Bluff City Law

Not bad, entertaining, good pace. I think some of the characters will be intriguing and likeable as the show develops.

(Initial Impressions) I really wanted to like this series, I've been a fan of Jimmy Smits for a long time, and the supporting cast is impressive, as well, but, I found Caitlin McGee's performance wasn't convincing. Or, was it the director's failure to guiding us into the emotional conflicts that lie at the heart of this premise. I just didn't buy it. The transitions to family firm and family reconciliation were rushed and Sydney Strait came off as a self-centred, immature brat. Maybe, once the series has some time to breath, the performance, writing and direction will fall into place and we will find the heart of the piece. I give this pilot a 6 (fair) out of 10. {Legal Drama}

Of course this type of dramatic civil suit courtroom battle(s) show has been on the re-hash wheel since the Perry Mason days of the 1950's. In fact for veteran actor Jimmy Smits who most recently played the Hispanic criminal rebel Nero Padilla on the hit crime series Sons Of Anarchy, in his earlier television roles he played ADA Miguel Prado in the Emmy winning 2008 series Dexter, and we can turn back the hands of time 33 years earlier he also played a young and hip lawyer named Victor Sifuentes in the 1980's drama series L.A. Law. So Jimmy Smits is a bona fide TV lawyer of the highest calibre and his resume is second to none.

In this new series Jimmy Smits plays Elijah Strait and he wants to team up in the courtroom(s) of America with his estranged daughter Sydney (Caitlin McGee) who definitely has a chip on her shoulder due to the way her dad treated her mom while they were assumed to be the darling family everyone dreamed of being.

It may seem to be that cookie cutter courtroom drama where because of some last minute information that is rushed into the courtroom during closing arguments that is provided to the lawyer heroes Elijah Strait and his daughter Sydney tears flow as the jury finds in favour of the smaller symbolic David to the corporate Goliath and the day has been saved once again....until next week.

I really like Jimmy Smits as an actor so I will cut the series some initial slack and watch a few more episodes and see if this series develops a real heart and soul, and a court room style all its own.

I give the series an 8 out of 10 rating

I am enjoying this show less and less. Elijah Strait's wife is very revered by Elijah and all, and it is getting more difficult to accept the perfection of the woman while out of sight. I do recognize she is dead but she evidently is perfect. Hard to accept. And it seems this show wants to take on all current social issues that are causing some angst all at once. This current show deals with euthanasia, alternate life style issues, health care issues etc Seems a lot for one show when some of the viewers are wrestling with their own beliefs. I seems TV wants to take us into the brave new world all at once and I am starting to resent it.

Someone not mentioned in the reviews is the role of Scott Shepherd as George Ball, the wrongly convicted man who was finally exonerated after spending six years in prison. The scene at the cemetery where he meets the mother of the dead girl was stunning. Ball's struggle to adapt to a society that left him behind for six years is an ongoing subplot that creates an empathy lacking in other prime time show.