A Man. And His Blog.

Well, it was a solid season finale, but not really a great episode. I loved the starting friendship between Harry (Kathy Bates) and Peyton (Paul McCrane), and I hereby hope that he will become a main character in the next season, since Peyton is a funny-enough character to keep the series in the somewhat surreal comedy – something Kelley obviously thought of when he created the show.

But Peyton’s story was a bit over the top at times. It was funny to hear him how be broke and entered, and eventually “assaulted” a strange woman in a house he thought was him, but unfortunately the story didn’t get the attention I wanted throughout the episode. Here I was thinking it’s getting complicated for the characters, but there was basically nothing but a nervous breakdown for Peyton and a little happy end for the two. I have to say though that Peyton’s second attempt at stripping in the court room was definitely too much this time. First he is starting that big speech, which looks like a good thing, and then he starts to strip off his costume again, without actually having a real reason to do so. Well, except his state of mind, which is kinda flushing down the toilet.

The case with Brian Jones (Quinton Aaron) was interesting though. First I was really interested in the whole mailroom screw-up and clerical error of an appeal not filed, and the time having run out to do so, and eventually saving a life from death row. With the explosive chemistry between Adam (Nathan Corddry) and Rachael (Jordana Spiro), the story worked even more and made the thing as dramatic as possible. Okay, the whole story with Rachael being engaged and Adam basically having the same nervous breakdown Peyton has, was a bit too much at times, because it stalled the case they are working on. But again Kelley managed to mention a wobbly point in the justice system, and I love how he’s doing that all the time. Maybe that’s the reason why I still watch the show. In addition, I loved how Kim (Camryn Manheim) played her “We follow rules” card in court – it was the second time in this season, when I was accepting the points from both defense and prosecutor. That almost makes me want to wish that Kim will be appearing in the second season as well. And not just because she had some chemistry with Tommy, and was having a scene with Peyton (that should be the biggest clue that at least one of the two will be focused on in the second season). At the end I found it really nice that the appeal was denied again, making the case a loss for Adam and Rachael. But since she was saying that they will keep fighting, I believe the story will be forgotten in the next episode. After all “making noise” after the albino case didn’t happen as well.

The gala side plot was nice, but only because it developed the relationships among the characters. Tommy (Christopher McDonald) and Harry are on a date, not with Kim not noticing this fact; Adam is alone in the office, heavily kissed by a Rachael with reflections of her life; and Peyton is actually a good singer. I didn’t even know that Paul is a singer in his free time – TV is a learning experience with every third or fourth hour, and the song was actually great. 7/10

Up on the ceiling, there's the next engagement

A little goodbye gig for former partners and new friends

At least one episode before the season finale the series is getting interesting. Only one case, and an emotional one with a hilarious note at that, and two personal storylines, which were interesting to watch, because I cared this time. Even though half of those personal storylines were rather ridiculously … blond.

Meaning the “relationship” between Jenna (Brittany Snow) and Malcolm (Aml Ameen). First, Jenna completely sucks as a character, since she kissed Malcolm. Second, I don’t like her bitchy attitude to him. Third, she behaves way too blond and stupid now, wanting to teach him how to date women. Seriously? Is that supposed to be funny, Mr. Kelley? I don’t know, but your court strip scene was much more funnier than this one. At least I liked Adam (Nathan Corddry) and Rachael (Jordana Spiro) in this episode, though it’s just a repeat of the story from two episodes ago. Yes, I know that Adam is still in love with Rachael, and yes, I know she is dating another guy and there is probably no hope for seeing Adam and Rachael back together. But did the writers really need almost a handful of episodes for this? Does that mean I will see more about that in the next episode? Does that mean Kelley is still thinking about the possibility of bringing the two love birds back together?

