Justice

Network: Fox; Genre: Crime/Legal Drama; Content Rating: TV-14 (violence, adult content and language); Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);

Season Reviewed: Series (1 season)

A crack team of defense attorneys, including a media manipulation expert played by Victor Garber, the requisite young hot-shot attorney played by Kerr Smith and the model-esquire female attorney trying to restrain the guys played by Rebecca Mader ("Starved") , defend the rich, famous, and scandalous in LA. After the trial concludes we will see a flashback that shows if they really are innocent or got away with murder.

David E. Kelly's memorable "The Practice" for all of its eventual wallowing in whoa-is-me melodrama was great at delving into the psyche of a defense attorney and the emotional baggage that comes with a job that when done right can set a murderer free. Under the eye of producer Jerry Bruckheimer, "Justice" reshapes the defense attorney with the "CSI" template and a cast of TV veterans that needs no introduction. The stories are self-contained, the characters are only superficially attended to and there is plenty of blood, gore and that trademark "CSI" visual flair. The show looks damn good and a few creative visual tricks keep it moving at a pace so smartly quick that "Justice" can actually work as a passable guilty pleasure watch the first time or two around. That novelty quickly wares of as it did with "CSI" for me long ago.

There is a place for this show's premise, which updates the "Law & Order" process of building and delivering a case for the technologically-advanced, media-dependent new millennium. These lawyers look like they have better technology and more resources to defend the guilty than the cops actually solving the crimes. The way Garber's character doesn't just manipulate the media, but relies on that manipulation as part of his case to get a message to the jury pool would – in the right hands - make for sweet revenge satire toward that Nancy Grace/Greta Van Sustren niche of the media that has become crime-obsessed.

The potential audience-grabbing gimmick of "Justice" is that ending in which we learn the truth about what happened in the case. But in most of the few episodes that aired, that ending is exactly what you're expecting, either what the defense guessed or what the prosecutors said. No surprises here, no creative, outlandish "Holy cow" twists.

Despite a snappy, cracker-jack performance from an always good Victor Garber and a welcome callous look at lawyers after years of sympathizing with them, "Justice" is still yet another reincarnation of Bruckheimer's brainless, eye-candy crime formula. Not bad, kind of fun to fix your eyes on, but nothing special either.

* * / 4

I really liked "Justice"!!! I was really upset to see it go after so few episodes. I feel like it was set up for failure. It changes days and times three or four times, so I never knew when it was supposed to be on... I liked the dynamics of the characters, and the way the show was done made it interesting, different, and unique.

My favorite character is Tom--a nice, somewhat naive young man who is doing the best he can to do GOOD as well as doing well. I truly hope that if the network doesn't see the sense in creating new episodes, it at least reruns the old ones, and/or releases them to Netflix. I would really like to see "Justice" and all its quirks again. RELEASE "JUSTICE"!!!

It's the law firm of TNT&G in Los Angeles. Ron Trott (Victor Garber) is the face of the firm especially in front of the media. Tom Nicholson (Kerr Smith) is the young gun trial lawyer. Alden Tuller (Rebecca Mader) works the physical evidence. Luther Graves (Eamonn Walker) is a former DA. The four partners bring in others as needed. The show reveals the truth of the cases at the end of each episode.

This is a solid legal courtroom procedural on Fox. The structure of the show is a bit unique due to the closing segment where the true guilt or innocence is decided. In that way, the cases are the primary focus. I love all four actors. Victor Garber has the juiciest role. The characters don't get too much personal time on the show. As with many of these shows, I would like for them to defend more guilty people. That would be realistic. Not every client can be wrongly accused. They aired 12 out of 13 episodes and canceled after only one season. It never gained any traction.

Justice is the best court room drama show that I have ever watched. I love the way that the show is done. I hope that the Fox network will decide to bring back Justice for a new season. All of the shows that I have seen are exciting and well played out. I especially love the way they show how the jury is chosen and all of the other behind the scene action of the defense attorneys. It is so interesting to find out in the end what actually happened. It really is a great way to portray the justice system. It really makes you wonder about how big cases are won. It also shows you how much money and a good defense attorney matters in a persons case. Justice is so much better than Law and Order. I really hope that the people from Fox will think about bringing this series back, I assume that the change of the days from Monday to Friday was a bad decision because it was hard to remember that it was on Friday night, I was used to seeing it on Monday after Prison Break.

It was an interesting concept. And I loved how the justice department was seen under a microscope. And the way each cases events were shown afterwards. Only it quickly ran out of steam, and after a very sub par second episode, they went full on PC on episode 3 conclusions. And that's where the show lost all its appeal. Only to be regained by episodes not involving « delicate » matters. A shame really, this series, though heavily inspired by CSI, is pretty entertaining and some cases keep you hooked and invested. While others took the safest and most predictable paths. Making it surprisingly polished for a show that was supposed to push the envelope...