Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Sundays, I will be reviewing Homicide: Life On The Street, which aired from 1993 to 1999, on NBC!  It  can be viewed on Peacock.

This week, season 5 comes to a close.

Episode 5.22 “Strangers And Other Partners”

(Dir by Kenneth Fink, originally aired on May 16th, 1997)

It’s all hands on deck as the Homicide squad investigates the murder of Beau Felton.  This episode opens with Giardello announcing that Pembleton will be the primary and that they will all be working with Detective Falsone (Jon Seda) of the auto squad and Detective Gharty (Peter Gerety) of Internal Affairs.

“I ain’t working with anyone from IID!” Falsone snaps.

Hey, Falsone — you’re a guest star.  Shut up and do what you’re told, you prick.

The fifth season finale is a mess.  Some of that is because Beau Felton was never a strong enough a character for his death to have the emotional kick that it’s obviously meant to have.  Felton was not Crosetti.  Felton wasn’t some sort of beloved icon.  Felton was a jerk whose storylines were usually the least interesting of the show’s first three seasons.

An even bigger problem is that the emphasis is not on the detectives who we all know and love but instead on Falsone and Gharty.  Falsone and Gharty go from being at each other’s throats to teaming up to use a shared informant to get the evidence they need to go after Felton’s murderer.  Peter Gerety does a good job as Gharty.  It helps that Gharty has a compelling storyline.  He’s a cop that many people have dismissed as being a coward.  He’s trying to prove himelf.

Falsone, on the other hand …. seriously, what is the deal with this douchebag?  He spends this episodes strutting around in his stupid leather jacket, threatening to beat up people.  I get that he’s supposed to be a tough cop but he just comes across like a jackass with anger management issues.  It doesn’t help that actor Jon Seda gives a one-note performance in the role.

This whole episode is basically an introduction for Gharty and Falsone.  The other Homicide cops are pushed to the side so that these two can grab some legitimacy before becoming regular characters during season 6.  Gharty seems like he’ll be an okay addition to the ensemble.  Falsone, on the other hand, should be allowed nowhere near a show like Homicide.

While all of that is going on, Kellerman and Cox are both struggling with their drinking.  I’m a little bit tired of Kellerman and Cox, to be honest.  Kellerman, at least, has a compelling storyline with the Luther Mahoney shooting.  Dr. Cox, on the other hand, is starting feel superfluous.  No one from the Homicide squad can step into a bar without running into Dr. Cox.

Finally, Pembleton and Mary meet and agree to give their marriage another try.  Good.

This episode (and the season) ends with Felton’s murderer still on the run.  Giardello announces that the Baltimore police department is instituting a new policy in which detectives will rotate from unit to unit.  “In three months,” he tells the detectives, “none of us may be here.”

Season 5 was pretty good so it’s unfortunate that the finale was a mess.  The strength of Homicide has always been its ensemble of quirky, flawed, and heart-breakingly human cops.  Using the final episode of the season to focus on a one-note character like Paul Falsone almost feels insulting to the rest of the cast.

Next week, we start season 6!