Part Two (Your Honor)

''Your Honor'' is an American drama television series starring Bryan Cranston, adapted from the Israeli TV series '. It premiered on Showtime on December 6, 2020, and ended on March 19, 2023. While ordered as a miniseries, in August 2021, the series was renewed for a second season that premiered on January 15, 2023. In July 2022, it was reported that the second season would be its last.

Premise

Season 1: Michael Desiato is a prominent and respected New Orleans judge. When his teenage son Adam kills another teenager in an accidental hit-and-run collision, Michael encourages his son to turn himself in, but quickly changes his mind when he discovers the boy his son killed was the son of a mob kingpin. Michael decides to protect his son, igniting a dangerous game of lies, secrets, and difficult choices with tragic and fatal consequences.

Season 2: After the events of Season 1, Michael moves on to try to finally put an end to the mob that has ruined the lives of so many. Meanwhile, an enemy of the mob, a drug cartel known as the Desire Gang, makes its move, which risks causing past truths to come to light. Michael is forced to make difficult decisions as he becomes an undercover agent spying on the mob while seeking the culprit(s) behind the death of his wife. Past consequences intrude, leading Michael down a dangerous path.

Cast and characters

Main

* Bryan Cranston as Michael Desiato, a New Orleans judge, willing to do anything to protect his son.
* Hunter Doohan as Adam Desiato (season 1), Michael's son who is involved in a hit and run that resulted in the death of the son of the head of an organized crime family in New Orleans.
* Hope Davis as Gina Baxter, the ruthless wife of a New Orleans mob boss and the mother of the boy whom Adam killed
* Sofia Black-D'Elia as Frannie Latimer (season 1), Adam's love interest and teacher who knows his secret
* Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Charlie Figaro, a politician with connections to organized crime and Michael's best friend
* Michael Stuhlbarg as Jimmy Baxter, the boss of an organized crime family, Gina's husband and the father of the boy whom Adam killed
* Carmen Ejogo as Lee Delamere (season 1; recurring season 2), Michael's former protégé and a lawyer whom he convinces to take Kofi's case
* Andrene Ward-Hammond as "Big Mo" (season 2; recurring season 1), the leader of Desire, a criminal gang in the Lower Ninth Ward
* Keith Machekanyanga as Trey "Little Mo" Monroe (season 2; recurring season 1), Big Mo's nephew and right-hand man
* Benjamin Flores Jr. as Eugene "Little Man" Jones (season 2; recurring season 1), the younger brother of Kofi Jones and a member of Desire
* Lilli Kay as Sofia "Fia" Baxter (season 2; recurring season 1), Gina and Jimmy's daughter who becomes Adam's girlfriend unaware that Adam killed her brother Rocco
* Jimi Stanton as Carlo Baxter (season 2; recurring season 1), Gina and Jimmy's eldest son, who was released from Angola Prison after Adam killed his brother Rocco

Special guest stars

* Margo Martindale as Elizabeth Guthrie, a state senator, Michael's mother-in-law and Adam's maternal grandmother
* Maura Tierney as Fiona McKee (season 1), a prosecutor at the same courthouse where Michael works

Recurring

* Amy Landecker as Nancy Costello, a detective Michael turns to for help
* Tony Curran as Frankie, an associate of Jimmy's criminal organization
* Lamar Johnson as Kofi Jones (season 1), a young man who was forced by Little Mo to take the fall for Adam's hit and run
* Chet Hanks as Joey Maldini, Carlo's best friend who also works for Jimmy
* David Maldonado as Lieutenant Brendan Cusack, a corrupt NOPD officer with ties to Jimmy, the Desire gang and Charlie
* Cullen Moss as Detective Rudy Cunningham, a corrupt officer who is connected to various crimes committed throughout New Orleans
* Melanie Nicholls-King as "Female" Jones (season 1), Kofi and Eugene's mother
* Sampley Barinaga as Wesley (season 1), Adam's best friend
* Lorraine Toussaint as Judge Sara LeBlanc (season 1), the chief justice at the same courthouse where Michael works
* Benjamin Wadsworth as Rocco Baxter (season 1), Gina and Jimmy's youngest son who was accidentally killed by Adam.
* Rosie Perez as Olivia Delmont (season 2), an assistant U.S Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana
* Mark Margolis as Carmine Conti (season 2), Gina's father
* Mark O'Brien as Father Jay (season 2), the Roman Catholic priest of the Baxter family
* Ciara Renee as Janelle (season 2), Big Mo's love interest who is a singer
* Gavin 'Chief' Meredith as Chris (season 2), a former Desire member who becomes disgruntled with the way Big Mo does business

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2020–21)

Season 2 (2023)

Production

The series was first announced as being developed by CBS Studios in August 2017, with a series commitment in October 2017. Bryan Cranston was announced to headline the series in late January 2019. In August 2019, Michael Stuhlbarg, Sofia Black-D'Elia, Carmen Ejogo and Isiah Whitlock Jr. were added to the cast. In September 2019, Hope Davis was cast in a leading capacity, with Lilli Kay and Amy Landecker joining in a recurring role. Tony Curran, Keith Machekanyanga, Lamar Johnson and Benjamin Flores, Jr. were added in October 2019, with Margo Martindale joining in December 2019. In October 2020, Maura Tierney joined the cast in a recurring role.

Principal photography for the series began on September 16, 2019, in New Orleans, Louisiana, but was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production resumed on October 7, 2020, and concluded on November 25, 2020. The series premiered on December 6, 2020 on Showtime.

On August 24, 2021, Showtime renewed the series for a second season. On July 5, 2022, it was reported that Cranston said that the second season would be its final season on Dax Shepard's '' Armchair Expert'' podcast. On the same day, it was also announced that filming for the second season has begun, and that Joey Hartstone had been named the new showrunner with Keith Machekanyanga promoted to a series regular for the second season. The following week, it was reported that Rosie Perez was cast in a recurring role while Andrene Ward-Hammond was promoted to as a series regular for the second season. On August 1, 2022, Jimi Stanton, Kay, and Flores were promoted as series regulars for the second season. On October 11, 2022, Mark Margolis and Mark O'Brien joined the cast in recurring capacities for the second season.

Filming for the second season began on July 18, 2022 and concluded on December 16, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The second season premiered on January 15, 2023 on Showtime.

Reception

Critical response

For the first season, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 50% based on 50 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Bryan Cranston is powerful as yet another father with nothing to lose, but ''Your Honor'' too closely resembles other, better shows about good men doing bad things to warrant its relentlessly grim proceedings." Metacritic gave the first season a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on 29 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an approval rating of 67% based 6 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10.

Ratings

Season 1

Season 2

Future

In a panel discussion hosted by '' Deadline'' in April 2023, Cranston indicated that his comments on the ''Armchair Expert'' podcast regarding the second season had been misconstrued, and that Showtime was "interested" in a third season, but that he might only be involved as a producer on future seasons.

On May 28, 2024, Cranston announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the series would become available to stream on Netflix beginning May 31. In July 2024, ''The New York Times'' reported that the series had become a sleeper hit on Netflix, becoming one of the most-viewed shows on the platform that year, performing particularly well with viewers over 35, as well as African-American and Hispanic audiences. In response to its success, new talks began to possibly revive the series for a third season.

Notes

References

External links

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{{Showtime Network programming

2020 American television series debuts
2023 American television series endings
2020s American crime drama television series
2020s American legal television series
American television series based on Israeli television series
American thriller television series
American English-language television shows
Showtime (TV network) original programming
Television productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Television series about the American Mafia
Television series by CBS Studios
Television shows filmed in New Orleans
Television shows set in New Orleans
Works about corruption