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The Best Episodes of Boston Legal Season 1

Every episode of Boston Legal Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Boston Legal Season 1!

Binge this in 11h 59m•Peaking at 8.9/10

Alan Shore and Denny Crane lead a brigade of high-priced civil litigators in an upscale Boston law firm in a series focusing on the professional and personal lives of brilliant but often emotionally challenged attorneys.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 17 - Death Be Not Proud
    8.9/10(679 votes)

    S1:E17

    Chelina asks Alan to assist her in Texas because her former client is getting executed but may be innocent of the crime. An old friend of Denny and Shirley asks them for legal representation when she charged with having sexual encounters for a fee. Lori files a complaint about Denny with Shirley and Paul and they seriously consider doing something about it; especially when they suspect he performed an unethical act on his recent case.

    Director:Matt Shakman
    Writers:David E. Kelley, Jonathan Shapiro

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  2. Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 10 - Hired Guns
    8.7/10(596 votes)

    S1:E10

    Lori and Brad defend a woman who is accused of murdering her husband and his mistress while they were in bed together. Alan's life is endangered when he helps a woman whose ex-husband plans to kidnap their children.

    Director:Dennis Smith
    Writer:David E. Kelley

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  3. Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 8 - Loose Lips
    8.3/10(571 votes)

    S1:E8

    Alan help a department store Santa sue to get his job back after he is terminated for being a transvestite. Brad bets Alan that he won't win. A therapist seeks Lori's help when one of his patients fantasizes about killing his ex-wife.

    Director:Jeannot Szwarc
    Writers:David E. Kelley, Jonathan Shapiro

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  4. Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 11 - Schmidt Happens
    8.3/10(574 votes)

    S1:E11

    A Sudanese native wants to sue the U.S. government for the lack of action taken against the mayhem happening in his country and Paul looks to Lori to take the case. Founding partner Shirley Schmidt arrives with a mission to bring order to the firm. While making herself known, she has to deal with Denny who does not wanting her there, help with Lori's extremely high profile case, and learns that she has to keep her eye on Alan. Alan ends up defending a man who killed his mother in a fit of rage but by accident.

    Director:Allison Liddi-Brown
    Writer:David E. Kelley

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  5. Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 9 - A Greater Good
    8.2/10(542 votes)

    S1:E9

    Alan and Denny defend a drug company that is being sued by a woman who states they provided false reasoning when they took her off of an experimental pill that was a possible cure for her sickness. Alan and Denny discover a shocking secret that could make or break their case and because of that, they become at odds with each other on how to proceed. Lori discovers that Tara's new information for their case would win it for them, but the way she retrieved it could cost them their case and their careers. Lori learns a secret about Brad.

    Director:Arlene Sanford
    Writer:Peter Ocko

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  6. Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 13 - It Girls and Beyond
    8.2/10(524 votes)

    S1:E13

    Brad becomes attracted to his client who being sued for having a relationship with her boss merely for financial purposes. To make matters more difficult, Brad convinces himself that she is lying about her being a lesbian. Alan is asked to second chair on Denny's trial case where a doctor is being sued for prescribing a drug that has not been FDA approved. While working on that, Denny is on a personal mission to prove that he is a competent attorney. Meanwhile, the staff tries to deal with Alan's out-spoken new assistant, Catherine Piper.

    Director:Mike Listo
    Writers:David E. Kelley, Jonathan Shapiro

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  7. Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 14 - Til We Meat Again
    8.2/10(522 votes)

    S1:E14

    While out with Tara, Alan ends up causing a bar room brawl and as a result, becomes arrested for conspiracy to commit assault and battery. Shirley and Denny represent a man whose steakhouse is being put out of business because the public wants to ban red meat for fear of Mad Cow disease.

    Director:Bill D'Elia
    Writer:David E. Kelley

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  8. Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 3 - Catch and Release
    8.1/10(629 votes)

    S1:E3

    A client of Crane, Poole & Schmidt want to build a shopping mall on an area where salmon are spawning and Denny's son is the environmental lawyer defending the area. Alan and Lori take a sexual harassment case and learn that Christine, whom he recently helped get released from a mental institution and who he now fears is stalking him, is opposing counsel. Sally has her first trial case where she defends a man who is accused of stealing a wallet.

