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 one comes to a close.
Episode 1.9 “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”
(Dir by Wayne Ewing, originally aired on March 24th, 1993)
It’s another day in Baltimore.
While the rain falls and the cold wind blows, Detectives Howard and Felton investigate another murder and, for once, it’s Detective Howard who is getting distracted and irritable. Felton lights a cigarette. The witnesses all light cigarettes. The uniformed cops light cigarettes. The medical examiner looks over a body and lights a cigarette. Howard bites into a celery stick. To his horror, Felton realizes that Howard is trying to quite smoking and, therefore, she is going to be Hell to work with until she eventually gives up. Howard swears that she’s not going to give up, She’s dating State’s Attorney Ed Danvers and he’s not a huge fan of smoking. Howard later assures Pembleton that sex with Danvers is so mind-blowing that it’s worth giving up cigarettes.
Bayliss is trying to give up cigarettes as well. He’s doing it for his health. (Sorry, Danvers!) His attempt to go smoke-free lasts for a day or two. He gives in while on a stake-out with Howard, Pembleton, and Felton. Bayliss is so desperate to bum a cigarette that detectives nearly miss capturing their suspect.
Meanwhile, Lt. Giardello is shocked to discover that the upper flood of the building, the floor right above his department, has been closed for asbestos removal. No one bothered to tell the detectives that they were working in a toxic environment. Actually, with all the cigarette smoke, I doubt they would have noticed. As always, Yaphet Kotto’s performance was one of the highlights of this episode. Both his outrage over the asbestos and his joy about having found something to hold over the head of Captain Barnfather were wonderful to watch.
Finally, Munch and Bolander investigate the death of a 14 year-old boy who was beaten to death as a part of a gang initiation. Fortunately, the members of the gang are not very smart. One suspect confesses all that he knows after Munch and Bolander hook him up to what they claim is an atomic-powered lie detector that causes sterility. (It’s actually the xerox machine.) The head of the gang turns out to be a snot-nosed, middle class kid who says that the murder was an act of kindness. A disgusted Bolander ends the episode, sitting in a bar and talking about how American society destroyed Elvis. The bartender is played by a bemused John Waters.
This episode was originally meant to be the final episode of season one. NBC, not wanting to end the first season on such a downbeat note, instead decided that Night of the Dead Living should be the finale, despite the fact that moving the episodes around caused all sorts of continuity problems. For the purpose of the site, I’m reviewing the episodes in the order that they were meant to be shown. So, for us, this is indeed the season finale.
And what a dark way to end the season! But it also feels like the right way to end season one. In its first season, Homicide was not an optimistic series. The murder of Adena Watson went unsolved. Bolander is alone and still pining for his ex-wife. No matter how many murders are solved, there’s always another one right around the corner. The first season of Homicide would have been downright depressing if not for the sense of humor of the detectives. It was gallows humor, of course. But it was very much needed.
Season one featured some great episodes (Three Men and Adena, the pilot, Night of the Dead Living) but it faltered towards the end. Bolander’s relationship with Carol was never as interesting as the show’s writers seemed to think and the whole plotline with Chris Thormann getting shot went for an at least one episode more than necessary. But still, the first season was challenging and frequently compelling. It was also very low-rated. Homicide came close to being canceled after the first 9 episodes. When it did return for a second season, it was only given four episodes in which to prove itself.
We’ll start looking at those four episodes next week.
Through the Shattered Lens