Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 3.16 “Law & Disorder”

Posted on July 6, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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, Munch gets away with murder.

Episode 3.16 “Law & Disorder”

(Dir by John McNaughton, originally aired on February 24th, 1995)

This week’s episode of Homicide gets off to a strange start, with a cameo from Chris Noth as Law & Order‘s Detective Mike Logan. (Logan appeared early in the history of Law & Order, before North became known as the ill-fated Mr. Big on Sex And The City.) Logan is transporting a prisoner to Baltimore and that prisoner is played by none other than John Waters! Meeting Pembleton at the Amtrak station, Logan proceeds to bitch about Baltimore. Pembleton bitches about New York. Waters comments that Edgar Allan Poe hated New York. When Pembleton says that Waters will be heading to prison but at least it will be a Baltimore prison, Waters says that’s why he didn’t fight extradition. It’s a cute scene, though, as I watched it, I was struck by just how better of an actor Andre Braugher was than Chris Noth. Noth delivered all of his line like a TV actor. Braughter delivered his dialogue like a poet.

As for the rest of the show, we get several plotlines. Bayliss is investigating the death of Gordon Pratt but, because Pratt shot Bolander, Felton, and Howard, none of his fellow detectives are that concerned about solving his murder. Bayliss comes to suspect that it was a homicide detective who shot Pratt. He asks Pembleton, Lewis, and Munch for their alibis and none of them really have a good one. Myself, I think it’s pretty obvious that Much shot Pratt. Munch’s hero-worship of Bolander, his anger after Pratt walked out of the station, all of it pretty much makes him the main suspect. Lewis, who is still struggling to come to terms with Crosetti’s suicide, seems like he would be more likely to deal with his anger by drinking. Even if he doesn’t want to admit it, Pembleton is too much of a wannabe Jesuit to do the eye for an eye thing. Munch, though …. yeah, there’s no way Munch didn’t kill Gordon Pratt. John Munch is a murderer. (Okay, to be clear, the show leaves it ambiguous and never outright states that Munch was the killer but it’s still kind of obvious.)

And he gets away with it. Bayliss tells Giardello that he’s followed-up every lead and that the Pratt case is just going to have remain open and go cold. “Won’t help your clearance level,” Giardello shrugs. It’s a decision that’s going to haunt Bayliss but the show suggests that Bayliss sees it as a sort of cosmic justice. Before announcing that the case is going to go cold, Bayliss has a conversation with Pembleton and, of course, Bayliss brings up the Adena Watson case. The Arabist got away with killing Adena Watson so Bayliss is going to let someone — Munch, let’s be honest — get away with killing Gordon Pratt.

Munch isn’t just a murder suspect in this episode. He’s also a laughing-stock as a nude photo of him from his hippie days is the centerpiece of a photography exhibition that’s being put on by an ex-girlfriend (Valerie Perrine). It was kind of strange, watching the episode go from Much being a suspected murderer to Munch being the comedic relief. Still, I always enjoy it when the show remembers that Munch is basically a drug-addled survivor of the 60s.

Felton returns to the squad room, cleared for light duty. He insists on going out to a crime scene with Giardello, leading to Felton stumbling around, making a fool of himself, and then throwing up afterwards. Giardello informs Felton that he’s not a good detective in his current state but then again, Giardello adds, Felton has never been a good detective. Ouch! That’s harsh. Of course, it’s also true. As I’ve said before, I would not want sweaty, racist, borderline illiterate Beau Felton investigating the murder of anyone close to me.

Finally, Pembleton and Lewis investigated an apparently random shooting. Pembleton thought the gunshot came from the projects. Lewis insisted that the gunshot came from the white side of the neighborhood. It turned out Lewis was right but Pembleton was unapologetic, saying he would investigate the case the exact same way if he had to do it all over again. Watching this storyline, I found myself thinking about how black characters on television often feel interchangeable and they rarely have much of a personality beyond being a white person’s idea of what their black best friend might be like. Homicide featured three prominent black characters — Lewis, Pembleton, and Giardello — and all three of them are portrayed as being unique individuals with their own different ways of viewing the world, the job, and each other. Even today, when every television show is desperate to make sure everyone knows how “committed to diversity” they are, it’s rare to see a network show like Homicide, where black characters are portrayed as being individuals as opposed to just stereotypes. This is something for which Homicide definitely deserves a bit more credit.

This was a good episode. It appears the murder of Gordon Pratt will never be solved. Of course, we all know Much did it.

Love on the Shattered Lens: Something Wild (dir by Jonathan Demme)

Posted on April 15, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

1986’s Something Wild opens with Charlie Driggs (Jeff Daniels) eating lunch in a New York diner.

Charlie is a stockbroker. He wears a suit. He’s quiet and mild-mannered. He just got a promotion at work. He carries a picture of his kids in his wallet. Everything about Charlie shouts that he’s a nice guy who is extremely conventional in his outlook and behavior. But then, Charlie sneaks out of the diner without paying and is spotted by a woman (Melanie Griffith) who says that her name is Lulu.

Dressed in black and with a brunette bob that makes her look like Louis Brooks (and which is later revealed to be a wig), Lulu chases after Charlie. She offers him a ride back to his job, downtown. However, when Charlie gets in the car, Lulu instead speeds off towards New Jersey. Lulu grabs Charlie beeper and throws it away. (I guess that was the 80s equivalent of stealing someone’s phone.) She stops off at a liquor store and robs the place while Charlie unknowingly waits out in the car. She takes him to a motel and, after handcuffing to the bed, has sex with him and calls his office….

