The Firm: Series Premiere

Written by Carl Stoffers Wednesday, January 11, 2012, 12:23 PM

In order to truly understand NBC’s The Firm, one must have something of an understanding of the 1993 movie that it’s based on. Mitch McDeere (Josh Lucas) is an attorney who, over a decade before, took down a huge Memphis law firm, along with their mafia clients. After years on the run, in which their was at least one attempt on his life, Mitch and his wife, Abby (Molly Parker) have settled in Washington, D.C. and Mitch has opened his own law practice. They’re joined by his brother, Ray (Callum Keith Rennie) and clerk Tammie (played by former Oscar-winning movie star Juliette Lewis). Although the episode begins with an action-packed chase scene in which Mitch is pursued by several men past various Washington landmarks, culminating with the suicide of a mystery man that Mitch confronts in a high rise hotel room, the story actually begins six weeks prior to the chase.

We are introduced to Mitch as a loving father whose daughter is celebrating her tenth birthday. The addition of the daughter (who was born just after the events of the movie) gives the character additional depth, as he now has someone in addition to wife Abby he must protect. We are given a glimpse of Mitch’s life: a daughter going through some preteen social anxiety, possible financial issues, a client load that has yet to pay him for his services. Mitch is not quite “down and out” but he’s close.

The unique thing about the Mitch McDeere character is the constant balance between good and bad or right and wrong that he has to manage. He’s a defense attorney with a heart, who just wants to do right. Unfortunately, the world often isn’t neatly fit into right or wrong, as Mitch seems to discover at every turn. It’s contrast and dilemma, and it’s presence is felt in almost every scene.

The constant choices Mitch has to make are just some of the issues he faces, though. There are obstacles lining up all around him, with some coming from his past and some clearly manifesting in his future, with the new firm that he’s partnering with being the most menacing. It is here that the plot begins to get slightly unrealistic. Mitch is now unknowingly associating with another corrupt law firm?

The writers appear to want The Firm to be every bit a roller coaster ride as the movie was, and they go to great lengths to add twists and turns whenever possible. Most involve Mitch navigating his way through some sort of ethical or professional jam, whether it’s a new offer that comes in from a prestigious D.C. law firm, or a new client whose case centers on his being tried as a juvenile or an adult.

The perplexing thing about the character is that the care and commitment he shows towards every other issue is in contrast to the utterly cavalier attitude he shows when he’s informed by a U.S. Marshal that the son of the mob boss he helped put away may be after him and his family. It’s confusing and makes the story a lot less believable.

The most endearing thing about the Mitch McDeere character is his conscience. He spends the entire episode either helping others (so much so that he’s invited to the funeral of a murdered teen despite representing the suspected murderer in court) or trying to do right by his wife. The writers have made him likable, and it’s one of the factors that keeps an audience when the plot begins to cross into “eye-rolling” territory.