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"Reasonable Doubts"
- summary by Bianca
Written By:
David E. Kelley
The
second season of this fabulous show opens with rather gruesome
images of what is obviously a murder scene. These black and
white images of a man lying in a pool of his own blood set the
background for the only storyline in this episode.
The
viewer is then introduced to the halls of the Suffolk County
Courthouse and the blue eyes of our favourite lawyer, Bobby
Donnell, and his beautiful client, Victoria (Vicky) Keenan.
Bobby and Vicky discuss, in the words of Bobby, this “juicy,
sexy murder trial” and her chances of being acquitted. Bobby
assures Vicky that she has a pretty good chance of having this
all go away, the prosecution not having yet reached their burden
of proof. The pair then shares a kiss, introducing the viewer to
a blooming romance that until now has been kept a secret from
the firm. That is until Eugene enters the room with a rather
shocked expression on her face.
Following
the all too familiar theme song we are back in the office and
introduced to a none-too-happy Eugene and his argument with
Bobby. This argument results in the enraged reactions of Rebecca
and Ellenor, plus a rather shocked Lindsay. Bobby, trying to use
his “Lindsay card,” asks her to defend his relationship with
a woman he is so adamant is innocent. Lindsay side steps around
the issue but seems to come out on the side of Bobby, while the
rest of the gang are more adamant of Vicky’s guilt. It is
after this argument that we are introduced the new District
Attorney, the woman we would all come to either love or hate,
Helen Gamble.
The
next “Act” puts us right in the middle of Vicky’s trial.
We come to learn the victim, Robert Adler, was a neighbour of
Victoria who was suffering from depression. The testimony of the
victim’s psychiatrist frustrates Bobby, prompting him to
question whether or not to allow Victoria to testify. This again
leads to Eugene asking Bobby if he is thinking straight, as he
believes there is no question as to Vicky taking the stand.
Victoria
testifies that Adler had tried to rape her on the night of the
murder and she therefore acted in self-defence. In a flashback
it is shown that Robert tells Vicky that he loves her. Vicky,
feeling uncomfortable, asks Adler to leave. Adler refuses and
starts forcing Vicky against a wall and then onto the floor.
Vicky is able to escape, grab her gun from a desk draw and shoot
Adler five times. It is later revealed (in Helen’s cross) that
Vicky then calmly called ‘911’ and relayed the events and
her claim of self-defence.
A
day or two later a man, Mr Walters, arrives at the office with a
proposition for Bobby that would help Vicky’s case. The man
lives opposite Vicky and has a tape of the incidents that
occurred in their apartment hallway on the night of the murder.
The video shows Adler arriving alone at Vicky’s. Upon Vicky
opening the door the two kiss and enter her apartment, the tape
ending. Walters wants to sell the tape to Bobby or Vicky for
$100,000. Bobby, being the good lawyer he is, refuses to
participate, as this would be extortion. Walters threatens to go
to the District Attorney with the tape if it’s not bought, but
gives Bobby the copy he brought with him.
Vicky
is shown the video and no one is happy. A rather irate Bobby
forces Vicky to tell him the truth, which she does. Her and
Adler were having an affair, Alder proposed and when Vicky
turned him down he went into a rage and the murder took place.
Bobby asks her to take a polygraph, which she reluctantly agrees
to but passes with flying colours.
Taking
a slight detour from the rest of the events is a small scene
between Lindsay and Helen Gamble, who we find out were friends
and roommates in college. Lindsay’s relationship with Bobby
and any pending feelings are discussed and Helen kids with
Lindsay that she just might ask him out.
Anyway,
back to the case. It is the last day and Bobby rests. It is then
a tense half minute before Helen decides to rest, the tape not
coming into evidence. Whilst Bobby is surprised, both Mr Walters
and Vicky are none-too-fussed over the turn of events and it
becomes apparent that Vicky has bought the tape.
As
closing arguments are occurring Bobby freezes, unable to
represent this woman now that he believes she is guilty. Eugene
saves the day and produces a marvellous closing that leads to an
acquittal for Vicky.
The
episode ends with Vicky visiting Bobby in his office that night.
The two decide not to see each other anymore, Bobby unable to
decide whether he believes Vicky’s first or second story.
Bobby asks her is it was really self-defence and she exists
without an answer.
The Review by
Bianca
As far as season openers go, this one was
nothing fantastic. With the episode centering on only the one
case it became rather long and tedious, with the outcome being
somewhat predictable. The relationship between Bobby and Vicky
was one I found to be unconvincing, perhaps due to the actress
who portrayed the character, or due to the fact that I don’t
feel that it is in Bobby’s character to become involved with a
client (even if he finds her overly attractive).
The introduction of Helen Gamble into the
show was one I felt not dealt with well. The viewer is plunged
into the deep end, so to speak, with this character, none of her
background is alluded to and it is only by slight references to
the murder trial that the viewer is given any clue as to her
position, both in the legal profession and the show. This is
also shown when Bobby refers to the friendship between Lindsay
and Helen. Helen has appeared out of nowhere and has never
before been mentioned on the show and yet it appears that her
and Lindsay have been best friends since college. While I
realise it would be hard for David E. Kelley to have mentioned
this in previous shows, I think there may have been someway to
mention this before Bobby does. For a character that would
become an integral member of the show I was surprised at the
lack of introduction and felt this was one area where David E.
Kelley should have payed more attention.
There were however some good moments to this
episode. The performance by Lara Flynn Boyle was of very high
quality, already showing the traits of a Helen Gamble we would
all come to love or hate. Her closing argument and her
cross-examinations during the trial were played very
convincingly and it is a wonder why she did not win the case.
Dylan McDermott also portrayed a somewhat troubled Bobby
fantastically, the power of the character’s emotions evident
in his words and his body language.
While the story was one that went begging,
the performances by all were able to make the episode bearable
to watch. As far as season openers go this was a rather dreadful
attempt, an episode that if it was your first time as a viewer
would make you question why we all love it so much, but the show
only became better from here.
Miscellaneous Thoughts by
Bianca
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