From the creator of
Crime Scene Investigations comes yet another whopper. After keeping audiences on the edge with the thriller and earning a massive fan following in the process, Jerry Bruckheimer is back with yet another slick TV drama on Fox,
Justice. High-powered ruthless lawyers, sensational revelations, media manipulations and brutal crimes, this one has all the trappings that would make Mark Geragos dismiss his own career as highly boring.
Built around a super-rich law firm, Trott, Nicholson, Tuller & Graves, the series tracks the happenings inside a courtroom and out of it. The debut episode, which begins at 9 pm tonight, opens with a corpse floating a bloodied swimming pool and a man being accused of the murder. The man is the superrich Kevin O'Neil (Sam Trammell), who has hired the law firm to defend him against the charge of bludgeoning his wife to death.
A legal case follows and our protagonists come into the picture to acquaint themselves with the audiences. The foursome comprises Ron Trott (Victor Garber), Tom Nicholson (Kerr Smith), Luther Graves (Eamonn Walker), and Alden Tuller (Rebecca Mader). Trott, easily the ace up Fox's sleeve, is the mastermind behind the law firm. He's smooth, egoistical, cunning and deliciously manipulative. But the high-powered lawyer isn't the one that represents the firm or his clients in the courtroom. He's the producer, the director and the creator of the shows that go on day after day in the courtrooms. The face of the firm is that of Tom Nicholson, a sharp lawyer with nonchalant good looks that can melt the harshest of juries with their obvious innocence. Alden Tuller is the firm's backend girl. She does the research, analyzes the moves, the witnesses, the jury members and everyone that can clinch the ruling in the client's favor or vice versa. Completing the foursome is Luther Graves, a hardened yet compassionate lawyer who has seen the best and worst of prosecution and defense. Graves' job is to learn about the weaknesses and strengths of the witnesses and the experts, so the game can be played with knowledge on the firm's side.
The show belongs to Garber, whose character is by far the most interesting. As Tom Nicholson, Kerr Smith is also more visible than the other two, whose characters are required to provide unseen support. As far as performances go,
Justice manages to impress. However, where it really shines is the pace with which the storylines progress. Trott plays the media games the way they should be played and turns truth around at will. The show also reinforces what America has been forced to accept lately. That justice isn't about wrong and right. It's about who has the better lawyer.
Garber's Trott is the essential Geragos. With his presence and his brains, he takes the center stage with ease, using words, remarks, deliberate accidental slips, expressions and everything else to turn his criminals into victims. Garber fully justifies his selection for the role, playing the veteran lawyer to the hilt.
Of course no crime scene investigation (pun unintended) is without the shock value, which in this case is provided by gory, disturbing scenes. The editing, however, is to be lauded. Nothing stays on long enough to offend the viewers, and it's over before you can say 'Ouch'.
Justice is cynical, disturbing and too close to the truth for comfort. But isn't that what's entertainment these days. Wethinks,
Justice will prevail.
