Glenn Klavans – 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, Pembleton, Lewis, Bayliss, and (ugh) Flasone investigate a shooting at a Vietnamese restaurant.

Episode 6.7 “Saigon Rose”

(Dir by Nick Gomez, originally aired on November 21st, 1997)

There’s an incredibly dumb moment in this week’s episode of Homicide. In an otherwise deserted hallway, Flasone confronts Kellerman with his suspicion that Kellerman executed Luther Mahoney and now, as a result, innocent people have been killed due to Georgia Rae Mahoney’s vendetta. (As if Georgia Rae wouldn’t have launched a vendetta if the killing hadn’t been an execution….) Kellerman and Falsone have a scuffle in the hallway and they both end up pulling their guns and having a brief, John Woo-style stand-off. When another cop comes walking down the hallway, they reholster their weapons.

It’s an idiotic moment that should have had no place on Homicide. It also gets at what is so annoying about Falsone. Why is Falsone investigating this? No one has asked him to investigate it. No one else seems to care about whether or not Kellerman murdered Luther. Most would probably say that Luther got what he deserved. But Falsone is on a crusade and the show seems to think that it makes him a hero, as opposed to a rat.

While Kellerman and Falsone are threatening to kill each other, Pembleton, Lewis, and Bayliss are investigating a shooting at a Vietnamese restaurant. Almost everyone who worked at the restaurant — including an off-duty cop — is found dead. The only survivors are two teenagers who hid in the kitchen. When interrogated by Pembleton and Lewis, they reveal that one of the shooters was a local cop named Toinette Perry (Camille McCurty Ali).

Toinette was hired as a cop despite having a history of mental instability. Her father had a friend at city hall and pulled some strings. Her father subsequently disappeared. Pembleton and Lewis think that Toinette recruited her cousin, Curtis (Dion Graham), to commit the robbery with her. Bayliss and Falsone are sent to arrest Curtis, which just proves that you can’t get away from Falsone on this show. He has to be involved in everything.

This episode wasn’t particularly complex. The mystery was easily solved and, while the episode did hint that the off-duty cop resented Toinette for being a “diversity hire,” it didn’t really pursue that angle with any real depth. That’s not necessarily a complaint. Homicide is at its best when its just about the detectives doing their jobs. Camille McCurty Ali gave a chilling performance as the sociopathic Toinette.

Meanwhile, Laura Ballard was rushed to the hospital after a night eating crabs with Gharty. (My boyfriend assures me that this is a Baltimore thing.) It turns out that Laura has an allergy to shellfish. Gharty is horrified at the thought of living in Baltimore and not being able to eat crabs. It was a cute storyline, largely due to Peter Gerety’s performance as Gharty.

This was not a bad episode but Falsone needs to leave Kellerman alone!

Seriously.

This week, Brodie gets a storyline, Luther Mahoney continues to destroy lives, and Pembleton’s marriage collapses. It’s a busy few days in Baltimore.

Episode 5.16 “Valentine’s Day”

(Dir by Clark Johnson, originally aired on February 14th, 1997)

When a man is found dead in the apartment of Alan Schack (Neil Patrick Harris), Detective Munch assume that it was a case of suicide. However, Brodie went to school with Schack and is convinced that he’s the murderer. Munch refuses to take Brodie serious but, luckily, Sgt. Howard is more open-minded. After Alan beats up Brodie and leaves him on a snowy street, Brodie leaves Baltimore because he knows he’ll never get over the shame of being beaten up Neil Patrick Harris. Just kidding! Instead, Brodie doctors a tape to make it seem as if the police have evidence of Alan killing the victim. Alan falls for it because …. I guess he’s just really stupid. Like seriously, wouldn’t Alan have — at the very least — noticed that he was dressed totally different on videotape than he was on the day he committed the murder? Or does Alan just wear the same outfit day after day?

When two seemingly unrelated bombs go off, Kellerman and Bayliss find themselves investigating a — all together now! — “red ball!” Their investigation eventually leads them to the son of the grocer who was murdered by Luther Mahoney a few episodes ago. The bombs are being sent to the people who the son blames for Luther getting away with murder. One bomb is sent to the courthouse. “Lewis is at the courthouse!” Bayliss exclaims. “So is Julianna!” Kellerman says. Well, that’s convenient.

Frank and Mary Pembleton attend marriage counseling. It doesn’t go well. Frank finally agrees to allow their newborn daughter to be baptized despite the fact that he’s still struggling with his faith. Mary, however, still leaves Frank afterwards. She takes their daughter with her. Frank is left alone in their home, staring at an empty crib.

And finally, due to budget cutbacks, Giardello has to dust his own office!

On the plus side, I related to Giardello’s need to dust. As a sometimes struggling Catholic, I appreciated that the show took seriously Mary’s concerns about their daughter dying outside of a State of Grace.

Unfortunately, the rest of the episode just felt off. Neil Patrick Harris as a tough guy drug dealer? Nope. Sorry. I loved NPH as Dr. Horrible but I’m still not buying it. As for the bombing storyline, it felt almost like a parody of an episode of Homicide. Oh no! There’s a bomb at the courthouse and Lewis and Dr. Cox just happen to be standing right outside the doorway!

I regret to say it but this episode just didn’t work for me.