Shark: Pilot Episode
Shark is a series built of clichés, from the title on down. I’m sure the producers probably wanted to name the lead character Sebastian Shark. Thankfully, they stopped short of that and went for Stark instead.
The show starts with Stark in court where he gets a client who’s accused of attempting to murder his wife off scot-free. Shortly thereafter, he is shocked to discover that the man has murdered his wife. He clearly has never watched L.A. Law or Boston Legal or … you get the idea. This makes me wonder why Mr Stark has such a high reputation. He’s defending a guy who’s accused of attempted murder and the supposed victim is on the side of the defence! Some hotshot lawyer, I could probably have got him off.
After spending a month of remorse at home, he’s contacted by the Mayor. He wants him to head up a new high profile prosecution team, under the D.A. played by Jeri Ryan.
Accepting the position, he finds he’s been burdened with the misfits of the District Attorney’s office. For their first case they will be prosecuting a wholesome pop star accused of murder. Early on he gives them his three rules of trial law -
1. Trial is war - second place is death.
2. Truth is relative - pick one that works.
3. In a jury trial, there are only 12 opinions that matter.
It’s soon clear that, while he may now be on the side of the angels, he hasn’t changed his methods.
With the exception of Sarah Carter as Madeline Poe the rest of the group have little presence and appear to have been cast on looks rather than acting ability. Not that Ms Carter isn’t easy on the eye but she also wants attention, while the others seem content to be part of the furniture.
Jeri Ryan is fine in the (at least in this episode) relatively minor role of District Attorney Jessica Devlin. It’s clear from the scenes they have together that the producers are looking for a will they/won’t they kind of sexual chemistry between Stark and Devlin but James Woods is hardly your standard leading man and it doesn’t really come off.
Danielle Panabaker has far more screen time than Ryan. She plays Stark’s daughter Julie who is the object of a custody battle with his ex-wife. It comes as a surprise only to her parents, not the viewers when she decides to stay with her father rather than move to New York with her mother. It’s the relationship with his daughter that’s designed to set this apart from the other legal dramas. Sadly there seems to be little chemistry between the two, but it’s early days yet.
As for the court case, it won’t come as a shock that they win but neither will the surprise twist. Anyone who has seen or read more than a couple of legal thrillers will be predicting the ending from the moment the trial starts.
Given the shows predictability it’s hard to see what attracted a star like James Woods. There isn’t anything to challenge him, in fact his biggest challenge will be keeping the show afloat as he is the sole reason to watch it.
Last season ABC had a similar show (albeit from the other side of the fence) that showed how a star lead doesn’t have to overwhelm a show. Kyle MacLachalan isn’t the actor James Woods is but he worked as part of the ensemble cast in a way that Woods fails to do here. Of course it helped that that show had a cast that weren’t content to be mere set dressing.
If the show survives, it will be down to James Woods but this is my prediction for early cancellation.
