lagilman | Century City

So. The Spousal and I watched the opening scenes, and we both looked at each other and went "nah....." He gave up and went to watch sports. I figured, what the hell, I'll give it a try.

Basically, it's (trying to be) L.A. Law meets Enterprise -- nearish future legal doings, with a human face on the law. Complete with nicely futuristic settings and cases. In this episode, the legislative morality of cloning, and the ups and downs of extreme youth enhancements. And did I mention that it's all very pretty, in a TekWar plastic sort of way? And that it has Hector Elizando? And a young female associate who is a genetically enhanced human? And nifty cool plastic sets?

Points for Hector. Other than that...

Okay, I admit it. I didn't hate it anywhere near as much as I really wanted to. For all the near-future trappings done up by someone who really hasn't throught through what 30 years in the future will really look like, and despite the fact that the plots were way too in-your-face, without any chance to really get to know the characters or have any doubt about how things were going to go (D.B. Wong was the prosecuting attorney. He did the best he could)...

I didn't hate it. And there were moments (as when the judge, in the virtual chamber pre-trial hearing, asked if anyone had been displayed upside down, as though this were a regular screw-up) that I felt showed real potential for, well L.A. Law-like behavior. But they're going to have to settle back and give the plots more time to gel, for the viewers to get the rhythm of the cases, and (hopefully) to set up a couple of story arcs. Otherwise it's going to be Ally McBeal in the 24th and a Half Century, and that's just Bad.