Finally! TNT&G loses a case! And the client--a kid, even--is wrongly accused! Unfortunately, it came too late for me. Last night, as I sat down to write my review of "Crucified", I realized that I loathed the idea of watching another episode of this show. Even though it has been on hiatus for three weeks because of baseball, I did not miss it one bit. As I watched, I realized that I hate this show. And I mean hate.
But as an aside-- was the acting and the writing in this episode especially horrible, or what? The parents of the victim were given AWFUL, generic lines that they delivered without emotion ("Have you been driving my car again? I told you not to!") and the attorneys' dialogue between each other was way too expositionary. I think this episode was written to catch up new viewers.
Here's why I'm no longer watching/reviewing Justice:
I was initially very excited about this show back in July when the studios sent us previews of the fall season pilots. I adored the ending pay-off where we get to see how a crime was really committed. My head swirled with the possibilities: someone could be wrongly convicted! or wrongly acquitted! But, that never happened until last night. In fact, the TNT&G law firm has won every case and so far all their clients have been innocent (they still are, even with last night's loss). The crime may not have happened just as the client said, but they still were innocent. So, my first problem is that the gimmick for this show has gotten stale. There's no pay-off at the ending that makes me go, "Ohhhhh!"
Second, the characters are atrocious. Victor Garber deserves a better role than Ron Trott, a one-dimensional, angry man who lives every second of his life on the verge of a heart attack. While that's mildly interesting, that's all there is to him. The other characters are the same: Kerr Smith plays the all-American boy who truly believes in his clients, and I'm not even sure about Rebecca Mader and Eamonn Walker 's characters. They're both a little robotic.
Third, it's way too formulaic. Many of you will argue that since Justice is a procedural, of course it's going to be formulaic. But it doesn't have to be this bad. The writers aren't getting creative within the confines of the space they've boxed themselves into. There are only so many things the lawyers can do to build their case and we're already seeing a lot of their tactics repeated from episode to episode. There's only one thing the writers do for every episode: they make us question the innocence of the client. That's all they can do! In other procedurals, like CSI and Law & Order, we go through a maze of suspects and then there's usually some sort of twist about who really did it or why they did it. But, the lawyers at TNT&G don't care who did it, they just care about who else could've done it besides their client.
Celebrate the 4th by watching television!
Stargate Atlantis season five - An early look
Saving Grace season two: An early look
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-24-2006 @ 11:45AM
Tony said...
Well, to each their own. I love Justice. I think its a great show and its one of those shows that I look forward to every week. I agree that the outcome of last nights episode was way overdue. It was bothering me that they won every case and every crime seemed to actually happened the way they theorized in the case. That being said, while I liked them losing, it didn't mesh with me after seeing what really happened. Did I miss a scene or did the guy who actually committed the murder not show up until what really happened? Now this leads me to where Justice is going to sink or swim with me. Ok, they lost and Kerr Smith wants the appeal, so what will the writers do? Will they drop the storyline or keep up with over the course of the season? I think that staying with the storyline of the appeal and the process could add another layer to the show. Now if they decide to just let it go and forget about it, then Justice will indeed have no longevity.
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10-24-2006 @ 12:18PM
Tracy said...
I'm really excited it's finally back - I've always liked it a lot and I think that Ron Trott is far more than you're painting him. I do agree that they're very slow to fill in the details but since the show is more procedural than anything else, that doesn't bother me.
I haven't seen last night's yet but overall I find the acting good, the cases relatively interesting and the characters fantastic. After Heroes, it's one of my favorite new shows.
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10-24-2006 @ 12:36PM
BobbyBuz said...
MHO is that the show absolutely SUCKS! I've watched it since it started. In the beginning the concept was interesting. However the show has failed to move forward. The lawyers/investigators/prosecutors are so unbelievable it has become laughable.
Where is Raymond Burr and Perry Mason when you need him?
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10-24-2006 @ 1:52PM
Porchland said...
