Shark Season 1 Recap

Shark made its debut last fall on CBS, and I wtore a story for "the AC" about the differences among a trio of one-named CBS dramas: Smith, Shark and Jericho. As we head into the next season, Shark is the last show standing.

Shark stars James Woods as a prosecutor who breaks all the rules and leads a group of attractive young protégés. The comparison to House (a medical drama on Fox) was obvious, but Shark works because Woods is just a great actor who is fun to watch.

In the pilot, we met Sebastian "Shark" Stark, a hotshot Los Angeles defense attorney who has a knack for finding loopholes to set his notorious clients free. His carefree life comes crashing down when one of those defendants kills his wife.

Shark has a crisis of conscience, which leads him toswitch sides and join the defense attorney (played by Jeri Ryan). She puts him in charge of the young attorneys, whom he teaches all of his old tricks.

Shark has a second major shakeup in his life when he gets full-time custody of his 16-year-old daughter, Julie (played by Danielle Panabaker). He is forced to become an active parent for the first time in years.

The cases and interactions among the characters are pretty interesting. The producers killed off one of the lawyers, Martin, halfway through the season. It came off as a cost-cutting measure, but there were two problems. He was the only Latino character on the show, and he wasn't around long enough for the audience to be affected by his death.

Another problem in this otherwise entertaining show is the ham-fisted characterization of the daughter. She comes off as a goody two-shoes, which is fine. However, halfway through the season, the writers had her start misbehaving (the old "holding a joint for a friend" story). Then at the end of the season, she is making plans to study at Yale. There is nothing wrong with an overachieving teenage character on TV, and that's the best choice for her character.

The highlights of the season were the two episodes in which Shark went up against brilliant serial killer Wayne Callison (played by Billy Campbell). In the first episode, the killer defends himself in court and absolutely mops the floor with Shark, winning his acquittal.

Callison goes on trial for another murder in the season finale, and Shark pulls out all the stops in his attempts to redeem his previous loss. I won't spoil the ending for you if you're going to watch it online or DVD.

Shark had a very promising freshman season, and it should get even better in the fall. The show is switching places with another CBS drama, Without a Trace. So in September, you can catch Shark on Sunday night at 10, right after Cold Case. I would recommend it.