Amazon.co.uk Review
In year 3, Boston Legal continues to toggle with ease between comedy and pathos. The season begins on a bittersweet note as Denise (Julie Bowen) gets engaged to the terminally ill Daniel (Michael J. Fox), who disappears to try an experimental treatment. Enter two new litigators, smart-talking associate Claire Sims (Constance Zimmer) and cocky partner Jeffrey Coho (Craig Bierko). Once Daniel exits the picture, Jeffrey and Brad (Mark Valley) compete for Denise's affections. The firm soon welcomes a third new face: legal secretary Clarence (Gary Anthony Williams)--also known as Clarice, Clavant, and Oprah.
As before, cases vary from minor to major. Story arcs include the murder of a judge's wife (with Ashton Holmes as the suspect and Katey Sagal as his mother) and an outrageous peeping tom (David Dean Bottrell) with a jones for Shirley (Candice Bergen). Denny Crane (William Shatner), meanwhile, finds love with diminutive attorney Bethany (Meredith Eaton-Gilden)--and her mother, Bella (Delta Burke). And Alan (James Spader, who scored a second Emmy to add to the one he received for The Practice) helps former co-worker Jerry "Hands" Espenson (Christian Clemenson) out of a few jams. By the end of the season, Jeffrey is gone, while Jerry returns to Crane, Poole & Schmidt.
Throughout the year, the firm tackles a variety of timely issues, ranging from religious freedom to immigration law. Reporter Gracie Jane (Jill Brennan), a Nancy Grace doppelgänger, also comes in for some ribbing. Aside from recurring characters, like Jane Lynch (as a sexual surrogate), the third season counts a few actors behind the camera, such as Eric Stoltz ("Dumping Bella") and Adam Arkin ("Nuts"), from David E. Kelley's Chicago Hope. --Kathleen C. Fennessy, Amazon.com
Customer Reviews:
Disappointing.......2008-03-05
Too many ridiculous plot lines, too many irritating characters. Not surprised it finished. And why do the always win their cases?
Denny Crane.......2008-02-29
Very enjoyable, great lines, watching two or three episodes back to back makes for a great stay at home evening
Judge Jibberjabber and Little Green Men.......2008-02-23
Alan Shore (played by Emmy award-winner James Spader) is the primary star of Boston Legal and he is a monumental presence. In season 2, we were shown much more of his humanity, and we came to see how deeply caring and empathetic he is. Season 3 continues in that vein... a couple of minor quibbles, and I'll broach them now so as to get to the good, more important, stuff: David Kelley seems to be using Alan's wonderful closing arguments to extensively wax lyrical on political issues he wants to address. I quite concede that it's his show to do with as he pleases, but the lengthy soliloquies can become a little taxing.
Next, Jerry Espenson is a wonderful character: a gentle, shy giant who suffers terribly from Asperger's, and his friendship with Alan is genuinely touching. But in season 3, they've turned him into a Jekyll and Hyde character, depending on whether he's got a wooden cigarette in his mouth or not. It sounds daft, and unfortunately it's just as daft in the watching. That being said, having Jerry around more is a treat and the cigarette-thing doesn't make it all the way through the season.
Final complaint is regarding a new character called Clarence. He's a painfully shy man who masquerades as his "sister" Clarice when he can't cope with the pressure or stress of a situation. Clarice, like Hyde doesn't last the entire season, but *neither* character brings very much to the show, and I find their respective scenes less enjoyable than everything else. However, Boston Legal at its very worst is still better than 99% of the dross on tv these days.
Those are my only complaints, and none of them are serious enough to turn this season into a 4-star one.
Onto the good stuff: in season 2, we met Judge Jibberjabber (the amazing Shelley Berman, who should be made king), who doesn't tolerate jibberjabber and poopycock in his courtroom. I fell in love with him within 30 seconds, and in season 3 we are spoiled, as his appearances are far more substantial. In episode 16, Alan is defending a pre-eminent psychiatrist fired for his insistence that he's seen aliens, and Jibberjabber's questions and comments alone are worth the price of the box-set. Just glorious. He's in another 6 episodes besides that one: all as hand-clappingly fantastic as the last.
In season 3, Denny Crane becomes increasingly absurd and wonderful. The interaction between he and Alan is beautiful beautiful television, and it's fascinating to watch. As he slides further into quintessential Republican stereotype, Alan swings the other way, becoming increasingly liberal, and yet their relationship only improves and they become more and more like an old married couple who are still desperately in love. They make each other laugh, and they'll make you laugh, too.
It's astonishing that 3 years in the writing is still as fresh as the first season. It continues to break the fourth wall, too, in that wonderful Boston Legal way. In episode 2, we are introduced to Claire and Jeff Coho and the conversation goes as following:
Coho: "We're the new guys."
Crane: "Oh, please. If there were new guys they'd have shown up in the season premiere." He then proceeds to proposition Claire appallingly, fondle her dreadfully and welcome them to Boston Legal before glancing at the camera and saying "Cue the music..." Genius!
