Customer Reviews

The Guardian: The First Season

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

4.5 Stars... Be warned, the character Simon Baker plays in this series is edgier than his character in The Mentalist and slightly more abrasive. However, that being said the first season of this legal drama was the strongest. At the time, Baker was billed as a new face with edge from Austrailia and the series got good critical reviews its first year. Baker's seens with Dabney Coleman were amazing to watch as he struggled between goodwill legal work and the call of "the rich firm" run by his father. Alan Rosenberg was good though the character he played was less rich than his characters in other series (Cybil, L.A. Law, Civil Wars). If you like Simon Baker in The Mentalist, and you don't expect him to always play the same exact character, you'll probably enjoy this first season and if like legal shows this series will also be enjoyable. So what happened in the remaining seasons? They retooled the premise to broaden their viewing audience and it watered down the show but this first season is definitely worth watching. I'd also recommend catching the actor in the romantic dramedy: Something New, if you are a fan of his.

When I graduated from law school, I came very close to practicing the type of family law the main character, Nick Fallon, has been sentenced to, so I may be a bit biased. With that having been said, I thought this was a terrific series.

The most important ingredient of this series' success is the understated (and unfortunately, criminally underrated) performance of Simon Baker. Because of the manner in which he plays Nick Fallon, you can see how the cumulative strain of:

(1) Fallon being sentenced to thousands of hours of community service in most trying, heartbreaking area of family law --destitute, abandoned and defenseless children;
(2) while struggling to stay productive at his tough-as-nails father's white-shoe mergers and acqusitions law firm and
(3)remaining sober

is (incrementally) tearing his character apart.

I strongly recommend this series to anyone who is tired of the melodramatic and overwrought nature of other legal dramas. It was really thought-provoking and entertaining!

I discovered this gem on a local channel while living abroad (granted, the episodes were not current). It was fascinating watching the challenges of Baker's character as he worked for his father's uptight law firm, while also performing mandated community service as a court-appointed guardian for kids with extraordinary difficulties in their lives. At first, I thought Baker's character too cold and unlikable, but eventually realized he was meant to be very complicated. However, it was the acting of Alan Rosenberg, and particularly Dabney Coleman, that made the show stand out for me. I had never appreciated what a fine dramatic actor Coleman is. The show can be raw and difficult to watch at times, but the writing and the guest actors are excellent, and I highly recommend it.

If you missed this series when it ran in the early to mid-2000's you may well find your favorite dramatic series is no longer on television or cable, but in this box set (and hopefully two forthcoming entries).

"The Guardian" is not a "Murder She Wrote"-type series where there's a smoking gun and a criminal on the loose every episode. Instead, the series is driven by Simon Baker's character who is many things--a lawyer by choice, a children's court appointed adovocate by sentence, an estranged son, and most of all a complex person with problems who has the tightest lips in the galaxy when it comes to voicing his own frustrations and concerns.

As the episodes--and series--unfolds the viewer wonders how long Fallon (Baker's character) can keep it up. He's heading for a breakdown and the suspense keeps one on the edge of his or her seat. Questions also arise: how did Nick Fallon get this way? Why do he and his father work together, but don't seem to get along personally? Is Fallon still abusing drugs?

For fans of the series this release signifies a sigh of relief as the wait for this set has been long. If sales are good then the world should be treated to the complete series and the saga of Nick Fallon will be lived and relived. It is "just" a TV series, but it also reminds us that even adults need intervention from family and friends (and should accepted it when the offer is made).

I was so upset when the series was cancelled after only a few seasons. I HOPE sales of Season One are so good that we can get Seasons 2 and 3 on DVD.

As Alvin tells him in the last episode of the third series, Nicholas Fallin is not as bad as he think he is, and probably he's not as bad as he wants to be.
This is the story of a young corporate lawyer who works for his father during the day, and holds coke parties at night. Of course he gets busted and he gets sentenced to quite a huge amount of hours at children's legal service plus probation and a fine. THroughout the series we see him juggling his two jobs.
This legal drama is not so much about legal stuff as it is about the personal growth of a very troubled thirsty-something man, who might have had everything his dad's money could buy, but healthy relationships with his family. He's clearly scared to death by his father's judgement, as much as he craves for his affection and approval. Emotionally, he's not older than most of his clients at LSP and sometimes he behaves like your perfect a..h..e, and your instinct would be of slapping his face.
And yet, we gradually see that, behind his mask of arrogance and 'standoffishness' he is caring and shows concern for those around him. He often sounds as if he were on the verge of tears, and he goes the extra mile trying to help the children and adults he has been sentenced to serve. Even though he tries and adds minutes, if not hours, to his sentence log, he does not hesitate to even become foster carer for one of those children, or to go against social services, grandparents, and basically everyone else in order to grant the wishes of another one. All of this while he's constantly told off by basically everyone: his father, his boss at LSP, his boss at another firm, the group leader at the Al-An, his coworkers at LSP....
Plots are very interesting, main actors are great, especially Dabney Coleman and Simon Baker, and the views of downtown Pittsburgh are just wonderful.
Hope they'll put the other two series on DVD soon.

I became hooked on this series this summer (2009) while watching reruns on the Sleuth channel. Excellent series - VERY well written, acted and produced. I am also just discovering Simon Baker - an excellent actor in all his projects I've been able to find. A natural in front of the camera; he's totally different in every one of his projects.

ALL of the actors were amazing in this tough series - an edgy, bottled up, emotionally challenged Nick (Baker) dealing with his world of hurt when his mother dies and a sensitive boy is sent off to endure boarding schools and a cold Professional father (Dabney Coleman at his best) too tied up in a cold harsh business to help his hurting child. It is fascinating to watch the emotionally fragile walls spin and tumble as characters grow, change and relationships continue to evolve as the black and white efficiency of law starts to turn more gray as the world changes for the characters through their exposure to distraught, fragile children and families. They all start to discover how human and fragile they are. It is SUCH a shame this series was cancelled - the final episode in year three was awesome...

Having seen the series twice on British television and being an avid Simon Baker fan I couldn't help purchasing this DVD boxset. Simon Baker puts in an excellent performance as a troubled young lawyer, who is overcoming both his addiction to drugs and the loss and abandonment he felt as a child.He starts off as an arrogant and seemingly heartless corporate lawyer, but after working with Children's services of Pittsburg, which then becomes Legal Services of Pittsburg he soon changes and we see a far more complex character emerge.
His relationship with his rather aloof father is also interesting to watch and the storylines are excellent. A must for all Simon Baker fans.

long awaited, and an awesome series, really too bad its off the air, im looking forward to the other seasons that i hope are released. a must for real tv drama,.

I miss this show! The story lines and acting were so gripping, and I know lots of people who were sad to see it go. I am loving my new boxed set, and praying they make the rest of the seasons available to purchase. This is better than the mentalist, and I am Simon Baker's biggest fan!