Guns 'n Gripes on The Guardian

Talk about folks needing a chill pill. Last season's rage-filled finale of The Guardian left us hanging on the edge of our couches, with a double shooting and a double beating. But let's get real. The main cliffhanger — the point-blank shooting of James Mooney (Charles Malik Whitfield) and the new geeky lawyer (Will Farrell) — wasn't really a cliffhanger.

Think about it. We know who dies (Farrell's character), we know who did the shooting (Taliek, played by Vicellous Shannon), and we know why: Mooney wrongly suspected Taliek of killing his cousin, so he had him savagely beaten with a tire iron, then admitted his mistake to Taliek, who retaliated by gunning him down. Got all that?

As for father and son attorneys Nick (Simon Baker) and Burton Fallin (Dabney Coleman), they had both pummeled a guy for swiping their parking space. Apparently, those anger management classes Nick had been ordered to take after smashing his cell phone in court aren't working. Our only questions: How badly was Mooney wounded? And will Nick go even more postal if his love Lulu (Wendy Moniz) leaves town for a better job? As the finale episode ended, dad and son left the scene of the parking space crime just in time to drive past Taliek, fresh from his shooting spree.

"We're going to pick the show up the minute [last] season ended," says executive producer David Hollander. "We'll continue directly into that night." We'll find out about Mooney, and Nick's relationship with Lulu and, he says, "Nick and Burton's relationship is going to have a bit of a shuffle as well."

Also, look for at least one new character: A young African American woman who joins the Fallin and Fallin law firm. Chuckles Hollander: "She'll be the most normal, well adjusted character we have on the show."