I haven't had much time lately for TV and movie reviews, so I have
some catching up to do, starting with a new legal drama we began
watching when it premiered in fall 2019, All Rise. It features a brand-new black female judge with a desire to do the right thing and a tendency to stir up trouble.
As All Rise opens
at the start of season 1, it is Judge Lola Carmichael's (played by
Simone Missick) very first day as a judge at the L.A. County Courthouse.
Lola has recently been promoted after working for years in the
prosecutor's office as an attorney. She is a direct, honest woman who
wants to be a fair judge, even to those who are not always treated
fairly by our justice system, which sometimes means doing things that
upset the status quo. Her colleagues are mostly old white guys who are
quite traditional, though her boss is a powerful woman judge named Lisa
Benner, played by Marg Helgenberger. Luckily, Lola is not completely in
unfamiliar territory. Her best friend from law school, Mark (played by
Wilson Bethel), who still works in the prosecutor's office, is usually
in the building and available for secret stairwell conferences when one
of them is struggling with something and texts the other. The show also
features other courthouse regulars, including public defender Emily
Lopez, played by Jessica Camacho, who is always standing up for the
forgotten and disadvantaged; Luke, played by J. Alex Brinson, the
bailiff for Lola's courtroom who is attending law school at night; and
uber-organized Sherri, played by Ruthie Ann Miles, who is Lola's
assistant. The cast is filled out with other courtroom employees, as
well as a rotating cast of attorneys and defendants, as each episode
tackles different case(s). Cases often address hot issues from the real
world, like immigration, cyber crimes, social media, and eco-terrorrism.
There is also some fun stuff interwoven into the plot, like civil
weddings and children's visits, plus some action-packed episodes dealing
with natural disasters, violent defenders, and other kinds of
emergencies.
We've been watching All Rise since
its debut in September and are enjoying it, me probably a bit more than
my husband (I like relationship-driven shows and he prefers more
action!), though he likes it, too. In addition to the different cases in
each episode to keep the show interesting, there are ongoing storylines
about the personal lives of the main characters: Lola's sometimes
volatile relationship with her mother, Mark's strained relationship with
his criminal father, the budding friendship (or more?) between Emily
and Luke, and even a possible romance for coolly efficient Sherri. The
constantly changing plots and themes keep the show fascinating and
evergreen, and I find all of the characters likeable and interesting--I
look forward to spending an hour with them every week. Lola shakes
things up a bit as one of the few women and only person-of-color judge
in that courthouse but is determined to be fair to all and look at
things in new ways, even when it puts her career in jeopardy. Best of
all, in the midst of the drama, issues, and occasional suspense, the
show also has a good sense of humor, a must for us! I think we just have
one episode left to finish season one, but CBS has announced plans to
move forward for a second season. We'll keep watching!
All Rise
is currently airing on CBS on Mondays (just one show left in its
17-episode first season). Right now, the last three episodes are
available for free on the CBS website, and the entire season is still
available (for now) On Demand, if you have cable service. It is also available on Amazon
for $1.99 an episode or $24.99 for the entire season or on CBS All
Access (CBS's own streaming service, which we recently signed up
for)--you can sign up for a free trial week (and binge it!) through this link. After the free trial, the CBS All Access subscription starts at $5.99 per month.
Have you tried All Rise yet? Do you enjoy the legal antics of Lola and the L.A. County Courthouse?
1 comment:
We dont get CBS here but it sounds like a cool show. The bum looking beard guy looks funny.
https://aab-edu.net/
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