tek's rating: ¼

Proven Innocent, on FOX
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Rachelle Lefevre plays Madeline Scott, a lawyer with a firm called the Injustice Defense Group. When she and her brother, Levi, were teenagers, their best friend, Rosemary Lynch, was murdered. Madeline and Levi were tried and convicted of the crime. However, years later, Madeline tried to get any lawyer she could to reopen their case. The only one who chose to help them was Ezekiel "Easy" Boudreau (Russell Hornsby, whom I know from Grimm). He succeeded in overturning their conviction, and now works with Madeline, representing other people they believe to have been wrongfully convicted of various crimes. The lead investigator for the firm is Bodie Quick (Vincent Kartheiser, whom I know from Angel, though others probably know him better from "Mad Men"; either way, I find him virtually unrecognizable in this show). Rounding out the IDG team is Violet Bell (Nikki M. James, whom I know from BrainDead). She hosts a podcast called "Until Proven Innocent," on which she talks about the cases the firm is working on, while also sort of philosophizing about justice and whatnot. While working on new cases each week, Madeline often has flashbacks to when she was a teenager (played by Clare O'Connor), around the time of the murder, and the trial, and her time in prison.

Well... there's a lot of other stuff going on. Madeline is trying to figure out who really killed Rosemary. And Levi is a recovering addict who struggles to move on with his life. And the attorney who prosecuted them, Gore Bellows (Kelsey Grammer) is now running for state Attorney General (with hopes to someday run for governor). He occasionally is opposing counsel in Madeline's cases, but mostly focuses on his campaign, which includes promising to make a law named after Rosemary, which would limit the time frame in which cases could be reopened, or something. Meanwhile, Madeline supports a candidate named Evan Esteban-Miller, who is running against Bellows. And Madeline starts dating a reporter named Dylan, who she doesn't realize has been assigned by his editor to dig up dirt on her. And there's a couple named Heather and Brian Husband, who Madeline and Levi knew before Rosemary's murder, and who still blame them for the murder. And Madeline occasionally visits someone named Wren, who is still in prison, and was Madeline's girlfriend during her time there. And Madeline eventually dumps Dylan and renews her relationship with Wren... who eventually gets out on parole. Also, Bodie is dating a cop named Nikki, though at the start of the series their relationship is kind of a secret, and not very serious. And it's not long before they break up, but they do get back together later in the season. And there are various other characters involved with Bellows, including his wife Greta (Laurie Holden), his protege Isabel Sanchez, a reporter named Susan, a campaign donor named Rick Zahn, among others. But most of them were of little or no importance to me (or to the story).

Anyway, the dialogue on the show isn't always very good, but in general I find the cases of the week interesting enough, and I was somewhat curious to find out the truth about who killed Rosemary. Which we do, in the season finale. And I guess I don't know what else to say. I doubt there will be another season, and it certainly won't bother me if there's not. But I don't feel like watching one season was a waste of time, or anything. And if there is another season, I'd probably watch (as long as nothing better was on in the time slot).


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