Harry's Law - American Girl

Network: NBC
Time: Wednesdays, 9:00-10:00pm
Cast: Kathy Bates, Nate Corddry, Karen Olivo, Christopher McDonald, Mark Valley

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary (from imdb.com): While Harry is on vacation, her trip takes a frustrating turn when the small town of Langford, Ohio impounds her Mercedes Benz for violating their "Buy American" law. Harry, with Oliver at her side, challenges the town's law and is pit against a young, homespun attorney and the engine behind the law, Langford's mayor, Franklin Chickory. Meanwhile, Adam represents the Chens, a Chinese family whose daughter was stolen because of China's one-child policy and adopted by American parents. With Cassie's help, Adam hopes to win custody for the Chens.

Review: There are still a lot of things wrong with Harry's Law. It's preachy, probably overly so. The characters are all, without fail, long-winded and high-minded. Harry is belligerent and downright unlikeable at times. They got rid of Jenna and Malcolm. It's aimed at an older audience outside the golden demographic, thereby putting its ratings in the toilet.

None of this matters to me.

There were two main plots to this episode. The first was Harry and Oliver's story. Harry, on her way to go quail hunting, was pulled over in Langford, Ohio. They impounded her car because she was in violation of their "Buy American" law. Harry, being Harry, found this law to be ridiculous, and she drafted Ollie to help her fight it.

This is where they tended to get a bit preachy, as both Harry and Mayor Chickory made long speeches from the witness stand extolling the virtues and freedoms of America. I can't imagine this kind of behavior would be permitted in a real court, but no one stopped them here (except for one blundering objection from Doogie Howser, Esq.). Harry believed that part of the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution gave her the right to drive a Mercedes wherever she wanted. Also, that a "Buy American" law would ultimately be catastrophic for the country if other nations decided to retaliate by not buying American-made products. Chickory defended his law by saying that only allowing American cars would create and provide more jobs for Americans. Ultimately, the judge sided with Harry (as well he should, since her name is in the title of the show, and Chickory's name was almost forgotten on IMDb).

Call me a sucker, but I like the preachy stories, especially the deeply political ones that deal as much in ideology as they do practicality. At its most basic level, this story questioned just how deep the right of free expression goes, and whether an individual town or state can infringe upon that right for what they believe to be the common good. There wasn't really a right or wrong answer to the case and, while I was happy with the end result, I was more intrigued by the arguments each side made than what the judge ruled.

The B story began with Adam's ex-girlfriend Chunhua returning with a Chinese couple. Four years ago, their second child had been abducted by the government and sold into adoption. They had finally tracked her down to Ohio, where she was living with a black couple and their other daughter. The Chens wanted to fight for custody of their daughter, and Adam enlisted Cassie's help to try and win her back.

From the moment this story was introduced, I knew it couldn't end well. No matter how you cut it, one set of parents was walking away without their daughter. In this case, the judge--a black woman adopted into a white family when she was a little girl--ruled in favor of the Thomases, under the belief that a six-year-old girl shouldn't be ripped away from the only family she's ever known, though she stipulated detailed visitation instructions.

I had a major problem with this ruling. At one point, early in the episode, we're introduced to the little girl, and we watched as she saw her biological parents for the first time in four years. While they were agonizing that they no longer remembered her or their native language, she turned to them and, in perfect Chinese, told them she remembered who they were. This seems to negate the entire argument (that was made multiple times by multiple people) that the child shouldn't be taken from the only family she's ever known. If she remembers her biological family, then the Thomases aren't the only family she's ever known.

I also feel like this story would have been a little easier for me if the show could possibly have cast some less talented actresses. Even the little girl was great, ranging in emotion from stoic and scared to bubbly and singing at the top of her lungs. The judge was phenomenal, playing just the right mix of heartbroken by her job and professional. And the gut-wrenching sobs from Mrs. Chen when she was told her daughter was to stay with the Thomases made me feel like my insides were being ripped out. If just one of the guest stars had been a little less good, maybe I wouldn't have bawled like a baby at the end of the episode.

