I was a fan of Boston Legal from the time it launched. I’ve always been a sap for James Spader. I don’t care what you put him in. To me, he just exudes intelligence and sex appeal. He usually plays tortured characters, but ones with redeeming qualities.
The many other actors who’ve been a part of BL are equally stellar in their own ways — René Auberjonois, Candice Bergen, John Laroquette, William Shatner and many others have come and gone.
But I’ll confess I’d grown tired of Boston Legal this year. It jumped the shark last season as far as I’m concerned. The plots, cases and personal situations just grew so far-fetched as to defy all suspension of disbelief. But I never took the show off my DVR, and I’m so glad. The show was at its best when Spader was in all-out tirade, whether in front of a jury or with other lawyers in the Crane, Poole and Schmidt firm. Over the last few episodes, the writers wrote some doozies for him. I watched the last four episodes of the show over two days earlier this week. Each show was more outrageous than the last, but each one featured better writing than the one before, as well.
The tour de force fittingly came in the series finale. In fact, much of the rest of the show seemed a vehicle to arrive at this triumphant speech. The premise of the episode is that a Chinese firm has purchased Crane, Poole and Schmidt. They quickly fire the entire litigation staff — obviously discerning what the rest of us have known for years: These folks are prickly and untamed. But, as Spader’s character Alan Shore displays here, they’re also a lot of fun to watch and listen to. (The relevant part begins at about 1:25.)