MovieChat Forums > Ally McBeal (1997) Discussion > The STUPIDEST episode

The STUPIDEST episode

posted 13 years ago by Supafreak
5 replies | jump to latest

Granted this show is about 99% stupid episodes (and yes I still watch it anyway, I'm a glutton for punishment) but it just sunk to new lows in the season 3 episode Prime Suspect.

The 'oddball' with OCD is arrested and put on trial for killing his boss. The evidence for him being the killer? The wife of the boss heard four claps (something the oddball does). This man would never ever ever be arrested based on that. It's not even evidence!

After they figure out the boss was having an affair and the wife had motive to kill him, they go after her only to be told there's more evidence against the oddball. This evidence is a pen with his fingerprints, found in the house. This would also not be classed as evidence, and if it somehow stupidly was, it would be called 'circumstancial' evidence.

Just to prove how un-thought out this whole plot is, they then decide it could have been the woman who was having the affair with the boss. If they could just go after anyone as the suspect, how did this even get to an evidence hearing?

They try to get the mistress to confess by wearing a wire, Ally discovers the wife in her closet (lesbians? if it's explained at all it isn't in this episode), Fish and Cage (who are listening in the car) call the cops and the cops bust through the door and arrest them both. Why did the cops come at all?

To top the episode off, we have Ally imaging the murderous scenarios in the courtroom as they're being told, and she screams loudly, in court. Not once, but multiple times.

Oh and surprise: Billy has a brain tumor! Renee doesn't exist anymore and Courtney Thorne-Smith is relegated to a minute of screen time per episode lately.

I am just very very appreciative of how far scripted television has come even since the 90s. The fact that David E. Kelly looked down on his audience so much to deliver them this drivel makes me sad.

I don't have a signature yet. So don't take me seriously.

[–] blahblah0000 13 years ago

It was the greatest episode, but it wasn't horrible. Considering this show is a comedy, I don't think it's that much of a stretch to think that a grand jury would indict the guy on that little circumstantial evidence and motive. It's more believable than things I've seen in a lot of legal/procedural dramas. This show isn't about forensics. It's a comedy about legal antics.

In the wake of shows that make it look easy to link concrete evidence to criminals, a case like that does seem hard to believe. But an interesting phenomenon is that prosecutors are actually now having a harder time trying cases, because people expect to have DNA, finger prints, and all the other high-tech things TV shows dream up to make crime solving look bad *ss. (Like when they instantly enhance grainy video footage to obtain a crystal clear photograph of a person -- yeah, it doesn't work that way.) But the reality is that prosecutors often don't have CSI style evidence and have to make cases on circumstantial evidence and motive.

Not sure why you think the lesbians weren't explained in the episode. They said "lesbians" multiple times. I think even "killer lesbians" once if not more than that. I'm pretty sure someone even spelled it out and said the two were having an affair and that the wife and murdered husband had been arguing not because the husband was having the affair but because the wife had been.

In my opinion, the worst episodes are 1-5 of season 5.

[–] Chalice 13 years ago

It is a comedy remember!! I think the point is to be funny, not to be realistic. I liked this episode/these 2 episodes with the oddballs, especially Richard and John in the car while Ally is wearing a wire.

Maybe what the judge said in this ep would make you feel better "When justice is affected by you two going under cover, trust me when I say a mockery has taken place." A little word from reality for you.

And how could you not notice all the explanation about lesbians, did you switch off for half the ep? As soon as Ally discovers Deborah in the closet (ha ha) Richard says "Lesbians!" to which John replies "Quick! Call 911!"

Bloody hilarious I think - if you want any semblance of reality, you really should not be watching this show at all!!

Those who think you're insane for dancing can't hear the music.

[–] nightcrawler-329 13 years ago

The stupidest episode is the one where the guy dying from cancer jumps off the roof of a house and flies using bird wings that he made for himself. Not only is he able to fly, but he has the support of his sister, the police, and the family whose house he broke into.

The second stupidest episode would be the one where Richard and John go to LA.

[–] Maximumtuneage 8 years ago

To me, the stupidest was Ally getting caught in a toilet bowl, like that could happen with that skinny thing! They got some funny moments out of it, but I'm always like "Come on, there's fantasy and then there's that!"

[–] hubcap18 8 years ago

For me, the stupidest episode was the one where Ally and John have to face a child prodigy lawyer, who despite his intelligence, still has the emotional maturity of a child his age (hiding under the table when a meeting wasn't going his way and crying during Ally's closing). That being said, it is pretty funny when Ally kicks him because she thinks she's confronting her "dancing baby" hallucination.

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