I know Harry's Law has struggled to find ratings this season, but I can't help hoping for a miracle. Maybe NBC's anemic line-up will continue to bleed so much that Harry's Law won't look bad in comparison. Maybe ratings will begin to spike. Maybe they'll suddenly decide they care about the over 50 demographic. Because no matter its faults, Harry's Law is a good show that makes us think each week a little harder than we did the week before.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite line:
Harry: "I'm white, I'm rich and I'm Republican. That makes it legal for me to mistake you for a quail."

Email me at NewarkCrimeTV@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter.

Parenthood - Perchance to Dream

Network: NBC
Time: Tuesdays, 10:00-11:00pm
Cast: Craig T. Nelson, Bonnie Bedelia, Lauren Graham, Peter Krause, Dax Shepard, Erika Christensen, Monica Potter, Sam Jaeger, Joy Bryant, Mae Whitman, Sarah Ramos, Miles Heizer, Max Burkholder, Savannah Paige Rae, Tyree Brown

Summary: Adam has his hands full taking care of Max and Haddie when Kristina goes out of town.  Meanwhile, Sarah tries to get Amber to start thinking about college.  Julia tries to teach Sydney a lesson about lying.  And Crosby takes Jasmine on a date without Jabbar.

Review: I'm really glad I didn't give up on this show.  It's starting to become one of my most highly anticipated shows each week (it helps that it's been one of the few to have new episodes for the last couple weeks).

Part of what I really like about this show is that it's very real, but not in an uncomfortable way.  Too often, shows go one of two ways: either they're super-fluid and fast-talking, with characters who always have a quip ready (i.e. The West Wing); or they're really awkward with long pauses that give the illusion of real life (i.e. The Office).   

Parenthood is neither of those things.  It's realism comes from the fact that almost every time a character reacts to the situation around them, it doesn't surprise me because I know someone (if not my own parents, then a friend's) who would react the same way.  They actually act like real people, instead of an idealized version of real people.  One of my favorite scenes from this episode was where Sarah, Julia and Kristina were talking about their daughters because it really sounded like the kind of conversation three mothers would have.

Each story allowed us to see the characters in a slightly different way than normal in this episode.  For example, normally we see Julia as the sort-of-absent parent (the working mom, who's there less frequently than Daddy).  Joel seems to be the one who interacts with Sydney most about the day-to-day stuff, while Julia tends to interrupt the mundane to do things her way.  But in this episode, Julia believed Sydney broke a lamp and was lying about what happened to it.  So she cordoned off the room and left the lamp there until the person who broke it cleaned it up.  It was such a typical lesson that a kid has to learn (who among us didn't lie at the age of four when we thought we were going to get into trouble?) that it was surprising Julia was teaching it.  But it was nice to see her take on this role too, while Joel was relegated to the sidelines.

We normally see Crosby as either the ladies' man or the new father, but never both at the same time.  In this episode, he wanted to take Jasmine out without Jabbar so he could get to know her better.  And while their date is interrupted by their son, we do get a glimpse at a different kind of Crosby, the one who is learning to balance responsibility, commitment, and his desire to sleep with a beautiful woman.  While I'm not convinced I like the Crosby/Jasmine relationship (mostly because I'm not convinced I like Jasmine), I don't feel strong dislike towards it either.  I'm waiting for it to unfold naturally before I pass judgment.

So far, we've only seen Amber and Sarah at odds with each other.  Our very first introduction to them was a fight, and a lot of this episode was as well.  But there seemed to be a bit of a breakthrough towards the end, where each of them opened up a little and suddenly everyone could see that there was a loving mother-daughter relationship underneath the animosity.

Also, Amber and Drew, despite being siblings, have actually had very little interaction up to now.  There was that whole thing with Drew and the shower, and they shared a room for a little while, but there wasn't much conversation between them or anything.  We actually got to see Drew go to his sister for advice for a change and, even though the conversation was dominated by Amber and Sarah fighting, Amber seemed to be actually trying to help Drew with his girl problems.

