David E. Kelley was on a roll in 1999. Honestly, the man could do no wrong. While Ally McBeal was busy being the whimsical, dancing-baby sibling over on Fox, The Practice season 4 was over on ABC getting its hands very, very dirty. If you weren't watching TV back then, you missed the moment legal dramas stopped being about "justice" and started being about how much your soul costs.
It was gritty.
The fourth season, which ran from September 1999 to May 2000, didn't just win Emmys; it fundamentally changed how we look at the "defense attorney" archetype. We aren't talking about Perry Mason here. We’re talking about Bobby Donnell and a crew of lawyers who were constantly one heartbeat away from disbarment.
The Moral Decay of Bobby Donnell
Let's talk about Dylan McDermott. In The Practice season 4, his character, Bobby Donnell, starts to look tired. Not just "I stayed up late reading briefs" tired, but "I am losing my humanity" tired. This is the year the show leaned hard into the "Plan B" defense. For the uninitiated, Plan B is basically the legal equivalent of a scorched-earth policy. You don't prove your client is innocent. You just throw enough mud at everyone else—the victims, the police, the witnesses—that the jury gets confused.
It’s gross. It’s effective. It’s why the show worked.
The season kicks off with "Free Neighbors," and immediately, you see the tension. The firm is expanding, but the ethics are shrinking. One of the most haunting arcs involves the crossover with Ally McBeal. Now, crossovers are usually cheap gimmicks. But here? Seeing the grounded, cynical world of Donnell, Young, Dole & Frutt collide with the eccentricities of Boston’s other fictional law firm highlighted exactly how dark The Practice season 4 was willing to go.
Lindsay Dole and the Murder Trial
Kelli Williams, who played Lindsay Dole, really carried the emotional weight of this season. Remember when she was on trial for murder? That wasn't just a "sweeps week" stunt. It was a deconstruction of her character. The way the show handled her incarceration and the subsequent trial—specifically the episode "Settling"—showed a level of vulnerability we hadn't seen.
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She killed a man. Even if it was "justified" or "self-defense" in the eyes of the law, the psychological toll was massive. The show didn't let her off the hook emotionally. It forced her to sit in that cell.
Why the Writing Felt Different
Kelley’s writing in The Practice season 4 avoided the soapbox. Most legal shows today feel like they’re lecturing you. They want you to know who the "good guy" is within the first five minutes.
The Practice didn't care if you liked them.
Sometimes, Eugene Young (played by the incredible Steve Harris) would look at his colleagues with pure disgust. He was often the moral compass, yet even he had to compromise to keep the firm afloat. The episode "Checkmate" is a masterclass in this. You see the internal fracturing of the firm. It’s not a happy family. It’s a group of people trapped in a basement office trying to justify their paychecks while representing people they know are monsters.
The Guest Stars were Legends
You can't talk about this season without mentioning the guest roster. This was the era where a guest spot on The Practice was a badge of honor. We saw James Whitmore, Henry Winkler, and even Beah Richards. Richards won an Emmy for her role as Gertrude Turner in the episode "Till Death Do Us Part."
That’s the thing about this show. It used veterans. It gave them meat to chew on.
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Jimmy Berluti and the "Everyman" Struggle
Michael Badalucco's Jimmy Berluti is often the comic relief, but in The Practice season 4, he represents the class struggle of the legal profession. He’s the guy from the neighborhood. He’s the one who feels the sting of being looked down upon by the "white shoe" firms. His struggle with his conscience—specifically his gambling debts and his desire to be "one of the big boys"—adds a layer of desperation that keeps the show grounded. Without Jimmy, the show might have become too cold. He’s the heart, even when that heart is breaking rules.
The Impact of "Oz" and the Changing TV Landscape
By 2000, television was changing. The Sopranos had just finished its first season on HBO. The "anti-hero" was becoming a thing. The Practice season 4 was the network TV version of that shift. It was pushing the boundaries of what a protagonist could do.
Can you root for a lawyer who hides evidence?
Can you root for a woman who kills a stalker in cold blood?
The answer was yes, but you felt bad about it.
The show averaged about 18 million viewers during this season. Think about that. Eighteen million people tuned in every week to watch lawyers lose their souls. In today's fragmented streaming world, those numbers are alien. It was a monoculture moment.
The Technical Brilliance of the Courtroom Scenes
Technically speaking, the show used a specific visual language. The cameras were often handheld or moved with a certain jitteriness during cross-examinations. It felt claustrophobic. When Helen Gamble (Lara Flynn Boyle) and Bobby Donnell squared off, the editing was sharp. It felt like a boxing match.
The sound design, too—the silence in the courtroom was often more deafening than the shouting.
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Misconceptions About the Show
A lot of people think The Practice was just a precursor to Boston Legal. That’s a mistake. While Boston Legal (the spin-off featuring James Spader) was a satirical, almost surrealist take on the law, The Practice season 4 was a dead-serious drama. It didn't have the "wacky" music or the balcony cigar scenes. It had cold coffee, dim lights, and the persistent fear of going to jail.
If you go back and watch "Hammerhead" or "Life Sentence," you’ll see the difference. There is no punchline.
The Ending of the Season: "Liberty Bells"
The season finale wasn't a cliffhanger in the traditional sense. It was a tonal shift. It set the stage for the firm to move out of their cramped quarters, but it also signaled the end of their innocence. You could see the characters realizing that they couldn't go back to who they were in Season 1.
They were successful now. But they were also broken.
How to Experience The Practice Season 4 Today
If you’re looking to revisit this, or if you’re a law student wondering why your professors are so cynical, you need to watch this specific block of episodes.
- Watch the Crossover Corrected: If you are streaming, make sure you find the Ally McBeal episode "The Inmates" and watch it before The Practice episode "Give and Take." The storylines are intrinsically linked, and watching one without the other is like reading half a book.
- Focus on the "Plan B" Episodes: Pay close attention to how the defense strategy evolves. It’s a fascinating look at legal ethics—or the lack thereof.
- Observe the Wardrobe: It sounds weird, but look at the suits. As the season progresses and the firm gets more "successful," the clothing changes. The visual storytelling here is subtle but effective.
- Research the 2000 Emmy Awards: Look up the speeches from this year. It helps to understand the cultural context of why this show swept the categories.
The legacy of The Practice season 4 is found in every "prestige" legal drama that followed. From The Good Wife to Better Call Saul, the DNA of Bobby Donnell’s moral ambiguity is everywhere. It taught us that the law isn't about the truth. It's about who tells the best story, and in Season 4, Bobby Donnell was the best storyteller in the business.
Don't expect a happy ending. Expect a realistic one. That's why we still talk about it twenty-five years later. The show understood that in the legal system, sometimes winning is the worst thing that can happen to you. It leaves a mark that no amount of money or fame can wash off.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Students
If you're a writer or a legal enthusiast, analyze the closing arguments in the episode "Settling." Notice how the dialogue doesn't rely on "legalize" but on raw, emotional manipulation. That is the David E. Kelley trademark. To truly understand the impact of this season, compare it to the procedural shows of the same era like Law & Order. While Law & Order focused on the system, The Practice focused on the people caught in its gears. For a deep dive into the legal realism of the show, check out archives from the American Bar Association (ABA) which frequently discussed the show's ethics during its original run. It remains one of the most polarizing depictions of defense work ever aired on prim estate television.