Now that Law & Order is off to greener pastures, there’s a void in the fall TV schedule for courtroom-drama aficionados. Enter: The Whole Truth. It’s basically your standard we’ll-finish-any-case-by-minute-59 procedural, with Maura Tierney and Rob Morrow playing rival lawyers almost always on opposite sides of the courtroom (Every courtroom. Seriously, are there no other lawyers in Manhattan?). In the pilot, a high school teacher was on trial for the murder of one of his ESL students. There were hate crime allegations, cell-phone sex tapes, and a reference to Clint Eastwood’s Magnum Force. Ah, where to begin?
Kathryn Pearle (Tierney) and Jimmy Brogan (Morrow) are also opposites in every other possible way. She’s a heartless workaholic (“I love the law. It is the only thing I’m good at.”) toiling tirelessly at the District Attorney’s office, while he’s a slacker-turned-cocky-defense-lawyer working for a successful Manhattan firm (whose offices contain a pool table). There was a lot of effort in establishing just how different these two are, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt hoping it’s all exposition for their eventual “opposites attract” romance (or a revelation of their previous one?).
For the first half hour, the chronology leading up to the trial repeated itself as we saw preparations for the case from both the prosecution and the defense. I liked this approach, and the information obtained by each side led me to reevaluate my stance on the case, but it also had me wondering: Do the opposing sides in a major trial normally call one another back and forth with vague threats made up of bad puns involving the race of the victim? (Jimmy: “Your Virgin Mary is looking like a Hail Mary” What?).
Kathryn’s hard demeanor was difficult to take (she took her coworker to a shooting range to unwind, because that’s how tough these prosecutors are, people!), yet when Jimmy called her an “over-caffeinated grind doing the government’s dirty work,” I couldn’t help but laugh because he seemed as if he had just gulped down the contents of an entire Starbucks (and I know my caffeine intake). Yes, Morrow is cute and charming, but his Jimmy is like an overgrown child. Like when he attempted to prove he hadn’t sold out, he wore red sneakers to court along with three days’ worth of beard (not that I’m complaining). He’s also the guy who tosses around a plush mini basketball in meetings (a la Matthew McConaughey in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days), and he shouts out random pump-up phrases, which include: “Rock ‘n roll!” “Let’s rock it!” and the clear winner: “Mama mia that’s good pizza!”
The Whole Truth is an appealing option for those who can’t get enough twisted legal drama, or need something to fill the the 10 p.m. hour on Wednesdays. I wonder how this two-sides-to-every-story approach will hold up after a few episodes, though, and how long we’ll have to wait until we get to the juicy relationship. (I’m thinking that Jimmy and Kathryn were…married?)
Did you watch The Whole Truth? Does it have the potential to make it onto your list of favorite legal dramas? And were you happy to see Maura Tierney return to television? Sound off below!
Related:
To find out how The Whole Truth did in the ratings, check out Lynette Rice’s ratings report in Hollywood Insider.
It was an okay pilot. Not bad but not outstanding either. The characters were the main premise of the hour. Understanding who they are and how they operate. That to me was important, the ending was what sealed it for me. That last reveal made me want to see more. I will be tuning in, this show will get better I just know as far as quality goes. It needs a chance to really flesh everything out. Give it a few more episodes and these characters will be everything you wanted from a law show.
I agree with you 100% it was A awesome pilot that I really enjoyed.
Did anyone notice the two scenes in the pilot were shown twice? The call from Tierney to Morrow that she was adding a hate crime charge was in two different scenes. And the call regarding the fight video was also in to different scenes. Where was the editing?
If you rewatch carefully, you’ll find that those are not ‘repeated’ scenes as the camera angles are different. It’s a cinematic device designed to give us, the viewing audience, a sense of time perspective.
We see a chunk of prosecution, Kate speaks to Jimmy.
We see a chunk of defense, show Jimmy and Kate having that conversation from his point of view.
Now the viewer knows that they are at the same point in time.
So, just have patience with the scenes. They’re there for a reason.
Thrilled to have Maura Tierney back. Sad that it was in this. It just wasn’t very good. I’ll continue to watch for as long as it is on, but I can’t help but feel she deserves a better show. Don’t hate on me for saying that.
I feel the same way, I love her, but the show felt like a bad imitation of Law and Order
I honestly think they show will get better.
Given it’s ratings last night. It won’t last long enough to find out their relationship… I will be surprised if it’s not the first or second to be cancelled. Rob I love him, but he needed to tone down the obnoxious tendancies… The question will be if Lonestar will beat it to cancellation. I can’t see how ABC will keep a show given how bad it rated last night. It’s just your average law show… And boring at that….
I loved, loved it…I think it is going to be one of my new favorites…to add to an already huge list of all favorites…
I also agree with you 100% it was awesome.
“She’s a heartless workaholic (“I love the law. It is the only thing I’m good at.”) toiling tirelessly at the District Attorney’s office, while he’s a slacker-turned-cocky-defense-lawyer working for a successful Manhattan firm (whose offices contain a pool table). ”
hmmm i have never seen the pairing of a workaholic woman with a cocky jerk…
I don’t think this series is worthy of Maura Tierney. Rob Morrow seems to be channeling Joel Fleishman’s alterego Jules from Northern Exposure…which is not a good thing.
She deserves better. I think that most everyone is thinking that right.
now*
I definitely am. She’s always great but I’m just so sick of shows about lawyers, doctors and cops.
Totally agree.
I dont see you coming up with something better.
This show is unoriginal! There was another show a few years back called Justice (2006 on Fox) which had the exact premise (as far what really happened in the crime).
I was actually hoping this show was going to be MORE like Justice, with an actual reveal of what happened as they read the verdict. I mean, isn’t THAT the whole truth?
AngieLam18 – They did reveal the “whole truth” when the teacher’s daughter found the crucifix at the end. I was pleased with the sly way they did it and up until that point, was worried we (as the viewers) wouldn’t find out the “whole truth.”
Thanks, Rebecca for that reminder! I knew this show felt like de ja vu all over again! I don’t think Justice lasted more than a few episodes, and I doubt this one will either.
I’m wondering what their past relationship was, as well. They seem a little too familiar w/ eachother… hmmmmm.
Boring and predictable. Terrible writing. Characters we’ve seen too many times before. But those are usually hallmarks of a big hit.
I was really looking forward to seeing Maura acting again, bless her. I really like Rob Morrow also. Great show, I hope it does well.
I turned it off half way through. While I adore Maura, Rob’s acting was so over-the-top obnoxious, it started to grate on me.
I Liked…think it needs a chance to find it’s voice but I think it might have a shot. I like the two sides approach as well and the relationship is interesting.
The ratings were not good at all. Enjoy it while it lasts, ABC won’t keep this around much longer. I think it will easily be beat out by The Defenders and LOLA next week.
I love Maura, but she deserves better than this.
I like Maura, but nothing can beat the Good Wife and there are too many of these shows trying to..And it is not working–It would be better if she had a guest spot on the Good Wife every so often as a goody two shoes. Maura comes across as in this show-It is really kind of boring-sorry