Cleo Reginald Pizana | Through the Shattered Lens

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, the show gets a new co-star.

Episode 5.5 “M.E., Myself, and I”

(Dir by Michael Fields, originally aired on November 1st, 1996)

There’s a new medical examiner in town! Julianna Cox (Michelle Forbes) drinks too much, smokes too much, and she takes her job personally! She drives too fast! She speaks her mind! She fires the incompetent and the corrupt! She shows up at crime scenes! Lewis moves a body before Dr. Cox arrives. She tells him to never do it again!

She’s a new regular and this entire episode is essentially dedicated to hitting us over the head with the fact that she’s awesome. And she is awesome and she’s also played by Michelle Forbes so I’m sure she will be a worthwhile addition to the show’s ensemble. That said, this episode sometimes seem to be so desperate to convince us that we’re going to love Dr. Cox that it forgets to craft a compelling story. She helps Bayliss to solve a case. Bayliss likes her. Well, Bayliss like everyone. Indeed, Bayliss gets so excited whenever an attractive woman appears that he sometimes seems like a cartoon wolf, with his eyes popping out of his head.

In other news, Kellerman is still under investigation and he’s not taking it well. The great Edward Herrmann played the officious FBI agent who took over the Box and spent the episode asking the other Homicide detectives if Kellerman seemed to be corrupt. “How did Detective Kellerman afford a new boat?” Actually, how did Detective Kellerman afford a new boat?

Pembleton went off his blood pressure meds so he could make love to his wife on his anniversary. Pembleton — how are you going to recover from this stroke if you keep finding excuses not to take your medication?

Finally, Brodie got kicked out of Bayliss’s apartment so he moved in with Lewis. Brodie praised a black velvet painting of Teddy Pendergrass, leading to a fight between Lewis and his wife. It was an amusing scene. Brodie, you stand accused of murdering a marriage! The jury finds you guilty!

It was an okay episode. Homicide is one of those shows that is enjoyable watch because of the ensemble and Michelle Forbes seems like she’ll be a good addition. When you’ve got a cast this good, you can get away with an episode where not that much really happens.

This week, drug lord Luther Mahoney returns.

Episode 5.4 “Bad Medicine”

(Dir by Kenneth Fink, originally aired on October 25th, 1996)

Someone is selling bad heroin in Baltimore. This episode opens with a montage of dead junkies being discovered. Detective Munch explains to a uniformed cop why he has to stick around until it’s firmly established that the latest dead junkie died of an overdose and not something like a hit to the back of the head. Munch says that everything he knows, he learned from his ex-partner. Hey, Munch, Bolander’s not coming back! You have to accept it.

Things are looking grim for Giardello’s detectives. Megan Russert has run off to Europe. Bolander is retired. Felton is missing. Frank is recovering from his stroke and still needs to pass his firearms exam. And now, Kellerman has been accused of taking bribes while working as an arson investigator. Kellerman is given desk duty, which means that he can’t help Lewis pursue drug kingpin Luther Mahoney (Erik Todd Dellums).

Mahoney returns in this episode, dragged into the box and accused of murdering a rival dealer. Mahoney is his usual smug snake self but Lewis and his temporary partner, Narcotics Detective Terri Stivers (Toni Lewis), are convinced that they’ve finally got him where they want him. First off, there’s a junkie who has been bullied into informing on Luther. Plus, Luther slips up and reveals that he knew some facts about the murder that were not released to the press. Is Luther Mahoney going down!?

Well, don’t get too excited. Ed Danvers informs them that their evidence isn’t enough to get a conviction. Juries don’t trust junkies. Luther could have heard the details of the murder on the street. Everyone knows that Luther is guilty but no one can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. Luther goes free and the informant ends up dead.

Meanwhile, Frank Pambleton stops taking his medicine so that he can concentrate on passing his firearms exam. He still fails. Even though he was able to hit the target, he took too long reloading his gun. Pembleton starts to take his medicine again.

Finally, Brodie still doesn’t have anywhere to live. He stayed with Munch for one night and then voluntarily left. (The reasons why are left ambiguous but it’s suggested that Brodie came across Munch’s private drug stash and freaked out.) Brodie moves in with Bayliss and quickly makes things awkward by overanalyzing the Mighty Mouse cartoon that Bayliss is watching. Brodie explains that Mighty Mouse is an agent of chaos and Bayliss looks like he’s already realized this living arrangement is not going to work.

This was a properly cynical episode, one where the main theme seemed to be that our heroes are fighting a losing war. Giardello is running low on detectives. Kellerman is put on desk duty because of one weak accusation. Pembleton has to pass a firearms exam, despite rarely having to draw his gun. In the end, men like Luther Mahoney walk free while the addicts caught in-between end up dead in the street.

That’s life in Charm City.