(Season 5, Episode 10 – “Thanksgiving”) 
You know what? Going into this holiday themed episode, I was pretty worried. I wasn’t thrilled with how the episode that took Denny and Alan to Utah turned out, and so when I saw that again we were going to be staying out of the courtroom, I got worried. Can David E. Kelley do what he does so well on this show completely outside of the courtroom?
And then Shirley got mugged by a nine year old black kid in a parking lot, only to find out that this is the new foster child of Edwin Poole. From there things were more fun than they had any right to be, minus a few bizarre outbursts from Shirley, and Kelley still finding a way to have Alan wax poetic about some hot political issue, this one being racism in this post-Obama America. But then halfway through, something remarkable happened and this became one of the most powerful and moving episodes I’d seen in a long time.
I can’t even say it was one thing. Certainly Denny getting into an outrage over Carl and Shirley blatantly throwing their romance in his face on his birthday was a keynote moment. William Shatner is just so ridiculously good in this role that you almost dismiss him as comic relief. It was a major slip, and as I expected sets the stage for Denny’s Alzheimer’s to become a major focus of the last several episodes.
My grandmother passed away from Alzheimer’s, and those moments of mental weakness are such anguish in the early stages. They know exactly what’s happening to them and it’s not only mortifying when others see such “weakness,” but it’s terrifying because they know what the future holds. I could see it in my grandmother’s eyes and it’s a heart-wrenching thing to see someone with a sharp mind and intellect so utterly lost and alone and scared. Shatner nailed it. He absolutely nails it every time they broach this subject.
Beyond that, we got an admission from Jerry that he’s in love with Katie, and a follow-up confirmation from her that she’s not. He doesn’t want this to tarnish their friendship, but she fears it will. I hope it doesn’t. I think we all already knew both that Jerry was in love with her and that she didn’t share his feelings, but nevertheless their friendship is something remarkable.
On a lighter note, I loved the little hints that the show is being canceled, and that they’re still holding out hope that it can be saved somehow. Kelley’s put a clever little spin on the whole thing too, by having the firm go broke. Presumably, if the show doesn’t get somehow picked up for another year by ABC, or somewhere else, they’ll go bankrupt and move on with their lives. If it does, Carl will find that cashflow he’s looking for now. It’s a nice parallel to the real world financial misery so many are facing.
On a final note, I’d like to talk to episode writer David E. Kelley. I get that you like Christopher Rich and his portrayal of Melvin Palmer, hell, you worked him into the Utah storyline, too. But he really didn’t fit here. Poole worked considering the revelations about the financial state of the firm, but Palmer? No way!
This guy’s a rival lawyer. There’s no way they would reveal the financial troubles of the firm in front of him, or since Poole did that and he’s crazy, they certainly wouldn’t elaborote on it or discuss it in front of him. He’s a hoot. I agree. He’s a fun character in small bursts. But he didn’t belong at the dinner table.
Clacked by Jason Hughes 
on Nov 25, 2008 @ 17:00 EST5EDT
“Presumably, if the show doesn’t get somehow picked up for another year by ABC”
I thought it was already established that this was the final season for Boston Legal?
“I expected sets the stage for Denny’s Alzheimer’s to become a major focus of the last several episodes.”
Do you even care about this show at all? I mean really.
There are three episodes left, the last two will be aired together December 8th. There aren’t “several episodes” left to the show! The series finale, title “Last Call” will air Monday December 8th at 10pm, that’s episode 13 of this season. Episode 12 will air at 9pm that night. Maybe you can look some of this up before hand?
The first half of the episode was rather boring, however the second half was touching.
*POST AUTHOR*
Really? This is what you’re going to try and bitch about? I know full well how many episodes are left in the season.
Dictionary.com defines Several as: “being more than two but fewer than many in number or kind.” That’s the first definition and it applies here. There are three episodes left which constitutes “several.” Come on, Oreo, I know you love to complain about everything we write but you can do better than that.
I’m just hopeful the second half sets the stage for a strong goodbye.
Seriously. Oreo. You disappoint me. You picked “several” as meaning “more than three” to be what you complain about here? Totally disappointed.
Ok I don’t agree with your take on this episode (to be frank I think it sucked, had no general direction where it was heading, didn’t leave me with any feeling of resolution at all and came across as filler, just like the last episode of “Stargate: Atlantis”) but bashing Oreo was kind of cute :-)
He kind of has a point though, because he take into question whether this is the last season of Boston Legal.
I think with 13 episodes in this season this is pretty much a given. There won’t be more and I think it’s also due to budget problems. I think dropping actors left and right from the lineup says it all. This show’s over and I doubt there will be a happy end for Jerry, though I want one.