Your Honor: Now on Netflix, A Once-Respected Judge Faces His Demons

Post Update: This post originally ran in January 2023 after the premier of the second season. I’m re-publishing it because it just started streaming on Netflix. Take a look if you missed it on Showtime.

Michael Desiato is a prominent New Orleans judge when his son kills another teenager in an accidental hit-and-run collision. Michael encourages him to turn himself in but changes his mind while walking into the police station. He overhears that the boy who was killed is the son of a mob kingpin. Michael decides to protect his son setting off a perilous game of secrets, lies, and unbelievable dilemmas. That’s the premise of Showtime’s Your Honor which just had its season two premier on Sunday, January 15th. The show, adapted from an Israeli TV program, was originally envisioned as a single season limited series, but the network agreed to give the show a second and final run.

Bryan Cranston is Judge Desiato. Michael Stuhlbarg (Boardwalk Empire) is mob boss Jimmy Baxter and Hope Davis (In Treatment) his wife, Gina. It’s quickly apparent that Gina is not a stay-at-home wife. Hunter Doohan (the sheriff’s son in Wednesday) is the oblivious son. Isiah Whitlock, Jr. (The Wire) plays a local politician and confidant of Michael.

Season two opens with Michael in a bedraggled state enduring the consequences of his previous actions. Then, the scene shifts to flashbacks to fill in the blanks since the first season finale: war between rival gangs is likely; the Feds are enticing Michael to cooperate and bring down Jimmy; a baby has arrived that will make this crazy web all the more complicated. All this in just the first episode.

It’s impossible not to compare the Your Honor version of Bryan Cranston as a good man doing bad things with that other show he was in. Your Honor is no Breaking Bad, but it’s tense, grim, and suspenseful. The decisions the judge takes to protect his son are insane, while the son does everything in his power to sabotage those efforts without even realizing it. He is confounding and frustrating. Your Honor is an edge-of-your-seat, slightly absurd joyride. Episode two premiers on Sunday, January 22nd at 9:00 PST. (Also available on Showtime’s streaming services, including all the season one episodes to catch up on.)

D² Rating ◼◼◼☐☐

Trivia: Bryan Cranston starred in what TV show from 2000-2006?

Answer: The Fox sitcom Malcolm in the Middle