Rake Season 1: Keegan Dean Owes So Much Money…

Hello everybody! Today we have a quickie review of the first season of Rake.

RAKE

DIRECTOR: Peter Duncan

STARRING: Greg Kinnear, John Ortiz, Necar Zadegan, Bojana Novakovic, Tara Summers, Miranda Otto, Ian Colletti

GENRE: Comedy, Comedy-Drama, Legal Drama

YEAR: Jan. 23, 2014 – Present

COUNTRY: United States

The series follows Keegan Deane, a criminal defense lawyer whose personal problems and self-destructive behavior has him battling wits and/or owing money to everyone around him, including his ex-wife, judges, an assistant district attorney, his bookie, a brothel owner, and the IRS.Time to jump into the chaotic world of criminal defense lawyer Keegan Deane. Brilliant, iconoclastic and innately self-destructive, he has a mind-numbing lack of discretion and a total inability to pause before speaking his mind. From bigamists to cannibals and everything in between, the clients Keegan loves most are those whose cases appear to be utterly hopeless without him realizing that he, himself, is perhaps the most desperate case of all.

Alright, I want to start out this by stating that this review is for the American version of the show, not the Australian version (that is next on my list). While it has struggled with ratings (I mean, its on Friday nights on the CW of all places), the show is actually decent for yet another lawyer dramedy. It is definitely darker and covers other more mature themes unlike another series (I am looking at you Suits). Keegan Deane is absolutely awesome throughout the first season and I am amazed that of all things he is a lawyer. He is almost as much of a degenerate as his clients. Rake definitely a show that focuses on relationships among all of the characters, and just watching Keegan’s many dysfunctional relationships with his ex-wife, best friend, favorite prostitute, etc. is an absolute treat. I am honestly looking forward to what the Australian version brings to the table.

My main issue with Rake is that some weeks I just couldn’t get into it. I did eventually catch up on the episodes I missed once the season was officially over, but I still wasn’t that interested. I just wanted to see Keegan Deane fuck everything up. Most of the episodes I missed (which now that I think about it, it is only like four episodes) I just didn’t watch because his main case didn’t catch me, not at all. He covers cases such as murder, cannibalism, beastiality, and … embezellment? Boring. I would also like to point out that I didn’t feel that any of the supporting cast (outside the five main characters) didn’t do a very good job. There was so much potential and they just didn’t make the cut.

PROS:

  • Mature Themes.
  • Keegan Dean is an awesome protagonist.
  • Focus on relationships.

CONS:

  • Some of the cases he covers are boring.
  • Supporting cast performances.

SCORE: 7.7 / 10

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