Date of airing: September 28, 1999 (CBS)
Nielsen ratings information: 15.70 million viewers, 11.2/19 in Households, 5.3/15 with Adults 18-49
written by: Natalie Chaidez
directed by: James Hayman
When do you know as a parent that your child is a danger to another person? If you happen to know, would you be able to prevent your child from harming another person? This was the central question asked by the script for this episode, and the trial case had me thinking a little bit after the episode ended, and how a situation going worse could apply to a chronically depressed person as I am. If I happen to crack my head for whatever reason, and suddenly I am a person who is a danger to other people, could anyone prevent that from happening, and is there a way of knowing beforehand that I would be a danger to others? Would the fact that I have no friends, do not smoke, do not talk to other people, and generally have an alienating personality make other people question if I am sick in the head, or is this considered "normal behavior" these days? Am I closer to this episode's Josh, the man who killed his girlfriend, because of my depression, or am I just one of the many people who sometimes have a bad temper? A lot of people do, and they do not commit murder, to partially quote Amy as she was throwing out the verdict during the climactic moments of this episode. A lot of people also choose to live life in solitude, with the difference that I keep writing my insides out into the open on a semi-regular basis, but would other people see this as a sign of me becoming a murderer in the future?
It is weird what kind of questions JUDGING AMY makes me ask, although I was expecting it, and I am expecting more of those moments as I make my way through all six seasons of the show. There is a reason I find myself drawn to highly emotional and dramatic television shows, and maybe I am just starting to figure out why: They can be cathartic every once in a while, serving as therapy when I do not go to therapy (maybe you think I should after what I just wrote). Maybe this is the prime reason why I consider JUDGING AMY one of the greatest TV dramas in existence.
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| When you need to get out of here quickly, but your car refuses to start... |
It was a pretty good episode, though it was noticeable that the
writers chose to give Amy her first jury trial so early in her career as
a judge in family court, and that she would immediately throw out the jury’s decision,
going for her gut instinct the second time in a row, even though she
instructed the jury not to do so (maybe she should have written
instructions for herself?). In the previous episode, she was
already saying “No” to a woman surrendering a child, and now she pretty
much said “No” to a jury’s decision about damages in a civil case, no matter how ludicrous those numbers were. I
do not think this is a coincidence, and I believe that the writers were
trying a little too hard to push the envelope with Amy and have her be
the most decisive judge in her little series universe, one who can
easily “override” a jury’s decision. I already know she has compassion,
and she is passionate about all the cases that come
into her courtroom – why hammer that into the viewers’ minds repeatedly
by having her go against the people’s decision and prove that she can
decide on her own, without the help of a jury, while also making it seem like juries are worthless?
And realistically speaking, how troubled would she be as a judge when she continuously does things like that? I am not saying her rejection of the jury’s verdict was a bad thing – in fact, seeing her throw out the jury was a 'WTF'-worthy moment and another (and final) emotional scene to the trial – instead, I am curious why Amy goes with her guts and not with the law for two episodes in a row.
The case was generally interesting, though I was a little confused whether it is a trial about negligence, or if the defense was trying to ridicule the previous trial and go for a show that would eventually prove that Josh was not a cold-blooded killer at all, therefore re-litigating the murder trial. This trial looked like the prosecution wanted to throw a large portion of the guilt to Josh’s parents as well, making it look like they were looking for the reason for the killing, even though the murder has already been prosecuted. But that is American law for you – you can sue the killer and the parents of the killer in two different lawsuits. As if Josh was just the weapon, while the real killers were his parents.
Anyhow, the case was emotional, as it was supposed to be (and what I will always expect from the series), and I almost loved every minute of it. Except for the fact that both mothers were sitting on the stand and testifying (they even sat in during jury selection, which I do not think is a thing happening in courtrooms), telling about their respective children being the good ones, crying while they were on the stand. It was pretty much the same scene shown twice with different characters talking about different people.
The family-genre part of the episode was great though. And I especially connected with Vincent during this hour. I am a writer myself (though I would not want to call myself a “writer”), and I know how stressful it can get when you do not have the power of the mind to write constantly (it gets even harder during a pandemic – and you would think that is the time to just get to the writing 24/7), let alone when you deal with a deadline. And when you finally have the power of your mind, it is an annoyance when someone interrupts you and wants you to do what they want. It is an ugly feeling, and sometimes you might even start hating the person that interrupted you.
I understand that the writers were unable to write some hatred between Maxine and Vincent, or have him strongly argue his case to her, so that she realizes on more than one occasion that she was sort of a disruptor in his life, but at least I got a complicated relationship between the two, which I liked. Plus, it showcased Tyne Daly’s acting chops. When they argued for the first time and he was walking out of the house, with Maxine closing the door behind him, there was a second of her almost starting to cry. She made the face, the tears were about to flow out, but she held herself back. That was a wonderful performance.
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| Amy is still new at her job, and she already has a man who hates her. |
On the other hand, it was noticeable that the writers were focusing a little too much on Vincent in this episode. He is the easiest character to write for, since he is the emotional one, but that also means the writers were neglecting Peter and his wife Gillian, who only seem to have a scene or two at the moment. The only thing I know about them is that they are trying to have a baby, that they have fertility issues, and that they are... I am going to call them yuppies, because Peter is always wearing a suit (or half a suit), meaning he makes the big money. He looks professional, compared to Vincent (I would assume that is going to cause conflict between the brothers as well). It would have been nice if the writers had laid down some focus on Peter after three episodes and introduced him and Gillian to the viewers, though I will gladly accept the one scene when they did, when Gillian was talking about not being infertile, and that she hates the word. There is a story behind it, and it is just waiting to be explored.
The story about Maxine buying a car... Well, it is one of those parables that make for a clear-cut message. Maxine has not gotten over the death of her husband yet, she likes to cling to the past and its memories, and she would rather want to not make such a big fuss about changing things in her life. That it would bring Amy and Vincent to talk about their dad was nice, however. The siblings should talk about their father more often, as it is an unexplored backstory for the family, and something that could enrich their character traits. After all, JUDGING AMY is also a family drama, so the writers should have served all the family drama stuff, which includes the deaths of family members years before the series’ events began.