Those moments are a part of what makes Boston Legal so special. Add to that Denny, Alan and Shirley Schmidt, along with the entire host of loveable grotesques that pass through those famous doors, this show is just absolutely unbeatable in every way. From the opening scene of every episode, you know you'll laugh out loud at least 3 times; as soon as that awesome 70s-style wowow guitar theme music kicks in, you tap your toes and settle in for 45-odd minutes of near-heaven.
Boston Legal season 3 isn't quite as good as season 2 (which trumps absolutely everything that has ever come before it - except, perhaps with the exception of Ed, but that's for another review if and when the Powers That Be decide to release it on DVD) but it is still wonderful and deserving of more superlatives than you can shake a stick at.
Another first class season.......2008-01-30
The series maintains a first class mix of social comment topped by wonderful comic punctuations. Denny Crane is virtually becoming Boston Legal's Falstaff with his sideways glances and outraged facial expressions-pure theatre. Indeed right from the off his wonderful comic set pieces include midgets, sex dolls and transvestites, and come thick and fast. The balcony scenes have become legendary now but by season three could have become smaltzy and overly sentimental. However in the hands of these actors they remain fresh and poignant. In fact, James Spader's character is part of the reason I respect the show. He portrays a rare thing on American TV these days, a character taking up a sociologist's perspective and swimming against the tide of tabloid prejudice and man-in-the-street `common sense'. All of this `do gooding' however is beautifully counter-weighted throughout by Shatner's old school Republican - Denny Crane. The two produce some delightful moments in season three; well worth watching.
It keeps getting better.......2008-01-27
I make no bones about it Iam a huge fan of Boston legal. I have watched it from its very first episode and have seen it grow as a series and season 3 keeps that growth going. It mixes comedy with real world issues seemlessly and the story lines are gripping. William Shatner as Denny Crane is in top form in this series and provides a lot of the comedy along with james spader as Alan Shore. In season 3 the show seems to have found a bunch of characters it is happy with as a in earlier series characters seemed to come and go with extreme regularity. The two new main characters of Jeferry Coho and Claire come from the New York office and fit well into the series. Also Alan Shores love intrest Vanessa helps you to see more of the excellent character of Alan Shore. One slight critism that is still present in the series is that they seem to win cases most of the time if not all of the time and this takes away some of the tension. All in all this series is a gem, where else could you see William Shatner in a red spandex wrestling suit one minute and a case about detaining terror suspects the next, only in Boston Legal. A must have.
Customer Reviews:
Addictive .......2007-12-30
This is definitely the most gritty and addictive prison drama series made. The acting is awesome and the 'narrator' adds a completely different dimension to this drama. I cannot wait for seson 4 to be released in UK!
Oz returns for a blistering third season.............2007-10-01
Ultra-violent prison drama Oz shows no sign of relenting in this shocking third season visit to Emerald City.
After blinding a prison officer to please crime boss El Cid in season two, Miguel Alvarez rots in solitary where he is tormented, beaten and starved until his mental health begins to deteriorate. The homeboys continue to clash with the Italians and Hispanics over the lucrative drugs trade and Beecher returns to Emerald City following his horrific beating at the hands of Schillinger and Keller. Meanwhile the scheming O'Reilly enters his slow witted brother Cyril in the prison boxing championships and the psychotic Simon Adebisi decides to quietly take back his position as the ruthless king of Oz after his apparent redemption in season two.
The thing that makes Oz so great is that all the characters on both sides of the bars are so well developed. Themes of crime and redemption are examined from different angles which keeps Oz a cut above.
Like this? Try: Oz Seasons 1-2
Customer Reviews:
Oz enters Dorothy territory.......2007-09-29
I have watched seasons 1-3 of the OZ. They were great but season 4 is the best so far. You have to suspend your belief a lot for this season, but I think it's well worth it, as the drama is awesome. Every episode is brilliant, but there's two episodes in particular which are jaw droppingly amazing. I won't give away anything, but it involves Adebisi vs Karim and Karim vs Schillin"G"er. Can't wait for season 5 to be released.
Oz back to form.......2007-09-01
Season 1 was very good. Season 2 and 3 were ok. Season 4 puts Oz back to its best.
Loads of action, charting the collision course of the two biggest personalities in Oz: Simon Adebissi and Karim Sayed.
"Oz" starts to go too far over the rainbow in Season Four.......2005-03-09
There is a point in the final episode of "Oz: The Complete Fourth Season" where EM City Administrator Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) informs an inmate who is in fear for his life that there is no room in either protective custody or solitary confinement to put him. That certainly makes sense given the high body count during this season. Was it the highest body count ever for "Oz"? I have not been keeping a tally to this point, but it sure seemed like it was. After all, this was a season where most of the inmates on death row who died were not actually executed by the state. It is a good thing for Warden Leo Glenn (Ernie Hudson) that Governor James Devlin (Zeljko Ivanek) is running for re-election, because it helps to have a boss who thinks inmates killing inmates is, to put it delicately, not a bad thing.
