A Few Good Men

A Few Good Men tells the story of U.S. military lawyers at a court-martial who attempt to uncover a conspiracy.

This is a different type of legal thriller, justice military style – but it’s still a fantastic show about a crime, a court, some villains and an ambitious group of lawyers. And yes, they dress in uniforms and carry a big stick.

There is a murder on a Marine base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The murder is more complicated than most – it is apparently part of something called a “Code Red”, a kind of hazing that unofficially teaches recruits to tow the line. The two Marines charged with the murder, Pfc. Louden Downey and Lance Cpl. Harold W. Dawson, are defended by Lt. J.G. Daniel Kaffee, a graduate of Harvard, now a practicing lawyer who has never set foot in a court but is always quick to plea bargain his cases. He’s clearly more interested in playing baseball than he is in trying cases. This is exactly what the navy brass are looking for – an easy settlement that will spare everyone unnecessary embarrassment.

You can guess where this is going – the lawyer finds himself drawn into a situation where he cannot avoid the court, and so he has to face his own anxieties. This is mostly due to the assistant lawyer assigned to the case, Lt. Cmdr. JoAnne Galloway, who hassles him to keep searching for the truth. She is so persistent it’s painful.

Of course there’s more to it than a straight out murder mystery – there are ghosts from the past, defendants more willing than not to see themselves sacrificed for the betterment of the military, and above all, the honour of the Marines. And the character of the deceased, who clearly was not what the Marines had in mind when they sought recruits for the cause.