For Life: Pilot
February 11, 2020 8:44 PM - Season 1, Episode 1 - Subscribe

 
I thought this was terrific.
posted by oh yeah! at 8:59 PM on February 11, 2020


Thankfully this is on On Demand here, so I was able to finally see it. I was aware of the story before this, but it was structured way better than I was imagining it could be. Go screenwriters!

It was also scheduled for regular broadcast tonight, which NBC also did with Zoey's Playlist, replaying the first episodes (they don't feel like pilots) for a few weeks, but it looks like the next episodes are going to be on regular rotation over the next couple weeks.

And how 'bout this fuckin' guy? He always makes a great villain. IMDB doesn't list Peter Green though, and it didn't feel like a one-time cameo.
posted by rhizome at 1:42 AM on February 17, 2020


but it was structured way better than I was imagining it could be.

I wasn't sure where they were going with introducing the forged suicide note into evidence - like, was it "if the corrupt cops & prosecutors are going to use falsified evidence and perjury to convict innocent people, we can too to overturn those convictions"? And I don't know, that felt like a very 'only-on-tv-law-show' kind of thing. So I liked that the letter itself wasn't the evidence, that getting it introduced just gave Aaron the opening to shock the witness into telling the truth about how her parents had destroyed the original note and pressured her into lying in the original trial. It was more cathartic that he went free because the truth was exposed in court than if it had been from forgery alone.

I'm also thinking that the prison-lawyer setting will mean they don't have to do the TV-law thing of having the whole 'arrest/arraignment/trial/sentencing' happen at lightning speed instead of dragging out for years the way it would in reality, since the clients will already be in prison, so the cases will appeals/retrials/etc. and/or him taking over a case that some other defense lawyer is bungling.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:35 AM on February 17, 2020


Yeah I too wasn't sure about the way the note was played, but when his questions were obviously circumscribing the note's authenticity it came clear. I wonder how much is

I do hope they make it arc-y for characters other than him. There is necessarily going to be the battle between him and the DA office that will have to progress, so hopefully the other characters aren't just LEGOs that are snapped in and out of that main storyline, like a grimdark reboot of My Name Is Earl (which is probably more applicable to God Friended Me, but still).
posted by rhizome at 3:05 PM on February 17, 2020


Oh wow, this is really good, but I'm not sure I can get behind using falsehoods, even for the sake of justice/ goodness/ fairness.

Definitely giving it the 3 ep treatment.
posted by porpoise at 9:05 PM on March 2, 2020


I'm all in for this show. I kinda wish it had been launched as a Fall 2019 show instead of with the mid-season shows so it would have gotten more promotion, but maybe it would have gotten lost in the shuffle.

My main worry for the show is that odds aren't great for getting closure -- ideally the show would end with Aaron a free man, but for that to happen the writers will need to know before the end of a season whether they're writing a series finale or season finale. They certainly wouldn't know for this season, so if they don't get picked up for S2 this is probably going to be a bummer, though knowing that the real 'Aaron', Isaac Wright, Jr., was vindicated will make it less of a frustration that other unresolved endings. Also though, this isn't the kind of show where the writers would have to keep postponing the end-goal to keep the show going--I could see this show working great for additional seasons with Aaron freed and re-adjusting to life, and continuing to fight for justice, so I hope that if they get renewed and find themselves on the bubble they won't hold back in hopes of another season.
posted by oh yeah! at 4:57 AM on March 3, 2020


Does anybody know what's going on with this show? It seems like it's running like one or two episodes every six months. I just saw a commercial that a new episode is going to air, but I have no idea whether it's the fifth episode or halfway through the second season.
posted by rhizome at 10:31 PM on January 13, 2021


Next episode in January will be S2 E6, but I don't know how many we're supposed to get overall what with pandemic filming.

Maybe you should start an overall S2 thread, see if anyone else is still watching? I'm still onboard, but I'm going to be behind on all my shows for the next couple months (relocated to my parents' place to take care of my mom after she fractured her pelvis in a fall), and I doubt many people have this thread in their Recent Activity.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:22 PM on January 14, 2021 [1 favorite]


Halfway through S2?! Thank you, but I think I actually need to start at S1En-3 or so. I've been watching enough TV over the last year that I don't know how I lost the trail, so I'll check On Demand and other places to see if anybody has it for me to catch up.

And funnily enough, the reason I *can* watch these shows is that I'm at my Mom's since she broke her hip and got it replaced. Then COVID hit and now my hope is I can get back to my apartment by way of vaccination, but I'm thinking I may miss cable when I do. :) I think I could justify Comcast's $30/mo poverty plan if I can get over giving any money to Comcast.
posted by rhizome at 4:03 PM on January 15, 2021


Hope your mom is doing ok. My mom's fracture only happened just this Sunday - I packed up my stuff and my cat on Monday, and she was discharged to home Tuesday evening. Our tv tastes are pretty far apart. She has the tv on all day on Hallmark Channel, HGTV, true-crime shows (live with commercials), or watching Longmire on Netflix for the umpty-millionth time. Since I'm doing remote work in between the constant up & down of caring for her while she can't walk, I can't just tune out and watch my own stuff on my phone or computer with headphones. And by the time the workday is over and my father returns home and can take over caretaking and I could theoretically catch up on my Netflix or network shows via compute, I just want some quiet kindle-re-reading time to wind down rather than watching anything new. Maybe I'll feel differently once she's more mobile though; she's shown improvement each day so far, so maybe it will only be a few more weeks before she's steady enough to get from bed to walker without help.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:12 PM on January 16, 2021


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