Network: NBC
Episodes: 22 (hour)
Seasons: One
TV show dates: January 8, 2012 — July 14, 2012
Series status: Cancelled
Performers include: Josh Lucas, Molly Parker, Natasha Calis, Callum Keith Rennie, Juliette Lewis, Shaun Majumder, and Tricia Helfer.
TV show description:
As a young associate, Mitch McDeere (Josh Lucas) brought down the prestigious Memphis law firm of Bendini, Lambert & Locke, which operated as a front for the Chicago mob — and his life was never the same.
This TV series picks up 10 years after the end of the John Grisham novel and 1993 feature film. We find that Mitch, his wife Abby (Molly Parker), and their 10-year-old daughter Claire (Natasha Calis) are tired of hiding. After coming out of the Federal Witness Protection program, they relocate to our nation’s capitol.
Mitch starts his own practice, Abby is a teacher, and Claire starts to make real friends. Unfortunately, past dangers are still lurking and new threats are everywhere.
Mitch is aided by Ray McDeere (Callum Keith Rennie), his charming yet volatile older brother. Having served time in prison for manslaughter, Ray acts as Mitch’s private investigator.
Tammy Hemphill (Juliette Lewis) is Mitch’s feisty and sexy receptionist, whose work life is made all the more tumultuous by her on-again, off-again relationship with Ray. Tammy is leery when Mitch accepts a deal to partner with a top law practice, Kinross & Clark, as she’s not cut out for the conservative culture of a white-shoe firm.
Andrew Palmer (Shaun Majumder) is a charming, gregarious and ambitious partner at Kinross & Clark. He plays basketball with Mitch in a local league on the weekends and uses that connection to approach Mitch about a partnership with his firm. Alex Clark (Tricia Helfer) is a managing partner of Kinross & Clark. She’s a dynamic and a very confident lawyer who, like Andrew, has secret reasons for wanting Mitch on board.
Episode 22 — Chapter Twenty-Two
Claire wakes Tammy up early on the most important day of her life – her wedding day! When Abby hears Tammy struggling over what to wear, she steps in, offering up her own wedding dress. But in order to make it work for Tammy, Abby’s going to convert the gown into a mini. Once dressed, Tammy realizes she’s missing something blue.
Luckily, Claire has made her a blue macrame bracelet, emblazoned with Tammy’s new name: Mrs. Tamara McDeere. Mitch finds Ray at the office, sweating over the mysterious blond guy, whom he still can’t locate. Mitch reminds him that the wedding should be his priority today. Nevertheless, Ray’s intuition is spot on, as elsewhere in the city, the blond guy distributes weapons to his men in an alley, then climbs into an SUV bound for the church where Ray and Tammy are getting married.
After Tammy and Ray say their personal vows, the priest is just getting to the “I dos” when a car alarm just outside the church goes off. Figuring it’s his car, Mitch dashes to the curb, only to get tased by the blond guy and his masked henchman, tossed into a duffle bag and loaded into an SUV. Ray runs outside just as the SUV speeds away. Ray runs back into the church and orders Abby to call 911 as he tries Mitch’s cell phone — which rings.
When a groggy Mitch picks up, Ray tells him to hide his phone and keep the connection live. Thinking ahead, Ray has installed a GPS tracking app on Mitch’s phone. He leaves Tammy to follow the signal on the church computer while he drives after the kidnappers. But Mitch’s kidnappers aren’t dumb, so they pull over the car and seize his phone, then zip him back into his duffle.
Unfortunately, the signal from Mitch’s phone dead ends in a parking lot. When Ray calls Mitch’s cell again, he follows the ringing to find the phone in the back of a random pickup truck. In the meantime, the kidnappers swap cars at a gas station and proceed to the edge of a quarry pool. Wearing their ski masks, they march Mitch through the woods to a cliff high above the pool. Finally, the blond guy removes his mask, aims his gun at Mitch’s head and says, “You want to know who I am?”
After ordering Mitch to stop his inquiries, the blond guy shoves him off the edge of the cliff into the water below. Mitch makes his way back to the gas station, where he asks a stranger to call the police. It’s not long before Louis Coleman is on the scene. After reviewing the situation, it becomes clear that the Russians are on the verge of declaring all-out war on the Moroltos.
Back at the house, Mitch tells Abby, Ray and Tammy about his kidnapping experience. Everyone concludes that the Russians are framing Patrick, and Joey needs to know. Mitch hopes Joey will let him off the hook since he was almost killed, but no dice. Joey promises to take care of the Russians, and from now on, the McDeeres will be under the Moroltos’ protection. Later, Joey meets with Russian mob boss Luka Karpov, and gets right to the point: Joey wants the man who murdered Charlotte to come forward or he’s taking the war to the next level. When Joey offers the photo of the blond guy, Karpov promises to talk to him, but won’t promise anything else, departing with more than a few thinly veiled threats.
Karpov summons the blond guy, aka Viktor, to his club to discuss Charlotte Miller’s murder. Viktor denies killing her, so he is dismissed for the time being with a warning. Meanwhile, the McDeeres have uncomfortably accepted the presence of Joey’s men in their home. Ray thinks the Russians are crazy, but Mitch feels the best plan going forward is to point to Viktor as Charlotte’s murderer in court.
The next day, prosecutor Olivia Danville questions Detective Keene on the stand to establish what happened on the night of Charlotte’s murder. When it’s his turn, Mitch wastes no time trying to create the possibility that Patrick was framed and introduces Viktor’s photo. He explains that he has a witness who can confirm Viktor broke into Charlotte’s building on the night of the murder – and couldn’t Patrick’s cigarettes have been planted in her apartment?
