I've always respected James Woods as an actor. I've always thought of him as unique. He has a very unique image, has a very unique style and his choice of roles over the years have, I've always felt, marked him out as, well, unique. "Ghosts of Mississippi", "True Crime", "Any Given Sunday". Even his appearance on "ER" a few seasons ago. Whether the role has been big or small, on the big screen or small, my opinion is that he's always played very interesting characters.Once seen, Woods is very difficult to forget.
Still, as much as I love me some legal drama, when I first heard about this TV series in 2006 a part of me thought - very snobbishly, I admit - that Woods' decision to do a TV series was a sign of his career as a movie actor being on the wane. I thought it would feel tired and desperate. As a consequence, even though I'd heard that the pilot was directed by Spike Lee, I didn't tune in to watch the series when it premiered here. Big mistake.
I caught it around four or five episodes in - I was channel surfing and something - or someone - caught my eye. It could've been Henry Simmons. Whatever or whoever, after just a few minutes I was hooked.
This fast-paced series has everything I love in a crime/courtroom drama. Woods, as LA maverick, über-prosecutor with a conscience Sebastian Stark, (who's just "hopped the fence" from the other side, i.e. defending criminals, by the way), is fast-talking, fast-thinking and is as slick as a pool of oil - but in a good way.
The urban mayhem and legal wrangling were right up my street but I was also immediately drawn in by the underlying storyline involving Stark and his teenage daughter Julie, played by Danielle Panabaker. But it was when the show gave me one of the biggest sit-up-and-gape TV shocks of 2007 by killing off a major character, a character I'm sure everyone watching was growing to love, that I realised these people were serious. This was the real deal. I never missed another episode.
Watching the entire season over on DVD has been a treat. Not only did I catch up on the episodes I missed, I also got the chance to review a scene if I didn't completely get it the first time round. Great performances all round, especially from Woods himself of course; from Jeri Ryan as his boss Jessica Delvin (the on-screen chemistry between her and Woods sizzles; the banter between their two characters is razor sharp, yet playful at the same time); from Simmons as cop-turned- prosecuting-investigator Isaac Wright and from Sam Page, Sophina Brown, Alexis Cruz and Sarah Carter as Woods' ADAs, Casey Woodland, Raina Troy, Martin Allende and Madeleine Poe respectively. A more dynamic legal team, I don't think I've ever seen on TV. This is what Dick Wolf's ill-fated "Conviction" wished it could've been. It's very much like "The Shield" but without the violence. There's no profanity either.
If you enjoy courtroom drama, emotional drama, crime detection and all-round high-octane action with a sliver of politics thrown in, you can't afford to miss this 22-episode series. The season finale involving scenes with Stark and his daughter had me in floods of tears.
DVD extras include audio commentary on selected episodes, a "Creating Shark" feaurette, gag reel and deleted scenes.
Shark is brilliant TV. Highly recommended. Season two finally kicks of here this Friday. Guess who's going to be parked on the sofa come 10pm, cranberry juice in hand...
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