The Shallow End
I saw about two minutes of the premiere of the Deep End last night. I'm not much of a prime time guru, but I thought it was terrible. So did a newly minted BigLaw associate, who requested a post:
So I think you should post something on N&B re: the Deep End, because it seems like a lot of us newbies were morbidly drawn to watch, and there is something really hilarious about a show about first-year associates at a biglaw firm premiering the week many first years started work after months of deferral, in an economy where lawyers have been laid off by the score. My expectations were very low, but the Deep End was really, really, awful. In an age where nearly every man, woman, and child in America is a lawyer, I'm kind of in awe of a show that doesn't even pretend to have a veneer of accuracy (like the guy who tells his colleague he got her filing in by sweet talking the bailiff -- I'll tell you where the bailiff would file something you gave him/her, and it wouldn't be somewhere that would stamp it "docketed"). A number of teachable moments for J. Steele though.Open forum for other observations.
IMO most implausible elements of last night's show were: 1) lawyers with mobile phones that ring; 2) an associate saying she graduated first in her class from Case Western, like that was a good thing; and 3) attractive paralegals.
posted by Patrick Bageant at 11:20 AM
17 Comments:
Paralegals at my firm are smoking hot. Sorry you cannot say the same.
NYTimes review here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/arts/television/21deep.html
I miss Boston Legal.
I'll take first-in-their-class at virtually any law school over whatever "P"-riding whiner wrote this. First in their class at Case Western was probably working hard last night rather than watching TV and overinflating their ego because they scored two points higher on the LSAT than someone else.
Not me. But then, I know who wrote it.
I could only manage five or ten minutes before I had to turn it off, but the most ridiculous moments in that short period were:
1. Guy shows up to work 10 days late and nobody from the office had contacted him, nor had he received ANYTHING other than a single letter (that didn't CC the other starting attorneys) stating his start date. And he brought that letter with him.
2. Same guy gets put on a pro bono case on his first day (plausible), but then meets with the client that same day, by himself, at her office, after reviewing her entire case record, making a conclusion that she will lose, tells her that, then promises that she will win. Ummm. And, oh yah, he is in charge of the entire case.
3. The super lame interviews at the beginning, culminating in a horrendous monologue by the partner.
4. Pretty much everything.
I was actually going to do a write-up on this, but maybe I'll save it for next week. A WEEKLY FEATURE (for the three weeks this pile of garbage is still on the air).
In the meantime, my favorite parts:
1) The numerous awkard insertions of the show's title into the dialogue, especially when they threw the male lead into the pool with his suit on (something that NEVER happens on TV shows) and then said, "We just threw you into THE DEEP END," which is probably the most natural thing anyone would say after doing that.
2) The show's hilarious inability to delay its own gratification. Every plot thread was set-up and knocked down in three or less short scenes, allowing them to work in like 8 separate plot lines and allow us to care about exactly zero. Best example of this: the hot paralegal. First scene: she makes a fruedian slip and calls the guy hot, but quickly reminds us that she has a boyfriend. Second scene: She casually mentions that she and her BF are on the outs in a conversation having NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT with a person she JUST BARELY MET. Third scene: she broke up with her borfiend, and by the end of the episode, she's had sex with the new guy.
This show is like "Man, FUCK dramatic tension! We all know where this is going. Full speed ahead!"
3) The part where one a "top of her class" graduate of one of the "best law schools in the country" who beat out "thousands of applicants" for her job gets stopped at a security gate, and her solution is to JUST RUN STRAIGHT THROUGH INTO ARMED GUARDS!
Also, apparently Los Angeles doesn't e-file? Walking to court every day seems like a good use of billable hours.
4) We are supposed to understand that the Stanford grad has an evil father because he made her pay for dinner? WHAT A MONSTER!
5) Throughout the whole episode, I couldn't help but think this was a really unfortunate time to debut a show about the "problems" of wealthy lawyers.
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*"three or FEWER." Sorry, nerds.
Agree, totally awful. Although let's keep in mind that it can't be realistic because who wants to watch people sit in their offices, write emails, and review documents. It's boring enough doing it, forget about watching someone do it.
So they need to be able to take some creative license here. For example, I'm not so bothered by the "no e-filing" thing because really, filing and tight deadlines used to be way more exciting when some bike messenger in a ripped shirt and shinguards is in charge of getting your brief to the courthouse by 5 pm. Way more exciting than gathering around the secretary as she converts the document into PDF and uploads it, that's for sure.
But the baliff filing the thing, yeah, that's just bad fact-checking.
Well, even if they do want to have some kind of dramatic filing moment, they already have a paralegal character. Make her do it.
See, you would think that having attorneys shuffle back and forth to court every day is not a good use of the billable hour. I actually don't find that unrealistic either, and can think of many more abuses of the billable hour that actually happen at big law firms every day.
I find this show to be quite realistic. I regularly have sex with the secretaries in the office and then eat cupcakes.
Has reality TV really ruined society to the point that we expect our dramas to be realistic (and subsequently unbelievably boring)? If you want realism and fact-checking, watch the Jersey Shore.
I just wanna see Snooki get punched in the face again.
Most unbelieveable moments to me (a second year associate):
1. You have a brief due the next day. What do you do? YOU GO TO A BAR???
2. Sharing an office in California?
3. A law review note having anything to do with an actual case.
4. A firm comprised of 3 partners, a senior associate, and 5 first years.
5. A threat from opposing counsel about your client's money running out when it's a PRO BONO case.
6. Having to run after a moving cart of food to get lunch.
Things that were disturbingly realistic:
1. Complaining about how much work you have to do instead of doing it.
2. The senior associate in LA's attitude and car. (It reminded me of a callback I did in LA.)
3. The student loan debt remarks.
Actually, for civil cases in LA Superior, you have to file at the window. I have put briefs in the hands of messengers who have to be at the window by 4.
1) The blond girl running the entire transition of power between father and son.
2) Already said, but the lawyer tough-talking the newbie about running out of money.
3) Billy Zane sitting in on a meeting where he is not counsel, solely to intimidate the newbie and confirm that the firm has no scruples about conflicts, and then being unprepared when newbie flips the script.
4) If only lawyers had that much sex with clients, paralegals, co-workers, and pretty much anyone they shouldn't have sex with.
And, leaving aside the inaccuracies that only lawyers will think about anyway, I just plain hate one more show souring the public's impression of lawyering.
This show is gone after six episodes.
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