AS Character on Boston Legal

wandrew · Sea Gull Joined: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 216

It was revealed on last night's episode of Boston Legal that Jerry Esperson (Christian Clemenson), the character who had been nicknamed "Hands" and was last seen threatening to slit Shirley Schmidt (Candace Bergen)'s throat, was diagnosed with Asperger's. His character was constantly passed over for partner at Crane, Poole and Schmidt because of poor interpersonal skills, although his confidential file also made reference to his brilliance as a lawyer and his value to the firm. Jerry's symptoms of Asperger's included difficulty making eye contact, having his hands constantly sitting on his thighs, and his encyclopedic knowledge of the law. Although this last was clearly credited as an asset, it was also used as a diagnostic criteria.
I thought it was fairly well handled. Christian Clemenson did not portray Jerry as feeble-minded or psychotic, just a highly intelligent man needing sone work on his social skills. Alan Shore (James Spader) was particularly sympathetic to his plight, having crashed the partners' meeting at the firm to make an eloquent case for making Jerry a partner. He was also Jerry's lawyer at trial and, with his usual skill, kept Jerry out of jail (the list of charges against Jerry were quite extensive and rather ridiculous). He showed genuine respect for Jerry and gave it his all to help him at considerable risk to his own position at Crane, Poole and Schmidt.
Has anyone else seen this? What do you think?
Overall, Boston Legal is one of my favorite shows on TV. David E. Kelley has created another winner. The scripts are literate and funny; the acting is excellent, especially William Shatner who,as Denny Crane, has finally created another character every bit as memorable as Captain Kirk. James Spader as Alan Shore is letter-perfect: obviously brilliant and not afraid to fight for what he believes in, even if Denny or Shirley Schmidt disagree with his choices.