(S01E02) Oh my God. Did anybody else get dizzy while watching this? Maybe the target audience on this show is the MTV crowd. Jeez. All the handheld camerawork, quick edits and zooms made me queasy. That seemed new. Also new this week were the banners for different times in the case (i.e. 'Self Surrender', etc.). Kinda hokey and unnecessary. It also seemed like Rebecca Mader's appearance had been softened a bit since the premiere-- a positive change if you ask me. She seemed a little scary and inhuman in the pilot.
The case: Music producer Lenny Stein is found dead in his hotel room and some young woman (Anne Diggs) was seen leaving. Instead of going to the cops when a sketch of her is plastered all over the media, Anne goes to TNT&G. She claims it was self defense and Tom Nicholson (Kerr Smith) believes her. It's the top story on American Crime, so Ron Trott decides to work pro bono and raise money for Anne's defense fund by essentially blackmailing high-rollers who didn't want to make the witness list. Attorney Alden Ruller (Rebecca Mader) is suspicious of the girl's story, as am I. Nonetheless, Nicholson badgers Anne until she remembers where she ditched the murder weapon, a knife, and he and attorney Luther Graves (Eamonn Walker) go and pick it up off the street while a couple of paralegals worry about whether they're tampering with evidence. Graves tells them that defense attorneys can gather evidence just like prosecutors, but most are too lazy.
Just like last week, there are a lot of reasons to believe that Anne is guilty. She lied about her relationship with Stein, she met him through some sort of dating service for poor girls and rich men, and she has one hell of a temper when older men badger her. And then, the ultimate deal-breaker: Alden recreates the murder in the courtroom and ends up seriously injuring her hand. So, why didn't Anne have a hand injury after she killed the guy? Obviously, she didn't kill the guy the way she said she did. Still, the lawyers spin it so she doesn't have to answer how, exactly she killed him. She tells her sob story on the stand and sounds pretty damn convincing.
I loved the part when the jury came back with two questions and the defense attorneys didn't want to agree to either of the requests. Luckily, Graves knew the prosecutor was a hardass and that reverse psychology would work on him. So, Tom Nicholson pretended to be in favor of the jury's requests and acted like it would help their case, which got the prosecutor to oppose him and he quickly gave in (giving the jurors a defeated shrug in the meantime).
The verdict? Not Guilty.
The truth? Oh, it was self defense, alright. But, then the girl took the money.
I still like this show, although the weekly formula is evident. We get a defendent, we get red herrings about his/her guilt, we wait on pins and needles for a verdict and then we get to see what really happens. The only thing I don't like is Victor Garber's character, but I don't think he's supposed to be likable. He seems on the verge of a heart attack for most of the show as he gets in the faces of everyone: the media, his co-workers, the defendant.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-07-2006 @ 8:40AM
Toby OB said...
Last week I said, I'd only watch this until 'Lost' came back. After this week's episode, I've amended that to 'Only because of Victor Garber will I continue to watch this until 'Lost' comes back.'
I think his performance as Ron Trott is spot on and isn't supposed to be likable. (Probably one reason why the network promos make that comparison to 'House'.)
So far, I've seen their shady legal techniques employed before on old 'Perry Mason' episodes. They've just been dressed up in a high-tech fashion being carried out by less personable lawyers than Raymond Burr's. That's probably why Perry Mason got away with it in the audience's eyes.
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9-07-2006 @ 9:21AM
Mike K. said...
The actress that played Anne Diggs is Amanda Seyfried, most famous for playing Lily Kane on Veronica Mars.
I am liking this show, even if Ron Trott is a slightly-meaner lawyer version of Jack Bristow.
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9-07-2006 @ 11:47AM
Patrick said...
"Did anyone else get dizzy?" --- YES! The shakey camera movement was so annoying! I quit watching after 20 minutes.
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9-07-2006 @ 12:48PM
mike said...
Garber's hair was lighter for this episode also
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9-07-2006 @ 1:40PM
Jimmy said...