I haven't seen last night episode yet, but I've seen the rest of the episodes and generally enjoy it as a guilty pleasure. It is not the slightest bit plausible and the law is often ridiculously off, but (as an attorney) that's part of what I really like about it.
What really grates on me though: exposition. Much of the dialogue plays out like one of those radio commercials for apartment complexes. "Yes, and they have a beautiful pool, fitness center and club house available for special events!" (I HATE those commercials.)
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10-24-2006 @ 2:59PM
Kaxx said...
Last night's conviction... yes, long overdue. The fella who DID do it gave a HUGE clue at the beginning of the show that he "found the kid on HIS property." And after he chased the other kids away, why didn't anyone *think* to look at him? Anyway, I shall keep watching for the Trott/reporter from American Crime scenes (man, I love how they mistreat each other.) and for the time they get that totally guilty person off (I can't wait for that murder scene.) :) I have to say I *don't* watch the show for the acting... really just that 2-3 minutes at the end. It's what I always wanted L&O to do. :)
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10-24-2006 @ 5:15PM
DaveTehWave said...
Yeah - Fox knew it was suffering a slow death when they moved it from Wed to Mon behind Prison Break.
I think they thought that the PR fans would stay tuned... not happening with this guy.
I'm down for this show to be CAN'd like they do for the GOOD shows - bring back Vanished!
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10-24-2006 @ 6:49PM
Navstar said...
What?! Don't make Jack Bristow, ESQ mad! He will hunt you down and poke out your eyeballs.
The only reason I watch is my love of Victor Garber - who is always excellent. But the rest of the cast is just "meh". ( I also like the visual effects. Kinda like CSI: Courtroom)
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10-25-2006 @ 9:22AM
BobbyBuz said...
Everyone seems to be giving Victor Garber a pass on this series. His character is so over bearing. He's the main reason why I hate this show. After the latest episode, I have removed it from my DVR schedule.
Bye, bye, Trott & Co.
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10-27-2006 @ 5:12AM
Joe said...
Well I'm sure FOX is really sorry it hasn't fulfilled its duty to impress you. And I'll bet Mr. Garber is torn up about it too.
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10-29-2006 @ 5:31PM
Joey Geraci said...
Is somebody going to review the latest episode of Justice (I don't consider this article a review). While I believe you have every right to your opinion (and even agree with you on many of the reasons why you hate this show) I don't think you have a right to unilaterally decide that TVSquad is not going to review this show. I know I heard a while back that TVS doesn't force reviewers to watch shows, but is there no one else who wants to watch this show? It has its (many) problems, but it is definitely not the worst show that TVSquad reviews (not saying much). Namely, you guys review Smallville. That show is OK, but IMHO is worse than Justice. It gets pretty rave reviews from you guys, which is fine, but it appears if the one person reviewing a show decides they don't like it anymore, coverage of that show plummets.
That kind of sucks. I guess I will go somewhere else to get reviews for this show, and I might stay there if I like what else they offer. Sure, I am just one person, but everybody else who likes Justice, and wants regular coverage of it (a hell of a lot more than Smallville) will probably follow my actions.
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11-01-2006 @ 2:17AM
Joe said...
Hell, I'll write up the review if you want. This most recent episode of Justice was the best one yet. The characters are fleshed out alot more, but it still feels like it's appealling to the lowest common denominator by having experienced lawyers explain every move to each other. It's a pretty tacky ploy and the writing is pretty patchy, but it's coming into it's own. I like that networks are having faith with some of the new shows this year, namely The Nine, Studio 60 and Justice.
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11-11-2006 @ 11:05PM
jake said...
I am a big fan of the show -- it reminds me of the practice but my favorite is still the very first episode. I do agree that there could be more twists when the actual endings are shown but I think that Kerr Smith is just absolutely brilliant and the show itself is still fast paced and a guilty pleasure. I know its supposed to return december 11th but unless ratings pick up it's a goner unless us remaining fans start talking about it.
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