The finale was tremendously sad and much less satisfying than it might have been had Downey, Jr.’s situation been different. But the writers deserve credit for coming up with a decent story under pressure. After losing one of the most loved characters of any season of Ally, it could not have been fun rewriting that episode.
The Wedding introduced Josh Groban to an unsuspecting public. He of the golden throat made his television debut as Malcolm Wyatt, a teenager suing a girl for reneging on her promise to go to the prom with him. Ally was his lawyer. Since the girl was represented by Larry Paul, who had abruptly left for Detroit to be with his son, the case was dropped. In the end, a brokenhearted Ally had a talk with the ghost of her dead boyfriend, Billy, who convinced her to go to the prom as Malcolm’s date. Encouraged by Ally, Malcolm found the courage to take the stage at the prom to sing “You’re Still You”. The episode ended on a hopeful note, putting forth the message to never stop believing in love.
It took years for this and other seasons of Ally McBeal to be made available on DVD. Getting the rights to the great wealth of music used in the show was difficult. Now that the sets are out the only quibble I have is the lack of extras. It would have been nice if behind the scenes footage or insights from the writers or producers had been included.
Many long running TV shows have a special season or two: those that can be watched and enjoyed even if one is not familiar with what went before. Season Four of Ally McBeal is just such a season.
Article comments
1 - El Bicho
"who up until this point was exclusively a film actor"
except for the season he was a cast member on SNL
2 - Mindy
Yes, thanks, El Bicho, I stand corrected.
3 - gina
Mindy, just out of curiosity, why is a storyline where man who's attracted to a trans woman characterized as "strangeness?" Do you mean that you're personally somehow uncomfortable with it... is that why it's 'strange?' Also, how is Lisa Edelstein's performance as a trans woman character "astonishingly believable?" Are you saying she looks like a trans woman? I'd be curious if you were to explain what such a person looks like? Are you saying she didn't play the character like a stereotypical drag queen or as a caricature? What is it exactly you are saying... this trans woman would love to know? BTW, while I think Edelstein is a wonderful actress, sadly, I found some of the "dick" humor in the writing of the story line pretty immature and cheapened the impact of the episodes, even if it was supposed to somehow be making fun of those characters' narrow mindedness.
4 - Mindy
Gina: The strangeness stemmed from the reaction of Mark's co-workers, how their immaturity and prejudices played out to make the whole thing just odd. Perhaps if those in Mark's world were more mature and knew how to handle the fact that relationships of this type can and do exist, the strangeness factor would not have been so blatant. Lisa's performance was astonishingly believable to me because of the subtlety she cast into the role. Another actor might have broadcast her 'origins' in some way. This is TV, after all. But the character was comfortable with who she was, despite all she had to go through to just be herself.
5 - Miss Lisa
I never even watched Ally McBeal till recently when my curiosity of Robert Downey Jr appearing in season 4 made me watch. As much as i adore Robert i'm surprised i waited this long to watch those episodes. He is incredibly HOT and the ONLY thing that i ever enjoyed Ally McBeal for. Without Robert i could give a rat's a--!
6 - Veronica
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Ally McBeal. Truly a great dramedy, with great performances by all of its actors. Season 4 was soooo good! I wish RDJ woldn't have messed imself up so they could've married, that would've been amazing and would've kept their rating up, so the show might hava lasted longer. They should do a reunion episode, or something and finally have them end up together!!!
7 - Mindy
Killing Billy killed the show!! They did a great job reviving it with Larry though, and then he left!! Stupid writers!