When Fairly Legal first premiered I saw it as entertaining piece of fluff with an interesting premise, an attractive, engaging cast and writers who seemed to understand the first rule of Fantasy: Happy Endings.
It has yet to disappoint, mainly, within those parameters but things did begin to change a little. For example the addition of Ben - I couldn't figure out why they needed him - and the occasional 'intrusion' of Kate's darker, more serious side. Being in Fluff Expectational Mode, I wasn't too sure I approved.
Then, a few weeks ago, while watching Person of Interest, one of the characters looked really, really familiar: Samantha Shaw, AKA Sarah Shahi, Aka Kate Reed. I was floored; Samantha and Kate were night and day to the point of being barely recognizable as Sara Shahi as both, a realization that knocked me out of FEM as far as Fairly Legal was concerned.
I'd recorded and kept 14 episodes of FL so I took another look and, suddenly, those changes made a hell of a lot more sense. Funny how seeing a journeywoman perform as a Master can change your perspective and those elements, light fluff and serious exposition, now seemed organic, adding depth to all of the characters and stories.
Finale is a perfect example of that blending - again, when I first saw it, being in FEM, it struck me as discordant. Out of FEM, it comes across as a perfect example of that blending. What I'd feared was a slow drift towards Soap-Opera-y-ness was now a positive evolution, strengthening both characters and scripts.
All because a chance piece of casting (Samantha Shaw) revealed that Sarah Shahi is a hell of an actress.
