S01.E01: Seven Days a Week and Twice on Sunday

[AnimeMania]

Attorney Ted Black and partner Stuart Lane are about to merge with a firm run by Ted's ex; associates Rick and Erica vie for positions in the firm, but when the merger hits a snag, Ted, a former prosecutor, must step into a role he holds in contempt.

Premiere Date: February 23, 2025      NBC    9 pm

John Amos as himself 

Matt Letscher as Mr. Black

Carson A. Egan as Eddie Black

 

Stephen Amell as Ted Black 

Josh McDermitt as Stuart Lane 

Bryan Greenberg as Rick Dodsen 

Lex Scott Davis as Erica Rollins

Azita Ghanizada as Roslyn

[DanaK]

I’m not sure if I like this or not. Everybody is too tense and/or hard charging and making me tense watching it. I’ll see how the second episode goes before I decide if I’m going to continue with it

The brother with Down’s Syndrome we saw with Ted through the episode, was that the brother that Ted said to his father that he blamed him for allowing to be killed years ago? So Ted was just imagining him? If so, that’s too bad as I liked him and he humanized Ted somewhat

Edited February 24 by DanaK

[AntFTW]

Umm… not gonna lie, I was confused as fuck trying to understand what was going on at first. A lot of moving parts in this first episode.

[Gregg247]

I never watched the original Suits on USA back in the day, but I really liked this one.  I got a real "L.A. Law" vibe from the show - a lot of confident, competent, hard-working lawyers getting things done.  I had no idea that the law firm was going to implode 15 minutes in, so I really got drawn into the drama pretty quickly.

A couple of weeks ago, I watched the first episode of "Watson", which was full of exposition and long, lingering camera shots as characters thoughtfully pondered their next moves.  This show was completely different!  No lingering, no pondering, just fast action and the barest (and I do mean barest) amount of hints about who these people are and why they're running around all over the place.  It was a fast hour! LOL

One thing that I didn't care for, though, is the fact that nobody on this show walks; they strut.  They strut into somebody's office, circle the other person, and immediately start with the "too-cool-for-school" Hollywood snappy patter - fast talking, no coming up for air, no hesitation.  It's like they already know what the other person is going to say and they just can't wait to get their line out ASAP.  Not very realistic.  I kept hoping that someone would just stand there, take a long pause, and begin talking very ssslllooowwwlllyyy.  I think the entire show would have tilted on its axis as everyone's timing would be completely thrown off!

Cool that Reverse-Flash played Arrow's Dad in the episode!  

[AntFTW]

2 minutes ago, Gregg247 said:

I had no idea that the law firm was going to implode 15 minutes in

That’s the part that had me like “what??? What did I miss? They were just talking about a merger and double the size of the firm? And then they went to dinner?”

I really thought I missed something.

7 minutes ago, Gregg247 said:

One thing that I didn't care for, though, is the fact that nobody on this show walks; they strut.  They strut into somebody's office, circle the other person, and immediately start with the "too-cool-for-school" Hollywood snappy patter - fast talking, no coming up for air, no hesitation. 

The original Suits was the same way.

[baldryanr]

6 hours ago, AntFTW said:

The original Suits was the same way.

Especially with Harvey, but yeah - everyone was a cocky asshole at least some of the time.

[Kmr]

Didn’t watch the original series but decided to give this a try. I liked it. It definitely has its flaws but overall it’s entertaining.

Boy Stephen Amnell has a thing for characters with daddy issues. Three straight series that he is the lead in with daddy issues.

Not sure I understand the reasoning behind leaving one boss who makes off hand mean comments to another boss who says the same thing. I don’t know the guy comes off as one of those people who have a false sense of morality.

Though will need to give him and the other characters more time since didn’t get enough of a feel for them since this was focused on SA’s character.

[DearEvette]

This show feels like it is trying very hard to lean into being the snappy, smart, glossy inheritor of Suits+LA LAW.  Not just that is what it is, but it is being deliberate and calculated about which in turn make me feel cynical about watching it.

There is also almost too much going on... the flashbacks, the daddy issues, the betrayals, the competition, the shifting power dynamics, the inner conflicted-ness of everyone! 

With the debut of the new soap opera Beyond the Gates today, it had me thinking about the great Doug Marland who was the head writer for As The World Turns.  He was very much lauded as a great storyteller in a medium that had to juggle lots of stories relentlessly.  He had a set of rules that drove how he approached writing. One of them was to introduce your characters with care  so people can get to know them and care about them, good or bad.  This show does not do that.  I don't know and don't care about any of these people. 

I especially rolled my eyes at the younger, white guy lawyer who seems be Steve Amell's protege.  They seem to be setting him up as some great moral center and has him speechifying to everyone about their flaws.  Spare me.

I will say there were two instances that I did appreciate:

One was the pro bono lawyer who let Steve Amell's character know he had absolutely no leverage on her.  It was the way the scene played out that I loved. He was so cock sure and she was so over it and cooly delivered her truth to him. I loved seeing him knocked back.

Second was how the black lady in the green sweater (Erica?) seemed to be two steps ahead of her assistant and then Steve Amell again when it came to issues of trust.  She already had her ducks in a row.

I dunno.  I might revisit this again when it settles into itself a bit.  For now it feels a little too, too much.