The murder case was interesting. Especially since Peyton (Paul McCrane) was the prosecutor, who went the whole way. During the talk with the judge I realized that he always went full throttle in his cases, which is why he lost. And it was then when I realized that you can’t plead murder in first degree to a guy, who definitely did manslaughter. I don’t know if it seems logical that no one from Peyton’s circle of colleagues or the firm he is working with didn’t realize his working moral, or that he was clearly about to lose this case – after all a murder case and clearly manslaughter at that. Every normal prosecutor would have gone with manslaughter, or at least murder two – so why didn’t Kelley see a story behind Peyton? Is his law firm so stupid to realize that, or didn’t Kelley think about it. In this particular case, I could totally understand the jury’s choice in a legal way; murder one was so not the case here. But I loved Peyton’s strip in front of everybody – it kinda had something surreal after the end of the case to see something that hilarious. Even more, I loved the rather friendly moment, when Harry (Kathy Bates) visited him in prison. As if Kelley isn’t done with Peyton yet (he just gave him a bunch of character depth).

A good episode. I just didn’t need the black and white flashback scene with the stylish red blood. I don’t even know if the episode needed Lou’s testimony to be shown with a flashback. I think with a good written monologue and some well played emotions, it could have been a great court scene. 7.5/10

A little overstyled, don't you think?

Promoting for his new TV show: Strip in Court

Seems like episodes 7 and 8 were just the good part of the series, while the rest is still pretty much average. Maybe I should look more into other Kelley shows to compare HARRY’S LAW with them and find out if it’s just not my genre, or if it’s just the series.

The episode was average. I wanted to like the robbery case, and I wanted to believe that Ronald (Rey Borge) is innocent, but his whole behavior threw me off, as well as the “Previously on” part, which reminded me of Harry (Kathy Bates) tanking the murder case in episode 5. But I’ve had the feeling it was just there, so that there is a connection between that episode and Harry asking herself, if criminal law would be something for her. And since she didn’t really like what she was doing here, I don’t think she will return to criminal law in the future. In addition, I didn’t really like Marty (Richard Kind). First he came over very nerdy, in terms of being a lawyer, and then there was the big fight, whether Marty is lawyer enough to pick cases like this, but somehow it had a good ending. I don’t know, while I didn’t like almost all of the story, I liked the ending. Even more, I liked the closing arguments again. First I found myself with the opposite side and George’s (Kevin Dunn) arguments of the defense not having anything to offer, asking myself what Kelley was writing for Harry this time, and then she came with all those arguments, which went a bit into the criminal law system as well. If there’s no hard evidence, there is basically no prosecution. Okay, now I ask myself how a case like that ended up in court with a jury. One thing is left though: What was it with Stevie (Brad Carter), the alibi witness? First Harry presses Malcolm (Aml Ameen) to find that guy, and even though I was thinking that his testimony wouldn’t hold in court (no proof), why was he part of the story then? He was pretty much useless…

The B arc was okay. Amanda (Jai Rodriguez) was actually pretty charming, and that it was all a love story with two broken hearts was interesting. I really felt for all the characters involved. Even Adam (Nathan Corddry), who couldn’t help eventually, and only could guide Amanda to her next phase of life. I have to make a confession though: I didn’t recognize Eyal Podell until after the episode. And I call myself a fan of DEFYING GRAVITY. 6/10

This is a person who seems very hungry

This is the face of a person being declared innocent.

Okay, now I’m a bit disappointed with the show. The last two episodes were great, because I thought Kelley finally found an exciting way to write the show, but instead the last two episodes are shot to the wind with this one. The gang story seems to be over, and the albinos are history too? What about Tommy making noise?

