TV Show Review: Fairly Legal - Season 1

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Interesting main cases keep you engaged

Cons: Kate's relationships with others are very messy

The Bottom Line: 

Interesting plots

Messy personal problems

Still worth watching Kate

"You Never Give Up Do You?"  "I Wish I Knew How."

New shows from the USA Network automatically get added to my DVR sight unseen, and I am usually reluctant to take them off, even if the pilot doesn’t grab me.  That was the case with season one of Fairly Legal, which took some time to grow on me.

The show follows Kate Reed (Sarah Shahi) who has left the legal profession – sort of.  She’s still working in the family law firm, but she’s working as a mediator instead of a lawyer.  Over the course of the 10 episodes in the first season, Kate mediates such varied things as a settlement for a wrongly convicted man, a dispute between a football coach and his player’s parents, the potential deportation of an illegal immigrant vet, and her best friend’s pre-nup.

I liked Kate at first.  Early in the pilot, she walks in on a man robbing a convenience store, and mediates him out the door.  It’s a fun scene and shows just how good she is at mediation.  While the main plots of the episodes are usually resolved by something that comes out of left field, I’m willing to forgive that aspect because it’s usually a perfect ending.

My problem with the show comes when we start talking about the rest of the cast and their roles in Kate’s life.  Okay, so her assistant Leonardo (Baron Vaughn) is plenty of fun.  In fact, his geeky character is probably my favorite on the show.  But the rest of her life is a mess.  See, her father just died and she’s going through a divorce from San Francisco ADA Justin Patrick (Michael Trucco).  However, the two don’t really seem to want to sign those papers.  Worse yet is her relationship with her step mother Lauren Reed (Virginia Williams).  She hates the woman, and I have yet to really figure out why.  It’s hinted that it’s because she married Kate’s father, but I feel like there’s got to be more to it.  Frankly, I like Lauren and feel that Kate mistreats her.

On the recurring guest star front, there’s Richard Dean Anderson who plays a man involved in a secret that Kate’s dad took to his grave and Gerald McRaney who plays a judge who likes to give Kate his hardest cases and impossible deadlines.  Frankly, I find him fun and hope they use him more in season two.

Now while I have complained about some of the character’s relationships, I can’t fault the actors.  They do a great job bringing their characters to life and making their behavior as believable as they can considering writing that doesn’t quite work for me.

I found myself hooked on the show by the time the season ended.  The case of the week was always fun, and I was beginning to see some evolution to Kate.  So while I sound down on the series as a whole, know that it was just from unexplained character motivations.  I am definitely looking forward to seeing where things go from here.

All ten episodes are included in this set on three discs.  As you'd expect, they are in their native widescreen and full surround.  Extras include the usual deleted scenes and gag reel as well as a couple of audio commentaries.

So I do recommend Fairly Legal.  Season one wasn’t the best on TV, but it was fun and I’m intrigued by where the characters could go from here.

Season One Episodes:

1. Pilot

2. Priceless

3. Benched

4. Bo Me Once

5. The Two Richards

6. Believers

7. Coming Home

8. Ultravinyl

9. My Best Friend’s Prenup

10. Bridges