"Shark"
LAPD Blue (2006)

Regisseur:

Rod Holcomb

Drehbuchautoren:

Ian Biederman (creator)
Ian Biederman (written by)

TV-Serie:

"Shark" (2006)

Erstausstrahlung:

28. September 2006 (Staffel 1, Folge 2)

Genre:

Krimi | Drama

Plot:

Stark prosecutes a drug dealer accused of killing an undercover police officer. However, the defense attorney in the case once worked for Stark's old law firm but was fired.

Plot Keywords:

Police Murder | Father Daughter | Trial | Interrogation | Humor

Nutzerkommentare:

Woods vs. Ivanek

Besetzung

James Woods	...	Sebastian Stark
Danielle Panabaker	...	Julie Stark
Sophina Brown	...	Raina Troy
Sarah Carter	...	Madeleine Poe
Alexis Cruz	...	Martin Allende
Sam Page	...	Casey Woodland
Romy Rosemont	...	Margaret Pool
Jeri Ryan	...	Jessica Devlin
Henry Simmons	...	Detective Isaac Wright
Carlos Gómez	...	Mayor Manuel Delgado (as Carlos Gomez)
Rikki Klieman	...	Judge Dana Pearlman
Tom Wright	...	Deputy Police Chief George Martinson
Michael Mantell	...	Norman Elby
Yvonne Delarosa	...	Ana Rodriguez
Brianna Brown	...	Carrie Reed

Länge:

Argentina:60 Min | Germany:44 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch | Spanisch

Farbe:

Farbe

Altersfreigabe:

Argentina:16 | USA:TV-14

Firma:

20th Century Fox Television

Dialogzitate:

Sebastian Stark: My problem is I don't believe in God... and he hates me for it!

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Nimmt Bezug auf "NYPD Blue" (1993)

Soundtrack:

Undiscovered

Woods vs. Ivanek

Whenever the title of a TV series episode is a lame pun on another show, I expect the worst, so despite the fact that I had enjoyed the pilot of Shark, I had reservations about the second episode, as it was, at least nominally, making fun of NYPD Blue. Fortunately, by the end of the show I realized the title was a fit choice, since one of the minor characters in the story is as flawed and troubled as the protagonists of Steven Bochco's essential cop drama.

The character in question is a police officer whose partner was killed during an undercover operation. The prime suspect is a drug dealer, and Stark accepts to prosecute him, only to run into problems almost immediately: first of all, he is on the LAPD's black list (big surprise: he used to get criminals out of jail); furthermore, the evidence incriminating the suspect appears to be fabricated; and just to make things better, it turns out the defense attorney (Zeljko Ivanek), who has never lost a trial before, is a former employee of Stark's...

The formula that was established in the first episode is defined properly in this story: the case is difficult, Stark's staff are appalled by his methods, and his corrosive wit is of great use in court. On a more private level, there's the small matter of his daughter having problems and not being sure whether to trust him or not. As a matter of fact, that's the only weak point of the show: no matter how nice the girl is, the whole can't-trust-the-old-man rubbish has been done, and better, in a dozen other programs. Even for a series as formulaic as Shark, it is one cliché too many.

The legal side of the episode, on the other hand, is brilliant: the drama is handled well, without having the writer indulge in any "tormented cop" stereotypes, and most of the characters are crafted with some degree of depth. Best of all, aside from the main player, is guest star Ivanek: a reliable bad guy on TV (his villainous CV includes Oz, 24 and Lost), he's a perfect choice for playing Stark's unscrupulous disciple, and his interactions with Woods are priceless, mostly because the two actors are essentially competing to see who is the sleaziest lawyer in the room.

In short, not the best thing available on television, but classy and fun nonetheless.