TV Jots

Legal Drama Asks Who’s Responsible

TNT’s Raising the Bar is one of those occasional TV shows that don’t impress me when they first premiere, although I rediscover them later and begin enjoying what they offer. After watching tonight’s new episode of the sophomore drama called “No Child’s Left Behind” in advance, I’m reminded again why I came to like this particular late addition to my regular viewing schedule.

The secondary plot of “No Child’s Left Behind” focuses on the divorce plight of Natalia Cigliuti’s defense attorney Bobbi Gilardi. She begins contemplating moving on to a better paying job after her vindictive and sleazy estranged husband Gavin (Heath Freeman) takes underhanded measures to gain control of her apartment in a settlement.

While that storyline is really interesting and concludes with an extremely satisfying resolution, the bulk of the episode focuses on the tense and thought-provoking case of a father (Titus Welliver, Life) who finds himself in Nick Balco’s (Currie Graham) determined legal crosshairs after a picture he posted online of his naked young son ends up on a child pornography website.

The following legal case explores the rapidly shifting realms of public and private in an age of increasingly prevalent Internet social networking. The immediate availability and 24/7/365 nature of the Web seems to make many people forget — if they even knew in the first place — that what goes online not only stays online forever, but also is often easily available to the hordes of other people, strangers and acquaintances alike, with access to the Internet.

Nick’s defense attorney Jerry Kellerman (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), as earnest and convinced he’s right as always, argues that the father, a good and hard-working parent even by his ex-wife’s admission, did nothing wrong when he uploaded an innocent picture to his Website to share with family and friends.

However, Balco, as snarky and off-putting as always, counters that by placing the photo online, the father is just as guilty of a crime as the pornographers are because he created the means, opportunity, and conditions for a crime to occur. Whatever you think about Balco’s attitude, there’s no mistaking the extent of his legal insight during this case.

Raising the Bar has been pretty entertaining so far during the current second season, which kicked off on June 8. Even if you don’t usually watch the show, “No Child’s Left Behind” is worth catching, and it might even give you something to think about after the episode is over. It definitely reinforced my longstanding policy of not posting personal photos anywhere online when I can avoid it.

Sneak a peek at the episode in the following preview clip and tune in at 10pm ET tonight, June 29.