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, […]

[Read more →]

Even though Bobby’s shallow and insecure during his final monologue, it’s the perfect close to the episode.
This episode’s mostly just the engine starting–Helen and Bobby against each other in a high profile murder case, along with Eugene’s quirky case (the curse of the two case “Practice” strikes again)–but it’s decent enough. Kelley avoids most of […]

[Read more →]

David E. Kelley stops pretending and fully embraces “The Practice” as a soap opera this episode, a sensational soap opera.
As Lindsay and Ellenor defend a porn star accused of killing her husband on set, Lindsay battles her feelings for Bobby–while Bobby and Lara Flynn Boyle get even more serious.
Boyle is awful in this episode, just […]

[Read more →]

It’s the Jimmy Show as Jimmy goes to court against all odds and, dum dum dum, Bobby. Yes, Bobby sets up Lindsay to take over the case, while Ellenor, Rebecca and Eugene all become potted plants.
It’s not a bad episode–it’s the best of the last few–but it’s cheap. The whole thing relies on the trial […]

[Read more →]

What an atrocious ending.
The episode isn’t, in and of itself, all bad. It’s mediocre, dealing with Jimmy’s cancer case–after three episodes (or ten in the airing order, figuring for those first season burners)–it’s finally going to trial and Jimmy isn’t cutting it. It’s another episode where Jimmy comes off as a jerk, which is getting […]

[Read more →]

If the first new (season two shot) episode of “The Practice” after the conclusion of the burners, which redeemed the show, doesn’t put it right back in the crapper, I don’t know what would. Kelley goes all out here, going as exploitative as he possibly can–Bobby Donnell, on trial for murder… because he’s a defense […]

[Read more →]

Here’s a fun way to spend an hour… I suppose the episode’s kind of different, dealing with Eugene’s realization of how terrible a person his actions–professionally required or not–make him. There’s a hilarious bit when Ellenor tells him to man up. It’d be more effective if the series hadn’t already done covered these problems with […]

[Read more →]

A concept episode. Woo-hoo. A documentary team follows the firm as they try to save a black guy on death row for killing a white girl. The dramatic problem? The format–the documentary team, who only get their boom mikes in the shot after commercial breaks–determines the conclusion immediately. I mean, is there any suspense to […]

[Read more →]

A solid episode, but a little too cute. It ties up loose ends and introduces big surprises in what appears to be an attempt to change the series ground situation. It’s pretty good–a couple decent surprises–but I’m not comfortable with “The Practice” pulling out big surprises, good or not.
A lot of the episode’s quality has […]

[Read more →]

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 […]

[Read more →]