Pilot:
The episode begins with Larry Henderson, the accused murderer's 911 call, which is very funny as he wants to hang up to talk to the cable company. We then go to the news report, where we see Larry get taken away in a police car. We also see an interview with Larry's wife's brother, who has hired a legal team for Larry. Josh, the lawyer, is waiting for his bag, and he meets Dwayne, his lead investigator. At their office, Dwayne introduces Josh to Anne, who works for him. Josh now goes to meet Larry, who is being held in prison. He explains to Josh how he find his wife dead. Now at court, Josh meets ADA Carol Anne Keane. Josh requests that bail be set at $10,000, but it gets set at $7,000,000. When Josh asks Anne to write on the board, she writes "The Trail" instead of "The Trail", which was funny. We see Dwayne test out a theory of suicide, and comes to the conclusion that suicide was impossible. After that, they struggle for other theories. They then play hangman, which is hysterical. Larry comes in, and they don't want to show him what they've got so far, which is nothing.
At a diner, Josh meets Summer, who asks him about the Henderson case. It turns out that Summer is Larry's daughter, and he has not made a strong first impression. Josh comes to the Henderson home, where he comes up with a defense: there was no motive for Larry to murder his wife. He then finds out from the news that Larry was cheating on his wife with his trainer. Uh oh.
When Dwayne and Josh get back to the office, Anne tells them than an angry man stopped by. Of course, she doesn't remember what his face looked like and the picture she drew of him is just a blank face. Jeremiah is now convinced that Larry is a murderer, and he stops funding his defense. This means that Josh's boss will no longer help Larry. Josh tells Larry, and Larry wants Josh to defend him. He tells Josh he believes in him before skating away. When investigating the crime photos, Josh and Dwayne discover that Larry couldn't have done the murder, based on the photos. When Josh confronts Carol Anne, she won't back down. On a news report, we find out that Larry's first wife died the same way as his second wife.
This was a great start, and I really would like to see more of some of the characters, such as Anne, who was a real delight. I think this is going to turn out to be another great mockumentary series from NBC, and I really enjoyed the Pilot, more than the pilot of most midseason shows.
Episode Score: 9/10
Episode Grade: A-
A Wrench in the Case:
The episode begins with Larry claiming his innocence, and than roller-sizing away, because "heart disease is the real killer." Josh then begins to prepare for the preliminary hearing. He asks Anne to erase to board, but she gets into a long story and he does it himself. While walking into court, Anne passes out, because of yet another disease she has. On his way in, Josh is stopped because he has lip balm, but Carol Anne is allowed to go in with a gun. When the hearing starts, Josh mispronounces the judge's name, and she gets angry over it. Anne interrupts the hearing, and instead of writing anything down, she decides to just remember it. Carol Anne shows a video, and it apparently disproves the fact that he was roller-sizing during the murder. Josh submits the handprint into evidence, and requests a continuance. The judge allows a two day continuance, and advises him to use it well.
At the office, Josh wants to get the handprint tested, and Anne gets her friend Thom to help. Josh asks Larry if Margaret was having an affair, and he denies it. He does reveal that Margaret knew about him and the trainer. When they test it out to see if his story about not hearing the murder checks out, it seemingly does, but they discover than Anne simply passed out, and nothing has been proven.
Josh goes to meet Carol Anne, and she offers to have Larry killed by electrocution. She states that since she's running for DA, she needs a death penalty conviction. He declines the plea, because what the heck, why would he accept that? He goes back to the house, where Dwayne tells him that Adelaide's body, which he exhumed, has blown up, along with his truck. Thom has found out that the hand does not have prints, and he suspects that it was Larry. At the hearing, Josh doesn't really have anything new. The judge gets angry, and has a trial set. Josh confronts Larry about the print, and Larry still claims to be innocent. Dwayne gets Larry's skate wrench back, and Larry is very happy to get it back. It turns out that the wrench is from Margaret, and he gets choked up over it. Back at the office, Thom tells the team that there was semen in the bedroom, and it isn't Larry's.
This episode was perfect, great from start to finish. Every character had some funny lines in this episode, and I really found Larry to be a treat. Anne continued to be the standout, and I laughed whenever she was on screen. I can't wait for more.
Episode Score: 10/10
Episode Grade: A+
Poll
Now that you've seen the first two episodes, do you think Larry killed Margaret? Vote in the poll below and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
