Dark Justice

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This article is about the early 1990s crime drama. For the novel by Jack Higgins, see Dark Justice (novel). For the Playboy TV series, see Playboy's Dark Justice. For the anti-paedophile activists, see Dark Justice (group).
Dark Justice
Genre Crime drama
Created by Jeff Freilich
Starring Ramy Zada
Bruce Abbott
Janet Gunn
Dick O'Neill
Clayton Prince
Music by Mark Snow
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 66
Production
Running time 45–48 minutes
Production company(s) David Salzman Entertainment
Institut del Cinema Català (ICC)
Lorimar Television
Distributor Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network CBS
Original release April 5, 1991 (1991-04-05) –
September 28, 1993 (1993-09-28)

Dark Justice is an American crime drama about a judge who becomes a vigilante by night so that he can bring high-level offenders who use technicalities to "escape" the legal system to what he calls "dark justice." The role of Judge Nicholas Marshall was played by actors Ramy Zada (1991) and Bruce Abbott (1992–1993).

The series began airing in 1991 and ran for three seasons (66 episodes) finishing in 1993.

Production and filming

During the first season, the series was shot in Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain. Before the second season, the series had to switch locations due to budget constraints caused by the 1992 Summer Olympics. The second and third seasons were shot in Los Angeles, California.

Actor Ramy Zada, who played the lead role of Judge Nicholas Marshall during the first season, was said to be unavailable for the second season due to the location change, and Bruce Abbott was chosen as his replacement. The location was also the main reason behind the casting of some Spanish actors like Begoña Plaza in lead roles. When the series shifted to Los Angeles, Janet Gunn permanently assumed the role of the female member of "The Night Watchmen," Kelly Cochrane.

Plot synopsis

Nicholas Marshall, a former police officer and district attorney, is a judge who loses his faith in the legal system after his wife and daughter are murdered in a car bombing intended for him. After the killer walks out due to a technicality, Marshall becomes a vigilante by night, dedicated to bringing what he calls "dark justice" to criminals who evade penalties due to technicalities. Marshall had already had his faith in the legal system shaken even before his wife and his daughter were murdered:

  • as a youth, growing up in an unnamed ghetto in an unspecified city, his father was murdered by a hoodlum with local connections;
  • as a police officer, technicalities often voided his arrests;
  • as a prosecutor, having obtained his law degree through night school studies, crooked defenders would sometimes undermine his prosecutions; and
  • after his election to a judgeship, the letter of the law often bound his hands.

To help him achieve his goal, Marshall uses a team of specialists whom the local press refers to as "The Night Watchmen." The team, a civilian counterpart to the mission teams of the governmental Impossible Missions Force, consists of people who were prosecuted for lower-level offenses, and who help him with some tasks; this can be seen as a form of community service for their offenses. The members of the watchmen were Arnold "Moon" Willis(Dick O'Neill), who had once been a con man; Jericho "Gibs" Gibson(Clayton Prince, a member of the Guardian Angels in "civilian" life who had to lend his assistance during the Los Angeles riots in 1991), a special effects expert; and a female companion that changed several times during the three seasons. Kelly Cochrane (Janet Gunn) was a rape victim whose attackers had been acquitted in Marshall's court; after she killed one of her attackers, Marshall added her to the team, remaining until the end of the series.

Marshall would typically target criminals whom he had encountered in his courtroom, but whom he was forced to release for technical reasons of one kind or another. Marshall would generally dismiss these defendants with the warning, "Justice may be blind, but it can see in the dark." He would then assume his alter ego as a long-haired, leather jacket-wearing, motorcycle-riding vigilante. His team would construct an elaborate sting operation, usually involving undercover work and even special effects. These operations were designed to elicit a confession from the criminal or otherwise trip him or her up so that courtroom-admissible (and/or technicality-resistant) evidence either of the original crime or of a different crime could be gathered.

Unfortunately for the Night Watchmen, the very police department in which Marshall himself had once served came to view them as criminals, and their crusade as illegal. By the time of the series conclusion, even the FBI had commenced to look into the activities of the Night Watchmen, a probe Marshall was, presumably, able to defuse when a federal agent provided him with the FBI file on the Night Watchmen.

Cast

Episode list

Season 1 (1991-1992)

22 episodes:

№ Title Air date
1 "Nowhere to Hide" April 5, 1991
2 "What Comes Around" April 12, 1991
3 "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" April 19, 1991
4 "To Die For" April 26, 1991
5 "In Mysterious Ways" May 3, 1991
6 "The Carnival" May 10, 1991
7 "Brother Mine" May 17, 1991
8 "Broken Toys" May 24, 1991
9 "I Hate Mondays" May 31, 1991
10 "Simon Says" June 7, 1991
11 "Urban Renewal" September 13, 1991
12 "Once Upon a Time in Krestridge" September 20, 1991
13 "Forbes for the Defense" September 27, 1991
14 "Marshall Law" October 4, 1991
15 "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree" October 18, 1991
16 "Smokescreen" October 25, 1991
17 "The Neutralizing Factor" November 1, 1991
18 "Playing the Odds" November 8, 1991
19 "Diplomatic Immunity" November 15, 1991
20 "Caught in the Act" November 22, 1991
21 "Once Loved, Twice Dead" February 7, 1992
22 "Judgement Night" February 28, 1992

Season 2 (1992-1993)

22 episodes:

№ Title Air date
23 "Bump in the Night" April 17, 1992
24 "Anniversary" April 24, 1992
25 "Prime Cuts" May 1, 1992
26 "Lead Rain" May 8, 1992
27 "Lush Life" May 15, 1992
28 "The Specialist" May 29, 1992
29 "Needy Things" June 5, 1992
30 "Snitch" June 12, 1992
31 "Instant Replay" September 25, 1992
32 "The Highest Court" October 2, 1992
33 "Deadline" October 9, 1992
34 "A Better Mousetrap" October 16, 1992
35 "Happy Mothers Day" October 23, 1992
36 "Black Heart" October 30, 1992
37 "Jail Bait" November 6, 1992
38 "Venus Flytrap" November 13, 1992
39 "Teenage Pajama Party Massacre, Part IV" November 20, 1992
40 "Shrink" November 27, 1992
41 "The Merchant" February 5, 1993
42 "Blast from the Past" February 12, 1993
43 "Cold Reading" February 19, 1993
44 "Suitable for Framing" February 26, 1993

Season 3 (1993)

22 episodes:

№ Title Air date
45 "Joyride" April 16, 1993
46 "Night Games" April 23, 1993
47 "Last Rites" April 30, 1993
48 "Person or Persons Unknown" May 7, 1993
49 "Clean Kill" May 14, 1993
50 "The Greening of Glenda Ross" May 21, 1993
51 "Uncle Tony's Cabin" May 28, 1993
52 "Pygmalion" June 4, 1993
53 "Backfire" June 11, 1993
54 "Second Anniversary" June 18, 1993
55 "Squeeze Play" June 25, 1993
56 "Incorrect Dosage" July 2, 1993
57 "2nd Story" July 9, 1993
58 "Three on a Match" July 16, 1993
59 "Crash Course" July 23, 1993
60 "The Push" July 30, 1993
61 "My Dinner with Nick" August 6, 1993
62 "In Cover of Darkness (Part 1)" August 17, 1993
63 "In Cover of Darkness (Part 2)" August 24, 1993
64 "The Doctor Is In" September 14, 1993
65 "A Kiss Goodbye" September 21, 1993
66 "A Novel Way to Die" September 28, 1993

External links

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