I didn’t really dig the stories this time. The divorce case was okay, because it brought Adam (Nathan Corddry) a lot of screentime. I didn’t mind that Kelley brought back Rachael (Jordana Spiro) for a little tête-à-tête and brought their past relationship back on the radar, but I do mind that the divorce case got such a sloppy ending. The episode didn’t even need that twist, and there would have been more of a message, when Lynette (Ann Cusack) and Marylin (Beatrice Rosen) wouldn’t have been under the same sheet. I kinda felt cheated, when that twist was revealed, because the story was okay until then. And now, I’m only interested how Rachael is working through Adam’s confession, and if the two are coming back together. I wouldn’t mind if they don’t, but the writing hasn’t neglected Chunhua (Irene Keng) for a reason for the last couple of episodes…

The situation with Chester (Brady Smith) was kinda idiotic though. First he is shown as a wacko, but nobody even questions why he is like that. Harry (Kathy Bates) had to find out about the PTSD, after Miguel (Guillermo Díaz) just “slipped” it out of a conversation? That was kinda illogical, and the fact that Chester even locked in both Harry and Tommy (Christopher McDonald) makes it even more ridiculous. I liked their last scene though, together with Rachael’s new boyfriend Thomas (Paul Greene), because it was a scene where the drama was, but everything before was just … not gettable for me. What a shame, because I actually liked the background story and the setup – having a former soldier with PTSD locking up his wife. It wasn’t written very well though.

All in all, it wasn’t really a good episode and I found myself very disappointed. Even the flirtations between Malcolm (Aml Ameen) and Jenna (Brittany Snow) bored me to death, since she behaved like always and starts to annoy me. Is there no other storyline left for them? 5.5/10

This is a housewife in imprisonment

Adam is stunned about what housewives are able to do

Well then… It almost looks like Kelley is firing up lots of ongoing storylines now. I would have expected for the albino case to continue, instead he picked up the gang story from two episodes ago and put a new spin on it. In addition it really seems like HARRY’S LAW is on a level I wanted to see from the beginning. I’m having fun with this show now.

The episode clearly began great with Lewis (Rashad Hood) getting shot. I would have expected he’d die, and it probably would have been a better and somewhat thrilling story when he would have died. When Damien (Johnny Ray Gill) was talking with Harry (Kathy Bates) about what she would let him do, I was thinking at first that Harry goes down a road, where she declares war against the gangs, eventually bringing her colleagues in a crossfire. Sure, it would have been a different story and Kelley couldn’t have played out the legal drama anymore, but it could have been a really interesting story. Like Walt is cooking and eventually selling crystal meth in BREAKING BAD, Harry could have been the enemy of the gangs in the city, and the two characters from two different shows were somewhat similar. But it didn’t come to that – until the end, when the gang was looking at her. I kinda saw some hate in their eyes, as if they knew that Harry ratted Little D (Marcuis Harris) out to the police for the copkilling. It sure should be an interesting continuation of the story, if Kelley is picking it up again in the next or in two episodes.

Other than that, I didn’t care much about Lewis’ fate. He might have been an interesting character two episodes ago, but the angle from the gang, especially Little D, was more interesting. He cared about Lewis, because he likes the kid (which is why he didn’t kill him – kind of irony in here), and Harry took all her effort into saving Lewis, just so Little D can eventually be captured by the police. And now she represents him… Could be really interesting. By the way: What am I happy that the episodes are open-ended at the end; instead the first season seems to develop a really big theme right now. That’s what I currently like about the show, and that’s why I still watch it.

The arc with Kim (Camryn Manheim), and how she used to be Tommy’s (Christopher McDonald) girlfriend was just alright though. First  was happy that Camryn Manheim’s name was in the credits under “Special Guest Star” (that almost means she will return), but then I was a bit underwhelmed that she was just Tommy’s ex. Even more, she kinda annoyed me with her “happy thoughts” (the talk about her date calling back, for example). Only her angle in the case against Willie (Trevor Jackson) was interesting, even though I totally wasn’t on her side, and even though I didn’t really understand what she was talking about. I figure why she thought Willie would be in all the gangs he is eventually taking care of, but I seriously don’t know how that would have held up in court. Maybe I just don’t know anything about the legal thing in this case, maybe it’s just because the whole Willie story went a bit over the top near the end.

