Now, it would be hard to argue with the show had Goober simply punished the ringleader --- whose name I forget, so let's call him X --- with expulsion or suspension on his own. But by staging the trial, Goober's direction to the students was to consider themselves as a society unto themselves --- and to ask them to determine whether X's behavior should be punished.
And that's where the show veered wildly off course. By putting the decision in hands of the students; by asking those students to determine what morality they would choose for themselves — the equation had changed. No longer was it a case of adults guiding the behavior of juveniles, where the restriction of certain freedoms might be accepted as a normal part of preparation for adulthood . Now, we had a society of equals, determining how to judge the behavior of their own.
To its credit, the show upheld its traditional flair for ambiguity in morally questionable situations to the very end. The argument for the defense --- that X was providing a safe, clean place for students to engage in behavior they would have undertaken anyway, and that no harm was being done --- was presented in as compelling a fashion as that of the prosecution. (The fact that X was donating all the profits to an AIDS-charity was a nice touch, if a bit overdone). And other than the legally-unusual sequencing of allowing the prosecution to have the final closing argument, there was no real hint as to which way the jury would rule until the close of the episode.
But rule it did: X was found guilty of... something. It's never quite said what, exactly, which is one problem. And he's sentenced to a two-week suspension for his crime.
While some murkiness remained, it was clear that the verdict was intended to be seen as the "right" one, with the principal congratulating Goober after the fact for his visionary strategy.
Article comments
1 - Bill Sherman
Of course, Guber is hardly a model of exemplary conduct whose moves are meant to be uncritically accepted: this is a man who inadvertantly encouraged a riot in the school halls in the season opener, after all. At times, he functions (as do other characters on the show) more as a thematic provocateur than a fully realized person . . .
2 - Jim Carruthers
I don't like, really, y'know watch Boston Public, but I have a friend who does. And my friend was thinking that with the scene of Guber using the blue prints to find where the secret lair is, and since it is well known DEK sold his soul, obviously Boston Public is the anti-BtVS particle (season 7 variety) teevee scientists have theorized.
Both use blue prints to find the Hellmouth / Senior Study Room. Both principals are black men with shaved heads and goatees, but one is fat and one is skinny. One has characters having sex in the basement, the other has "from beneath you, it devours". One has a talented visionary, the other has David E. Kelly.