TV Review: Jimmy Smits Returns to His Courtroom Roots in NBC's 'Bluff City Law'
von Clayton Davis
As premiere week begins on NBC, the network has chosen their new drama "Bluff City Law" to follow the ever-popular "The Voice" on Monday nights. Hoping audiences stay tuned after a singing competition in order to watch a good-natured legal procedural may be a bit of a long shot. But this new series does have something that may grab an audience's attention: heart. Focusing on a group of hard-working lawyers as they fight everyday injustices in the hopes of changing the world feels timely and just.
Specifically, “Bluff City Law” follows Sydney Strait (Caitlin McGee), a fierce corporate lawyer who, after a personal tragedy, returns to work at her family’s smaller, local firm. Her father Elijah (Jimmy Smits) is a renowned civil rights lawyer. He is beloved and respected by everyone except his daughter with whom he has not spoken in three years. It is their fractured relationship that is at the center of this series.
NBC has essentially put this program in the hands of television veteran Jimmy Smits. And they are capable hands indeed. From 1986 until 1991, Smits won cases and an Emmy on NBC’s hit legal show “L.A. Law.” When David Caruso left ABC’s “NYPD Blue” in 1995, he filled Caruso’s shoes, and then some. The veteran then starred in the last two seasons of the beloved NBC political song, “The West Wing.” In 2008, his Miguel Prado grew to love the kill on Showtime’s “Dexter." For three seasons, FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” gave him a gang to lead. And most recently, he counseled Viola Davis on ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder.” Now, headlining his own show, this impressive talent is as reliable as ever.
Jimmy Smits as Elijah Strait and Caitlin McGee as Sydney Strait in NBC's "Bluff City Law"
Smits once again proves that he has the face and the aptitude to pull off any role. Here, he is believable as a saintly man, grappling with his past mistakes and trying to make amends. Although he is the big name drawing card, relative newcomer McGee holds her own. She plays Sydney with outward confidence, but an internal sensibility. Her scenes with the seasoned performer stand out, as they seem to be playing two sides of the same coin. The father and daughter are both competitive and passionate, but their approaches differ. She is guns blazing, full speed ahead, while he plays it slow and steady and by-the-book. There is palpable chemistry between to two as a father and daughter trying to find their way back to a civil relationship.
Besides the two leads, the series has managed to gather a capable group of actors to round out the cast. Michael Luwoye (Broadway’s “Hamilton”) and Barry Sloane (ABC’s “Revenge”) play the two other lawyers at the firm. Tony Award nominee Jayne Atkinson is delightful as Elijah's long-time assistant. Stony Blyden, Josh Kelly, and MaameYaa Boafo are also welcome additions. With only two episodes released to the press, the supporting characters are still rather one-note by the end of the second episode, but there is a solid foundation on which to build, and the show seems fully equipped to flesh them out as the season progresses.
BLUFF CITY LAW -- "Pilot" Episode 101 -- Pictured: (l-r) Jayne Atkinson as Della Bedford, MaameYaa Boafo as Briana Johnson -- (Photo by: Jake Giles Netter/NBC)
I would be remiss to not mention another pivotal character: the setting. “Bluff City” is in reference to Memphis, Tennessee, which sits on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. Memphis has a long record in regards to the civil rights movement. By setting the series in this town, the creators are tapping into that history. Unlike most television shows, “Bluff City Law” is filmed entirely on location. The series does, and should, take pride in this fact. The characters are fighting injustices in the middle of the country, in a Southern state, in the town where Martin Luther King Jr.’s physical journey ended. The series translates that energy onto the screen and seems eager to introduce the audience to this gem of a city.
With such a treasured and historic backdrop, one would have hoped that this location would have inspired the series to take more risks. But “Bluff City Law” does not break the mold. The series follows a standard procedural narrative. In the pilot episode, the Straits are taking on a big company accused of covering up their distribution of a cancer-causing chemical. There is the set up, the fall out, the work around and the win. This story is familiar to a fault.
Caitlin McGee as Sydney Strait and Jimmy Smits as Elijah Strait in NBC's "Bluff City Law"
Nevertheless, "Bluff City Law" may not be interested in pushing the boundaries. The series knows what it is and succeeds in its presentation. The show is about a good group of people trying to do good work. In the pilot, the patriarch tells his daughter "the world is running our of heroes." In a television landscape wrought with such heavy topics and cold, dark characters, "Bluff City Law" is hoping audiences may be craving some heroic goodness. Or maybe just a little more Smits.
