Category: Directed by Scott Ellis

All Rise (2019) s02e10 – Georgia

I can’t remember the last time “All Rise” was as good as this episode, which is a problem since it’s not really “All Rise.” It’s “All Rise 2.0,” with Marg Helgenberger in the lead. Simone Missick doesn’t make any appearances—again, given she’s just given birth during a pandemic, you hope it’s for an okay reason (Missick herself, the character’s just not around). So instead it’s about Helgenberger, having learned from working with a powerful Black woman, trying to do better. At the same time she’s just met a new woman—guest star Amy Acker (the Georgia of the title, so you can see how little it has to do with anything else)—and is experiencing real, complete with a meet cute romance for the first time since the show started. And it’s a lot of fun. It’s also occasionally very cheesy. But Helgenberger’s always been stuck with this “not sure she’s actually a good guy” character on the show and it turns out she’s not just a good guy, she’s striving for it.

Now, Helgenberger is just taking the Missick spot, so Wilson Bethel stills gets his own. Only his also involves girlfriend Lindsey Gort and ex-girlfriend, recently unprompted kiss partner Ryan Michelle Bathe. Plus Gort has her own subplot branching off, involving guest star Ray Wise (yay, Ray Wise!), and needing to talk to Bathe about something very important. The very important is one of the episode’s two cliffhangers and the far more amusing one, even if not exactly promising because Gort’s blah. We shall see.

Poor Jessica Camacho gets her subplot folded into Bethel’s as they end up trying a case against each other about eyewitness identification. Oh, and Helgenberger’s hearing the case, and Acker’s giving the judges a seminar on eyewitness identification and its fallibility. Elizabeth Brunner’s script is really tight; it’s her first credit on the show. I hope she’s back. Though it works because treats Helgenberger as protagonist and everyone else as a very supporting, The idea of emphasizing a character each week until they can film regularly and Missick’s back… not a bad one. Though it’s unclear what next episode will be; “All Rise”’s second season has never found its footing, even with the better episodes.

The case is good too. Camacho’s defending Asian guy Robert Wu in a robbery case; white lady Sarah Levy (Oh, my God, Twy! It’s Twyla!) is shop owner, who’s really sure it was him even if she couldn’t possibly have seen his forehead birthmark because they have security camera footage and why won’t anyone think about how hard it’s been for her! I’m not sure if they were intending for Levy to go Full Karen, but it’s kind of amazing. She’s so good at playing egomaniac she better be careful about getting typecast.

Bethel’s got a C plot bracket about the police corruption stuff, which leads to the other cliffhanger. It’s far less promising, but who knows… maybe “All Rise” has finally figured out its second season.

Big maybe. Also ten episodes in is real late, even with lockdown and a new mom lead.

All Rise (2019) s01e13 – What the Bailiff Saw

So it looks like Peter MacNicol is going to be a regular guest star, which is fine. He exudes a lovable, not too problematic old white guy energy as Simone Missick’s new judge pal. He shows up for a single scene, to talk to her about the case she’s got going, then disappears again. I didn’t pay attention to his credit in the titles, unfortunately. “All Rise” could use MacNicol around more, especially as this episode seems to imply the initial overarching stories are winding down.

For example, the first time we get to see Tony Denison lash out at son Wilson Bethel might be the last—no spoilers. Denison’s mad Bethel thinks Denison is a murderer, with Lindsey Gort (who’s rather bad this episode as Denison’s lawyer) tries to calm things. But there are some big signs Denison’s time on the show is coming to a close. Similarly, the show’s pushing off Missick’s absentee husband (Todd Williams) for the rest of the season at least. He’s taking a job in DC to make Trump’s FBI more Black-friendly. Him taking the job comes after he introduces Missick to his white FBI lawyer friends, who are all impressed she stood up to ICE… even though they’d be defending ICE in court. And I’m not sure “All Rise” can really sell a fantasy land where Trump-BI is looking to hire Black agents who want to make justice equitable.

Besides, Williams isn’t very good. He’s bland and he and Missick always seem forced together. They really should’ve casted his part better. A modicum of chemistry would make a big difference.

The trial this episode involves Jessica Camacho defending a teen gang member (Luca Oriel) accused of murder and the D.A. bugs the room where defense attorneys meet with their clients. It kicks up a bunch of dust, including an impassioned scene from Lindsay Mendez about how gang members are people too (the show’s humanist take on it is… well, it doesn’t make up for the FBI absurdities and Mendez’s monologue isn’t great but it is a risky position, especially on CBS) and then J. Alex Brison coming down on the wrong side of the issue for girlfriend Camacho.

Not one of the show’s better episodes, but the promise of less Gort and maybe no Williams gives me hope for the future. Though I’m going to miss Denison, even if the show never utilized him well.