And finally, Adam, Kristina and Haddie.  This branch of the Braverman family has been dominated by the Max storyline for the first few episodes, and it's only been recently that they've been giving the others some screen time.  Kristina, who is the quintessential housewife/stay-at-home mom, went back to work for the weekend to help her old employer, leaving Adam to stay with the kids.  This might have been better if Haddie wasn't in the process of getting closer to her boyfriend.  Adam reacts... not well, and he and Haddie fight.

In the first few episodes, Haddie seemed like the perfect daughter.  Her parents' world revolved around Max and, while Haddie certainly wasn't thrilled about that, she seemed to understand and tried to make things easier.  Now, she's acting out like only 15-year-old girls can, and it's a nice reminder that she's just a teenager, and she's going to be selfish sometimes.

I also liked that this episode brought back the Adam/Drew relationship.  Drew needs a father-figure in his life, and he can't turn to his dad and shouldn't turn to his grandfather (Grandpa Zeke scares me), so he goes to his mom's older brother when he needs help with guy stuff.  I really like this relationship, and I hope they continue to build on it.

It's kind of amazing how much stuff they cram into each episode, but it's stopped being overwhelming (mostly) and instead is a lot of fun to watch.  The season finale is coming up, but that's okay because NBC already renewed it for season 2, so there's plenty for fans to look forward to.

Are you looking forward to the rest of season 1?  What was your favorite part of this episode?  Leave a comment and let me know.

Parenthood - The Big 'O'

Network: NBC

Summary: Kristina's constant worrying affects her and Adam's sex life, and the worrying only gets worse when Max starts working with Gaby, a young behavioral aide. Sarah debates whether she should go out on a date with Amber's teacher Mr. Cyr. Meanwhile, Crosby tries to muster up the courage to tell his parents about Jabbar, and Julia gets jealous of a mom in Joel's playgroup.

Review: In just a few short weeks, this show has really grown on me.  Though the pilot episode was confusing and bit of a downer,  it's really turned around since then.  Which is just another reason why you should never doubt the wonder that is Ron Howard.

Every family member had a storyline in this episode, but it wasn't nearly as overwhelming as it was in the first episode.  Perhaps that's because we know who the characters are now (and we've grown attached to them).  Or perhaps it's because the writing has just gotten better.  I'm not completely sure, but whatever it is, it's working.

Okay, just a quick point: could they possibly get cuter kids to act on this show?  One minute I'm going, "Aw, look, Max is playing with a kid his age, he's the cutest," and then Sidney is sitting with her arms around her best friend and I'm like, "Aw, that's so adorable, she's definitely the cutest," and then Crosby brings Jabbar to meet his parents and Jabbar introduces himself and shakes their hands, and I'm like, "Aw, no, look how mature he is, he's definitely the cutest," and then it starts all over again.

Sorry, had to get that out.

It's sort of a segue to a larger observation about the show.  The little kids (and the parents who take care of them) were a main focus of this episode, and everyone handled themselves wonderfully.  There aren't really any weak links in the acting chain here.  I really believe that everyone is related, and they fall into their family roles well.  The last couple episodes were good examples of this, with Amber babysitting for Sidney and Adam playing ball with Drew.  I like a show that can put any of the characters in a scene together and not make the audience question the decision.

Parenthood also does a good job of mixing the serious, the sweet, and the silly.  Though I said previously that I expected it to be funnier, I've readjusted my expectations since then, and now I'm pleased with the results.  It's not a comedy by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not a super-serious drama either.  It's got enough light-hearted moments that you never get depressed, and it has enough sweet family love to leave even the coldest heart warmed.  There are several different styles of humor at work--witty, slapstick, awkward--and they mesh together nicely with the serious moments.

This episode focused a little more on Kristina than the others.  In this case, Adam was a supporting character to deal with Kristina's issues, instead of the other way around, and I liked that they switched it up.  She's had so much to deal with, it was nice to see her finally break down in a very realistic way. 

Realism is the name of the game, and I think this episode helped prove that.  Joel and Julia dealt with a relationship hurdle as well, and I think both their reactions were more realistic than you normally get from a television show.  Sure, Julia got jealous and angry, but they talked it out and ultimately handled it in the mature way you'd hope most married couples would.