It was a good episode, but I really didn’t need that kiss. Great, now Kelley is giving me a romance between Jenna (Brittany Snow) and Malcolm (Aml Ameen). As if he is still looking for a way to keep Jenna busy. 8/10

There's some sexual tension in every character

There's some hope left in everybody

Holy hell, what a strong episode. And what a message was lying behind it, with a chance of a continuation of this storyline. I never would have thought that Kelley was taking this episode seriously and wanted to shock. And after I got over the fact that there are African albinos, I was taken by the story and emotionally challenged.

Yes, the case was interesting as hell. it started a bit lame with Tommy (Christopher McDonald) being the little chicken, not able to look into their faces, but when the court scenes started, it brought my attention up a whole lot. I really, really loved (with an exclamation point) that the writing was serious on that topic, and didn’t start to just tell a story about how foreigners seek asylum in the US, and how the justice system sees especially those kind of asylum seekers, who wait two years and until they get arrested to ask for asylum. The arguments from Attorney General Flynn (Ned Vaughn) were completely correct, and I think it was the first time in a legal drama, where I was on the side of the opponent. It really was about the fact that the US can’t take any foreigners from any state, because there could be danger among them. It’s because I could understand the argument, I could follow it, and I could accept the reasons why the albinos couldn’t stay in the US and seek asylum. The judge even made it “easier”: The Americans are good people (well, you could argue about that), but they are scared, and when I can quote the episode, their “national mood of tolerance, humanity, passion has been replaced by fear, anxiety, and yes, selfishness”. There lies the big message behind the story, which could be considered important for the government leaders of the United States (if Kelley didn’t already take this message from them and put it in this episode for the audience to look at and to listen to). And since the case (fortunately, by the way) ended in a non-happy end, together with Tommy wanting to make some noise now, I believe the story will be continued in the next episodes. Which also means that HARRY’S LAW is riding the serious train for a while, as long as the writers stay busy with this story. And I totally wouldn’t mind that.

The B story was forgettable though. Yeah, Jenna (Brittany Snow) gets a story and she gets more screentime and something to say than during the previous six episodes, but why giving her such an idiotic plot? First, it wasn’t really about her, instead it gave Malcolm (Aml Ameen) something to flirt at, and tell everybody again he wants to be a lawyer and can’t be connected to criminals again. Even more, I didn’t care about the twist that Denise (Candice Patton) was “Dick Chaney”. Though it could have been an interesting story of how her brother Jamal (Michael J. Pagan) was seeing the situation – after all, it’s his sister, who is “so dangerous”, and it’s because of her he is going to jail for three months or more… 8.5/10

Jenna has a big problem

Harry is making a good argument in this case

Another episode, which was more alright than it was solid. I loved the mediating part, because it was something else done in a series about lawyers and court cases, and I liked that Rachael (Jordana Spiro) got another episode to bond with Adam (Nathan Corddry) and to eventually bring her in more often as a potential love interest, even though the two are already exes.

The mediator case could have been a bit better though. There was a bit of suspense in the episode, because it was all about two gangs, and Harry (Kathy Bates) and Malcolm (Aml Ameen) preventing from any bloodshed between those two gangs, but the background story of the conflict was ridiculous. It was just about a woman, and how one guy couldn’t bare with the fact that his rival is dating his ex-girlfriend? Okay, I have absolutely no clue about gang life and what they are doing to revenge themselves, but it seemed ridiculous for a Kelley show, and for me to follow the story throughout the episode. In addition, Harry behaved a bit stupid as the mediator. Maybe it was on purpose to give Malcolm the moment, but maybe she was just so over the top, because Kelley didn’t want Harry to handle the situation and instead give the chance of ruling to somebody else. On the other hand: Malcolm is a bit too often in the center of all attention recently, and all because he either had a criminal past, or he understands the slang, becasue he was one of them in his past life. I think it’s time to develop the character and give him something else to do, or we have another drug related case, which only Malcolm is able to do.

