Boston Legal

An overworked woman lets her kid stay up all night and day playing a video game, until the kid collapses and dies from lack of food or sleep. As a gamer, at first this looked like it would be a story about a distraught mother filing a frivolous lawsuit to avoid taking responsibility for failing to be a good parent. My opinion was apparently at odds with the author, who, in an attempt to make their hamfisted drug analogy work, wrote into evidence that the video game designer had hired a researcher to study levels of brain chemicals released by playing the game in order to make it physically addictive.



While it's silly to complain that Boston Legal featured a preposterous lawsuit, that premise proved too much for me to swallow.



There's a nice continuity nod to Rachel as Brad makes a strong closing argument that he knows a meth addict (Rachel) in rehab and that people when people say they are "addicted" to their Blackberry, etc., it's an insult to people with real physical addictions. When victorious Brad tells the mother he's sorry for her loss, she gets the last word, saying she's sure he'll be sorry the next time it happens. Brad looks serious and conflicted as she walks away, because we in the audience are intended to believe that a plague of kids playing a video game until they die is a realistic expectation.



The other case of the week, between a perfect polygamist triad and the DA breaking their ideal family apart, got an even more one-sided presentation. That case, however, is mostly played for comic relief.



The best part of the episode was Denny and Alan's tiff and reconciliation reinforcing the bond of their close friendship. Though there were parts of the dialog which seemed not quite true to the characters, the actors made the weak material work.

My God, they actually remembered Brad was lawyer and he got to try a case! How unusual!



The case was good as well, very dramatic and moving. I liked how he tried the case, and used Paul's daughter as example of what real addiction is. Gaming shouldn't be classed as an addiction. On the other hand, I did feel very sorry for the mum- she gave a lot of emotion in the case.



It was also typical of Paul to warn Brad off his daughter- at the time I did wonder if Brad will go against his wishes, it would have made for an interesting storyline!



Denise challenging the polygamy law was also entertaining- I actually agreed that the family unit worked! It was refreshing to see them lose a case, though. I guess they had to lose that one to be honest! But it was nice that they got a desired outcome at the end- for all parties, it seems, with Denise being asked out!



Meanwhile, the most entertaining aspect was with Denny and Alan again- Alan suffering from word salad was yet another affliction to his troubled character, and Denny taking him to a spa was hilarious! I love the friendship between them, and how it developped even further. Alan admitting he needed the friendship was nice.



Overall, the writers continue to wow with drama and humour and perfectly scripted characters. The actors should be proud of their performances. Even the guest stars- how many shows can say that?

I'm a late fan to 'Boston Legal' and am impressed with the humor and the skill of the writers on the show. Although this series tackles some interesting issues, I feel the element of humour usually so strong in the series was missing in this episode. I think they were relying on Alan's gibberish to carry the humor in this eppy, but I don't think it really pulled it off unfortunately.



The treatment of polygamy was interesting, it's benefits and legal consequences (which I must admit had never occured to me), it was also interesting to see Rene Auberjonois' daughter, Tessa Auberjonois, play one of the wives.

In this episode Alan develops 'world salad' which basically means he gets his words confussed and messed up. It is appartly brought on by stress so Denny takes him on a spa trip where he can relax. But at the spa Alan says something awful to Denny about their friendship by acident, causing Denny to not want to be friends with Alan ever again.



Meanwhile Denise defends a man who has two wifes and is a polygamist. And finally Brad defends a video game company who are resonsible for the death of a young boy. Overall i think this was a great episode. It threw a spanner in the works with Denny's and Alan's relationship but all is ok now. Can't wait for the next episode, and i have to say this has been a fantastic season and i hope they keep up the quality for the last few episodes left of season 2.

This episode is permanently taking up space in my DVR so I can play it for any poor soul who missed it. Never has there been a finer showing of a male relationship than this one with Denny and Alan. The last scenes, from their fight at the spa to the rooftop apology, were rivoting character development, and stand alone in the arena of male friendship. I'm amazed that more people haven't commented on this. Both of these actors (who, before this series, were not my favorites by a LOT) demonstrate the real vulnerability of their characters in this episode. I was in tears! Whoever was brave enough and creative enough to end the show with "Stand By Your Man" is worthy of an emmy! Bravo.

Spirit9Alex in his review said that the "the balcony needs a rest for a couple weeks". I disagree. The balcony scenes at the end of each show round things of perfectly and constitute just one of the reasons why I watch the show.



I tuned into the first episode to see what William Shatner was up to (being a Trekkie) and have to say that his performance gets two, big, thumbs up from me. His portrayal of Denny is superb and the interplay with Alan is excellent.



William Shatner and James Spader make Boston Legal the unqualified success that it is. Without them and their antics, the show would be just another court-room drama. Without the quirky and unpredictable nature of Denny and Alan's relationship, the show wouldn't be anywhere near as interesting, and the balcony scenes are the icing on the cake.

In the past couple of episodes, Brad has risen to be one of the stars of the show. I'm interested by his his apparent conscience that he sometimes has to confront when handling cases, as happened in this episode with the video game death. He's very pleasant to look at too. ;)



I'm looking forward to seeing more Brad stories, particularly with Paul's daughter, Rachel. Yes, Paul told him that he needs to stay away from her and why, but will Brad actually be able to listen? This love interest sub-story is much more interesting than Denise's newest 'love of the episode.' I also enjoy Paul so the pairing of Paul and Brad is nice. It seems Shirley has Denise, Denny has Alan, so why not Paul have Brad as his partner-in-crime of sorts?



Alan and Denny's trip to the spa was cute, but not that funny, especially compared to the fishing trip. Why does Alan have yet another odd health issue? Stick to the night tremors and Denny's 'mad cow disease' instead.

A very interesting opening with Alan doing a summation completely in gibberish and not even realizing it. This led to the always great stuff of him and Denny together. But this fun led to some dramatic revealations of Alan's fears of losing control and how he depends on Denny. Shatner was great, showing some dismay at this at first but, in his own way, showing that same care right back. It's amazing how well these two work together.



The bit with Denise was fun, especially given how HBO just premired Big Love. The judge was a riot agreeing with the whole two wives approach. Of course the big one was Denise sparking with the opposing lawyer, which hopefully will go a bit better this time.



The Brad plotline was a bit disapointing as I was expecting more of a smackdown with his friend. I also expected a bit at the end where he learns another kid died playing the game. I did enjoy Paul telling Brad in no uncertain terms to stay away from his daughter, which is just the throw off his game Brad could use.



So the whackiness is toned down a bit this week which makes a refreshing change for this good show.