TV Review - The Code (2019)

In 1995, a legal or courtroom drama called JAG premiered on NBC. In 1997, CBS picked it up where it ran until 2005 for a total of 10 seasons. There have been tons of courtroom dramas on television from Perry Mason (1957) to Law & Order (1990). What was unique about JAG was that the lawyers who were the main characters were all in the military. There have been several TV shows that have been spin-offs of JAG. Those include NCIS (2003), NCIS: Los Angeles (2009) and NCIS: New Orleans (2014). All of which have been mostly police procedural programs, focusing on tracking down criminals related to the military. It's been nearly 15 years though since we've gotten a show that's centered on actual military lawyers. This show is the remedy.

Craig Turk co-created this series with Craig Sweeney. Turk has experience with courtroom dramas. He was a writer for CBS' The Good Wife, probably the best courtroom drama in two decades, and it feels as if a little of the spirit of The Good Wife has been transferred over to this. Yet, there doesn't appear to be the same kind of hook here that The Good Wife had, which made the series compelling to watch from week-to-week. This series does have a hook. It's just not as compelling.

Luke Mitchell (Blindspot and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) stars as John Abraham, a Naval captain who is an attorney within the Judge Advocate General Corps. He's known as a judge advocate and judge advocates are marines who act as prosecutors or defense lawyers for those in the military who are accused of crimes, whether it's civilian crimes or violations of what's known as the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which are the laws that govern those in the federal, armed services. John can act as either prosecutor or defense lawyer, but he typically is assigned as a prosecutor.

Anna Wood (Reckless and Deception) co-stars as Maya Dobbins, a fellow captain and judge advocate who is typically assigned as a defense lawyer. The first episode of this series is very much a rip-off of A Few Good Men (1992) and in that equation, Wood's character is comparable to Demi Moore's character. Yet, other than look and temperament, there's not much else about her that we get in the initial, three episodes. This could be the kind of series where the personal lives of the lawyers don't matter and it's all about the cases, which would be fine if the cases were more interesting.

As mentioned, the first episode is a rip-off of A Few Good Men and not a very good rip-off. It starts off interesting with an investigation into traumatic brain injury or TBI, as well as chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE, a condition more associated with football concussions. The episode goes down the road of examining TBI and CTE in soldiers and uncovering a possible medical conspiracy of malpractice and cover-ups. However, the whole thing quickly veers into a ridiculous and far-fetched murder plot that distracts from the more nuanced discussion that could have been had. The episode merely wanted to build to a Jack Nicholson moment at the end of A Few Good Men instead of a legitimate or genuine legal debate about the inherent issue of soldiers with TBI.

The second episode was okay in that it had a character as the object of the episode whose story was clear and whose issue made sense. The third episode was a little bit murkier. It began with a female soldier named Emma Sloan who was going to be the first captain in an infantry unit being attacked at night in a back alley. It's suspected that she was attacked by men who don't want a woman infantry captain. The investigators arrested a suspect but Emma says he wasn't the guy.

Phillipa Soo also co-stars as Harper Li, a lieutenant and judge advocate who usually works with John, but she breaks off and decides to pursue the person who leaked the information to the press about Emma getting her promotion. In this, the show becomes a perfect reflection of President Donald Trump's administration. The idea that a leaker is somehow more dangerous or more a criminal than someone who commits actual assaults on people is an idea that Trump advocates. The third episode has Harper advocating the same thing and everyone else on our protagonists' side advocating the same.

It would be one think if the episode had pursued the people who attacked Emma as hard as they pursued the leaker. Yet, here the focus is all about the leaker and making the leaker feel like the worst person. Actually, the leaker's lawyer is the worst, but punishing the leaker becomes what's more important. Even if one thinks that punishing the leaker is what's more important, the way that it's framed in this episode is repulsive. The episode frames it as the leaker who is a woman being the one ultimately responsible for Emma's injuries. The episode pits two women against each other and makes it an ageist argument as well.

Ultimately, the third epioosde is all about boosting the idea of women in combat and leading an infantry, which is a progressive idea or one of equality that is commendable. The framing and the way in which we get there though isn't. Instead of attacking and being critical of misogyny, the villain is a woman who is trying to champion women.


Rated TV-14-LV.
Running Time: 1 hr.
Mondays at 9PM on CBS.