Adam’s storyline was a bit lame, but I loved some of the moments. I’m starting to fall in love with Tommy’s (Christopher McDonald) partner Lisa (Dana Sorman), and the scene with her becoming “lesbian” to shake up Racahel during the court session was just lovely. Especially when she commented to the “Let’s have a drink” with “Can I come too”. In addition, this little story showed that Rachael can be kickass too (her lip licking after she spoke her closing argument), and maybe that just meant she will be in Adam’s life a bit more often throughout the rest of the season. The fact that Adam acts outside of Harry’s office these past couple of episodes, it wouldn’t hurt when he’s interacting with somebody he knows. But I’m getting annoyed with Tommy though. The bug gag was maybe funny for one or two times in the last episode, but this time it was just crazy as hell. Please stop with it. Same goes for the whole Bigboy talk. 6.5/10

Beware: Harriet has a gun!

There's hate in the air

The episode was alright. I always asked myself what writers do with their show, when our main lawyer is defending a person who is actually guilty as fuck, and I always wondered what the lawyers were thinking about the case itself. Though I kinda wanted Harry (Kathy Bates) to continue the case with her hatred to her client, the disbar was a good story too. It just didn’t bring me satisfaction of HARRY’S LAW being an exceptional show. With the case being continued, the episode could have been interesting in a way of how Harry and her team deal with the murderer, and how she handles the case, which she wants to lose, just so the murderer gets jail time. But with tanking the case and getting a disbar trial, I wondered if Kelley even thought about the idea I’ve had. Because at the end, it was predictable that Harry wouldn’t be disbarred. You can bring this story with an open ending in the season finale, so that the viewers ask what will happen (after all, the HAWAII FIVE-0 team is in deep shit in-between seasons, and Patrick Jane killed a guy in THE MENTALIST). But bringing the story in the middle of the season, with a predicted ending of Harry not being disbarred, instead getting probation… boring.

Malcolm’s (Aml Ameen) storyline was alright too. I knew his past would somehow return to the show sooner or later, and even though I was annoyed about exactly that, it was packed into a nice story. It gave Malcolm something to think about, some moments to realize that his old life is over and that he has to focus on his new life now. The story with him and his BFF Tank (Neil Brown Jr.) was interesting too, but it could have been played out better. At the end, Tank only had two scenes, which were not enough for me. I couldn’t get into the friendship between Malcolm and Tank because of it, and it made the final result unimportant for the episode (but still bears importance for the characters). I just wondered about one thing: What had Damien (Johnny Ray Gill) to do with this? He came into the office, knew that Malcolm would buy dope, and wanted to do something. First: I never knew Malcolm and Damien were such buddies – something the writers should continue to build on in the future. Second: Why should I believe Damien caring about Malcolm, when I never realized they were buddies? Was it not possible for the writers to get a story straight for those two guys doing something, before the whole drug past came clashing?

By the way: I want to see more from Peyton (Paul McCrane). When I saw him in the cold open, I was happy that it was an episode with him. Then the case gets a mistrial during the second act, and his character was out of the game. What a shame. And I asked the same questions Harry did: What the hell was Tommy (Christopher McDonald) doing in this episode? There was absolutely no need, except bringing him in as a major character, which is not yet the case… 6.5/10

Waiting for his own decision

Waiting for the day to end on a positive note

A pretty solid episode, and a surprising one at that. I didn’t expect for this show to go the violent road, or to pick a story which kinda defies law in the way David E. Kelley does here. But then again, it’s my first Kelley show I’m watching on a regular basis, and it seems I still have to get above the expectations I’ve had with this show before the premiere.

