User Reviews

The black and white footage is from the "Studio One" show entitled "The Defender" (hence the "Son of the Defender" title of the Boston Legal).

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0394920/

The father was indeed played by Ralph Bellamy (who would go on to star as Randolph Duke in the Dan Ackroyd/Eddie Murphy comedy Trading Places). The character names are exactly the same as in the "Studio One" episode. The character of Joe Gordon was played by a very young Steve McQueen. The plot of the Boston Legal episode closely parallels the plot of the original Studio One episode and the character names are the same. The only difference is the name of Shatner's character, but everything else, down to the strained relationship between the lawyer and his father are similar.

This episode is one of my favorite episodes of the series.

As others have mentioned, the story is a sequel of sorts of a totally unrelated show, "The Defenders" from 1957. The flashback scenes were very well done and well placed in the episode. They gave a perfect opportunity to William Shatner to show off his acting ability. Through the flashbacks, reactionary shots and subsequent dialog we were able to witness a little more depth to the character of Denny Crane. For once, he got to admit that even though he won this case AGAIN, and is still undefeated, sometimes his winning comes at a cost.

The scene following the verdict is amazingly well done. Denny could have left... SHOULD have left... but he stayed long enough to use his skills and the compassion he rarely shows in order to save the day.

Chalk another win up for Denny Crane

Thank goodness for Amazon Prime! I missed Boston Legal when it was originally aired. It was amazing to see Shatner pre-Star Trek..The entire story in this episode was riveting, exciting, and very emotional. I'm just sorry I didn't see it back in 07, but better late than never!

The black & white flashbacks that Denny Crane experienced had the look of late '50s video rather than film. I'm thinking that these came from a 1957 episode of the Studio One television show entitled "The Defenders":

http://imdb.com/title/tt0394920/

I think the older attorney was Ralph Bellamy, who played the father of Shatner's character:

http://www.nndb.com/people/317/000026239/

The year 1957 fits the BL plot, plus the fact that Bellamy and Shatner played father & son lawyers.

For me, it's interesting to see old Shatner footage: just this past weekend, a local PBS affiliate aired Judgement at Nuremburg (1961), in which Shatner plays a minor supporting role. It's a kick seeing Shatner looking sleek and with a full head of slicked-back Fifties hair. I've always carried the image of him in ST:TOS; by that time he was toupeed and getting a bit paunchy.

k.

This episode is one of my favorite episodes of not only the series, but of all shows. Having the ability to take two different TV shows, separate them with over 50 years of acting and still manage to glue them together is amazing! As others have mentioned, the story is a sequel of sorts of a totally unrelated show, "The Defenders" from 1957. The flashback scenes were very well done and well placed in the episode, was really great to see how we get to see Danny be in his prime and what he use to stand for, Justice. They gave a perfect opportunity to William Shatner to show off his acting ability. Through the flashbacks, reactionary shots and subsequent dialog we were able to witness a little more depth to the character of Denny Crane. For once, he got to admit that even though he won this case AGAIN, and is still undefeated, sometimes his winning comes at a cost.

The scene following the verdict is amazingly well done. Denny could have left... SHOULD have left... but he stayed long enough to use his skills and the compassion he rarely shows in order to save the day.

There is no doubt that i am a fan of Boston Legal, even though it did start to make to much fun of itself and the legal practice by the end of the show 5th season. This episode takes us back to Danny Crane'first trial case, and the emotional stress that it caused not only to the patrons involved in the case, but also the beginning of the incredible career that Danny Crane had.

This episode was an amazing portrayal and evidence of how great of an actor William Shatner really is. The episode took archive footage from "Studio One in Hollywood" from the episode of "The defender Part one & two" it is great to see, how much William Shatner can embark and bring emotion two different characters but make them the same emotional traits with over 50 years of a gap "The Defender" aired 27th of Feb 1957, Boston Legal, Son of the Defender April 3, 2007

The story of the son plotting "Justice"/ revenge on the "killer" and Danny Crane was a brilliant story and executed very dramatically with less humor then usual for Boston Legal. The second story involving Alan Shore was less then exciting premises of a local politician being caught red handed with a prostitute, was not one of my favorite, The politicians was very over the top, but it didn't matter. This was Danny Cranes time to shine, and did he!!

Great storytelling. The tension built up by the no win situation the attorneys find themselves in is excellent. The guy has suicide on his mind and it is understood no matter the verdict, they will all die. The use of scenes from an old Ralph Bellamy/William Shatner film are really well chosen. There is also a realistic set of events when a powerful politician is caught with a prostitute and Shore becomes the interlocutor.

One of the better episodes of television I've watched, and it comes from a show known more for snappy repartee than venturing into the paddling-pool deep psyches of its flashy characters. But this episode is an honest but not depressing portrait of mistakes and their consequences, selfish decisions made to help us get what we want that have farther reaching consequences than expected. And in the end, the verdict is nuanced, unclear. The heroes are wrong, unlikely, imperfect. Brad is stuck in a vent for 95% of a the episode. It's a mixed bag.

Note on rating: Most episodes of BL are a solid 6/10, this earns its 9/10 as "best of the season" not "best episode of any show ever."

Season 3 has been disappointing compared to the story and character development of seasons one and two. So grabbing content from the Golden Age of Television is both a new high and a new low.