And then the film takes an unexpected turn. What started out as one of those NSFW stories that occasionally cropped up on Internet message boards suddenly turns into a quirky slice of Americana. Lulu and Charlie head to Pennsylvania for Lulu’s high school reunion. Lulu reveals that her real name is Audrey and she’s actually blonde. Audrey introduces Charlie to her family as being her husband and Charlie plays along with her. At the reunion, Charlie turns out to be just as skillful a liar as Audrey. But there’s nothing particularly mean-spirited about their lies. Audrey wanted to be able to brag about having a wonderful husband at her reunion and Charlie, whose wife left him for a dentist, wanted to pretend that he was still married and still a regular part of his children’s lives. The reunion itself is a masterful set piece, one in which director Jonathan Demme balances his trademark quirky humor with a genuine love for small town American. With the old school bands playing in front of an American flag, Demme transforms the reunion into a metaphor for everything good about this country. It’s a place where two lonely people can find each other. The weekend may have started out like a middle-aged man’s fantasy but Charlie finds himself falling in love with the real Audrey. It’s very sweet and humorous and it makes you feel good about life in general….

And then Ray shows up and the film takes another unexpected turn. Played by Ray Liotta, Ray is Audrey’s ex-husband. He’s a charmer, as one might expect from a character played by a young Ray Liotta. Ray is friendly with Charlie, telling him stories about how wild Audrey was in high school. It’s only as the night progresses that it becomes obvious that Ray is a sadistic sociopath and he wants Audrey back.

The violence in the film’s second half is a bit jarring. After the good-natured, screwball comedy of the film’s first 50 minutes, it’s shocking to suddenly see Ray pistol-whipping a clerk and then breaking Charlie’s nose. At the same time, meeting Ray allows us to know what it was that attracted Audrey to Charlie. Charlie is the opposite of Ray, a good man who truly cares about other people. Ray is the type of bad boy who is very attractive when you don’t know any better. Charlie is the guy who seems conventional but, underneath it all, turns out to be something wild as well.

Directed by Jonathan Demme, Something Wild has a good eye for the quirkiness of America. It portrays the world out of New York with love and none of the condescension that tends to show up in so many other road trip movies. Daniels, Griffith, and the much-missed Ray Liotta all gives performance that take the viewer by surprise. None of them are who we originally assume them to be and Griffith’s deconstruction of the type of character who would later be termed a “manic pixie dream girl” is probably her best and most honest performance. Even Ray, for all his violent tendencies, has moments of humanity. Something Wild is a celebration of life, rebellion, and love. Like Charlie and Audrey, it’s more than worth taking a chance on.

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 1.9 “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”

Posted on December 8, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

Lisa Cleans Out Her DVR: Homer and Eddie (dir by Andrei Konchalovsky)

Posted on June 13, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

(Lisa is currently in the process of cleaning out her DVR. It’s taking her such a long time that she’s running out of cutesy ways to talk about how long it’s taking. She recorded this 1989 comedy off of Starz on May 10th.)

This is another strange one.

Homer and Eddie opens with Homer (James Belushi) standing on the corner of an isolated stretch of desert road. He is hitchhiking. When a car finally stops to pick him up, Homer is so excited! He gets in the back seat, gives the two men in the front seat a really wide smile, and innocently asks them how they’re doing.

One of the men (played by director John Waters) holds up a gun and demands all of Homer’s money. After Homer hands the money over, he is kicked out of the car. As the car drives away, Homer pulls a few dollars out of his sock and loudly yells that he fooled them and that they didn’t get all of his money.

The car abruptly stops and, going in reverse, pulls back up to Homer. Homer gives up his money and the car speeds off.

In short, Homer probably shouldn’t be hitchhiking on his own. Homer, you see, was hit in the head by a baseball when he was younger. He has the mind and the innocent outlook of a child. He is cheerful, he is religious, and he is totally unprepared to deal with real world.

Fortunately, Homer won’t be alone for too long. Homer comes across an apparently deserted car and, without money or a place to stay, he decides to use the car as shelter. However, it turns out that the car isn’t as abandoned as it looks! No, the car is being used by Eddie (Whoopi Goldberg). Eddie stole the car when she escaped from a mental institution. Why was Eddie in the mental institution? She’s a paranoid schizophrenic and she occasionally kills people. Eddie and Homer are soon taking a very strange road trip, heading up north so that Homer can see his dying father.

It’s a very disjointed film, one that switches tone from scene to scene. The two stars seem to be acting in totally different movies. Belushi gives a very broad performance, one that often crosses the line into pure goofiness. Eddie, meanwhile, is continually and constantly full of rage. You never know when she’s going to snap and kill someone. I spent a good deal of the movie waiting for her to kill Homer. Maybe that was the point but it’s still hard to laugh at scenes of Homer and Eddie waving at a school bus full of cheerleaders when you’re also waiting for Whoopi Goldberg to beat and dismember Jim Belushi.

Homer and Eddie can summed up by one lengthy sequence. Eddie takes Homer to a brothel so that he can lose his virginity. While Homer is dancing around in his underwear, Eddie is at a convenience store, shooting the clerk (played by Pruitt Taylor Vince). The clerk, who was perfectly nice to Eddie before getting shot, looks at his wound and feebly says, “Why did you do that?” before dying.

It’s a weird little movie. Usually, I love weird moves but this one is too much of a mess for even me. As I watched it, I couldn’t help but think of how much more interesting the movie would be if it was the child-like Homer killing people and schizophrenic Eddie trying to keep him calm. On a positive note, this was decades before Whoopi Goldberg gave up her edginess to co-host The View and she gives shockingly good performance. When Eddie loses control, she’s actually frightening. But, unfortunately, the film itself just doesn’t work.