A Televisual Feast

Eugene and Bobby defend a black guy who killed (manslaughter) a white security guard during a store riot. The guard’s death is a story development, changing their defense tactics–and pushing everything else in the episode aside. Not that there was much else going on in the episode, just some more of Bobby dating Helen and Ellenor’s annoying cousin.

What the big development allows is an episode showcasing Eugene and the possibility for an Emmy. The story’s kind of–and I stress kind of–interesting as Bobby argues for a diminished capacity defense (they get an L.A. riots defense witness who says black men can’t stop being violent if other black men around them are being violent) and Eugene fights against it, internally (for the Emmy moment) and externally (for the commercials). But given how dedicated Bobby is to his clients, the questions raised aren’t particularly worth exploring….

And then the end is just a big Emmy moment (one where Bobby appears almost out of place as the show’s protagonist). The Helen thing doesn’t get any moment, just strung on some more, and the Ellenor subplot has a cheap (though somewhat amusing) conclusion.

It should have been better–David E. Kelley probably could have done it better–but it’s fine for what it is… an Emmy episode.

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