(Season 7, Episodes 9-10)
Is “loose cannon” an adjective you’d like to describe your lawyer with? Because it seems to be the final destination in the evolution of Bobby Donnell, criminal defense attorney. In seasons five and six I was wondering what had happened to Bobby … he’d as much as disappeared from the courtroom as far as the show was concerned. Now I wonder why we can’t have those glory days back again. If he’s fed up with the types of people he has to speak for, quit. We won’t miss you.
7.9 “The Good Fight”
With the “previously on” scenes centering around Bobby’s recent defense of a man accused of raping a 13 year-old boy, it was obvious that Bobby was in line for some sort of meltdown. But his total lack of effort in the defense of a man accused of murdering an undercover cop, plus his tantrum when he found out that Helen had gone to the judge about his behavior, was unexpected. It could be that we’re meant to believe that criminal defense lawyers struggle with their profession in real life so that we’ll think better of them, but The Practice’s preferred method of showing us that even the lawyers find what they do distasteful smacks of an agenda that’s totally uncalled for here. Lobby to fix the justice system, but keep your preaching out of our nightly entertainment.
At the same time, the show made a very bad strategic move by handing down a not guilty verdict to Bobby’s client after he tried a miserable case in the defense of an obviously guilty man. It showed that Helen (and the DA) is effectively impotent, and Bobby (and the firm) is omnipotent. Do we really want a situation where “our team” can’t lose? Is there any thrill in a lack of competition? Everyone would have been better served had Bobby lost … especially the judge, who just looked silly (but justified) benching a winning lawyer for a month.
Jimmy and the gang setting Jamie up by telling her that Judge Brenford (Alan Dale) was a flirter was immature, but she was still the one who made the choice to flirt with a judge. Her character remains a terrible addition to the show, in my opinion.
“Did you lose the ability to sleep? Cause you look like crap. For you, I mean. You’re still better looking than me.” – Jimmy to Bobby
7.10 “Silent Partners”
And of course the dumb joke ended in Brenford essentially blackmailing Jamie into dating him. Do you think Alan Dale (at least when using his native accent) really needs to stoop to that level? And what’s with Jimmy shaking his finger at her, after his affair with Judge Kittleson? At least she stood up for herself before it was too late. I wonder if there will be repercussions, or if this will be another reusable moment clumsily dropped.
It sucks that Eugene’s client ended up going to jail for a crime he didn’t commit, but why is it that the only time the firm can lose now is in a situation like this one, where they can say “We was robbed!” after-the-fact? The convict’s crazy client, Stanley Deeks (John Bader), admitted to her that he had killed the woman Eugene’s client was on trial for murdering … obviously this guy’s going to be back at some point (I sincerely hope), because he’s an admitted murderer who’s back on the streets because of the convict. Maybe she should shoot him in cold blood premature self defense.
Why not? Walsh is back — although how, I don’t know — so it would be karma for him to lock the convict back up again.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jul 22, 2010 @ 13:30 EST5EDT
