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- Attention all Lawyers: Stop Crying , March 9, 2010
- The Deep End, Part II , January 29, 2010
- The Deep End: ABC’s Vision of a First Year Associate’s Life , January 22, 2010
- Do Law Schools Average LSAT Scores? , December 3, 2009
Infinite Loathing
The Deep End, Part II
The second episode of The Deep End aired last night and whereas the premiere was so bad it was good, this week’s installment was merely mundane.
After watching the last week’s episode, I’d expected that the show might turn into a drinking game, in which after each legal error that a seven year-old could spot one took a shot (though one would probably have died of alcohol poisoning by the first commercial break). However, this week simply built on last week’s ridiculous assumptions and failed to add further hilarity.
New associates are still arguing in court, making out with each other in the firm during business hours, walking around looking harried and yet not really doing anything, and, of course, procuring justice for incredibly complex legal matters in the course of one day. But whereas last week learning of this silliness was somewhat funny, this week we already knew the joke and began to get bored.
Our favorite first-week associates are still doing an amazing amount of business development, this time with Addy landing a client who claimed he wanted assistance incorporating his business. Sadly, it turned out to be a medicinal marijuana depot that shipped the Sterling law firm a large box of their product, only to have the Feds raid the law firm and discover the contraband. But don’t worry. When they threatened to shut down the business, Hart Sterling, the senior partner, “saved the firm” by claiming it was his and was taken away in handcuffs. Right…
It’s not just that is doesn’t really happen that way, as much as it’s just entirely trumped up drama. It doesn’t even seem minimally plausible to a lay person that being unwittingly shipped a box of marijuana by misrepresenting clients could lead to such a circus.
The only jarring part of last night’s episode for me was that they cut to shots of downtown LA’s Stanley Mosk courthouse. From the outside it was the familiar courthouse, but from the inside it was a clean, modern building with potted plants lining the halls. If you want to know how far The Deep End is from the actual practice of law, you should review its depiction of the courthouse interior and then (if you’re lucky enough to be in LA) go down to the actual 110 N. Hill Street and take a stroll through its halls. Suffice it to say, it’s a place no one’s unhappy to leave and couldn’t be further from the TV depiction.
I won’t darken your day rehearsing the utterly ridiculous resolution to the pot saga, but rest assured that all’s well that ends well. Nevertheless, given its lackluster ratings, one expects The Deep End might be close to its own end. And that would be well enough for many of us.
Article by Trent Teti of Blueprint LSAT Preparation
what do you think of drop dead diva…equally implausible?
My favorite part of this episode was the impromptu cheating confession.
“Hey babe, I forgot to tell you that I have been screwing the paralegal.”
“I’m so mad I’m going to awkwardly throw a vase against a wall two feet from my face.”
“Alright, then, back to work.”
“That chick is getting shipped to Montana.”
High drama, indeed.
Lena,
Because I’m male, I don’t really find myself watching Lifetime, and thus wasn’t familiar with Drop Dead Diva before I read your post.
But since you took the time to post, and because I doubted anything could be as implausible as The Deep End, I checked out Drop Dead Diva online.
So, if I understand the basic plot, an aspiring model died but was re-incarnated in the form of what the website called a “plus-size lawyer” who is brilliant, though her physical appearance isn’t as striking…
Yeah… so to answer your question, yes, reincarnation is about as plausible as The Deep End, perhaps more plausible.
But the brief glimpses of law I could find on the website showed a beautiful brick workspace with people working in a large open room, and some fairly attractive people who looked fairly unruffled by life.
Perhaps it’s just TV, but none of these shows do a particularly good job of depicting the drudgery of it all.
Riley,
I was going to pass over that part in silence.
I noticed that she was awkwardly throwing the vase away from him as well, and it seemed to me that they did that because the vase was so heavy she couldn’t throw it far enough to hit him, let alone the wall behind him. It would have been better if she’d thrown it on the floor or something, though.
In any case, I don’t think we’ll be plagued by The Deep End for much longer.
Trent
Could you please do more Lost? What score would Ben get? He seems to be one of the smartest characters (and always has a plan) but can crack under extreme pressure. Thanks.