Shark

When a celebrity doctor's wife vanishes, Stark suspects that the victim's son may know more than he's telling. There's no touchy-feely stuff with this kid; Stark puts him on the stand and sets out to destroy him.

The Junior Stark team gets too much time in this episode, with a romance developing between two prosecutors (sex! That will liven things up between bland characters!) and their efforts to get the young witness to open up to them. There's no subtlety to the rest of the cast. James Woods is able to deliver in scenes where he doesn't even have to say anything. In the closing moments, when he places his suit jacket over the doctor's handcuffs before he visits his son, he is silent. Other shows might have had Stark spell it out "I didn't want his son to see..." blah blah blah. Stark doesn't make any bones about it; the guy killed his wife, but that doesn't mean his son has to be scarred again.

I'm hoping the quality remains over the course of the season. If we get too much details about the home (read: bedroom) lives of Stark's team, we could be looking at a jump for this Shark, but until then, I'm more than happy to enjoy James Woods swim for the chum and make mincemeat out of his rivals.moreless

This was a very deep episode. Even if is a new series, they have started with heavy bombs in each episode. In this one we see how a murder well planed turns into a family tragedy, like we see in real life. The actors are doing a great job to keep a high level series. We see how some personal issues conflict into day by day family life and can drive a person to murder.moreless

This was definitely another great installment! Imagine killing one's own wife? Then having your son cover for you...your eight year old son at that!

This episode was great...just the right amount of sadness!
Shark is rapidly becoming one of my new best friends!

The reason i love this so, is because it is so well rounded...i mean you get a great story every week...plus more is revealed about the characters!

What's not to love?!

This episode is a very boring talkie, laden with legal nitpicks and minutia. Here's an example.

Attorney: Ethan's family put Mr. Stark's office on notice that it was to have no unsupervised contact.

Stark: Your Honor, this motion should have been made pretrial, it should have been noticed, and we should have had a chance to brief it.

Judge: Because there's a minor involved, I'm willing to ignore the procedural irregularities. Now get to the substance, Mr. Stark.

Stark: The boy is a material witness, the wishes of the father, who at the time of Ethan's questioning was a suspect in the killing of his son's mother, are not paramount.

Attorney: The only authority for that proposition is Sebastian Stark.

Stark: Really? You cite me one rule prohibiting the conversation at hand or the method by which it was conducted. Just one. (no response) Hmm. That's the first intelligent thing you said so far.

Judge: There may be no formal rule, but when two adults corner a small child and interrogate him, the boy's statements are the product of coercion and therefore unreliable.

Stark: Your Honor--

Judge: I am precluding the use of the boy's statements for any purpose.

Attorney: And since these coerced statements were used to obtain the search warrant that yielded Stephanie Sterling's blood and that blood was the basis for Mitchell Sterling's indictment, the defense moves for immediate dismissal.

Judge: Nice Try

Stark: Thank you.

Judge: You delay the suppression motion for strategic reasons and now you're stuck with the trial. That is assuming the prosecution is still prepared to move forward?

Stark: Raring to go.

Whew. What a lot to plow through! Believe me, this is a lot easier understood read than said especially when they do this routine at neckbreak speed.

Then they go through some convoluted logic as the story progresses which I found impossible to keep up with. I feel weary after watching this. I don't know if it's me or the dialog or what, but it's painful to try to follow what these people are saying.moreless

Again I am loving this show each and every week and that it keeps getting better and better. James Woods saves this "average" episode which wasn't that great but still he manages to save the show. He can't get proof from a doctor who murdered his wife but that doesn't stop him from going after him. Shark is a modern day hero indeed!