Louis Coleman visits Tarrance at the FBI to check out his Russian mob wall. He’s surprised to see a photo of Viktor Kurylenko and demands Tarrance bring him in for questioning. Tarrance promises to see what he can do, then meets with Viktor to tell him to back off the McDeeres. Later, Karpov gathers his men to set the wheels of an epic plan in motion, which will involve the future murder of a foreign diplomat.
Back at the office, Abby and Tammy comb through Patrick’s police files once again, and decide to watch the video of Detective Keene interrogating Patrick. When Patrick lights up a cigarette it hits the women like a ton of bricks: this is the cigarette that was planted in Charlotte’s apartment! Could the Russians have paid Keene to plant it? Mitch doesn’t know for sure, but he wastes no time playing the video in the courtroom, pissing off Keene, Olivia – and the judge. Nevertheless, he’s made a deep impression on the jury.
Tarrance storms into Coleman’s office, angrily demanding to know why he put out an APB on Viktor. Tarrance confesses that not only are the Russians an FBI priority, but Viktor is his informant. And he’s not arresting his key asset to bail out a guy who works for the Moroltos. Tarrance better back off, or he’ll be sorry.
During a break in the trial, Patrick and Joey congratulate Mitch for a job well done – the frame defense is working. Mitch isn’t too sure; he could tell that Keene didn’t plant the cigarette in Charlotte’s apartment, since he didn’t have a prepared answer to Mitch’s question about it.
Meanwhile, Coleman gathers Abby, Claire and Tammy. He says he’s not sure what’s going on; all he knows is that he’s supposed to get them to Judge Trott’s chambers as soon as possible. They bump into Mitch on the way, who claims Judge Trott is waiting for them… to finally seal Ray and Tammy with the bonds of matrimony!
That night, Coleman meets with the McDeere family at the house to reveal Viktor’s identity, and that he’s working as an informant for the FBI. Furthermore, Tarrance knows Viktor is involved in Charlotte’s murder, but he doesn’t care. And yes, the FBI may be involved in framing Patrick. The only way to free Patrick is to pursue the truth, together. It’s going to be the U.S. Marshals, the McDeeres and the Moroltos vs. the FBI and the Russian mob.
That night before going to bed, Abby tells Mitch she’s been thinking about Claire. After all the years of therapy Claire will need, Abby hopes she’ll take one thing away from this situation: if something out there is preventing you from being who you really are… fight it!
Six weeks later, in a replay of the season opener, a breathless Mitch races across a rooftop — and jumps!
First aired: July 14, 2012.
Image courtesy NBC.
The ratings may have been disappointing but what do you expect with it tucked away on Sat nite!!!
With Harry’s Law and The Firm being cancelled, we are definitely through with NBC. They have got to be the most inept at programming of all the networks. Those were 2 of our favorite shows.
My whole family enjoyed this show. We are all in the 17-49 group. It was so much better than watching some stupid reality show. It is an exiting,interesting show that we looked forward to each week. It is very disappointing to see another good show getting cancelled. BOO to the network executives on this decision!
My family and I absolutely love this show! I will be EXTREMELY disappointed if they cancel this show. Maybe move it to a different day. The Firm is a fantastic show.
I agree…these networks get us invested in these new shows then cancel them because a certain demographic audience isn’t interested?? That’s not really fair. Don’t all age groups count…and btw I am in the 18-49 category and do NOT agree with cancelling shows like The Firm, Missing, Who Do You Think You Are, Unforgettable, Gifted Man, GCB…..etc! So once again I have wasted time enjoying shows that I will no longer be able to see only to have them get replaced by some dumb new 30 min comedy or reality show! Thanks ….gotta love these “network” decisions. I believe folks… Read more »
Another great show gone. Soon I will be able to ditch my TV set and go back to reading.!!!!!!! They seem to get rid of all the good shows.
I liked this show very much. Not much on for Saturday night and this was something to look forward to. As usual, now that I am hooked on a show it is being cancelled.
[…] The Firm picks up years after the young attorney (Josh Lucas) made his deal with the mob to take his old crooked law firm down. He and his family have come out of hiding but their problems haven’t gone away. The show also stars Molly Parker, Callum Keith Rennie, Juliette Lewis, Natasha Calis, Tricia Helfer, Martin Donovan, Shaun Majumder, and Paulino Nunes. […]
[…] The Firm (NBC) This highly-promoted legal series was a ratings disappointment. […]
my weekend isn’t good
finder, awake, firm canceled. Dammit i hate getting hooked on a show only for it to get the ax
I want to leave a note supporting this fantastic show but beyond saying that I don’t know what else to say because the thought of this show being canceled is so absurd to me that it leaves me speechless. I love the flashbacks. I think it’s fun knowing what’s going to happen and then seeing how they get there.
My family and I absolutely love this show! I looooove Josh Lucas and the role he plays.The rest of the cast is brilliant as well. I will be EXTREMELY disappointed if they cancel this show. The show is so interesting and I am now a die hard Josh Lucas fan!!
Josh Lucas is miscast for this show. Something has changed with him since his Sweet Home Alabama days. He isn’t interesting or even likeable in this role and that lissssp of his is entirely distracting at least for this viewer. I’d like to see the show recast and given another shot but as isss…. its not going to make it.
Too much like the movie and I didn’t like that movie that much either. Josh Lucas is the only thing good about this show so far.
Will their be a rerun anytime soon of the 2 hour pilot “The Firm”? It was aired Sunday, 1/08/12.
Pam Short » Saturday at 8pm.