[edhopper]

I get they are setting it up so Steven Amell starts on top of the world and then has the rug pulled out from him. Making a hot Hollywood lawyer the underdog.

But does everyone have to be so thin skinned and butthurt. It seems his partner of 10 years screwed him over because he said something nasty. They work in LA, no one ever told them off before?

[Infie]

I liked it.  Stuart bailing on them was unexpected and I do like surprises. 

The fascination that writers have with forgiving your parents for unforgivable things is absolute horse hooey though, and I am sick to death of that whole argument.  You DON'T need to forgive your parents to heal your wounds, and blood relatives don't have a magical get out of bad behaviour card just because of DNA.  

Stephen is doing a good job here - it's clear that Ted has a lot of rage and that he is a rocky personality.  I'm looking forward to seeing more. 

[AntFTW]

21 hours ago, DanaK said:

The brother with Down’s Syndrome we saw with Ted through the episode, was that the brother that Ted said to his father that he blamed him for allowing to be killed years ago?

Yes, and I just caught that on rewatch. Eddie is the brother with Down Syndrome, and the father supposedly let someone kill Eddie. Now I'm questioning did Eddie ever move out to LA with Stuart.

[Good Queen Jane]

I’m sorry that Eddie turned out to be a memory ghost. It would have been interesting to see a high powered, cutthroat character show his softer side in dealing with his brother.

 

[blackwing]

I watched most of the original Suits, can't remember when or why I stopped, I think it might have been when Patrick J. Adams and Meghan Markle left.  I watched this show because of Stephen Amell and because I was hoping for some of the original camaraderie of Harvey and Mike.  I really thought the show was building to that by giving us either Ted/Stuart or Ted/Rick, but alas.

I like the vibe of this show so I'm going to give it a chance.  If Stuart and Rick are now in the merged firm with Ted's ex-girlfriend and yet they are still lead actors on this show, how is this going to work?  Is Ted's firm going to go up against Stuart's firm in every single case or client?  Because that would be too much to be believed, that of all the law firms in L.A., these two firms are the only ones battling against each other every single week.  Or are we going to follow both firms separately?

Question... in that entire firm, Ted and Stuart were the only equity partners?  How come none of the other partners got a vote?  And it seems unrealistic that all of them would have left Ted.  The old guy that Ted met by old guy's pool, was that Lifkits?  One of the three attorneys that Ted was trying to get back?  Why wouldn't Lifkits have had a conversation with Ted beforehand?

Rick looks like he is in his 40s, how was he not a partner already?  Rick and Erica were competing to be Head of Entertainment Law when neither of them were even partners?  Who was the current head, was that Rick or another partner?

On 2/23/2025 at 11:36 PM, AntFTW said:

Umm… not gonna lie, I was confused as fuck trying to understand what was going on at first. A lot of moving parts in this first episode.

Same.  Maybe I am just getting old, but did new TV shows always start like this?  With this show and "Grosse Pointe Garden Society", I feel like we were just dropped in midway through the story and expected to scramble to try and catch up to figure out who the hell everyone is and exactly what on earth is going on.

Also, no mention of any connection with the firm on the original Suits.  For some reason, I thought the firm here was going to be the L.A. office of the original firm, or that there was going to be some kind of connection.  I kept waiting for it to be revealed and it never was.

They were talking about a merger, I thought maybe it was going to be a merger with Harvey's firm.

On 2/24/2025 at 3:36 PM, edhopper said:

But does everyone have to be so thin skinned and butthurt. It seems his partner of 10 years screwed him over because he said something nasty. They work in LA, no one ever told them off before?

This.  Stuart and Ted were good friends and seemed to have a great relationship.  When they went out to dinner and Ted didn't want to be seen by George Clooney, that was hilarious.  They seemed like best friends who would take a bullet for each other.  And then we find out that Stuart sold Ted out because Ted called him a "flea" in the merger negotiations?  I don't get it at all.  As a criminal defence attorney, shouldn't Stuart have had thicker skin?

On 2/23/2025 at 10:42 PM, DanaK said:

The brother with Down’s Syndrome we saw with Ted through the episode, was that the brother that Ted said to his father that he blamed him for allowing to be killed years ago? So Ted was just imagining him? If so, that’s too bad as I liked him and he humanized Ted somewhat

On 2/24/2025 at 7:56 PM, AntFTW said:

Yes, and I just caught that on rewatch. Eddie is the brother with Down Syndrome, and the father supposedly let someone kill Eddie. Now I'm questioning did Eddie ever move out to LA with Stuart.

I think Eddie died in New York (or wherever Ted was originally from).  I don't think Eddie ever moved to L.A., he seemed to have died at age 17, the age he was in the photo and the flashback.  It's why Eddie hasn't aged but Ted has aged 30 years.

Not sure what Ted meant by his father "allowing" Eddie to be killed, that sounds awful.  It's no wonder why Ted feels the way he feels about his dad, I'm wondering if his assistant knows the whole story.

[Attatude]

What a confusing mess.  The original Suits had characters I loved from the beginning. Ted is no Harvey. There are no friends, no real connections.  All I saw were a bunch of asshats posturing to be top dog.  The show needs a Donna.  I admit, I thought his brother didn’t age. When I found out he died it was all too much.  They didn’t even have the original show music from the commercials. It is too slick, too confusing, too angry. I will give it a few weeks before I pull the plug. Maybe the pilot was just bad.