I wasn't sure what to expect from the first season of this
series. I've enjoyed the actors in other things they've done and was hoping
that they weren't just going to rehash their old characters into new names.
They haven't and the show is a hoot. Heck it's two hoots.
Peter Bash (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and Jared Franklin (Breckin
Myer) are two ambulance chasing attorney's who do things their own way. They're
not beyond placing a distracting billboard sign near and intersection while
waiting for an accident on which they can blame the billboard. They're a quirky
duo who have two assistants that aren't any straighter than they are: Carmen
(Dana Davis) is an ex-con who does their leg work for them and Pindar (Kumail
Ninjiani) is an agoraphobic germ fanatic who does the computer/research for the
team. But things are about to change.
Enter Stanton Infield (Malcolm McDowell), the head of one of
the biggest firms in the country. Having had his eye on the team for some time,
he recruits them to come work for his firm. With no conditions except that they
do their best, he sets them up in their own office, gives them anything they
want and proceeds to send the oddest of clients their direction. Franklin and
Bash proceed to do what they do best: win cases.
Office politics have a place in the story as well. Reed
Diamond stars as Damien Karp, the Infield's nephew and the starchy straight
laced type lawyer who worries more about important clients than in doing the
right thing. Franklin and Bash may twist the law a bit and be unorthodox, but
they seem to work for bad guys. Also in the office is Hanna Linden (Garcelle
Beauvais), an attractive high powered attorney in her own right, former flame
of Damien and possible love interest for Franklin.
All of these elements come into play from one episode to the
next and none of the players major or minor are ignored. Rather than simply
rely on the two main stars, the series lets everyone have a chance to play in
this sandbox and it gives the show a team feeling that works for so many series
these days.
As I said in the title, the show is reminiscent of the
series BOSTON LEGAL in that you have two off the wall characters involved in
the business of law who work for a leader who has so many interests that you
never know what he'll be doing next. He never appears to be odd but at the same
time he's told the two main characters more than once that they remind him of
himself when he was younger. It make for interesting characters and an interesting
show as well.
The cases the duo find themselves involved in never seem
like the things you see on the front pages of the newspaper. After the pilot
show, their first case involves a woman accused of using sex to kill her
husband. Another features a somewhat plump young woman fired from a Playboy
style magazine who thinks they fired her because she was too pretty. They
defend two pole dance instructors who have been accused of stealing from one of
their clients. Obviously these are not Perry Mason type cases they're working
on.
The thing that makes it work is the two leads. They seem to
be completely at ease in their characters. Neither of them makes it seem like
they're acting, a true accomplishment in my eyes for great acting. You don't
feel like their performing but are being themselves. That could be a scary
thing in some cases. As the series unfolds you get to know more about the
characters, in particular the fact that Franklin refused to work for his father
(Beau Bridges), a high class attorney with little scruples. There is a
bitterness that lies between them and it reveals itself in one episode.
I was hesitant to watch this series when it aired on TV. Now
I find myself beginning to think that perhaps I should start setting the DVR
for this one. Then again maybe I'll just wait for the second season to come out
on DVD as well. I know I've thoroughly enjoyed season one and you will too.
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