TiVo Community Forums Archives - The Practice

TiVoCommunity.com
(c)opyright 1995-2005 All rights reserved
indexcheckTC
This area is a static history of posts in the TiVo Community Forum Archive.
This archive history was made for the simple indexing of search sites like Google.

Pages:1

The Practice - 05/02/2004 (SPOILERS)
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: daperlman

Ok decent episode. Play weigh in with your thoughts.

Here are mine:

The good:
*The reappearance of Dylan McDermot (this ought to make for a good final episode)
*The Judgeship hearings: while the manner in which they took place were silly, the panel had some good ?'s for Eugene, and his answers were very consistent with his role as an attorney
*Seeing Ellen punch Hannah in the face was pretty funny (did anyone notice her twisted body being wheeled out at the end?)

The bad
*The SUV case was kind of just out there... but they never told us the details. Thus I couldn't form an opinion... ergo I couldn't take sides and didn't care about it
*What happened to Jamie Stringer? She had one line.
*Why was Denny Crane in charge of organizing the SUV case(s), did he recover from his Alzheimer's?

The ugly
*Dylan McDermont's speech to the Judges was way, way out there... (I imagine this is what David Kelly sounds like after too many Martini's)
*Alan Shore's reluctance to sleep with Tara or the Girl from the new firm is starting to bother me. The eccentric playboy thing is wearing on me.

Posted by: Rob Helmerichs

quote:
Originally posted by daperlman
*Seeing Ellen punch Hannah in the face was pretty funny (did anyone notice her twisted body being wheeled out at the end?)

Heh. I loved the way she was literally lifted off the ground by the punch. That was some pretty cool stunt work. And I cracked up at the stretcher.

I used to think that Denny Crane was in love with the sound of his own name. But now I think it's lust.

I'm looking forward to the new series. As they clear away more and more of the debris from The Practice, it just keeps getting better.

Posted by: barrettd

McDermott's speech was one of the many reasons I'm glad The Practice is over, and a reason I'm a bit unsure of the new series. This season has turned into everybody taking digs at the Bush administration at every turn, even when it may or may not have anything to do with the situation at hand. McDermott's speech was out of place, rambling, and took me totally out of the scene. I was glad Bobby left, and his return didn't impress me at all.

Eugene had to become a judge. That was good stuff. Maybe he'll come back for the new series every so often.

BD

Posted by: efilippi

How could you possibly put a guy on the bench who warns you beforehand that he will not enforce a (any?) law that he feels is wrong? That's what Eugene said, capital punishment is wrong, for reasons a, b, c, etc, so I will not enforce it.

That gives Eugene the powers of both the legislative and judicial branches. Nice job if you can get it.

Man, do I wish we had some employees at my office who looked/dressed/acted like the girl with the boobs. I admit it, men (most of us) just love looking at them. Weird when you think about it, but way true.

Posted by: justapixel

quote:
Originally posted by barrettd
McDermott's speech was one of the many reasons I'm glad The Practice is over, and a reason I'm a bit unsure of the new series. This season has turned into everybody taking digs at the Bush administration at every turn, even when it may or may not have anything to do with the situation at hand.

:up: :up: :up:

How dare they lecture us on morality!

David E. Kelley is the same guy who gave us Boston Public, for goodness sakes, he has no moral authority to be telling us anything about right or wrong.

And, holding up Eugene as a paragon of virture after his perversion of the law for years is just - wrong.

I have disliked every whiny character on this show for the longest time. I had, in fact, cancelled my SP - until I heard James Spader was on. I gave it another shot, and I absolutely adore the James Spader character, and I am hoping the new show will not EVER have any of the old characters on.

I also hope it remains politically neutral. I will cancel the SP if they continue to lecture me like this show has been doing.

Posted by: daperlman

quote:
Originally posted by justapixel

I also hope it remains politically neutral. I will cancel the SP if they continue to lecture me like this show has been doing.

I don't even care that they attack Bush at every opportunity (especially the whole erosion of our civil right's thing ). But in this instance; the speech was so irrelevant it was almost surreal.

