Plugged In: Review: Judging Amy

Focus on the family - October 1999

By Steven Isaac

The sprawling familial relationships of Providence meet the courtroom intensity of The Practice in CBS' hit drama, Judging Amy. As Judge Amy Gray, actress Amy Brenneman (NYPD Blue) plays a single mom who leaves New York City to become a judge in Hartford, Conn. Recently divorced, she and her young daughter move in with her very opinionated mother, Maxine (Tyne Daly).

At times melancholy, Judging Amy mixes in enough levity that viewers can ponder life's heavier issues without succumbing to every desperate situation. The bulk of Amy's cases involve parental rights and custody battles, leading to emotionally charged accusations and appeals. A paranoid mother drives her daughter to despair by constantly uprooting her "for her own safety." One teen kills another, leaving Amy to decide if the murderer's parents share responsibility.

A comatose boy is hailed as a saint when people report healings in his presence. Amy must decide if his guardians are exploiting him or merely allowing him to fulfill his "God-ordained" destiny. She grapples with whether she should beef up her own anemic belief in God, miracles and the supernatural.

Racial, ethical and religious issues are common, if ambiguous in their treatment (assisted suicide, for example). Amy sometimes voices strong, if unsettling, convictions. When a Wiccan witch is put on trial as an unfit mother, Amy supports her beliefs and berates dissenters. As a mom, Amy belittles the efforts of school officials to minimize violent and occultic imagery during a Halloween celebration.

Graphic courtroom dissertations and foul language have thus far been kept to a minimum, but stories of sexual assault, murder and cruelty are routine. Some images are heart wrenching. A small child huddles alone in a basement prison to which his parents confined him for not being "normal." A mentally disturbed mother points a gun at Amy, then tries to shoot herself (the gun is empty). Gruesome photos of a murdered girl are passed around the courtroom as evidence.

Amy struggles valiantly to become deserving of the authority granted to her when she puts on her robe. Her mother, while grating and overbearing, shares real insight ("People do what they want to do, the rest is just excuses"). Grandmother, mother and daughter ride out the storms of life and grow to appreciate each other.

If Judging Amy can resist the temptation to push liberal social agendas as The Practice and Ally McBeal do, this series may just carve out a niche as a thought-provoking conversation starter for mature viewers. If not, it will be sentenced to hard labor as one more in a growing list of overhyped courtroom dramas.

EPISODES REVIEWED: SEPT. 19, 21, 28, OCT. 5, 12, 19, 1999


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