Raising the Bar: The Complete First Season

Review By: Dan Deevy
DanDeevy@TheCinemaSource.com

Season Grade: B+
DVD Features Grade: A-
Overall Grade: A-

What possible need would the world have for yet another series about lawyers and their lives? Between growing up on L.A. Law (recently revived by a new cable network thank you very much for that btw) and now living with the seemingly endless (again thank you) episodes of the Law & Order franchise I couldn’t possibly fathom having enough strength to take on another series where the terms, ‘I object!’ and ‘Move to Strike!’ are passionately utter several times per show.

But alas, my silly preconceived notions have been proven wrong yet again. I foolishly doubted Friday Night Lights, I doubted Enterprise, I even initially doubted Smallville believe it or not - so in my new proud tradition of happily turning complete 180’s... I give you Raising the Bar... my new must see show!

The most important question to be answered here is, ‘in what way is this show different from all of those other legal dramas?’ This one, while far more ‘g-rated’ than other shows on television, is more realistic. I know it’s hard to imagine a show more realistic about the crime and punishment process in our country than Law & Order or C.S.I.; but the truth is those shows have specific stories they want to tell and they navigate their way through the judicial system to tell them. The realism of timing and the flaws inherent in the system itself are often by-passed for the sake of the story. Normally it will take years for cases to find their way into a court room and even longer to be fully prosecuted. But in a single episode of Law & Order a crime is committed, investigated, adjudicated and then reflected upon. I didn’t think the necessary suspension of disbelief when it came to timing would make that much of a difference to me, but as it turns out, it’s a huge deal.

In Raising the Bar a show will begin with a case that is about to be tried but where the person awaiting trial has already been sitting in jail for a year preparing for it. For some reason the added emotional weight of knowing that adds to the stakes of that case. That person’s freedom is really in jeopardy at that point in our minds; especially in the cases where they are eventually found to be innocent.

The show focuses on a small group of young attorneys some from the D.A.’s office who serve as prosecutors for all cases and some from the Public Defenders Office who serve when a defendant cannot afford a lawyer on their own. It goes without saying that they are all incredibly good-looking... I mean, c’mon, it’s still television and of course their personal lives are brought to the fore quiet often and the sexual tension is found just about every where. What isn’t shown however is any of the sex. ...