“Your Honor”

Cast: Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”), Michael Stuhlbarg (“Call Me By Your Name”), Hope Davis (“American Splendor”), Isaiah Whitlock Jr. (“The Wire”), Hunter Doohan (“Truth Be Told”), Carmen Ejogo (“Selma”)

Airs: The 10-episode series premieres Sunday on Showtime.

The premise: Michael Desiato (Bryan Cranston) is a New Orleans judge placed in a precarious situation when his son is involved in a hit-and-run that involves a member of an organized crime family. Desiato faces a series of impossible choices to save his son’s life.

BAFTA winner Peter Moffat (“The Night Of,” “Undercover”) serves as showrunner, executive producer and writer of multiple episodes.

Highs: How far would you go to protect your child? That’s the theoretical question that Judge Desiato is forced to answer in “Your Honor.”

Like most parents, Michael’s initial reaction is to protect his son, Adam (Hunter Doohan). Adam is a high schooler with a bright future ahead of him; when Michael reviews his son’s reaction to the accident, it makes perfect sense. After the crash, Adam tries to help the person he injured but then panics when he realizes the enormity of the situation. Many people, especially a teenager with little life experience, might do the same thing.

From Michael’s perspective, his son has done a horrible thing, but it was an accident. Now it’s time to come clean. A thoughtful man, Michael gets prepared. He knows a good defense attorney and is friends with a police detective who can provide information and who will be understanding of the situation. But just as Michael is ready to let law enforcement know Adam’s secret, he learns that the son of the most vicious crime lord in the city was the one killed in the accident.

Fearing for his son’s life, and his own, Michael pivots and decides to cover up the crime. This is when the intensity meter in “Your Honor” hits 11. Viewers will see two sides to Michael. The first is the kind, progressive-thinking man who helps those less fortunate. He’s a judge who believes it is his duty to use the law for the benefit of the downtrodden, not something that should be solely punitive.

The other side of Michael is frightening. He uses his knowledge of the law to his benefit, manipulating potential witnesses and even his own friends to get the outcome he desires because there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for his son. And after the tragic death of his wife one year prior, losing Adam is not something he can accept.

Unfortunately for Michael, his actions have grave consequences. He might know the law but he’s not a seasoned criminal, so he leaves a trail of breadcrumbs if someone knows where to look. Michael’s actions also leave behind an enormous trail of collateral damage, something he and Adam in particular have a hard time living with.

Lows: Organized crime boss Jimmy Baxter (Michael Stuhlbarg) and his wife, Gina (Hope Davis), are meant to be intimidating figures. After all, Michael immediately understands that his son won’t live if the Baxter family founds out what he’s done. That said, the Baxter family appears less menacing and more dysfunctional. To be sure, the family is angry and upset, but because most of their retribution is enacted by surrogates, we don’t truly feel their sense of loss. After watching the first four episodes, they lacked the depth seen in the Desiato family, leaving the show feeling a bit uneven.

A bit more troubling for viewers will be how dark this series is. There is no break from the weight of Adam’s crime or Michael’s desperate turn. This is a series to watch one episode at a time; no bingeing here.

Grade: (B): At first glance, “Your Honor” seems to be a straightforward drama, but it often leaves small clues that hint at bigger mysteries. We learn more about the death of Michael’s wife as the season progresses. Adam is involved in a forbidden relationship and an SUV randomly shows up at the oddest times. Small nuggets of mystery blended together with an intense storyline and a brilliant performance from Cranston make “Your Honor” an intriguing series.

Gazette TV critic Terry Terrones is a member of the Television Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association. You can follow him on Twitter at @terryterrones.