That Chunhua (Irene Keng) was about to be raped was one scene for example. I didn’t expect it to happen, and it started off a pretty interesting story. The thing is just I still don’t believe that Kelley is picking a lot of effort into the relationship between Adam (Nathan Corddry) and Chunhua, because I still can’t buy their love and affection for each other. But who knows, maybe something will happen after this experience, and after what Adam ahs done for her to “forget” and get behind the attempted rape as fast as possible. In addition I found myself surprised that Damien (Johnny Ray Gill) was in the middle of all this. Though I still ask myself what he has actually to do in Harry’s shoe firm, I was happy that Kelley took initiative and gave him a scene of justice. And I loved when Damien beat the shit out of the rapist, especially since I could understand Chunhua here, having to live a scary life with that guy still walking freely, just because he got immunity.

Even more, I was surprised that Tommy (Christopher McDonald) got a lot of screentime – as if the producers want him to be in the main cast for the next season, or to make him likable for the audience, because Kelley wants to write a little love story between him and Harry (Kathy Bates) – because the two actually have some chemistry. The lawsuit against the McDonald’s copy was okay though – it took some worthy time, it brought us Yvonne (Karen McClain) a bit closer, and it brought me the great conflict between Tommy and Judge Coulis (Amy Aquino). I loved the moment, when she entered the court room and was pissed about Tommy from the beginning, but I loved as well that it was not about Tommy being hated int he court. It was all about him doing his job as well as he can do it, and he succeeded with it. Unfortunately, the little conflict between Malcolm (Aml Ameen) and Harry came a bit short though. I can understand that Harry worries about losing Malcolm to a prick like Tommy, but Kelley could have played out this card a bit stronger and more interesting. 7/10

Chunhua and her very own scene of tragic

Arguing, if fast food makes one fat

The third episode of a Kelley show, and now I can really say that I’m starting to like HARRY’S LAW. Not that it is genius or especially good or something, but it is one of the rare legal shows, which actually does not bore me during the 43 minutes. The stories are interesting, the moral of the week are good enough to be considered a message for the viewers, and I’m starting to like the characters, though HARRY’S LAW could be a bit more serious, when it comes to the storylines behind the main arc of the episode.

The main arc involving Jeffrey (Steve Harris) and his parole hearing was okay. I think that the whole innocent-thing was a big cliché, but the episode had a few good scenes with this story, beginning with Jeffrey not even wanting to be the innocent, because he sees more chances in getting out of prison through the parole hearing, continuing with Harry (Kathy Bates) clashing with Gina Powell (Margo Martindale), Jeffrey’s scene in court, when he finally spoke up, and finally how the good side of the law won at the end and Jeffrey got his parole. I just think that the end of this story came a bit too sudden. Jeffrey was speaking his mind out again, and like five seconds later, Powell granted the parole and Jeffrey was out – and mostly just because the fact that he was innocent, wasn’t used at all, instead because he served his 25 years as a model prisoner.

The B arc was okay too. I liked that Adam’s (Nathan Corddry) case was about to go to the supreme court, but was disappointed that it didn’t. There could have been great moments between Adam and Tommy (Christopher McDonald) in court, and they all could have been better than the scenes shown in this episode. I was actually totally annoyed about Tommy’s behavior in this episode, especially when he was talking to Adam in front of Chunhua (Irene Keng), but I liked the rather subtle plot about Tommy having a better offer for Diane (Annie Tedesco) without telling it to her. But again, Kelley didn’t make much of the plot, and it somehow became a romance between Adam and Chunhua, with Rachael (Jordana Spiro) somehow involved. It wasn’t even about the supreme court anymore, because Tommy was given Yvonne’s (Karen McClain) fast-food case, which was funny at first, ridiculous in the middle of the episode, and at the end it wasn’t mentioned again.

Even though I said I’m starting to like this show, the episode was not really perfect or something good. Solid entertainment in a genre, which doesn’t excite me much. 6.5/10

This is the woman who wants to sue the fast-food chain

Harriet and Jeffrey: the moment of moments