Your Honor episodes 1-4 were made available for review. Minor spoilers follow.
Your Honor marks the latest small-screen outing for Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston and, while it may feel a bit glib to draw on that comparison, it's impossible not to acknowledge the parallels.
He has ditched the caravan and the hazmat suit for a swanky house and a courtroom gown, but this show once again sees Cranston's character – a respected and upstanding High Court judge called Michael Desiato – dancing along the line of morality and toying with the question of how far you would bend it for your family.
Desiato's sturdy moral compass is underlined from the off. He goes that extra mile for the defendant whose case he is presiding over, catching a corrupt officer in a lie in order to uphold true justice.
But when his son Adam, who he's solely responsible for one year after the death of his wife, finds himself involved in a violent hit-and-run, how far south will that needle travel in his pursuit to protect him?
The first episode is a strong series opener, setting the stakes high from the off. Your Honor instils feelings of discomfort with ease, which is a testament to its writing. But it does not shy away from blood and graphic content either, and one particular scene is so unnecessarily shocking that it momentarily pulls you out of the story.
This flaw resurfaces in episode four, reigniting the debate on how much the camera should show in order to appear authentic, while not overstepping into gratuitous, shock-value territory.
The 10-part Showtime/Sky Atlantic series also touches on some other themes that viewers might find upsetting; in fact, episode two opens with a content warning. Holding up a mirror to the real world, white privilege is rife in Your Honor. As a result, it also touches on systemic racism and socioeconomic injustice, although every now and then the show veers a little too far into racial stereotyping to feel worthy.
For Adam Desiato (Hunter Doohan) and Kofi Jones (Lamar Johnson), a similar(ish) set of circumstances could not have played out more differently. Kofi, a young Black man, was pulled into something much bigger than himself when he unknowingly picked up the car that had been used in the hit and run. He was assumed to be guilty from the instant he was arrested, and was almost shot by the arresting officer.
In contrast, Adam had killed another teenager and even managed to drive past a police car, covered in blood, without being stopped or questioned. He was protected by all of the privileges that surrounded him, from the colour of his skin to his family ties. We saw this continue as the story unfolded; from dodging expulsion after a fight in school to being waved off by police guards from a restricted area.
While audiences are first invited to sympathise with each character in equal measure, the consequences of Michael and Adam's web of lies start to make it more and more difficult to root for them.
The show's supporting cast, which include The Wire's Isiah Whitlock Jr and Selma's Carmen Ejogo, are great to watch, but it's Cranston's starring role that really pulls your attention. While this could be a testament to his acting abilities, this perspective also causes a slight problem for the show: is it possible to challenge white privilege while looking through the eyes of the character who is benefiting from it most?
Really it's up to the viewer to decide, and for us to see what's in store for the remainder of Your Honor's episodes.
How to watch Your Honor
The show first premiered in the US, on Showtime, in December 2020, and is currently airing weekly.
For UK viewers, Your Honor debuts on Sky Atlantic on Tuesday, March 2 at 9pm.
The whole box set is also available to stream on NOW TV.
NOW TV's Entertainment Pass costs £9.99 a month, and will give you instant access to all of its shows including Mark Ruffalo's award-winning I Know This Much Is True, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant's twisty "whodunnit" The Undoing, and classic box sets such as Game of Thrones.
To watch for free, for a limited time, you can always take advantage of the NOW TV Entertainment Pass free trial (if you haven't already). Just be sure to make a note of the expiry day, though, as once the trial period is up, you'll be charged.
Your Honor airs on Showtime in the US, and Sky Atlantic and NOW TV in the UK.
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