ that is (in part, trusting Vi about Warwick) but mostly releasing Jinx from her confinement so she and Vi can escape together. There’s no guarantee that Jinx is better, less destructive, any of things she wants to hear. That she won’t orphan another kid. But she trusts in the hope that Vi displays in her, who was once a criminal herself with no record, locked away because no one gave her a chance.
It’s a big ask, giving Jinx that second chance but Caitlyn returns to her roots. She gives Jinx the benefit of the doubt — and just as Caitlyn is betrayed for the (countless) time by Maddie, another repercussion, another unforeseen circumstance— finally that Benefit of the Doubt™️ pays off and Jinx flies in— proving to Caitlyn that sometimes second chances are worth it. There is good that comes with empathy instead of just punishment, which is all she’s known since s1. Even if it’s just that one time, that one act saved who knows how many lives as compared to the risk of Jinx taking them.
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