Date of airing: September 21, 1999 (CBS)
Nielsen ratings information: 13.50 million viewers, 6.3/11 in Households, 4.1/11 with Adults 18-49
written by: Dawn Prestwich, Nicole Yorkin
directed by: Jack Bender
It was a solid second episode, but something in my head got a bit confused over this hour because it felt so much like an edition of ER at times, and not just owing to the fact that a couple of minutes in the final third were set in a hospital, had a doctor as a guest character, and went with a doll as an intubated infant baby, reminding me once more about all the fake elements in a medical drama. Plus, there were a whole lot of cases for Amy to go through, and she cannot get through them all, as time generally works against her in this job, like time is usually not an issue when it comes to doctors saving the lives of patients. Those will always come through the door to greet the ever-busy physicians, and in JUDGING AMY, there is always a case of neglect, child kidnapping, abuse, or other kinds of family drama coming before her in court, always keeping her on her toes – with the difference that she gets to go home by 5 p.m. every day. That is usually a story device used by the ER writers (especially the “a whole lot of cases” part), and for more than half of this episode, I felt like I was watching a family drama version of ER set in the judicial system of family law. Sounds weird? Well, it is. But I nonetheless dig it.
Continuing the show after its pilot with a so-called short calendar episode was kind of neat (hopefully, this is a real term among judges). After introducing the show, the writers were instantly able to set Amy into this fast-paced world, making the audience learn that her job is not as easy as it sounded when reading the premise of the show. I loved that she had to handle a few dozen cases in eight hours, and I loved that she felt obliged to connect to each case on an emotional level (to properly and correctly rule on them), essentially telling herself and the audience that she will never go through all of the cases, and that short calendar days are very much not for her, since she would be unable to rule on the cases. I loved that Bruce had to mention it to her in a form of criticism, and I loved that Amy realized it herself in the end, even though her comment of quitting was a stereotypical move of storytelling (of course she would not quit, and of course, that part of the story would not be taken seriously). The only thing that disrupted this very solid episode was the fact that everyone in the courtroom seemed unhappy that Amy could not finish all the cases in one day. This is family law, of course it is going to take a while to get through each case, especially when they involve kidnapping, child abuse, or the surrender of one's child. I thought it was logical and realistic that Amy would not get through all cases, and I thought that Bruce mentioning it again as criticism was the wrong thing to do in that situation. But then again, without all of that, there would not have been an episode, right?
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| They are waiting for the "That is a good idea" response that never comes. |
A few of the cases were extremely intriguing and made me wish for the return of this kind of broadcast television drama from the 1990s. Renee giving up her parental rights under tears was a wonderfully emotional moment, and that is what I wanted to see in this series when I wrote during the pilot review that the emotional DCFS cases should hit the hardest. They have to hit the hardest. I almost lost a tear myself, watching Renee accept the surrender of her child, while Amy believes that she does not want to and may even be forced by her current situation (being a mother who killed her first child that is). Then again, was Amy even legally allowed to not accept the surrender? Renee clearly and audibly answered Amy’s question (except for the last one, which she could not answer because of all the crying), and the surrendering of parental rights should have been an easy decision for any judge. I know that the writers decided in the other direction, because they wanted to show how fast Amy can emotionally connect to her cases, but in this case, I failed to see the realism.
In the meantime, the emergency response case was nicely handled as well. Two episodes in and Amy already gets beeped out of bed in the middle of the night, because a judge’s workday happens to continue after 5 p.m. in some cases. Having Amy decide about a child’s life during night hours in the second episode was the best thing to do to give the audience a sense of what else the show can be about, even if the story came up pretty short. The writers not only gave her a hard case right away, but they also gave her an opportunity to decide between life and death. Most people might not even know that judges can and must decide about life and death (or can rule to prevent a plane from taking off), and CBS just brought a little bit of education to their audience. It would make me want to watch a “fly on the wall”-type documentary about the judicial system in family law.
The family-related stories were okay. I could not do much with Maxine’s dreams of traveling the world, because the possibility of seeing her back doing social work had much better potential story-wise than hearing her talk about Cambodia. That Maxine would return to her old place of employment, even if it is probably just part-time, was also the best thing to do, though I wonder what could have been if the writers had waited a bit longer for that. Seeing Maxine at home, essentially doing nothing but chatting online and smoking cigarettes while reminiscing about her past as a social worker was kind of nice – a little playdate with Lauren, chatting up people on the internet, having conversations with Vincent about almost anything related to wasting time.. Maxine’s day-to-day depiction of a (semi-)retired life seemed funny, and I would have liked to see more of that, but now it looks like Maxine will be back at work, and the social worker angle of the show’s premise is going to find its audience.
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| The Judge wants you to move it quicker. |
And finally, Amy had to deal with a potential boyfriend (I think there will be a running tally about how many boyfriends she will have throughout the series – Tracy Carroll was the first one) and Lauren’s evil teacher, who indirectly suckered Amy into doing volunteer work for the school. That is how they get you, folks, so you better stay clear from school administration. Not to mention that Amy almost went on a warpath with Mrs. Schleewee, creating something of a comic foil for the episode, in case the dramatic elements were a little too hard-hitting for some of the viewers.
Plus points for Amy’s aggressiveness to all the drivers early in the morning. If she can always regulate traffic when the streets are busy, maybe the gridlock on the road would not be this bad all the time.
