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The Best Episodes of The Practice Season 4

Every episode of The Practice Season 4 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Practice Season 4!

A provocative legal drama focused on young associates at a bare-bones Boston firm and their scrappy boss, Bobby Donnell. The show's forte is its storylines about “people who walk a moral tightrope.”

Genre:Drama
Network:ABC

Season 4 Ratings Summary

The best episode of "The Practice" season 4 is "Free Dental", rated 7.5/10 from 131 user votes. It was directed by Arvin Brown and written by David E. Kelley. "Free Dental" aired on 9/26/1999 and is rated 0.5 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "Boston Confidential".

  • Free Dental
    7.5/10 131 votes

    #1 - Free Dental

    Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 9/26/1999

    Bobby and Jimmy defend a dentist accused of murdering a frequent patient... but eventually discover he's hiding a sordid secret. Ellenor dines with George Vogelman.

    Director: Arvin Brown

    Writer: David E. Kelley

  • Boston Confidential
    8.0/10 103 votes

    #2 - Boston Confidential

    Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 10/3/1999

    Bobby gets a murderer off on a technicality when the arresting officer illegally searches the car and finds a corpse. Jimmy goes against Henry Olson's wishes and confronts Olson's son to try to convince him to confess to the murder. Lindsay decides to move in with Bobby, leaving her possessions...including her answering machine, at Helen's.

    Director: Alex Graves

    Writer: David E. Kelley

  • Loser's Keepers
    8.1/10 111 votes

    #3 - Loser's Keepers

    Season 4 Episode 3 - Aired 10/10/1999

    Tensions flare when the 'male nun' starts infiltrating the office. Ellenor buys a gun for protection. Rebecca suspects that a wealthy man has bought a client's guilty plea.

    Director: Dennis Smith

    Writer: David E. Kelley, Christopher Mack

  • Legacy (1)
    7.5/10 102 votes

    #4 - Legacy (1)

    Season 4 Episode 4 - Aired 10/17/1999

    Bobby's old mentor, Raymond Oz, calls on Bobby to represent him when his wife tries to have him declared incompetent. Bobby has reservations after observing Oz in a clearly disturbed state of mind. Eugene co-counsels for an incompetent lawyer who's never won a jury trial. Ellenor sinks into depression in the aftermath of the Vogelman affair.

    Director: Dennie Gordon

    Writer: David E. Kelley

  • Oz (2)
    7.6/10 100 votes

    #5 - Oz (2)

    Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 10/24/1999

    Bobby acts as Raymond Oz's co-counsel while Oz persists in forging ahead with a self-defense strategy.

    Director: Michael Zinberg

    Writer: David E. Kelley

  • Marooned
    7.5/10 99 votes

    #6 - Marooned

    Season 4 Episode 6 - Aired 11/7/1999

    Rebecca defends a girl accused of killing her mother. The girl claims she suffers from flashbacks involving child molestation. Lindsay and Bobby argue over wedding dresses.

    Director: Jeannot Szwarc

    Writer: David E. Kelley

  • Victimless Crimes
    7.6/10 97 votes

    #7 - Victimless Crimes

    Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 11/14/1999

    Jimmy defends a remorseless rape victim who murdered her attacker. Lucy is bitten by her dentist while under anesthesia.

    Director: James Frawley

    Writer: Samantha Corbin-Miller, David E. Kelley

  • Committed
    7.8/10 101 votes

    #8 - Committed

    Season 4 Episode 8 - Aired 11/21/1999

    Lindsay represents a serial murderer confined in an asylum when his case is up for review. Eugene's son is a prime suspect when his mother's lover is beaten to death in her bed.

    Director: Arvin Brown

    Writer: David E. Kelley

  • Bay of Pigs
    7.5/10 100 votes

    #9 - Bay of Pigs

    Season 4 Episode 9 - Aired 11/28/1999

    Ellenor takes on Richard Bay in a case wherein a little old lady is accused of attempting to run over her husband in her car. Bay and Ellenor clash both in and out of court. Jimmy evaluates his relationship with Judge Kittleson when he represents an old girlfriend in a suit regarding the sale of reproductive eggs.

    Director: Oz Scott

    Writer: David E. Kelley

  • Day in Court
    7.7/10 113 votes

    #10 - Day in Court

    Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 12/12/1999

    Tempers flare over a particularly tough case. Bobby defends old cling/drug dealer Eddie against the murder of an addict. Eddie claims it is self-defense. D.A. Helen brings the coroner to testify that it wasn't. The coroner's testimony is damaged by prior odd behavior. Eddie attacks Helen to try to force the judge into a mistrial. Bobby & Swackheim nearly come to blows. Each of the participants, Bobby, Helen & Swackheim, express their outrage with the legal system.

    Director: Dennis Smith

    Writer: David E. Kelley

  • Blowing Smoke
    7.5/10 93 votes

    #11 - Blowing Smoke

    Season 4 Episode 11 - Aired 1/9/2000

    Lindsay sues a cigar company for breaking up a friend's marriage. She alleges that the husband's addiction was the deciding factor in the divorce. Rebecca & Ellenor defend a police officer who killed a teenage boy in a grocery store. The officer claims he saw a gun. The cashier says otherwise.

