I don’t think I’m as familiar with Walsh’s work before this piece. I got a Bob Ewell kind of vibe from him based on this film and some digging into his stunt in Virginia. When I used to read To Kill a Mockingbird with my freshmen, we would do a witness examination of the courtroom scene and Bob was always an interesting case study, second only to Tom. Despite being uneducated, Bob understood that he didn’t need to prove his case on paper, simply that he needed to be convincing enough for a white, male jury to sympathize with his position. I think Walsh also makes a performative display throughout the film that belies a sharp social intelligence, and he has the advantage of being able to use selective editing to his benefit (I was also unfamiliar with the term “sealioning” before today, but that looks like it fits the situation pretty snugly).