The only bit of this episode I had trouble with was Sarah's decision to date Amber's teacher.  Perhaps it's because I still can't wipe the memory of Lauren Graham making the same bad decision as Lorelai Gilmore, but I was upset that she decided to give in and go out with him.  I was hoping she would take Amber's feelings (and obvious crush) into account and at least wait until her daughter was out of the class.  As Amber's teacher, I think he should have thought of that before asking her mother out as well.  The previews for next week teased that Sarah would tell Amber everything, so at least she's not going to hide it.  I still can't imagine that will go well.

This is becoming a highly anticipated show for me, though it still doesn't quite have the pull that, say, Criminal Minds does.  I'm looking forward to seeing these characters and their relationships develop more as the series goes on.  

Rating:
[5] Excellent
[4] Good
[3] Average
[2] OK
[1] Bad

Parenthood - Pilot

Network: NBC
Time: Tuesdays, 10:00-11:00pm
Cast: Lauren Graham, Peter Krause, Craig T. Nelson, Dax Shepard, Erika Christensen, Bonnie Bedelia, Monica Potter, Sam Jaeger, Joy Bryant, Mae Whitman, Sarah Ramos, Miles Heizer, Max Burkholder, Savannah Paige Rae

Summary: A divorced mother of two moves back in with her parents, while her siblings deal with family issues of their own.

Review:  I like pilot episodes.  You go in so unprepared.  I mean, sure, you've seen commercials, but they never tell you exactly what to expect.  In the case of Parenthood, those commercials go in two different ways: the funny and the sweet.  So you're a completely blank slate going into the first episode to enthrall or disappoint.

This was a bit of a disappointment.  My expectations were high due to the writing/directing team (Ron Howard and Thomas Schlamme) and the wonderful cast (see above), and they didn't exactly fail to live up to them.  It's just that I expected the show to be funnier than it was.  I'd been watching those commercials all through the Olympics, and a large percentage of them made the show out to be a comedy.  In reality, it was a slightly predictable family drama.

And it wasn't bad.  Like I said, the acting was wonderful, and the sweet moments really were sweet.  It was just too much sometimes.  It tried to be a dramatic version of Modern Family.  One of the great things about MF is that all the families have their own stories, and they intermingle periodically.  Parenthood tried to do the same thing, but it didn't work as well.  In a comedy, the stories are light-hearted and simple.  In a drama, they're far more complex, and it's harder to work several complex stories into the same episode, which is what Parenthood did.  The end result was that I didn't care enough about some of the stories that should have had a bigger impact.

That said, I think this show has a lot of potential, even if I still want it to be funnier (think Gilmore Girls, or even The West Wing).  If each episode focused on one or (maybe) two problems at a time, the audience could focus on and care about those issues better.  Also, further character development will aid in making the audience empathize with the characters' struggles as well (that obviously can only happen with time). 

If I hadn't had any expectations going in, I probably would have enjoyed this pilot more.  And I really did enjoy it, even if I'm coming down on it kind of hard.  It's just that I expected more from the people who put it together, because they've also been responsible for some of my favorite television throughout the years.  But I look forward to watching for awhile and seeing what will come of this highly anticipated show.

Favorite lines:
Kristina: Men feel the need to express their love through hitting balls, slapping butts and discussing meaningless statistics.

Crosby: Let's just play ping pong, so I can lose myself in sport.

Rating:
[5] Excellent
[4] Good
[3] Average
[2] OK
[1] Bad

Mercy - Can We Get That Drink Now?

Network: NBC

Time: Wednesdays, 8:00-9:00pm

Cast: Taylor Schilling, Michelle Trachtenberg, Jaime Lee Kirchner, James Tupper, Diego Klattenhoff, Guillermo Diaz, James LeGros

Creator: Liz Heldon

Summary: With the cancellation of ER, NBC has decided that we need another medical show on television, so here it is.  Mercy follows three nurses who work at a hospital in Jersey City.  Each one of them has their baggage, of course, and the show tries to mix their personal lives with some medical miracles that might even impress Dr. House.