    Director:Dan Attias
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 4 - Change of Course
    8.1/10(589 votes)

    S1:E4

    A cop killing centers on a haughty defendant, reluctantly represented by Lori and zealously by a firm veteran, who has been a patient in a mental facility. Meanwhile, Shore plays hardball with a witness in a shoplifting case involving a kleptomaniac CEO.

    Director:Ron Underwood
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 6 - Truth Be Told
    8.1/10(566 votes)

    S1:E6

    Shore's dream lover from college, now wed to a slick mayoral candidate, hires Shore to block his opponent's provocative TV-ad campaign. Meanwhile, a power struggle embroils Crane.

    Director:Tucker Gates
    Writer:Scott Kaufer

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  11. Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 15 - Tortured Souls
    8.1/10(517 votes)

    S1:E15

    Shirley asks Alan Shore to use his odious lawyering to help her defend a police officer accused of torture. Donny Crane returns and is the opposing counsel in Denny's case, with Chelina Hall as second chair, where a woman wants to sue her former boyfriend for saying no to her at the alter. For Denny, this is an easy case, for Donny this is to settle a score with Denny for letting him believe for 25 years that he was his father. Meanwhile, Bernard Ferrion is befriended by Catherine and Alan finds variance with that.

    Director:Jeff Bleckner
    Writer:David E. Kelley

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  12. Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 1 - Head Cases
    8.0/10(925 votes)

    S1:E1

    A civil-rights issue hinges on the casting choice for a version of "Annie"; a child-custody battle turns ugly; an adultery case involves Crane.

    Director:Bill D'Elia
    Writers:David E. Kelley, Scott Kaufer, Jeff Rake

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  13. Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 2 - Still Crazy After All These Years
    8.0/10(704 votes)

    S1:E2

    An ex-lover haunts Shore, who secures the woman's release from a psychiatric hospital where she was confined after trying to kill him. Elsewhere, Crane fights an opposing counsel's sanction charges.

    Director:Charles Haid
    Writers:David E. Kelley, Kerry Ehrin

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  14. Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 5 - An Eye for an Eye
    8.0/10(561 votes)

    S1:E5

    Seniors take on a drug firm in a class-action case handled by the grandstanding Crane. Also: revenge motives are raised in a murder trial; and medical ethics are at issue in a civil suit.

    Director:Mike Listo
    Writers:David E. Kelley, Jeff Rake

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  15. Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 7 - Questionable Characters
    8.0/10(541 votes)

    S1:E7

    A showcase for the wily, agitating Alan Shore, who badgers a dotty judge; romances Tara, whom he surreptitiously helps in a thorny criminal case; and backs Crane, who's been arrested for solicitation.

    Director:Mel Damski
    Writer:Lukas Reiter

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  16. Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 16 - Let Sales Ring
    7.8/10(504 votes)

    S1:E16

    Milton Bombay is asking the courts to allow him to be frozen until another century so he can continue his legacy of being a great lawyer and needs Denny and Shirley to defend him. Alan and Chelina defends a high school student who accuses his teacher of censorship when he blocks out a news station on the school's televisions.

    Director:Hubert de La Bouillerie
    Writer:David E. Kelley

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  17. Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 12 - From Whence We Came
    7.6/10(554 votes)

    S1:E12

    Lori, along with Denny and Shirley, defends a school superintendent who fired two science teachers because they refused to teach creationism and is now being sued by them. Alan learns his assistant has expressed concern about their work relationship. While dealing with that issue, Alan discovers that his client Bernard Ferrion, who killed his mother, needs legal help again. One of the members of the firm is fired and learns that a close associate is not too keen on lending a supportive hand.

    Director:Mike Listo
    Writer:David E. Kelley

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Season 1 Ratings Summary

"Death Be Not Proud" is the best rated episode of "Boston Legal" season 1. It scored 8.9/10 based on 679 votes. Directed by Matt Shakman and written by David E. Kelley, Jonathan Shapiro, it aired on 3/20/2005. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "Hired Guns".