Boston Legal Season 3 Episode 16

It was a return to the darker Alan of Season 1 in this episode. His treatment of Jerry still makes me shudder in that little piece of dialogue, showing again James Spader to be a fantastic actor. Jerry's character, confident because of the fake cigar, is utterly destroyed because of Alan's conduct. It was sad to see, but enthralling to watch- I did wonder what would happen to their friendship because of this episode.





And to see Alan struggle with it as he did in his other case was interesting. His closing about morality was probably one of the most moving he has done, and we see him again as a tortured individual.





Denny provided the light relief, as normal, with his behaviour in the Synagogue. It was refreshing to see a serious side to him being drawn out, however. The question of the middle east is carefully handled here.





Clarence and Claire remain as cute as ever- their whole blossoming relationship was sadly missed in Season 4.





Overall- perfection, a blend of drama, humour and interesting debate that only Boston Legal delivers so effectively.

I thought Alan was very harsh on porr Jerry he had no right to do that too him. I knew it would be too good to last when Jerry seemed almost normal in court. Basically Alan was loosing and he didn't want too so he attacked Jerry's condition so he would break down. I can believe Alan did that. Meanwhile Denny gets into trouble when he joins the Jewish religion for his girlfriend. And Brad and Denise begin to think about there future and how it could possibly work. I think this episode was fantastic. I can't wait for the next one...

In this episode we learn how far a lawyer will go to win a case. Dirty Lawyering is an aspect we all know Alan Shore is very much capable of but would he go as far as to harm a friend in the process? Ultimately, the audience is left wondering why Alan, who has earned so much money as a lawyer and who has acknowledged that Lawyering does not make him a very nice man, has not taken the opportunity to quit the profession and go on to do greater things. Of course this would mean the end of Boston legal and in no way would I want that to happen.

The plot with the mystery muder was one hudred percent great but the second plot was not bad but nothing to thrill over either. A man caught with a stolen phone and was found inecent of the fact that the district atterney didnt have prober evendence to convict him late for double jeaperty.





The first plot is what really mad me happy. I would like to say that Megan Mullally did an excellent job in her role in this episode. It was great with her being charge with murder and I thought from the beginning she was innecet but when Alan told the whole court to look at the door for a secondery person he found out she really did muderer the victim. Wow what an episode.

The gory opening scene makes way for a great hour of television. The first case involved a daughter who wants her father's body removed from a musuem. The mother wants her husband's body to be used to help medical science.





The second case has Alan and Jerry "hands" Espinson on opposite side of the law. Jerry defends to University who terminated a cognative therapist for discussing aliens with his client. In this case, Alan does what Alan does best belittles opposing councel to help his client. Jerry's irratic behavior bothers Alan who wastes no time commenting on his Ausberger sydrome. I loved the scenes where Alan talks to Jerry and explains why he did what he did. Jerry is to sensitive of a person to understand that comments made between lawyers in a court of law are not personal attacks. Alan also gives some nice advice to Clarence who is nervous about dinner and a sleepover at Claire's. It's nice that the writer's don't forget about Alan's caring, humane side. Brad and Denise had some great scenes.Her raging hormones are making for some funny moments. They are the best couple on the show. Denise's idea of her and Brad attending therapy was brilliant. Brad and Denise differed on a woman's role in a relationship. Brad's thinking that all women are happy to be Donna Reed was hilarious. I think their relationship needs plenty of work but I think it could work out. On a sad note, Denny's behavior at a jewish temple prompted Bethany to dump him. Only Denny would shoot a rabbi. I'll miss Bethany.

This was one of the best episodes in a while. And it was all carried by the Alan/Jerry storyline. Everything else was secondary. That is the way it should be with James Spader as the leading man. A lot of people have been complaining that Spader's Alan is not the same Alan from The Practice. That is a complex debate because we've moved from Drama to Dramedy. But for a minute or two tonight he was the Alan of the Practice. Over the course of three seasons we've seen Alan give soooo much heart, he's done cases for free, he's written checks to people in need....so when we see him turn hardcore on a friend we are taken aback by that. But let's face it...this guy is a Shark. Jerry is a great supporting character and he should be used sparingly. Giving him a few weeks off worked. I enjoyed seeing him again. Alan was losing the battle in court and that is something he doesn't like to do. He took advantage of his opponents weakness and used it. That's what lawyers do. The show closed with the simple admission that Denny and Alan are lawyers. That is a true statement on our society that we rely on lawyers to settle our differences rather than having the decency to find solutions are selves. Lawyers do the difficult work for their clients. Alan put his client ahead of his friendship.