    Director: Jeannot Szwarc

    Writer: Samantha Corbin-Miller, David E. Kelley

  • New Evidence (1)
    8.1/10 113 votes

    #12 - New Evidence (1)

    Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 1/30/2000

    Lindsay takes the firm to Los Angeles to defend an acquaintance who's on trial for murdering his on-line girlfriend. As evidence mounts against their client, Bobby and the rest deal with a controlling judge, an antagonistic detective and the victim's sister, a nun with issues.

    Director: Michael Zinberg

    Writer: David E. Kelley

  • Hammerhead Sharks (2)
    8.7/10 116 votes

    #13 - Hammerhead Sharks (2)

    Season 4 Episode 13 - Aired 2/6/2000

    Dennis Mills maintains his innocence. The firm continues the trial, striving against all odds to exonerate Mills.

    Director: Dennis Smith

    Writer: David E. Kelley

  • Checkmates
    8.1/10 101 votes

    #14 - Checkmates

    Season 4 Episode 14 - Aired 2/13/2000

    Ellenor defends a 'slow' teenager accused of killing a younger boy. A witness comes forward claiming to have information exonerating her client, but Ellenor suspects he's lying. Helen calls in a police officer when his son is under suspicion in a homicide. Representing the accused, Bobby argues the officer was acting as an agent of the court, not a father.

    Director: Andy Wolk

    Writer: David E. Kelley

  • Race Ipsa Loquitor
    7.1/10 93 votes

    #15 - Race Ipsa Loquitor

    Season 4 Episode 15 - Aired 2/20/2000

    Jimmy is tempted to compromise his integrity to get convicted murder (and insect admirer) Henry Olson released. Eugene and Rebecca represent a woman who's suing a plastic surgeon when her husband dies during a liposuction procedure. They soon realize they're as much on trial as the surgeon when the opposing attorney makes several references to their race.

    Director: Alex Graves

    Writer: David E. Kelley

  • Settling
    7.3/10 102 votes

    #16 - Settling

    Season 4 Episode 16 - Aired 3/12/2000

    Bobby is kidnapped by an irate former client who claims Bobby's incompetence in a manslaughter trial forced him to spend 12 years in prison.

    Director: Arvin Brown

    Writer: N/A

  • Black Widows
    7.7/10 94 votes

    #17 - Black Widows

    Season 4 Episode 17 - Aired 4/2/2000

    Bobby defends the so-called 'Black Widow'; a woman who's accused of murdering her recently deceased husband and whose two previous spouses also died mysteriously. Helen lies to a 15-year-old girl who killed her unborn child, coercing her into giving a statement.

    Director: Mel Damski

    Writer: David E. Kelley

  • Death Penalties
    7.8/10 101 votes

    #18 - Death Penalties

    Season 4 Episode 18 - Aired 4/9/2000

    Bobby and Helen clash in an assisted suicide case. Bobby remembers his experiences of 'pulling the plug' on his mother and acts as though he were on trial. Meanwhile, Ellenor flies to Pennsylvania to try to exonerate a 31-year-old death row inmate who claims to be innocent of a double homicide.

    Director: Keith Samples

    Writer: David E. Kelley

  • Till Death Do Us Part (1)
    7.9/10 103 votes

    #19 - Till Death Do Us Part (1)

    Season 4 Episode 19 - Aired 4/30/2000

    Ellenor pursues the Donovan case, hoping to forestall his execution. Meanwhile, Rebecca's case representing a woman with Alzheimer's trying to keep her marriage from being annulled becomes complicated when questions arise about the death of her client's first husband.

    Director: Duane Clark

    Writer: Adam Armus, David E. Kelley

  • Liberty Bells (2)
    8.7/10 111 votes

    #20 - Liberty Bells (2)

    Season 4 Episode 20 - Aired 5/7/2000

    Ellenor continues the Donovan case, following up on the various leads to exonerate her client.

    Director: Michael Schultz

    Writer: David E. Kelley

  • The Honorable Man
    7.5/10 90 votes

    #21 - The Honorable Man

    Season 4 Episode 21 - Aired 5/14/2000

    Eugene is disgusted by his client, a homeless man accused of murdering a woman and raping her corpse. Jimmy represents an old friend who's being sued for notifying employees that one of their co-workers has AIDS.

    Director: Dennis Smith

    Writer: David E. Kelley

  • Life Sentence
    8.1/10 134 votes

    #22 - Life Sentence

    Season 4 Episode 22 - Aired 5/21/2000

    Ellenor defends a deaf woman who shot and killed the man who allegedly murdered her young daughter. The client's crime is captured on video in front of dozens of witnesses, leaving no doubt as to who committed the act. The only to way to exonerate the client is to manipulate the jury's heartstrings. Meanwhile Lindsay learns that Bobby hates weddings and decides to spring a surprise elopement.

    Director: Michael Zinberg

    Writer: David E. Kelley