S01.E01: Pilot

[ohjoy]

Quote

Description

Prisoner Aaron Wallace becomes a lawyer, litigating cases for other inmates while fighting to overturn his own wrongful conviction.

Premiere date: February 11, 2020

[ShortyMac]

I really liked it. Aaron is easy to root for, and I look forward to the twists and turns.

[rhys]

I liked it, too. Was cool how the group of prisoners worked together on that fake note for Rodriguez.

[possibilities]

I thought I wouldn't like it, but I liked it. I hope it does well.

[preeya]

I'm in with the hope it doesn't get ridiculous.

Reminds me a little bit of "Proven Innocent" where Kelsey Grammar was the villain DA.

 

[EtheltoTillie]

I actually liked this too, but I’m very disturbed they went with the forged note. That is a disbarrable offense. It was admitted in court that it wasn’t the real note so how did they even let this go?  Who are heir legal advisers?   Also I’m not buying that he’s admitted to the NY bar (I am, FWIW), although this is supposedly based on a true story.  I need more information. 

 You can’t waive in from another state after such a short time, but more important is the problem with the character and fitness component. This would not fly.  People get disbarred when convicted, so they don’t become lawyers while in prison.   ETA: Google reveals that the real-life story is a guy who went to college and law school after getting exonerated, not while in prison.

For example, By coincidence, Marty Tankleff was admitted to the NY bar last week.  This was all over the news.  It wasn’t a slam dunk. He’s the guy who confessed to killing his parents as a teen, recanted immediately, but was convicted anyway, even though it was revealed that the police lied to get the confession. (They told him his father had implicated him on his deathbed.)

His conviction was vacated but he has never been proved absolutely innocent, and the DA wouldn’t pursue any other suspects. So Tankleff graduated from law school, passed the bar, and then had about two years of a fight to get character and fitness approval. 

This is the same problem I had with Suits. The way he obtained admission to the bar just could not happen, so I just couldn’t watch, because then you can’t believe anything else. 

Edited February 13, 2020 by GussieK

[EtheltoTillie]

38 minutes ago, preeya said:

I'm in with the hope it doesn't get ridiculous.

Reminds me a little bit of "Proven Innocent" where Kelsey Grammar was the villain DA.

 

It already is ridiculous (see my previous comment). Oh, well. 

[Evagirl]

It's television folks.  It's entertainment.  If you get bogged down and throw up your hands about what's realistic and what isn't, shows like Blue Bloods, This Is Us, Bull, New Amsterdam, The Good Doctor, 9-1-1, S.W.A.T., The Rookie and on & on, would never succeed. 

I watch it, go "oh please" when I know something is out of whack, and enjoy the ride.  When it's over I will have forgotten all about it until the next week.

[KaveDweller]

I found the premise a bit too ridiculous to watch. I have watched a lot of unrealistic shows, but for some reason this didn't work for me.

Also, I had a hard time rooting for Aaron when he made the forged note. I know when he questioned Molly he made a point of asking if they were her words, but he still submitted a piece of evidence he knew was fake. 

I also wasn't clear what he did to go to prison. The flashback made it look like drugs, but do people get life in prison for selling drugs, when it is a first offense (which it seemed to be)?

I'll give it another shot though, pilots are sometimes weird.

[readster]

On 2/14/2020 at 9:49 PM, KaveDweller said:

I also wasn't clear what he did to go to prison. The flashback made it look like drugs, but do people get life in prison for selling drugs, when it is a first offense (which it seemed to be)?

I'll give it another shot though, pilots are sometimes weird.

Seemed like drugs that made even less sense. Especially, when he had a good job and family at home. Then it was: "Send him up the river!" You get 16 year olds who are repeat offenders more leave way. 

[Raja]

On 2/14/2020 at 7:49 PM, KaveDweller said:

I found the premise a bit too ridiculous to watch. I have watched a lot of unrealistic shows, but for some reason this didn't work for me.

Also, I had a hard time rooting for Aaron when he made the forged note. I know when he questioned Molly he made a point of asking if they were her words, but he still submitted a piece of evidence he knew was fake. 

I also wasn't clear what he did to go to prison. The flashback made it look like drugs, but do people get life in prison for selling drugs, when it is a first offense (which it seemed to be)?

I'll give it another shot though, pilots are sometimes weird.

He seemed to have the look of a drug kingpin in the (was it his) club and not a corner boy retail drug vendor. 10 to 20 years ago when the laws in place would have seen the conviction. I don't know about New York specifically but many jurisdictions where handing out life as part of the war on drugs. Trying to get away from its a first offense and probably juvenile defendant since the warrior mentality was in force and you only got one shot at the kingpin. Hence the Super Bowl political ad featuring one of those on a life term resulting from the Kim Kardashian clemency efforts.

 

 

[mostlylurking]

On 2/14/2020 at 10:49 PM, KaveDweller said:

Also, I had a hard time rooting for Aaron when he made the forged note. I know when he questioned Molly he made a point of asking if they were her words, but he still submitted a piece of evidence he knew was fake. 

I also wasn't clear what he did to go to prison. The flashback made it look like drugs, but do people get life in prison for selling drugs, when it is a first offense (which it seemed to be)?

In a normal situation I would be totally against the forged note, but he was being messed with and having his case sabotaged by the DA so I kind of thought it was fair game.  The player, in this case the DA, got played.  I don’t think he will get in trouble for the forgery since he made it look like it got mailed to him.  I did enjoy all the prisoners working together to make the note.

As far as getting life in prison and other completely absurd sentences for a first time drug felony, yes that happens.  Reform of this practice has actually become a pet project of celebrities like Kim Kardashian.

[TV Diva Queen]

He never said it was the actual note.  He had it forged to look like her handwriting to jar the witness - he specifically asked here where the real note was and when questioning her he only said are "do you recognize these words".  It was a total power play.