Bullseye

I admit that I had fun watching "The Human Target" Sunday. Loosely based on the obscure comic book series, bodyguard/investigator Christopher Chance will take a bullet for you... for a price. Mark Valley is finally in a role that lets him show off his fun side. Chance's a typical hero type, strong, mysterious, and just a little crazy. ("I'm assuming that was a rhetorical question?") His two sidekicks (total opposites) are fun to watch them play off each other. Tricia Helfer was the client in the pilot episode, and it's a shame she's not in more episodes because her character came across as intelligent and a nice foil to Valley's Chance, as opposed to just another Damsel in Distress.

Next episode is tomorrow.

Comments on Chapter Eleven

I don't always envision certain actors when I write characters, but here is a list of actors I used for the illustrations and who I think would be great in certain roles.

Richard Darington...Mark Valley (Keen Eddie, Fringe)
Sara........................Maura Tierney (News Radio, ER)
Old Timer...............George "Gabby" Hayes (Countless Westerns)
Junior.....................River Phoenix (Indy 3)
Johnny Highpitch...James Earl Jones (Voice of Darth Vader, Numerous Movies)(Voice)
Edwards.................Tristan Coffin (Numerous serials)
The Spectre............Christopher Lee (Dracula,Star Wars) (Voice)

On The Fringe

The next generation's X-Files is created by JJ Abrams, which means that enigmatic symbolism and vague, omniscient super-corporations are abound. The pilot, which I just finished watching, brings our main cast together as FBI Agent Not-Sydney-Bristow tries to save her partner-boyfriend as his skin evaporates. (Crystallizes?)

The boyfriend in question is played by none other than Mark Valley. Valley, who seems to flock toward roles that consists of him doing mostly nothing, would probably be recognized by fans of Boston Legal. (Where he did nothing as well.)

As it happens, spoiler alert, he dies after being cured. (Going into details would really ruin it.) Suffice to say, he won't be in the rest of the season. Or will he? As Ghola Boyfriend perhaps?

Nevertheless, Mr Valley, if you're done wasting your talents and happen to be offered the role of Captain America, please take it.

We'd all be very grateful.

Boston Legal "The Good Lawyer"

One of the only shows I still watch on television, Boston Legal may be completely insane, but boasts one of the best casts ever made. The current season seems to be even loonier than previous ones from a crossdressing Alan Shore to the endless fourth wall references, but this episode was written to a different tone.

This is a very serious minded episode with James Spader being the Alan Shore people remember from the Practice. His darker side comes out when he finds himself against friend Jerry Espenson in a trial, and pulls a dirty trick to crush his friend's newfound confidence. Shore does, as usual, get on his soapbox, but it seems more focused and less ranting.

Mark Valley and Julie Bowen get a little more screen time than usual with their new subplot, but nothing much progresses by the end of the episode. Beside the abscence of Candice Bergen, this episode reminds people that Boston Legal started off as a halfway serious show, and I hope the rest of season keeps it that way. B

TV Review: Boston Legal

I had never watched The Practice before last year when James Spader joined the cast as the amoral Alan Shore. Unfortunately, Spader's (and frequent guest star William Shatner) were not enough to save the show. But that's what spin-offs are for.

But Boston Legal is not the Practice with a new name. Gone are the multi-episode trials and Marco Beltrami's subtle score. They're replaced by episodic stories and funky transitional music. If the Practice was a serious drama focused on the court system, then Boston Legal would be its comedic cousin. As Spader and Shatner both struggle to be the firm's most eccentric lawyer, only Mark Valley and usual guest star Rene Auberjonois act like they belong to a serious law firm, while Monica Potter is stuck in the middle, usually employing her Deer in the Headlights look.

In yesterday's episode, "Schmidt Happens," Candice Bergen joined the cast and immediately clashes with Shore and while dealing her old relationship with Denny Crane. I'm hoping that Bergen will breathe some new life into the series and its characters, showing that not all of the female lawyers in Boston Legal are there just as eye candy or to flirt with Shore.

I also enoyed the Spader sub-plot, which seemed to be one of his better cases of the season. He is called to a timid man's house, under the impression that the man had murdered his mother, only to find out that she's still alive. Next week, apparently Shore must once again deal with this character who "accidentally" killed someone else...

So, in closing, while the show needs some improvement in the writing department, it still boasts a great cast (yes, even Shatner) and has a great potential to becoming a hit. Two words: Denny Crane.

The series so far: C+ "Schmidt Happens" B