Boston Legal: Fine Young Cannibal

(S03E04) What? Haven't you ever seen a smoking dwarf before?

Gosh, its been awhile since we've seen Alan Shore in the courtroom. Oh, we had a brief appearance of him during the first episode of the season, but he's been pretty quiet since, making room for some of the new people as well as a number of prominent guest stars. So, it was good to see him, along with his 'dreamgirl' Shirley, take on the case of a homeless man charged with cannabilism.

You would think this would be played out for laughs. Oh, there was some humor to it, but it was actually one of the more serious cases in this episode. And Alan took to it with gusto. We even got to see one of his patened closing arguments (his niche, as Shirley would say). In the end, the client wasn't treated as some crazed man, but someone with more dignity than the District Attorney who was prosecuting him.

Oh, that would be District Attorney 'Second Line on the Ballot Come This November' Ginsburg, according to Alan.

And so, another episode of Boston Legal is upon us, and what a very good episode it was. There are very few shows that can do both humor and drama at the same time and be good at it. Scrubs is one example, The Office is another, and Legal is definitely one. I don't think there's been an episode this season where I haven't laughed out loud sever al times in the hour. This week's episode was no exception.

Particularly when it comes to any scene involving Shirley Schmidt, Alan Shore, and/or Denny Crane (in the real world, Candice Bergen, James Spader and William Shatner). I wonder how many times they have to run through their scenes during filming, because it would seem to me that these three probably crack each other up on the set constantly. Especially when there in the same room together. Take for instance this week's scene where Alan and Denny are trying to defend the virtues of battle for the hand of maiden Shirley. There all in the room together: Alan's pontificating and Denny is just giving one of his patented looks. Shirley? Well, Bergen can barely keep the smile off her face.

There's also a very unique sweetness to some of their scenes as well. Take the one where Alan is asking Shirley to give him a try as a sexual partner. First, you don't see many types of 'mature' relationships on television today, which is refreshing in its own right. Second, the honesty that these two characters show during a conversation about, basically, having sex, is just nice. And sweet as well, as you see Alan's genuine affection for his law partner.

Okay, enough talk about those icky relationships. Let's get to the geek moment of the week. It was the scene between the characters played by Armin Shimmerman and Rene Auberjonois. As you all know, these two actors played the roles of Quark and Odo, respectively, on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In this week's episode, you could almost picture them having the same converdation at Quark's bar on the Promenade. Shimmerman, who plays a jude whose wife was murdered, was confrontational to Auberjonois' character, who plays a law partner to Denny Crane. In fact, just watching Auberjonois' mannerisms, and listening to his accusational talk, reminded me of all the times that Odo confronted Quark about something seedy going on. It was a nice addition to the episode.

One more item to talk about before I get to my complaint about this week's show (Yes, I actually have one). Bethany Horowitz should be made a semi-regular. Other than Shirley, Denny has really never had another female foil to play off of. Bethany, also known as 'The Badger' is that foil. She doesn't take Denny's crap for a second and is willing to confront him face-to, er, waistline, to tell him how it is. She's a tough 'little person' and she would make a great addition to the law firm.

All right, here is my complaint. The whole 'Judge Hooper Murder' plotline is taking way too long. It had some serious prominence during the second episode of the season (really, the unofficial start of the third season), and then kind of peter out. We're now into the fact finding of the case, but it needs to be speeded up a bit. It seems like the trial will start in next week's episode. So, at least we'll be coming to some sort of conclusion. I hope.

Finally, I leave you on this note. Do you know what Denny Crane would do if he ever met God? He'd take him fishing. See you next week.