Review: Watching NBC struggle for quality programming is a constant source of amusement for me.  I feel like their strategy is to find a show that works and find a similar, but less good, version of it.  Mercy is no exception.  ABC found TV-ratings success with Grey's Anatomy, a soap opera-esque show about doctors (not to be confused with a medically focused show like ER).  NBC found Mercy, a soap opera-esque show about nurses.

If Grey's could spawn a slightly impaired clone, it would be Mercy.  Where the characters in Grey's are quirky in amusing ways (or at least they were when it started), the characters in Mercy are quirky in socially retarded ways.  The show focuses on three nurses.  There's Veronica, who was a nurse in Iraq and occasionally has these post traumatic flashbacks.  She's clearly not handling being back in the States too well.  Also, she had an affair with a doctor in Iraq who followed her back to New Jersey to be with her, only to have her reject him in favor of the husband she cheated on him with (hmm, shades of Meredith and Derek there).  Confused yet?  We're only getting started. 

There's also Sonia, who has some weeeeeeird view on relationships that I can only liken to Cristina Yang's view of them.  Sonia wants to find a man with money.  Instead, she falls for the cop who shows up in the ER with a wounded suspect.  She's sassy, with an attitude and a chip on her shoulder.

And there's Chloe, who's sweet and naive and really thinks she can make the world a better place, kind of like Izzie in the first season of Grey's (before they took her character, ran her through a blender, smashed her with a hammer and put her back together with the parts all looking funny).  She's played by Michelle Trachtenberg, who was my childhood idol as Harriet the Spy, and who was actually my main draw for watching this show.  And I have to admit... she doesn't deliver.  Out of all the nurses, none of whom I'm particularly wild about, Chloe annoys me the most.  She acts like she's never run into a difficult situation in her life before.  I know she's supposed to be from East Nowhere, Middle America, but come on.  She is just way too unrealistic.  At least Veronica and Sonia, for all their faults have a little bit of spunk.  Chloe just gets steamrolled by everyone.  And then she whines about it.

The guys are, for the moment, pretty unremarkable.  There's the pretty doctor who moved from California to New Jersey to be with Veronica.  Right now, his role seems to be confined to being the pretty doctor.  We'll see if he develops a character somewhere along the road.  There's Veronica's husband Mike, who is a struggling architect who's building their house.  Also, he and Veronica are trying to make their marriage work when she's, to put it quite simply, not putting in an effort.  Veronica has some brothers who I remember laughing at, but not much else.  Her parents are alcoholics, and she's not a big step away from it, which is more irritating than amusing.  It's one thing to have the characters drinking occasionally, like to unwind after a tough shift (for example, hanging out at the bar in Grey's after work sometimes).  It's another thing to go too far and have them just drink all the time, which Mercy was bordering on with Veronica's family.

Even the plot structure is pretty much a rip off of the early seasons of Grey's Anatomy (I only watched Grey's until season 3, so all my knowledge of that show is based on the early years).  There are three important medical cases, one for each nurse.  Somehow, these cases tie in with their personal life.  Like a formula.

I know I'm really ripping into this one, but it actually wasn't all bad.  There are certain aspects about Veronica and Sonia that I find intriguing, and I'm hoping to get to know a little more about them as the series goes on.  I am really interested in the idea of Veronica as a former military nurse.  I think that's an aspect of the show that hasn't been done before, and they could really run with it if they want to.  

I also really like that Veronica didn't get back together with the pretty doctor (Chris) when he moved to New Jersey.  I like that she's trying to make it work with her husband, and that the problems they're having aren't really related to the relationship she had with Chris.  They're more to do with Veronica's own issues after serving in Iraq.  I'm so sick of the shows where the main character throws away a perfectly good guy (or girl) for their "one true love."  I'm all for romance, but I'm sick of the predictability.  I'm glad Mercy is at least acting like they're going to be different.  We'll see if they doesn't do the Meredith-and-Derek-hooking-up-in-every-room-even-though-they're-not-together thing.

I'm going to give this one a shot, but I may drop off mid-season.   Life is too short to watch shows I don't like just so I can give them bad reviews.  For now:

Rating (this episode):
[1] Run in the other direction
[2] Don't bother

[3] Worth a watch if you've got nothing better to do
[4] Definitely try it out
[5] A total keeper