Temper your expectations forBryan Cranston’s return to television, asYour Honoris guilty of not being on the same level asBreaking Bad— though I acknowledge that’s an unfair comparison and that the final verdict is still out on the show as a whole.
Based on the Israeli seriesKvodo,Your Honorfinds Cranston playing Michael Desiato, a New Orleans judge who is forced to cover up a shocking crime when his teenage son Adam (Hunter Doohan) suffers an asthma attack while driving, gets into a car accident, and leaves the scene, allowing another boy to bleed out on the street. That boy, as it turns out, is the son of Jimmy Baxter (Michael Stuhlbarg), a local crime boss who vows to get to the bottom of what happened and exact revenge on the heartless driver who left his son to die alone.
Cranston is solid as the not-so-honorable judge who, after learning the victim’s identity, moves quickly to dispose of evidence using his unique knowledge of the law. The first thing he has to get rid of is the murder weapon — the car — so he asks a friend and local politician (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) to pull some strings and make it disappear… only it doesn’t.
Instead, it winds up impounded at the police station (along with its young Black driver), drawing the attention of a detective (Amy Landecker) who knows the Desiato family after investigating the unsolved murder of Michael’s wife. In fact, the inciting incident here takes place on the one-year anniversary of her death, which is just one more coincidence in a story practically built out of them.
Whether the show will continue along this route is unclear, as Showtime only made four episodes available for review, so there are still six to go and a lot could happen. However, as it stands,Your Honoris compelling but familiar. It feels like several different superior TV shows got chopped up and put in a blender —Seven Seconds,The Night Of,A Teacher, and especiallyDefending Jacob.
Your Honoralso suffers from a lack of mystery, since we’re shown the accident right off the bat, which may explain why Mrs. Desiato’s year-old murder remains unsolved — it gives the show somewhere to go in its second half. As of now though, we’re one step ahead of some of the characters, which simply leaves us waiting to see how far Michael will go to cover up this crime that his son deserves to pay for (even if it was an accident). The father-son duo is hard to root for, as neither is terribly sympathetic.
The show tries to get us to sympathize with Adam by showing us that he wants to turn himself in. He has a guilty conscience, but seems naive regarding the stakes: This isn’t just the law he’s running from, it’s a merciless crime boss. As someone with asthma, I also feel like Hollywood has been using the condition as a crutch for decades now, and by giving Adam an asthma attack, it tries to lessen his responsibility. If he had been texting while driving, this show might’ve had a more meaningful impact.
Thankfully, the talented Doohan holds his own opposite his Emmy-winning father, but his romantic relationship with his teacher (Sofia Black-D’Elia) strikes a false note, proving to be one subplot too many. Meanwhile, Stuhlbarg andHope Davis(as his wife) will no doubt have more prominent roles as the series continues, as Davis is relegated to playing a grieving mother in the show’s first half. I have no doubt she’ll eventually get her Lady Macbeth-meets-Wendy-Byrde moment in the sun. Stuhlbarg rises to the occasion here and I’m eager to see more of him, as he strikes me as exceptionally well-cast for this type of role, even if his murder of a bird comes off more comical than disturbing.
Overall,Your Honoris pulpy Sunday night entertainment that’s worth a look because its story is compelling and the performances are good, but a deeper examination reveals some decent-sized plot holes, so I’m wary of overhyping it. In the end, I suppose it’s best not to think about things too much and just sit back and enjoy the weekly ride. This isn’t quite must-see TV, but rather, a highlight reel cherry-picked from various limited series of the past several years. Unless the show sticks its landing, this one-man jury won’t object to anyone calling it a disappointment, though the case isn’t closed just yet.
Your Honorpremieres Sunday, December 6 at 10 p.m. on Showtime. Watch the trailer below.
