A Televisual Feast

So… David E. Kelley pulls the lamest surprise ending out of the bag for this episode, even breaks the fourth wall with it when the real murderer looks at the viewer to share the truth. It disconnects the show from its subjects, from its characters. “The Practice” is no longer about Bobby Donnell and gang, it’s about winking at the audience.

It’s also a silly ending, since the innocent man off to jail has almost infinite grounds for appeal. Here’s the other thing Kelley’s done–skipping three months, in story time, from the previous episode to this one–he’s turned Lara Flynn Boyle into Lex Luthor. She doesn’t care about finding the truth, she doesn’t care about getting the right person in jail–she cares about showing up Bobby.

Even giving Kelley a lot of rope–and pieces of this episode are quite good (Chris Sarandon is excellent)–it’s a definite sign whatever impulse Kelley had to create the show is long gone. It’s sort of past even dwindling. It’s gone.

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