Review: 50 Cent's 'For Life' finally offers a new kind of lawyer show

ABC's "For Life" isn't your average courtroom drama.

Sure, the new series from executive producer 50 Cent has weekly cases, grave-looking judges, confident prosecutors and an emotional defense attorney, but that's where the similarities to the likes of "Law & Order" and "Bull" end. "For Life" (premieres Tuesday, 10 EST/PST, ★★★ out of four) is based on the true story of wrongfully convicted Isaac Wright Jr., who spent years of his unjustly incarcerated life getting his law degree, helping his fellow inmates and, eventually, proving his own innocence.

In a lawyer show that has all the hallmarks of business-as-usual yet questions the system it portrays, 50 Cent and creator and executive producer Hank Steinberg ("Without a Trace," "The Last Ship") crafted a novel procedural for broadcast TV. "For Life" asks its audience to engage with more than just a mystery of the week, finding a new way into a genre that has a tendency to become stale. 

As the series opens, Aaron Wallace (Nicholas Pinnock, "Counterpart") has  earned a law degree and license while serving his life sentence for drug crimes he didn't commit.

A favorite of reforming prison warden Safiya (Indira Varma, "Game of Thrones"), Aaron is allowed to practice law. He takes a prison bus to the courthouse, changes from his orange jumpsuit into a suit and tie and argues for his fellow inmates in retrials and hearings while working on his own appeal. Wallace's battle for his own freedom, against corrupt District Attorney Glen Maskins (Boris McGiver), becomes more urgent when he finds out his teen daughter Jasmine (Tyla Harris) is pregnant. 

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson helped produce "Power," a thrilling, soapy Starz series, and the occasionally melodramatic "Life" has his fingerprints all over it. Pinnock adds a Shakespearean verve to every line of dialogue and courtroom monologue, and the supporting actors are all strong and match his over-the-top style. The serious subject matter gives little time for levity, but the plot twists and high emotions in the first two episodes are a thrill.

The show toggles back and forth between Aaron's personal crusade for his freedom and the cases he takes on for his fellow prisoners – an inmate with a nonviolent record who attacked a guard or a retrial of a drug conviction. The series avoids the violence of some other cop and legal dramas and finds cases of the week that, although on the mundane side, are unique enough that viewers may not have seen them repeated ad nauseam in other shows. 

The jailhouse lawyer concept is certainly a great hook, but what makes it stand out in a sea of cop and lawyer shows is its cynicism about our institutions. In the realistic world of "For Life," the justice system isn't perfect. Not every cop is a noble hero, nor is every prosecutor an Aristotelian scholar of fairness and equity. The series is built on gray areas in a nuanced network drama that reflects more modern sensibilities about law and order and changed attitudes about mass incarceration and police misconduct. 

"Life" is not a morality lecture; it is still easily watchable and enjoyable. But in a world with so many TV options, it's nice to get more than just comfort food from broadcast TV. 

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