Trial by Television
Justice: Wooing a court of public opinion
If there were any justice, TV would ease up on the glut of crime and legal dramas. But that's hardly likely, and Fox's cynical
Justice (Wednesdays at 9 pm/ET) knows it all too well.
Realizing how pointless it would be to try to reinvent the courtroom drama, Justice embraces the fact that our post-O.J. society is saturated with true-crime coverage and fake-crime stories. That's why TV itself (embodied by a fictional infotainment show, "American Crime") is a major character in Jerry Bruckheimer's latest fun-to-watch procedural.
As the head of a glamorous L.A. law firm, Victor Garber sheds the tight-lipped restraint of Alias' Jack Bristow and taps into his theatrical roots as cocky Ron Trott, "master of media spin." Juries hate him (which is why he usually lets his boyish partner, Dawson's Creek's Kerr Smith, argue in court), but the camera loves him. And vice versa.
With whipsawing fly-on-the-wall camera work, this fast-moving show follows Trott & Co. ("TNT" is part of the company logo) as they try to outmaneuver the DAs in every arena, most especially the electronic press. Justice goes deep inside the process with focus groups and mock and shadow juries, while the lawyers coach the defendants on their role in this media circus. It's all an act, all about who has the most convincing story to present.
Each episode ends by showing whodunit (or, as in the pilot, howdunit). Here, though, truth is incidental. What matters is playing the game and, along the way, entertaining the masses who are watching at home.
Jailbirds
They're off and running on Prison Break (Mondays, 8 pm/ET on Fox) as Season 2 evolves from an elaborate caper into a nail-biting manhunt, with the twitchy escapees (including evil T-Bag) jumping at every look they get in public.
As their new FBI adversary, Alexander Mahone, Invasion star William Fichtner brings the same sort of intelligent intensity that helped propel Wentworth Miller to stardom as ringleader Michael Scofield (whose tattoos provide Mahone with a window into Scofield's cunning). It's all high melodrama, which can quickly turn silly, like when Scofield and brother Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) try to break Lincoln's son out of, where else, jail.
For a real taste of prison life, FX's 30 Days sends its creator, Morgan Spurlock, behind bars for a month in the grim season finale (Aug. 30 at 10 pm/ET) to experience boredom, solitary confinement, overcrowding and a sense of hopelessness among career criminals and junkies. You'd want to escape, too.