Was I seeing things or did Victor Garber's hair change colors right in the middle of the show? At the beginning, it was the lighter color (the grey) from Alias, then it went to the dark color from the season premiere, and then back to the lighter color! Maybe it was the lighting. I was unimpressed by this episode, but I still like the show. I also like the ending when we learn what really happened. It would be nice if they could switch it up sometimes -- get us a guilty one we would actually be surprised was guilty.
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9-08-2006 @ 9:16AM
Su said...
Yes, the camera movement is jerky (a technique started by ER and still in use today), and it makes me nauseous and YES FOX felt it was required to change the color of Garber's hair (perhaps to make him younger and closer to his counterparts' age, except that he is SUPPOSED to be the elder and wiser so go figure). In the pilot, it was shoe polish black, and now they have softened it, but there were 1-2 scenes where it looked like had still been using the black. Geez, people...continuity, please? As far as I am concerned, Garber doesn't need hair dye. He is a wonderful actor and I hope he won't be wasted on this show, though I do relish watching him play the bad guy (e.g. Applegate in Damn Yankees on stage).
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9-08-2006 @ 8:43PM
Joe said...
My thoughts so far are that there are definitely some excellent stories to be told in this series, and I'm really looking forward to it each week, just to see if it gets better, which it surely will.
My first thought that troubles me is why all four of these people (of greatly varying ages) are partners of the firm, and yet they feel the need to explain legal terms to each other. Sometimes it's the lawyers talking to their client, but it was increasingly often just between partners at a firm. This show hasn't gone the normal way and introduced a new character into the world of the series to justify these explanations, but it's something that bugs me nonetheless.
There's also the minor issue of complete inaccuracy. The law and trial procedures are complete crap, but Jerry Bruckheimer makes entertaining crap even so.
Smaller problems are camerawork and Victor Garber's hair, which I noticed as being stupid in the pilot. I imagine when they finally get it to one solid colour, it'll be fine.
I also really enjoy Kerr Smith, and Rebecca Mader was much better this second episode. Eamonn has got a way to come, but Victor Garber and the blonde host of American Crime work incredibly well together and I look forward to seeing more of her and them together.
Overall, humble beginnings for what will become an increasingly better show. Any word on the ratings so far?
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9-09-2006 @ 2:41AM
BobBaft said...
When did this garbage camera style become "acceptable"? I've noticed it on shows like The Shield and in movies (the war scenes in Star Wars Episode II). It's very annoying and it makes me nauseated also. My 2 year old nephew can hold a camera more steady than these hacks. Someone should start a website blasting this...that'll show them.
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9-10-2006 @ 10:04PM
ooda said...
I didn't find the camera style all that disconcerting (though it works better with The Shield as that just seems more raw and real than Justice), but it was a decent episode. At least it was good enough to keep me watching. Even though Trott is a bit too pushy at times, the role is working well, and it's nice to see just how much of an impact the media has. Mind you, I didn't watch Alias (I will now based on him) so I have no idea how he differs from that character.
I loved it when the gag order came down, and he instead resorted to gossip.The reverse psychology I didn't like as it was just too convenient for my liking.
Ratings wise, Justice is doing okay (the CSI:NY rerun bet it), but it's good enough for the moment. The ratings were down a little bit from the first episode, but I'm also hoping that once the season really kicks into order, the ratings should improve a bit. This I actually would have liked to have seen partnered with House, as it seems like it would be an okay match.
At the very least, FOX has a lot of shit out this season, so I doubt Justice will get cancelled. That said, it is FOX we're talking about.
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9-12-2006 @ 2:02AM
beehive23 said...
The writing crutch of having the characters explain their backstory with lame, unnatural dialog is annoying: "Luther, you were a former DA, what can we expect..." Next episode it'll be, "But Ron, even though you have a loveless marriage poisoned by your narcissistic need for media attention and the death of your beloved dog Rex at age nine, are you sure we should take this case?"
Also, Hollywood is expensive but they haven't started loading the ATMs with thousand dollar bills, as implied by the DA (something to the effect of "his ATM records show he took out $10,000...").
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