TV Review - For Life (2020)

Since How To Get Away With Murder will air its final episodes soon, the network feels like it should replace it with another, catchy legal drama. For the People (2018) was its initial attempt to replace How To Get Away With Murder, but it didn't have the knockout power that the series starring Viola Davis had. That knockout power coming mostly from Davis herself, but the casting in particular for How To Get Away With Murder was simply home-runs across the board. This series isn't being placed in the same time-slot, but it's another legal drama with a bit of a catch to it that feels like it's also trying to fill the future void so to speak. However, with the recent success of films and TV shows about men, especially men of color, who have been falsely convicted of crimes, then finding justice after being in prison for years, it seems as though the network is also trying to jump on that bandwagon here too. The recent, Emmy-winning When They See Us (2019) is one example of that bandwagon on television and Just Mercy (2019) is an example in theaters.

Both those examples are based on real-life stories. This series is similarly based on a real-life story. Creator Hank Steinberg (The Last Ship and Without a Trace) was inspired by the life of Isaac Wright, Jr. That life was emblematic of the problems in the criminal justice system. In 1991, Wright was convicted to life in prison on trumped-up drug charges. That conviction was later revealed to be the result of a corrupt prosecutor who basically framed Wright. While incarcerated, Wright worked as a paralegal, ultimately helping over 20 prisoners go free and others get their sentences reduced. After the corrupt prosecutor was exposed and convicted, Wright's case was reexamined and led to his freedom. Wright then got his law degree and started work as a lawyer. Steinberg took this story and dramatized it, twisting it a bit.

Nicholas Pinnock (Counterpart and Top Boy) stars as Aaron Wallace, an inmate with a life sentence who also does legal work on behalf of his fellow prisoners. Aaron is the analog for Isaac Wright. The difference is that Aaron isn't simply a paralegal. In this series, he's an actual lawyer with a law degree. In reality, an inmate couldn't get his law license. The Bar Association wouldn't allow it. This series contrives a way for Aaron to be an inmate and a practicing lawyer at the same time. It's a rather, clever conceit, but it seems rather silly a conceit. It seems unlikely that sticking to Wright's actual story wouldn't have been just as dramatically compelling.

It's a unique conceit though. Yet, the closest comparison to it would be in HBO's Oz (1997). That show was a prison drama, which featured a large ensemble. One of the main characters was Kareem Saïd, played by Eamonn Walker. As a character thus far, Aaron is proving to be nowhere near as interesting as Kareem. So far, Pinnock is proving to be nowhere near as engaging an actor as Walker. Yet, it's obvious that both actors are British playing American. Yet, there isn't much about Aaron that makes him all that memorable. The real-life pictures of Wright are more compelling than the character of Aaron thus far.

Joy Bryant (Parenthood and Get Rich or Die Tryin') co-stars as Marie Wallace, the wife of Aaron. She believes that her husband will be incarcerated forever or for decades before he's even up for parole. She has decided to move on. She's now dating one of Aaron's friends. This is much to the chagrin of her daughter with Aaron, Jasmine, played by Tyla Harris. Jasmine doesn't want to move on. She hopes her dad will be released. Meantime, she's dealing with her teenage pregnancy. It's interesting to see the struggle people connected to inmates have over whether to believe their innocence or not.

It'll be interesting to see how the show deals with the plight and pressures of black women who have to handle their loved ones being locked up. Steinberg's series seems to be giving us some of that, but the bulk of the show is Aaron being shuffled back-and-forth from prison to court. The bulk seems to be the procedural aspects of Aaron solving not only his case but the week-to-week cases of his fellow inmates.

A lot of it will be Aaron navigating prison politics, getting around certain dangerous inmates who lead gangs inside, as well as getting around certain leaders or powerful players in the criminal justice system like the District Attorney, Glen Maskins, played by Boris McGiver (House of Cards and Person of Interest). The first, two episodes didn't compel me all that much, but the third episode did. After seeing the third, I'm now curious to see how it will play out. It's yet to be seen, but this could be a good successor to How To Get Away With Murder.

Rated TV-14-DL.
Running Time: 1 hr.

Tuesdays at 10PM on ABC.