I'll be honest; I fell asleep for maybe six minutes during Franklin & Bash. I've no idea where the sudden onslaught of sleep came from. I rewound and didn't miss a beat. Franklin & Bash didn't require too much mental energy to follow. It wasn't like jumping into the Fringe midway through the fourth season to randomly write about it. I needed to keep track of the dynamics between Bash and Franklin, the supporting characters, and figure out who the hell Biff Tannen was supposed to be and why he upset Pindar so much.
Franklin & Bash premiered to decent numbers last summer and performed consistently enough to merit a second season. The series received significant promotion leading up to its premiere. I may or not remember seeing an ad for the premiere while waiting for The Avengers to begin. TNT bought space on various entertainment websites to promote its bro-lawyer show featuring two bros. Whether or not the advertising push helped the show is beyond my knowledge in part because I'm not interested in knowing such information, and because I don't read daily ratings reports. The AV Club dismissed the premiere. I can't imagine any other website pushing the show.
The series works well as a summer series. The inclusion of Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselher as the two leads was a terrific choice. The two actors alone cause a 90s nostalgia. In the case of MPG, it's nostalgia for the early 90s when clothing trends were trapped in the 80s. In the case of Meyer, it's nostalgia for the mid-to-late 90s when he charmed women everywhere as the stoner-skater guy in Clueless, and in Road Trip when he was so irresistible Amy Smart took her top off for him. Meyer's girlfriend in Road Trip is portrayed by the girl who portrayed the Cher character in the TV version of Clueless. Franklin and Bash are fun-loving dudes who party in their off-hours and lawyer in their on-hours. They live in a magnificent property somewhere in California. The women who party in their abode are gorgeous. Five seconds into the episode, I remarked, 'This is better than The Secret Life of the American Teenager.' They want to have fun and feel good and the way to feel good is to win cases for the good guys (or girls).
"For Those About to Rock" follows the fallout of Jared's one-day sub job as a small-claims judge. Jared closes down one of the cities most famous rock n' roll venues because his hands are tied by the law. The local alternative weekly publications attack Jared for killing rock n' roll. Even Bash, the musician of the two who wants to shred, feels disappointed in the ruling. Jared plans to rectify his mistake by winning the venue back for the man he ruled against. The ruled-against man is cautious initially but pledges to fight for rock n' roll.
The show caters well to the first time viewer. Each act increases one's understanding of the dynamics of the characters. Jared works in the same profession as his father. The Franklins have a bad relationship. Franklin the senior usually opposes his son in cases. There are issues between the two that extends beyond the courtroom. Jared gives his father a gift he bought for him years ago for Fathers Day. The gesture implies Franklin the senior doesn't know his son at all. Bash is the funner guy of the partnership. This episode revealed nothing about him except for his fondness for playing music. Their assistant, Hilda, takes initiative in cases, going and getting anywhere she needs to help her bosses. Pindar, the neurotic germaphobe of the law firm, had a therapist who's been arrested for defrauding clients. His boss, Malcom McDowell, defends the therapist to help Pindar overcome his anxieties. The firm is indifferent to the guilty ruling against their client. Throughout the episode is the sense of altruism in the firm, of their willingness to travel to the ends of the earth for each other and for their clients. It's a fantasy, of course, but a good summer fantasy.
Naturally, the procedural element trumps all other elements in the show. The majority of the episode is spent on the case. Franklin and Bash seem buried by the end of the penultimate act until they uncover crucial evidence guaranteed to save their client's venue. The evidence forces them to implore the elder venue owner to testify; this character is a hermit who barely speaks and who carries around a rifle like it's a stuffed animal and he's six years old. Their ability to persuade people and charm the jury pays off well by the end of "For Those About to Rock." The wealthy former partner of the venue is revealed to be harboring a grudge against the elder venue owner which involves a woman. The wealthy man wants to kill the venue because he lost his beloved to his former partner, and he intentionally sabotaged the younger owner's ability to pay the rent. Franklin and Bash win. The client gets the venue back. The wealthy dude lands property somewhere else to build a mall complex. Jared bests his father in the court room. The end is clean and satisfying, which is what procedural viewers want by episode's end.
Franklin & Bash uses one of my favorite procedural devices. Every procedural opens and ends with character stuff. This episode begins and ends with a party. Bash botches a song in the beginning but nails one in the end. Pindar kisses a girl. Jared smiles. All in all, this TNT procedural law comedy is good fun for the summer. Anyone can jump in at any point in the season if one's been interested in the series but afraid the mythology of Franklin & Bash will be too complicated to overcome to appreciate the show in the same way die-hard fans appreciate it. There is no mythology. Just jump in and enjoy yourself.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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