"The Arsonist" is an episode of "Public Defender" that is seriously flawed in that it takes a very complex problem and makes it seem simple. Likewise, it's far from subtle!
When the show begins, Mr. Higgens is getting arrested for beating his son, Kenny (Dwayne Hickman). Oddly, when the police talk to him, the father offers no explanation and basically says he can do as he wants with the teen! When the Public Defender (Reed Hadley) goes to talk to Mr. Higgens, once again he has very little to say...other than fathers can discipline their kids any way they want. Naturally, the Public Defender is NOT about to just drop the case or plead the man guilty and so he investigates and comes up with an amazingly simplistic answer...the kid's an arsonist and the reasons are simple and obvious. Yeah, right.
I think the show was well intentioned, but over the years therapists have learned much more about kids who start fires. I used to work with such a population and the show today comes off as silly and overly simplistic. Worth watching...but really ridiculous.
When the show begins, Mr. Higgens is getting arrested for beating his son, Kenny (Dwayne Hickman). Oddly, when the police talk to him, the father offers no explanation and basically says he can do as he wants with the teen! When the Public Defender (Reed Hadley) goes to talk to Mr. Higgens, once again he has very little to say...other than fathers can discipline their kids any way they want. Naturally, the Public Defender is NOT about to just drop the case or plead the man guilty and so he investigates and comes up with an amazingly simplistic answer...the kid's an arsonist and the reasons are simple and obvious. Yeah, right.
I think the show was well intentioned, but over the years therapists have learned much more about kids who start fires. I used to work with such a population and the show today comes off as silly and overly simplistic. Worth watching...but really ridiculous.