“Bluff City Law” premieres Monday, Sept. 23 on NBC.
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Specifically, “Bluff City Law” follows Sydney Strait (Caitlin McGee), a fierce corporate lawyer who, after a personal tragedy, returns to work at her family’s smaller, local firm. Her father Elijah (Jimmy Smits) is a renowned civil rights lawyer. He is beloved and respected by everyone except his daughter with whom he has not spoken in three years. It is their fractured relationship that is at the center of this series.
NBC has essentially put this program in the hands of television veteran Jimmy Smits. And they are capable hands indeed. From 1986 until 1991, Smits won cases and an Emmy on NBC’s hit legal show “L.A. Law.” When David Caruso left ABC’s “NYPD Blue” in 1995, he filled Caruso’s shoes, and then some. The veteran then starred in the last two seasons of the beloved NBC political song, “The West Wing.” In 2008, his Miguel Prado grew to love the kill on Showtime’s “Dexter." For three seasons, FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” gave him a gang to lead. And most recently, he counseled Viola Davis on ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder.” Now, headlining his own show, this impressive talent is as reliable as ever.
Jimmy Smits as Elijah Strait and Caitlin McGee as Sydney Strait in NBC's "Bluff City Law"
Smits once again proves that he has the face and the aptitude to pull off any role. Here, he is believable as a saintly man, grappling with his past mistakes and trying to make amends. Although he is the big name drawing card, relative newcomer McGee holds her own. She plays Sydney with outward confidence, but an internal sensibility. Her scenes with the seasoned performer stand out, as they seem to be playing two sides of the same coin. The father and daughter are both competitive and passionate, but their approaches differ. She is guns blazing, full speed ahead, while he plays it slow and steady and by-the-book. There is palpable chemistry between to two as a father and daughter trying to find their way back to a civil relationship.
Besides the two leads, the series has managed to gather a capable group of actors to round out the cast. Michael Luwoye (Broadway’s “Hamilton”) and Barry Sloane (ABC’s “Revenge”) play the two other lawyers at the firm. Tony Award nominee Jayne Atkinson is delightful as Elijah's long-time assistant. Stony Blyden, Josh Kelly, and MaameYaa Boafo are also welcome additions. With only two episodes released to the press, the supporting characters are still rather one-note by the end of the second episode, but there is a solid foundation on which to build, and the show seems fully equipped to flesh them out as the season progresses.
BLUFF CITY LAW -- "Pilot" Episode 101 -- Pictured: (l-r) Jayne Atkinson as Della Bedford, MaameYaa Boafo as Briana Johnson -- (Photo by: Jake Giles Netter/NBC)
I would be remiss to not mention another pivotal character: the setting. “Bluff City” is in reference to Memphis, Tennessee, which sits on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. Memphis has a long record in regards to the civil rights movement. By setting the series in this town, the creators are tapping into that history. Unlike most television shows, “Bluff City Law” is filmed entirely on location. The series does, and should, take pride in this fact. The characters are fighting injustices in the middle of the country, in a Southern state, in the town where Martin Luther King Jr.’s physical journey ended. The series translates that energy onto the screen and seems eager to introduce the audience to this gem of a city.
With such a treasured and historic backdrop, one would have hoped that this location would have inspired the series to take more risks. But “Bluff City Law” does not break the mold. The series follows a standard procedural narrative. In the pilot episode, the Straits are taking on a big company accused of covering up their distribution of a cancer-causing chemical. There is the set up, the fall out, the work around and the win. This story is familiar to a fault.
Caitlin McGee as Sydney Strait and Jimmy Smits as Elijah Strait in NBC's "Bluff City Law"
Nevertheless, "Bluff City Law" may not be interested in pushing the boundaries. The series knows what it is and succeeds in its presentation. The show is about a good group of people trying to do good work. In the pilot, the patriarch tells his daughter "the world is running our of heroes." In a television landscape wrought with such heavy topics and cold, dark characters, "Bluff City Law" is hoping audiences may be craving some heroic goodness. Or maybe just a little more Smits.
“Bluff City Law” premieres Monday, Sept. 23 on NBC.
GRADE: (★★★)
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Clayton Davis
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