Television Reviews -
Shark: Navigation

• CSM Reviews <--
• Adult Reviews
• Kid Reviews

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that this legal drama details criminal cases involving murder, rape, violence, and sex. Scenes have involved a woman's bloody body and an Internet sex video that features sexual noises and some skin. The main character is portrayed as good-at-heart, but not above some immoral and unethical practices.

Families can discuss the meaning of justice. Is it better to lose ethically or win unethically? Do the means always justify the end? If you were in trouble, would you want a lawyer like Stark to help you?

Rate It!

Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Sierra Filucci

Big-screen regular James Woods (Ghosts of Missippi, Virgin Suicides) moves to the tube in the legal drama SHARK. He stars as Sebastian Stark, a former high-profile defense attorney who switches over to the district attorney's office after one of his cases goes horribly wrong.

Charismatic and cocky, Stark is put in charge of a small team of freshman prosecutors (shades of House, anyone?). He uses his box of defense attorney tricks to teach the young lawyers how to dazzle the jury and wrap up cases with a slam dunk.

Without Woods, Shark would be just another formulaic legal drama. But his acting chops are sharp and his presence strong. Jeri Ryan (Boston Public) co-stars as Jessica Devlin, Stark's former adversary and current boss. Stark's underlings are a diverse, well-dressed bunch who hang on his every word, and, frankly, do little to distinguish themselves from the pack. The exception is Sarah Carter, who plays Madeline Poe, a volunteer prosecutor who wows Stark with her brains and ambition while alienating the other lawyers with her aloofness.

While work consumes much of Stark's life, he also has a 16-year-old daughter to care for. Though the show's writers may be aiming for a Veronica Mars-type father-daughter relationship, this duo has none of the quirky sweetness of that twosome. Instead, the wise-beyond-her-years Julie Stark (Danielle Panabaker) speaks to her father with a tone of pity, a sentiment that seems ill-fitting for the showy, loud-mouthed lawyer.

Shark is clearly an adult drama. The cases profiled in each show are sometimes gory and always entail a criminal act, some of which have sexual elements. And while Stark is a generally likeable guy, he uses tactics some would consider unethical -- and he's a realist rather than a true believer in justice.

Fans might also like House and Law & Order: SVU.

Rate It!

Content
		CS	adults	kids
Sexual Content Some brief sex scenes, but no private parts revealed. Some discussion of sexual affairs.
Violence Scenes of bloody, murdered body and a blood-splattered murderer. Graphic recounting of violent acts.
Language Slightly more adult than other network legal dramas -- "a--hole," etc.
Message
	Social Behavior The main character has iffy ethical standards, but is good at heart. Some racial and gender diversity -- mayor is Latino, freshman prosecutors are multi-ethnic, and Stark's boss is female.
	Commercialism No obvious product placement, but Stark drives a flashy sports car and lives in a super-spiffy house.
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Social drinking.

Rate It Now

OR