(S01E07) A complicated case this week with some Cold Case touches. Stark has to prosecute a kidnapping and child murder similar to one he defended a man against many years before. Stark lost that case, and maybe Jess convicted the wrong person. What?!?! Sebastian "I never lose" Stark once lost a case? Anyway it's a good way to put Stark and Jess more directly involved with each other, even if it Jess's part in the wrong conviction would initially seem to leave Jeri Ryan an even lower-than-average likelihood of cracking a smile.
I thought Sophina Brown as Raina Troy was going to a chance to shine this week. Stark gives her the task of looking into the older case. But she shunted aside pretty quickly after that. I clocked Stark's discovery of the real killer at fifteen minutes into the episode. This is fine, because the balance of the time is convincing the rest of his department, and even the wrongly convicted man's father that he is right. That's a lot more interesting, as Shark and the juniors have to find a way to undo one injustice, and make the real murderer pay for both crimes.
Jess has a minor epiphany of her own, not unlike the one Stark had in the premiere. She discovers she a lot more like Stark than she would have thought, and decides to risk her run for reelection on undoing this old wrong. No worries on that point, however. Stark has a side plan to shield Jess from direct implication in the first trials wrongdoings.
Since Stark's family troubles continue to mirror his legal cases, a secret from the past presents itself to Julie in the form of a guy who is apparently her stepbrother. Maybe the way Julie's mother portrayed her father to her through her childhood in no more correct than the verdict in the kidnapping case fifteen years ago.
All in all, another satisfying episode. It's nice to see a new show this season improve as it goes along. The cases are getting more complicated and interesting, different attorneys are on point at various times. and Jeri Ryan finally gets a good-sized role in an episode.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-10-2006 @ 2:18PM
Margaret said...
I agree - another good episode. As I was watching, I thought the people who have been fussing about not seeing enough of Jeri Ryan would be happy that she had more screen time. I thought the father-daughter aspect of this episide was great. I especially liked the way the show faded out with the discussion of the day Julie was born. James Woods is so terrific at changing from the hard nosed attorney to the soft hearted dad. I love seeing him in the contrasting roles since he's so adept with both. No matter how much I may love a show, I never buy the CDs of television series when they come out; but I may buy season 1 of Shark someday when it goes on the market. My budget it tight, so even thinking about buying it is a very high compliment from me.
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11-10-2006 @ 11:01AM
Margaret said...
I wholeheartedly agree - another good episode. As I was watching, I thought the people who have been fussing about not seeing enough of Jeri Ryan would be happy that she had more screen time. I thought the father-daughter aspect of this episide was great. I especially liked the way the show faded out with the discussion of the day Julie was born. James Woods is so terrific at changing from the hard nosed attorney to the soft hearted dad. I love seeing him in the contrasting roles since he's so adept with both. No matter how much I may love a show, I never buy the CDs of television series when they come out; but I may buy season 1 of Shark someday when it goes on the
market. My budget is tight, so even thinking about buying it is a very high compliment from me.
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11-10-2006 @ 11:02AM
Gordon Werner said...
Julie's mom only had an affair with the guy's father ... he isn't related to her
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11-10-2006 @ 11:29AM
buzmeg said...
Michael: Why do you assume Tim (The Toolman) Taylor's son is Julie's stepbrother? The allegation was that they only had an affair. There was no reason to believe the indescretion produced an offspring. Do you know something beyond what we've seen so far?
I hope we're not going to be exposed to Jules and the Toolman's son getting romantically involved and then the big revelation will be divulged.
That would really be a tacky storyline. Tell me it won't happen.
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11-10-2006 @ 12:49PM
Littleoldman said...
Okay, I'm split on this one. I thought the case was good, but there was so much here that didn't happen that could have.
*** POSSIBLE SPOILERS ***
I agree that Raina should have had a larger role what with the old case being chosen to prosecute. She started out strong, but quickly faded.
With the change in the lead prosecution, I think they missed an opportunity for the juniors to step up and impress Jess, but it just didn't happen. At the very least, I felt there should have been a greater animosity towards Raina on the part of the other juniors. It was almost as if everyone just shrugged their shoulders, took a breath, and life went back to normal - no big deal. It just feels as if there needs to be some kind of ongoing conflict on some level between the characters (beyond just Shark vs. Jess).
As for the daughter storyline, I didn't buy it. I enjoyed the episode fade via the father-daughter talk, but nothing else about the story.
Finally, two questions.
One, where do I recognize the actor who played the "Toolman's" son?
Two, was anyone besides me thinking we might see someone who almost, but not quite looked like Sam Elliott turn up during this case? Hmm, maybe not.
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11-10-2006 @ 3:33PM
buzmeg said...
"Finally, two questions.
One, where do I recognize the actor who played the "Toolman's" son?"
He is Zachery Ty Bryan. He's done quite a bit of TV work since Home Improvement, some of which include: Cold Case, Veronica Mars, Smallville, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Boston Public.
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11-10-2006 @ 11:05PM
buzmeg said...
"Finally, two questions.
One, where do I recognize the actor who played the "Toolman's" son?"
He is Zachery Ty Bryan. He's done quite a bit of TV work since Home Improvement, some of which include: Cold Case, Veronica Mars, Smallville, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Boston Public.
Reply
11-11-2006 @ 11:52PM
imdennycrane said...
Thanks buzmeg - I couldn't place him at all! Solid ep. Glad they're using Jeri Ryan as more than just window dressing. I'm fine w/ his support staff staying in the background. None of them stand out so much - only the ambitious one (the blonde) can hold her own in a scene w/ Woods.
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