Almost every season, without fault, there’s a show that just …gets to you. One that touches something inside you, one that speaks to a part of your soul. One that makes you say, yes, this is my new obsession. For a while, I was sure this TV season was going to be the exception.
Nothing was speaking to me. There was silence, all around. And then Bluff City Law appeared, and I was saved.
To be fair, the show always had a leg up over others. I am a lawyer, and I’ve done my fair share of litigation. When I went into law school, I did it over this idea of justice that was bigger than me, bigger than anyone. I wanted to save the world. And yet, very rarely have I gotten a chance to.
My work life has been more Suits than Bluff City Law, and I hadn’t even realized how much I missed what could have been till this show came into my life.
So today, I’m here to talk about how this show, that can fill both your quota of law drama, family drama and appeal to your inner sense of justice, should be your new obsession. Here are five specific reasons why you should give it a try:
Focus on family
This looks to be – and for the first two episodes, it truly is – a show centered on family. Not just the work family, which hey, we’re here for found family too, but the family that you grow up with, the one that sometimes messes up, the one you don’t always get along with.
Besides, we’re here for Jimmy Smits, everyone’s latinx dad (He’s Amy Santiago’s dad too!) finally getting a lead role once again.
Diversity, diversity, diversity
When half the cast (am I counting Josh Kelly as a regular? Is he a regular?) is diverse, you have my attention. When you write a story with diverse characters that has diversity behind the scenes – how weird is it to have a latino, Miguel Aguilar, as one of the EPs of a show featuring Jimmy Smits – then you have my affection. Now, all they have to do is make the writers room just as diverse, and get ready to tell good, relatable stories for all.
Female-centered
Despite the focus on family, this is Sydney’s show through and through. It’s her journey we’re following, her perspective that’s coloring everything, and her growth we’re signing up to see. And Sydney is, in many ways, your typical law show character, and in so many ways, as far away from that stereotype as you can possibly get.
Almost like there are different type of women doing the same job. Who knew?
Enemies-to-friends-to-lovers?
Look, I’m just saying there’s a dynamic here that could actually give us the real kind of enemies to friends to lovers relationship we all desperately crave, but you know, without the problematic aspects of some of the more mainstream versions of this trope. And hey, if to all the things I said above you add the possibility of a good ship, then I’m sold.
Aren’t you?
These are the “good” lawyers
I hate the good lawyer/bad lawyer thing people outside the law do, but I think we can all agree, even if that distinction is usually based on unreal expectations, these guys are fighting the good fight. That’s the whole point of the law firm Elijah Strait set up, after all. Taking on injustice, looking up for the little people, doing the right thing. Might seem like a pipe dream, but in the world we live in, it actually sounds pretty damn inspiring.
Agree? Disagree? Share with us in the comments below!
Bluff City Law premieres Monday September 23rd at 10/9c on NBC.
READ ALL OF OUR REVIEWS OF THE SEASON
- ‘Bluff City Law’ 1×01 Review: The Moral Arc of the Universe
- ‘Bluff City Law’ 1×02 Review: “You Don’t Need a Weatherman”
- ‘Bluff City Law’ 1×03 Review: Prove Everyone Wrong
- ‘Bluff City Law’ 1×04 Review: “Fire in a Crowded Theater”
- ‘Bluff City Law’ 1×05 Review: Still Here
- ‘Bluff City Law’ 1×06 Review: “The All-American”
- 77 Thoughts We had While Watching Bluff City Law’s “American Epidemic”
- ‘Bluff City Law’ 1×08 Review: “Need to Know”
- ‘Bluff City Law’ 1×09 Review: See you later, Alligator
- ‘Bluff City Law’ 1×10 Review: “Perfect Day”