The main dynamic for the fourth season ends up being between Simon Adebisi (Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje) and Kareem Said (Eamonn Walker). From the beginning of "Oz" it was Said who has been the voice of reason, and it was Abedisi who personified the impulse towards anarchy at the Oswald Correctional Facility. After Khan's death, and because of Said's visits from Tricia Ross, Zahir Arif (Granville Adams) moves to take over the leadership of the Muslims. While Said is cast adrift in the hierarchy of Emerald City, Adebisi achieves his objective and actually masterminds the removal of McManus as the administrator of Oz. Of course, Abedisi's success contains the seeds of his own destruction because that is the way things go in the merry old land of Oz. Meanwhile, Said finds out that Oz makes men do things they never thought they would do and changes them in ways they would not want to be changed.
For me, and I suspect many, Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergesen) is the inmate we most identify with on "Oz." Beecher is the "regular" guy who ends up in prison and is fresh meat for the inmates, and the fact that he has survived this far does not in any way, shape or form convince me that I would be able to do half as well. But Beecher has survived, and in this season his ongoing conflict with Vern Schillinger (J.K. Simmons) turns even deadlier than it has been to date. If there is an element of Greek tragedy in "Oz" it is this sick little dance between Beecher and Schillinger, with Chris Keller (Chris Meloni) as the wild card. But running a close second is the twisted relationship that has developed between Ryan O'Reilly (Dean Winters) and Dr. Gloria Nathan (Lauren Velez), which takes the "you always hurt the one you love" to some extremes.
Even our narrator, the one-man Greek chorus Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau), starts to become involved in the madness. After ruining one inmate's chances of parole, Hill finds himself in the middle of the power struggle to control the Homeboys. This problems have me worried because for me it is not "Oz" if Augustus is not explaining to us the different types of shivs you can make in prison (and the fact Perrineau is now on "Lost" and without the dreadlocks worries me even more). But then if there is anything we have learned from "Oz," in addition to never wanting to end up in prison, it is that incarceration does not change people for the better. Just look at Bob Rebadow (George Morfogen), who tells us that not only does every dog have his day, but once he does he will want another one.
The problem with the fourth season of "Oz" is that the effort to keep things boiling over has some of the developments going over the top. The experimental again drug is certainly one example, but the O'Reilly/Nathan relationship also goes beyond belief as far as I am concerned. By the time the show is drawing inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" I am thinking it is time to be cleaning house. I have trouble remembering exactly how Emerald City was to be an innovative solution to the problem of the modern American prison in the face of the orgy of violence and keep thinking Glenn and McManus need to just lock down the whole prison. Of course, that would kill the drama of the show if all we had were men looked into cells, and HBO has no vested interest in doing that. But "Oz" is not about the escelating number of dead inmates, or even of naked inmates, but rather the life and death struggles of the place. Along with "The West Wing," "Oz" represents "politics" at its "best."
Customer Reviews:
Oz returns for a blistering third season.............2007-10-01
Ultra-violent prison drama Oz shows no sign of relenting in this shocking third season visit to Emerald City.
After blinding a prison officer to please crime boss El Cid in season two, Miguel Alvarez rots in solitary where he is tormented, beaten and starved until his mental health begins to deteriorate. The homeboys continue to clash with the Italians and Hispanics over the lucrative drugs trade and Beecher returns to Emerald City following his horrific beating at the hands of Schillinger and Keller. Meanwhile the scheming O'Reilly enters his slow witted brother Cyril in the prison boxing championships and the psychotic Simon Adebisi decides to quietly take back his position as the ruthless king of Oz after his apparent redemption in season two.
The thing that makes Oz so great is that all the characters on both sides of the bars are so well developed. Themes of crime and redemption are examined from different angles which keeps Oz a cut above.
Like this? Try: Oz Seasons 1-2
Still has shock-value but not slick I'm afraid..........2007-08-15
Season 1 was very good, season 2 and 3 are only ok. It is still gritty, graphic but at times you feel they are just doing it for shock value, when its not necessary. Still worth a watch if you were able to buy a cheap box set like I did!
Still Shocks.......2005-07-25
I never seen any of the OZ series on TV and heard it was worth a watch i sent for the 1st season and then the 2nd and evey episode still sticks you to your seat and the 3rd is no different i enjoyed the shocks and emotion of the whole storyline a good adult storyline with no hold barred. I have just sent for the 4th series and cant wait to review this one as well
UK DVD:
- Bouquet of Barbed Wire / Another Bouquet - Complete Box Set
- Carrie's War [2003]
- City Of Lost Children [1995]
- Cold Mountain [2004]
- Cromwell [1970]
- Cry Freedom [1987]
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Miami - Season 2 - Part 1
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Miami - Season 3 - Part 1
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Miami - Season 4 - Part 1
- Dallas: Complete Season 6
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