Sadie Ellis (Katherine Heigl) is a tough New York defense lawyer working for her mentor Isaiah Roth (Elliott Gould). He took care of her after failing to keep her mother Carolyn Rice (Judith Light) out of prison when she was two. Sadie is in love with her pediatric surgeon client Billy Brennan (Steven Pasquale) who is being prosecuted for the murder of his girlfriend 24 years ago. Albert Cobb (Dulé Hill) and Cameron Wirth (Laverne Cox) are fellow associate lawyers. Tiffany Simon (Dreama Walker) is a junior associate. Nick Brady (Kobi Libii) is the ex-con recent law graduate desperate to work for Roth. Lucy Alexander (Lauren Blumenfeld) is the bad assistant.
Wow! That was quick. I'm not saying this is a particularly good show. It has plenty of solid actors trying to get their footing. It seems to be straddling both serious and more quirky turns. It has the potential of figuring it out. The doubt about Brennan's guilt could be compelling. It's worth a look but it couldn't get a good audience. The main problem is probably Heigl.
She has had difficulties since leaving Grey's Anatomy. I don't think people like her. She is a try-hard Type-A personality woman and that rubs many the wrong way. I look back to her most successful role in Knocked Up which uses her persona to the movie's advantage. She may not like it but she needs a schlubby guy who both infuriates and be her better half. It's a terribly trope but one that works all too often. She has tried almost every other way and it hasn't worked. Maybe a villain would work.
***** addition *****
After finishing the final burn off episodes, the show improves markedly after some stumbles in the first few episodes. The clunky comedic attempts are fazed out. Billy Brennan's case could go more back and forth but it does end with a nice cliffhanger. Overall, the show finds its footing after its quick cancellation.
