The Practice (Part 2)

Jason Kravits was introduced season four as Assistant District Attorney, Richard Bay. He was Bobby Donnell’s rival for the next two seasons. The audience was originally predisposed to hate Richard Bay; he was continually up against big lawyers like Eleanor Frutt and Bobby Donnell who would call him a midget because of his short stature. He once kicked Eleanor in Judge’s chambers. Richard Bay was devoted to the law and believed he was convicting for all the right reasons. He also had a crush on fellow attorney, Helen Gamble who rejected him on many occasions.

By the end of season five, Bay was in a heated trial prosecuting a man who had connections on the outside. Richard Bay received a death threat from the man he was prosecuting, he thought nothing of it and was eventually assassinated in a parking lot. This was one of the best season finales the show ever delivered, it made you feel saddened, anger and most importantly made you turn against the lead characters that defended the man that was responsible for the death of Bay. I’m not aware of many shows that can do that sort of thing. It shines a pretty ugly spotlight on the characters you’ve rooted for and spent seasons watching.

The show featured some of the best public, open court meltdowns by clients and supposed professional lawyers alike. The dialogue was sharp and spot on. 

I could start to tell that the show started to run on fumes by mid season six, season seven; it became repetitive by this point. How many times can Lindsay defend a killer, only to be stalked weeks after the trial?  You could tell when the show was jumping the shark or phoning it in; I’m looking at you “Man and Superman” episode! By the end of season seven, ABC (which The Practice was broadcast) was making budget cuts, and almost the entire cast was fired.

In 2004, McDermott, Williams, Hamilton, Boyle, and Sokoloff were let go, leaving Harris, Manheim, and Badalucco the only original cast members remaining. Then when you think they’ve finally run out of ideas and they’re dead in the water, The Practice came back kicking with a fucking brilliant final season.

This is when THE JAMES SPADER came into creation as the ethically challenged Alan Shore. Shore had no remorse; he would blackmail, hack into personal email accounts, impersonate airline executives, extort, and resort to bribery. Eleanor, one of Alan’s best friends called him self-destructive. He was on a dark path and unknowingly taking the entire firm down with him.  The show shifts its focus almost entirely on this new character, leaving the original cast members to almost fade into the background. Alan Shore monopolised the firm in his big murder trial, he would come to blows with Jimmy on more than one occasion.

Although Alan Shore is a despicable character, the writing and performance by Spader make you love him. The show turns the tables on the original characters and makes you nearly despise them for continually undermining Shore’s unethical acts. Alan Shore brings in a lot of business and is eventually fired by Eugene for his questionable actions while working for the firm. Needless to say, Shore takes the firm for everything they have with the help of Denny Crane played by the larger than life, William Shatner. Alan Shore is later featured in the very different comedy/drama spinoff, Boston Legal,  which I will inevitably discuss on this blog.

Season Eight has to be one of the best TV seasons I’ve ever seen, for a final season, this does not disappoint. Season Eight has to be saluted for reinventing the show completely and starting fresh, while still continuing threads from previous seasons.  It delivers on story, drama, comedy provides rich characters, and does something different from previous seasons. All characters are given a great send off and pretty much every loose end is tied.