Episode Summary

Shirley makes a bold decision to help her father end his suffering when he reaches the final stages of Alzheimer's, but needs Alan's help to convince the courts to allow it. Meanwhile, Carl finds himself defending an impossible case when his client demands the right to build an atomic bomb on the island of Nantucket, and Jerry goes too far in his pursuit of love when he uses spray-on hormones to attract a woman.moreless

David E. Kelley addresses two very important issues concerning Alzheimer's and Nuclear Disarmament. Definitely an EMMY award winning episode with absolutely brilliant performances by James Spader and Candice Bergen.

If you have ever known of someone or a loved one who has suffered from Alzheimer's then this episode will touch your heart and open others to the lives of the loved ones struggling to help a family member through a horrendous disease. Alan Shore displays his love for Denny Crane in a closing summation that doesn't leave a dry eye from the viewer. Nuclear Disarmament is addressed by the recent political machinations of a President bent on causing more problems for the World by signing a free-for-all in weaponary. Shame is the topic which the entire episode is focused on. Shame for using a phernomen to attract the opposite sex, shame for the debillitating disease of Alzheimer's and shame on the Government for their stance on Nuclear weapons. Brilliant episode and definitely a front-runner for the EMMY.moreless

Great episode, but....

This was another great episode, but take a look at the "cast and crew" section for this episode-Rachelle LeFevre was quite busy in this episode playing multiple characters bigtime! lol Excellent acting by many(Spader, Crane, Bergen to name a few). These were touchy issues and the cases were resolved believably. It was tough to see Alan have to say such harsh things concerning Shirley's dad in court but the beauty was Spader's acting as you can clearly see how difficult it was for him to do-as well as when he brought up his relationship with Denny and the possibility of dealing with his best friend's death.Great episode and Gooooo LeFevre. lol jk It's obviously an error.moreless

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (1)

QUOTES (3)

Alan: My, uh, best friend has Alzheimer's, in the, uh, very early stages, it hasn't. He is a grand lover of life and will be for some time. I believe even when his mind starts to really go, he'll still fish, he'll laugh and love, and as it progresses he'll still want to live because there will be value for him, in a friendship, in a cigar. The truth is I don't think he will ever come to me and say, this is the day I want to die, but the day is coming and he won't know it. This is perhaps the, the most insidious thing about Alzheimer's. But, you see, he trusts me to know when that day has arrive, he trusts me to safe guard his dignity, his legacy and self respect. He trusts me to prevent his end from becoming a mindless piece of mush and I will. It will be an unbearably painful thing for me, but I will do it, because I love him. I will end his suffering, because it is the only decent humane and loving thing a person can do.

ALLUSIONS (2)

Music in this episode - Tom Lehrer's "Who's Next". The song was written during the 1960's about Nuclear Proliferation, its theme strongly coincides with this episode's subject, and a few of the arguments Carl uses are exact matches to lines from the song.The opening to the song in Tom Lehrer's "That Was the Year That Was": "One of the big news items of the past year concerned the fact that China, which we called "Red China," exploded a nuclear bomb, which we called a device. Then Indonesia announced that it was going to have one soon, and proliferation became the word of the day. Here's a song about that...".

Before the opening credits Jerry says that during the strike he fell in love and Katie asks during what strike. This could be considered a reference to the writers strike that halted the Boston Legal production. This is the second post-strike episode.

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