This episode of Boston Legal mainly concerns the fact that Denny Crane(William Shatner) has a son, Donny Crane (Freddie Prinze, Jr, in the role of his career perhaps), who is the opposing attorney of Crane, Poole, and Schmidt in a case where a salmon's extinction could be the detriment of building malls and other businesses in Boston. Alan(James Spader) is handling a sexual harassment case where his client, the woman filing the lawsuit, is wanting monetary reward for her boss' inability to leave her alone after a brief affair (she, a married woman, tried to call it off, but her boss could not relinquish his obsessive love for her). Lori (Monica Potter) "assists" Alan in the case, although he believes her help isn't needed. The crux in this particular case—Alan's former lover, and recently released from a mental institution (for trying to kill Alan with her car), is the opposing attorney, Christine (Elizabeth Mitchell, returning from the previous episode). Sally (Lake Bell) has her first big case as the leading attorney, absent a "second chair", regarding a client arrested for swiping an orange wallet from a woman's purse. What's funny about this case is that the lady has pictures of Sally's client with the wallet in his hand after the theft! How Sally performs, using an urban legend about a rabbit caught in the mouth of a pet chocolate Labrador retriever, in closing arguments, following the advice from Alan (who took advice from Denny about "pulling a rabbit out of your hat"), is a humdinger. Sally must somehow work a miracle because her client states that he believed the wallet in the lady's purse was his and that is why he took it from her! This episode sort of closes the small storyline regarding Alan and Christine, and further addresses the relationship between Shore and Sally (which will come to an end in the next episode) as seemingly solid. But, seeing Donny (who has taken great pride in "carrying on the Denny Crane legacy") perform so well in court opposite a mighty firm, with a fine litigator like Brad Chase (Mark Valley) unable to defeat him, is a joy, not to mention, witnessing a proud Denny acknowledging the young man's skills as an attorney with a smile only cements the episode's real heart. However, the episode ends on a somber note as Donny learns that Denny isn't his biological father, really a shattering discovery to someone who has dreamed of following in the footsteps of a legend, with the name recognition of Crane that goes with it.
2 Reviews
Idiotic Results
Hitchcoc12 July 2022
I kept reading that this show was far superior to The Practice (which was often seriously flawed), but I haven't seen it in the first three episodes. We have these contrived cases such as the guy who stole a woman's wallet and frightened her. He got off because he claimed her wallet looked like his. Then that tiresome attorney told a story about rabbits because Shatner uses rabbits in his closings. Of course, we also have Shore's psychotic girlfriend. I'm not giving up, but I'm hoping for the best.
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