They even bashed Bill Bennett for gambling (why is gambling immoral again?)???? Fine okay... what does this have to do with Eugene being a judge again. After that long speech I guess we were supposed to learn 2 things:
*2 wrongs do make a right
*doing something immoral and maybe illegal is okay for certain causes and reprehensible for others

Posted by: HTH

quote:
Originally posted by daperlman
They even bashed Bill Bennett for gambling (why is gambling immoral again?)????

It is probably more that he writes about virtue while engaging in vice.

Posted by: Wheens

quote:
Originally posted by HTH
It is probably more that he writes about virtue while engaging in vice.

Common misconception. Bennett didn't write the "Book of Virtues". He compiled and edited it. It is a wide ranging collection of what others have said.

Posted by: Peter000

Well, in this day and age morality is a grey area. At least Kelly is taking a stand on what he believes. He has the absolute right to do that. If you ever get a TV show, you'll have the same opportunity. :) I'm not saying it does him any good to do that, probably the opposite. Even I, who generally agrees with what he was saying, felt it was over the top, and the wrong time for that diatribe. They've been having problems with that lately... linking up political diatribes with the wrong situation (The woman who slugged the cop, for example. What was up with that defense? Who's NOT going to convict her?)

The point of Bobby's speech was that Eugene's moral code was pretty straightforward. What you see is what you get. Especially in comparison to what else is going on in the world.

The question of the Death Penalty was purely hypothetical. There is no death penalty in that jurisdiction. So the question was kind of moot anyway.

Nobody's mentioned Jimmy the Grunt yet! :) I like where he's ending up. Perfect place. I don't need to see any more of it though. I'm glad there's only one episdode of this season left... I'm ready to move on.

Posted by: rtype

Umm... wait a minute.

Is a judge obligated to enforce the maximum penalty alotted him? I thought sentencing was something within the control of the courts. If the law says you can fine someone between 25 cents and 8 million dollars, and you ask a judge if he would ever fine someone 8 million dollars, he's obligated to say yes?

I don't know that a judge who doesn't enforce the death penalty is choosing not to uphold the law. Maybe I really don't understand but I'd be glad to have someone here explain to me what I'm missing.

Posted by: Rob Helmerichs

I believe in death penalty cases, it's the jury that decides whether the penalty should be imposed. The judge can overturn the decision, but if he refuses ever to uphold a lawful decision on the part of the jury, I can see where there might be a problem...

Posted by: barrettd

My problem with Eugene saying he would not enforce the death penalty is that he's pre-judging every case he might ever hear as a judge. I would think a judge should consider each and every case as the evidence and arguments are presented.

BD

Posted by: rtype

quote:
Originally posted by barrettd
My problem with Eugene saying he would not enforce the death penalty is that he's pre-judging every case he might ever hear as a judge. I would think a judge should consider each and every case as the evidence and arguments are presented.

BD

His argument against enforcing it (namely that it is irreversible) WOULD preclude any possible case. The sentence is irreversible no matter how horrible the crime or how compelling the evidence.

I'm not arguing for or against the death penalty--I'm only defending his logic.

Posted by: Rob Helmerichs

quote:
Originally posted by rtype
His argument against enforcing it (namely that it is irreversible) WOULD preclude any possible case. The sentence is irreversible no matter how horrible the crime or how compelling the evidence.

I'm not arguing for or against the death penalty--I'm only defending his logic.

But the problem is, a judge is supposed to uphold the law, and if the death penalty were to become the law, Eugene flatout said that he would not enforce it.

I see no way that he COULD be confirmed under those circumstances.

Posted by: rtype

quote:
Originally posted by Medieval Guy
But the problem is, a judge is supposed to uphold the law, and if the death penalty were to become the law, Eugene flatout said that he would not enforce it.

I see no way that he COULD be confirmed under those circumstances.

That is a seperate argument from barret's post--it's what I'd commented on earlier in the thread and am still not sure of. I still don't know that a judge has a legal obligation to utilizes the harshest sentence. I'd like to know the answer to it, but I may be looking in the wrong place by asking in a tv show thread.

Posted by: efilippi

quote:
Originally posted by rtype
but I may be looking in the wrong place by asking in a tv show thread.