This was one of the best episode in a long time.

Denny was awesome. Had some of the best lines to date.


(Jews singing) What the hell is this?


If there is no God, when you die no harm done.


If there is a God when you died andyou didn't believe, you're screwed


Denise and Brad were cool. Nice to see how different their views were to one another. Loved the jealousy card.


Miss Jeffory Coho badly.


Not a 10 because Alan's first case was a bit boring although it was used to tie up the second case (Alan's humanity) and his conversation with Denny.


Also my input on Alan shutting down Jerry was that, yes he was too strong, but what he said was true, no way Alan would have lost, plus Jerry was being an ass


But the most memorable part was how hot Claire looked when she asked Clarence to stay the night.

A morbid opening that was funny. A woman, Maureen, steals her father'd dead body from a museum that is exhibiting as a freak. This case was ok it turned out to be a personal thing by the mother and daughter.





The other case had Alan defending a man fired for allegedly seeing aliens and talking about it. I didn't believe his story but maybe getting fired was too much. The ending was a mix bag. In this episode, Jerry made was opposing counsel.





He was working new therapy into his law practicing skills (like smoking a fake cigarette) which bewildered Alan. Alan then has a scene where he takes apart Jerry calling him nothing more than an ineffective, inarticulate man with Aspergers. I think that was a low blow but Alan's main point was that Jerry isn't cut out to be a lawyer if he can't take personal insults like that whether it comes at him or his client. He is right. I don't know why the writers like Jerry so much aside from being comic relief he's not the main star or has the strong will that Jeffrey had but I guess they're developing the character into something else.





Speaking of comic relief the spitball incident with Denny was a riot.

I enjoyed this episode (as I do almost all episodes of Boston Legal) until Alan verbally abused Jerry (the character who has the nickname "Hands"). I know that "verbally abused" may sound harsh, but to say what he said to Jerry would have been cruel if done to a lawyer he didn't even know, but to say that to a kind-hearted friend is almost unforgivable.





I think it was totally out of character for Alan to do that. He normally has a line that he won't cross (at least for people that he considers "good") especially when it comes to the friends he cares about (like Jerry). I knew he would explain it later on as a lawyer's strategy, give some kind of apology and act remorseful. But, that doesn't cut it with me. Jerry was his friend and many lawyers would not exploit Jerry's Asperger Syndrome.





In fact, many lawyers wouldn't even be aware that Jerry had this syndrome based on the confidence he displayed in this episode. The only enjoyable part about this part of the show was watching the newly confident Jerry charming the jury while he chomped on a fake cigarette to distract his nerves. But, once Alan berated him he was back to his old self and all his charm and confidence was gone even after Alan explained his legal "strategy".





As for the rest of the episode, it was not as interesting as past episodes. The case involving grand larceny of a human body was only mildly interesting and the main drama in the UFO case was the situation between Alan and Jerry. For both of those cases Alan was the lead lawyer so Clarence was supposed to help him out, but that was done probably as an excuse to get Clarence to confide in Alan that he was a virgin and worried about what was going to happen that night between him and Claire.





On the positive side, there was a lot of relationship drama going on. Denny and Bethany broke up (again) and the cause of the break-up was pretty funny. Claire indirectly asked Clarence to take their relationship to the next level. And, Brad and Denise went to therapy together to see if they can have a relationship that is more than just "friends with benefits'. I found this drama more interesting than the court cases, but Clarence being a virgin is stretching believability (even considering his social problems and phobias).

Most cop shows take a moment and shoot a hero. This knocks them off their horse, and gives them ways to grow and change. Alan has always been at the top of his game, this week, the writer's shot him. Not literally.





In a legal drama how do shoot a lawyer? Find a way to rock them to their core. Putting Alan in two cases and creating a stressful environment pushed him over the edge, forcing him to do something so shocking that I'm sure many people will be forced to look at Alan in a new light. But I'm sure that was the point.





Denny at temple, Brad and Denise in therapy, Claire and Clarence taking the next big step are all important events. They're all believable in terms of the show, if not in reality.





The cases weren't the point in this episode. The point was Alan. Our hero is flawed. Sometimes I think we forget that. Looks like we're in for a reminder. Unfortunately, since Jerry is such a sympathetic character...this reminder hurts.