Raising the bar: Justice à Manhattan

The first season was OK, but the second season sparkles. The stories are solid, with usually three or four sub-plots that wrap up during the episode, plus the continuing story arcs regarding the major characters. Gosselar continues and improves upon his work in NYPD Blue. Gloria Reuben is her usual solid self. Jonathan Scarfe was a surprise to me, having never seen him before, while Currie Graham plays his usual sour but solid guy.

I'm less taken with Jane Kazmarek, whose character is neither nice nor nasty enough to be a treat. The supporting characters beyond those mentioned above all do an adequate or better job, with the two female attorneys -- one for the DA's office and the other for the Public Defender's -- provide eye-candy and do a good job.

The fact that New York City has no Public Defender's office, with that role taken by the Legal Aid Society, seems an odd twist on reality to have taken, given that using the proper group would not seem to have changed the show at all.

All in all, I look forward to each episode.

This show is well thought out and succeeds and falters simultaneously in the early episodes, but gets stronger as it continues into the second season. Although the writing and acting are a bit disjointed at moments, the fundamental plots are excellent and very well put together. Most people's expectations of a legal drama will be exceeded. The series touches on many moral and ethical issues that face western societies, particularly the United States. Every episode provokes thought and discussion about issues that do not have simple answers and which the American system of justice is ill-equipped to resolve. The acting and writing are not perfect, and there are cheesy/campy moments, but there are also moments where you can see that the acting and writing could really click. Having been a fan of Boston Legal, the Practice and The Good Wife, I feel very comfortable recommending this series to anyone who enjoys legal drama. The series is more serious than Boston Legal but less fun and sexy; and is more fun and sexy than the Practice but less serious. It also has a distinctly different aesthetic than either of those shows and outcomes are less predictable. The cast is strong and there are many familiar faces from ER. I hope the show continues. Not perfect. Not a 10/10, but it is thoroughly enjoyable.

I've seen a lot of shows in my time, from terrible dramas to truly innovative spectacles, but this show really does have it all. A cast thats spot on when it comes to acting and more importantly just an all around competitive feel. Jerry(the main character) is always overly concerned about his clients and along with his colleagues seems to always be fighting an uphill battle against the state and not to mention most of the judges, to get his clients acquitted of all the false claims that have been thrown against them. The state, which happens to always be a few of his friends from college, is just as ruthless in their tactics as he is! Which makes this a very good argumentative 45 minutes. Don't leave thinking this is one of those "good guys always win" shows, its not. This is what real courtroom fighting is all about. I give it a 10/10 keep up the good work!

L.A. Law & Hill Street Blues springs to mind when watching Raising The Bar, it has the same sort of feeling of colleagues working together and using each other in a supportive way. Each of the main characters has it's own idiosyncratic ways which endear you to them. What drew me to this series was tracking the career of 'Malcolm In The Middle' actress Jane Kaczmarek, I was curious as to what she was doing and to my delight she has taken a part the suits her down to the ground. I wouldn't say the role is challenging but rather something which fits naturally with her previous role as the domineering mother and not forgetting the the same role she voiced in 'The Simpsons'. Unfortunately there is a familiarity with Raising The Bar which could stop it from being anything other than a series that gets shelved after a few seasons.... A series that will get a a thumbs up from the T.V. Execs is that of Kaczmarek's acting partner in 'Malcolm In The Middle' Bryan Cranston, that series is really breaking the mold, simply awesome!

I can understand why most people didn't connect, which resulted in the series being canceled. The idea of a law series that centers on "average" defendants (poor people who are stuck in the system by a combination of circumstances and poor choices, and sometimes only the first) is not something we are accustomed. We want to see either the bad guys being chased by the good guys or saintly lawyers and defendants who are unquestionably innocent (like in "To Kill a Mockingbird"). But crime and punishment in real life are far more complex, and that is why the day-to-day of public defenders is a premise that makes such good drama.

(Not that the series is ultra-realistic in every sense; most of the relationships among the characters are less than believable, very made for TV, but they had to be there if the series had any chance of success.)

The bottom line is that there is something remarkably true in the stories of Raising the Bar, something that no other cop or law show ever came close to achieving. The situations of the defendants came straight from David Feige's experience as a PD in the Bronx, and not from stock characters and plots, which puts the human element far higher.

It is impossible not to compare it to Law & Order, the only other series to have 50% of its cast made of public prosecutors. Bar doesn't have the excitement of its competitor, but it is far, far superior in terms of human content. Whenever any of the L&Os versions tries to give us some moral complexity and tackle social issues, it feels spoon-fed and artificial, like a plug for a political agenda. After all, it is basically a show about catching the bad guys and finding the truth, not one about ambiguity - actually, the LESS moral dilemmas you see in L&O, the better the episode.

The same does not happen with Raising the Bar. The focus is on the work of Public Defenders - one of the most unjustly maligned professions in the world - and their clients. The moral complexity springs from the premise, it is not inserted in the story. It is there because the situations regular people face when charged with a crime are complex, and "guilty" x "not guilty" are two terms not always easy to apply. After watching and thinking about it, you imagine yourself as a policeman, prosecutor or judge, and you wonder if you can arrest/prosecute/sentence a person for any crime without any doubts whatsoever regarding what is done. Society suffers less crime if more people who break the law are imprisoned, that's true. But does it have less victims? Hard to say.

There are other shows out there that have more thrill, but none in the legal genre that are that compelling. I hope more people, like another commenter and myself, find this great series on Netflix.

Great job, Feige & company.