Well! That may be the most insulting thing I have ever heard on this forum. We do know everything. Don't we?:D

Posted by: Rob Helmerichs

quote:
Originally posted by rtype
That is a seperate argument from barret's post--it's what I'd commented on earlier in the thread and am still not sure of. I still don't know that a judge has a legal obligation to utilizes the harshest sentence. I'd like to know the answer to it, but I may be looking in the wrong place by asking in a tv show thread.

When a judge sentences somebody, there are guidelines, and he may or may not HAVE to fall within that range, depending on the law in his jurisdiction.

But the issue here is the death penalty, and I'm pretty sure judges do not impose the death penalty, juries do. It is up to the judge to accept the verdict, or if he feels it is not fair in this particular case, he can overturn it (although that can be appealed). But if a judge will never apply the death penalty, then he is not upholding the law in a jurisdiction that has the death penalty.

In cases where judges do have sentencing authority, they obviously do not have to apply the harshest possible penalty (except for rare exceptions like the Three Strikes law). Capital cases don't fall into that category (there's no crime for which the penalty is "ten years to death").

Posted by: torre39601

The one thing the speech did was show why this season (the speech aside) was good and why last season was so bad.

Posted by: tgr131

Who plays Sally? She certainly has enough jiggle to go around. Now, back to your regularly scheduled insightful analysis. :))

Posted by: porges

Sally is Lake Bell, previous seen on Miss Match as "the pal".

Posted by: Peter000

quote:
Originally posted by Medieval Guy
But the problem is, a judge is supposed to uphold the law, and if the death penalty were to become the law, Eugene flatout said that he would not enforce it.

I see no way that he COULD be confirmed under those circumstances.

Well, yeah if it were law at the time he was in contention for the judgeship, I don't see how he would have been confirmed. But it didn't even seem close to becoming a law in that episode, so the committee probably thought it was a non-issue at that point, compared to the fact that he was qualified in other areas, and was a minority.

And I don't know how cases are assigned to judges, but couldn't they just not give him any cases where the death penalty is on the table?

Posted by: efilippi

quote:
Originally posted by Peter000

And I don't know how cases are assigned to judges, but couldn't they just not give him any cases where the death penalty is on the table?

Why make special efforts for this guy? He says that he is above the law. End of story. Don't hire him.

Posted by: DreadPirateRob

A few comments:

-- There are typically sentencing guidelines that judges are to follow. They used to be more or less suggestions, but in recent years the tough-on-crime movement has resulted in most sentencing guidelines becoming mandatory (at least it has in CA). However, Rob was correct in re the deathg penalty - if the penalty is death, then only a jury is going to decide that. Judges are not part of that equation. There are all sorts of special filing requirements, and there are only a few enumerated offenses for which that penalty is an option.

-- I found Eugene's (and thus Kelley's) speechifying highly contradictory, so much so that it was amusing. One moment he's railing against judges who inject their own biases into cases, who are afraid to follow the law because of their own moral/ethical differences, and the next he states that if the death penalty was the law in MA, that he would not follow it because he is morally opposed to it. Say what?

-- Bobby's speech was typical, and a bit tiresome. At least Kelley made the effort to appear non-partisan (he did, afterall include Clinton in his list of complaints), but his bias is overwhelming.

Posted by: smak

When Lake Bell was on Miss Match, they didn't "let her loose", because they didn't want her to upstage Alicia Silverstone. I'm glad she's gotten a second chance.

Is it me, or can Denny Crane say a whole sentence in "DENNY CRANE".

DENNY CRANE can mean, "Hello, how are you, my name is Denny Crane" or it can mean, "I did a great job in getting this firm this SUV case" or a miriad of other things.

-smak-

Posted by: vman41

quote:
Originally posted by smak
Is it me, or can Denny Crane say a whole sentence in "DENNY CRANE".

<MasterThespian>
Acting!
</MasterThespian>

Posted by: rtype

quote:
Originally posted by vman41
<MasterThespian>
Acting!
</MasterThespian>

You know, it's funny because when I was watching this last episode, I was thinking about how "Denny Crane" seemed like an XML tag. Maybe it isn't arrogance... maybe he just believes that XML Web Services is the only way to effectively communicate between completely different groups of people... no wait, that's arrogance. Hmm. </DennyCrane!>