Have you been wondering if you should watch Your Honor?
Let me try and help you out.
Okay, I get it, it's a Showtime original, and the last time you flipped to that channel was to watch the first few seasons of Shameless. But this show has one special ingredient you should already know about. The man, the myth, the legend...
BRYAN CRANSTON!!
If you weren't aware of this, I'm at a loss. I mean, seriously, do you go on the internet? For now, I'll put aside the fact that I'm a Breaking Bad fanatic who usually urges everyone to watch whatever this amazing actor does. Instead, I'm going to dive right into Your Honor and all the reasons you should be watching--besides Bryan Cranston, of course.
Let's start off with your doubts. It's written by Peter Moffat, who wrote Criminal Justice, which inspired The Night Of. So that detail, paired with the fact that this show has a blue filter slapped over it that could square up with that of Ozark, probably makes you think it's just another dark depressing crime show.
Now you're not entirely wrong. This show takes place in a crime-ridden New Orleans where Bryan Cranston plays Michael Desiato, a well-known judge who bends his ethics in order to give people fair sentences. But the show has a twist that pushes Michael to ask himself how far he will bend his ethics for his own son. I'll give you a quick summary.
In the pilot, we find out Michael has a seventeen-year-old son, Adam. There are only two things you need to know about Adam going into this show: he makes bad decisions, and he has asthma. Within the first ten minutes, we watch as Adam leaves flowers and a picture outside of a convenience store in the Lower Ninth, which we later find out is where his mother was murdered.
This sequence is intercut with Jimmy Baxter, a Scottish mobster who's a real softy around his family. I know how original, but bear with me. It's his son Rocco's seventeenth birthday, so he takes him outside to show him his gift--a motorcycle! Rocco decides to take it for a joy ride because why wouldn't he?
Okay, so after this shit gets REAL. Adam has just left the flowers outside the convenience store but quickly gets into his car after a group of threatening-looking men begin to approach him. He starts to speed down the road, panicking about being in an unsafe area while his gas tank is on E. This anxiety brings on an asthma attack. Now Adam is trying to do everything at once, drive, not run out of gas, and grab his inhaler, all while a menacing black Escalade is following him.
In a bout of bad luck, Adam drops his inhaler, forcing him to take his eyes off the road for a second. Everything's happening so fast, Adam can't breathe, the car is about to break down, and then WHAM. A body flies across the windshield--Rocco Baxter's body. At that point, you can't help but sit there like:
On top of that, Rocco's not even dead yet! He's got a gnarly broken leg, but his ragged breaths show he's hanging on for dear life. Adam runs out of his car and attempts to give this kid CPR--while still having an asthma attack! Rocco's only response is spitting up blood.
Adam grabs Rocco's phone and calls the police, but he still can't breathe, making it impossible to speak. Fear consumes him, and he decides to hang up and drive away, making for a very jarring and enticing hit and run that launches our show into action.
Michael Desiato is still a stand-up guy at this point and takes his son down to the police station to own up to his mistake, that is until he finds out whose son Adam killed. He sees our mafia don Baxter and his grieving wife and realizes if Adam turns himself in, he'll be swimming with the fishes in no time.
This launches Michael into operation cover-up, where he will use his power as a judge and knowledge of the law to help his son get away with this child on child crime. Leading to the central theme of the show, how far would you go to protect your family?
I know. That one's a real thinker.
You’ll be taken on a wild ride as Michael falls further and further down this rabbit hole, descending from upstanding judge to corrupt law enforcement. His dedication to protecting Adam creates a butterfly effect that leads to a wrongful incarceration and a whole lotta death.
Every episode Micheal’s game of chess with his colleagues and the Baxters intensifies as he diverts their attention away from Adam. So naturally, every week you’re like, oh shit, this is definitely the one where he gets caught. Your Honor also illuminates issues in our justice system and how power, money, and race often play a large part in a person's conviction.
That being said, I'm assuming you came here to make a decision, and I'm not going to lie to you, so I'll play devil's advocate. This show is riddled with plot holes, red herrings, and characters making decisions that will make you scream WTF at your TV. Although, I can't say it wasn't entertaining. Plus, it's a mini-series, so if you hate it, you don't have to feel committed to a seven-season twenty-episode endeavor.
The show's taping was also disrupted by our beloved coronavirus, making for choppy scenes and storytelling that felt all over the place at times. I will tell you that this show was the furthest thing from predictable, as the finale literally had me yelling, “HOLY SHIT!”
So no. This is not the best show ever, and it is definitely not in my top ten. But if you're a Bryan Cranston stan, which obviously if you're a normal, intelligent being you are, you should give it a watch. Our man is nominated for a Golden Globe for this role, giving you time to watch it before February 28th. And let's be honest, what else are you doing?
If you want an entertaining show that will keep you on the edge of your seat and where you can watch Bryan Cranston give a stellar performance delivering not so stellar lines, sit your ass down and start bingeing!
Comments