night's premier of USA's newest brand-compatible show Fairly Legal followed in the grand tradition of other USA shows, right down to the shoes. I'm no footware aficionado, but I'm 90% sure those were Piper Perabo's black and red heels I spied... only now they're on the feet of a woman who clearly can't walk in them (visions of linebackers danced in my head).I can respect a network that knows its brand and keeps playing a card that wins, but I do wish they'd step out of the box once in a while... That said, their latest addition seems perfectly suited to their schedule and, as with all their other shows, is pretty well-done, even if this one is more feather-light than ever. Fairly Legal doesn't strike me as having the same kind of potential as other shows, but all in all, it was fine.
Starring Life alum Sarah Shahi, Fairly Legal is USA's first foray into the world of the legal procedural. I was dreading the courtroom possibilities, assuming that if David E. Kelley can't make a law show work (Harry's Law needed more Harry, less law), USA network would probably founder. To my mild surprise, Fairly Legal takes the angle of legal mediation, not trial work. I can't say that mediation sends my heart all a flutter or has me tingling with excitement, but it is an admittedly new (if minor) take on an old routine. At the very least, it allowed the show to operate without me nitpicking any legal foibles and absurdities, giving me time to attack her wardrobe (good god, she wore this one outfit for almost the entire pilot that was difficult to look at).
Anyway, Shahi stars as Kate Reed (because there simply aren't enough Kates on my shows), a lawyer-turned-mediator who works for her late father's law firm and butts heads with
her mother-in-law/fellow mediator Lauren. I've never been a huge fan of Shahi's, but she was personable and non-annoying, even if not a particularly memorable performance. Here's hoping she really finds the character and grows on me (hey, if Piper can do it, anyone can). Rounding out the cast, we have Kate's ex-husband Justin, a state's attorney/Kate's occasional boot-knocking partner, and Leo, Kate's assistant and token minority actor on the show (seriously, I really hope his role on the show is more substantial than it looks, because lord knows USA network could use a punch of diversity on it's nearly all-white programming--and yes, I realize that Shahi is of Persian and Spanish descent, but she's playing a Caucasian character here). As per usual, the cast is likable enough, and they play into 
USA's penchant for dramedies adequately, but so far, no one really stood at as anything unique or truly special.Episode to episode, Fairly Legal will showcase Kate's amazing ability to make warring parties compromise, all the while juggling a complicated personal life. Same routine, different job. I'm not generally a fan of story-of-the-week A-plots, but USA has a better track record than most. I was actually pretty surprised at how interested I became in the cases Kate mediated in the pilot (even in spite of a healthy dollop of schmaltz and soapboxing here and there). I can't say it's a profession I'd necessarily want to watch every week, but they did a respectable job drawing me in. As is so often the case, however, I suspect I'll be a lot more engaged with the ongoing storylines. The pilot set up personal and professional dynamics that overlap constantly, but usually in logical ways. The actors all seemed to gel pretty well together and Kate's chemistry with ex-husband Justin was slightly cheesy and incredibly convenient, but also fairly charming and believable.
Speaking of slightly cheesy, but charming, there was a running motif throughout the pilot that established each of the main cast members as characters from The Wizard of Oz, as told by Kate's ringtones. Predictably, the Wicked Witch is her mother-in-law Lauren, the Cowardly Lion is Leo (get it, Lion, Leo), Kate's non-series-regular brother is the Scarecrow, her ex is the Tin Man, and her late father is, er, was the Wizard. That leaves Kate as Dorothy. It was a bit heavy-handed, but it really worked for me. I liked that the writers took a motif and ran with it in an unobtrusive, clever way. Kate left the world of lawyers behind and became a mediator. A lot of the faces and places look the same, but in terms of her career, she's definitely not
in Kansas anymore. The show didn't hit you over the head with it, but made it a clear personality quirk that I liked quite a lot. I think it worked the best when, at the end of the pilot, Kate's ex-husband shows up at her place, only to be told that she already has company, and responds with, "Found a new Tin Man?" It helped establish their relationship in terms that the show had been building since the first minute of the episode and was a charming way for Justin to show his jealousy, rather than a blustering speech about the terms of their relationship. The terms have already been defined, and the reasons for the split are pretty clear. Kate hates conflict and wants everyone to win, and Justin is a district attorney following the letter of the law, no matter who gets hurt. "If I only had a heart" indeed.Aside from Kate's personal relationships, however, the pilot didn't really set up much in the way of an ongoing story arc. For as well-done as the cases-of-the-week were, the show doesn't seem to have a ton of narrative force driving it. I'm not dying to see what happens next week, even in Kate's interactions with the people
in her life are fairly interesting. I'll definitely give this show a few more episodes to draw me in (it usually takes USA shows a few episodes to really hit their groove), but I have to be honest. Legal mediation just isn't all that fascinating to me. It's a nice change of pace from hard-boiled courtroom dramas, but I think it'll be difficult for the writers to maintain. As with Royal Pains, I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll get bored with the A-plots and that the B-plots won't be quite enough to keep me going. Let's just say the fact that they paired these two shows together isn't lost on me and probably isn't a good sign. Shows like Burn Notice, Covert Affairs, White Collar, and In Plain Sight have concept that are exciting enough, and ongoing storylines that are intriguing enough, that I'm still intrigued even after several seasons in some cases. Legal mediation? Yeah, it's not quite espionage, but I'm willing to give it a chance.Overall, Fairly Legal was fine. I can't point to anything specifically wrong with it, but it's hard to point to anything that was exactly right either. Aside from a peppering of cheesiness (that came out wrong), including a fairly corny scene of Kate mediating a robbery at the coffee shop she happened to be in, the pilot was well-made and produced, even if it isn't exactly going to turn the TV world on its ear. I guess I just wish there had been something to grab onto that was truly special and memorable...
Maybe if Kate were mediating conflicts in Oz, we'd be in business...
Pilot Grade: C+
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