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, 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.
“So, we cause a triple murder before breakfast, start a race war before dinner – that’s uh, that’s a pretty good day.” — Shane Vendrell
If you want to talk about the history of television, you basically have to divide the timeline into two distinct eras: before The Shield and after The Shield. When creator Shawn Ryan launched this gritty FX crime drama in 2002, the television landscape was a very different place. Sure, The Sopranos had already kicked down the door for premium cable, proving that audiences were hungry for complex, morally ambiguous anti-heroes. But basic cable was still largely seen as a graveyard for sanitized, formulaic network rejects. Then came The Shield, swaggering onto the screen with a chaotic energy that immediately changed the rules of the game. Running for seven intense seasons until 2008, the show didn’t just push the envelope; it set the envelope on fire and danced around the ashes. Looking back at it now, it remains a staggering achievement in storytelling that completely redefined what a cop show could be, sending shockwaves through basic cable, premium cable, and even Hollywood films.
The premise of the show sounds almost simple on paper, but its execution was anything but. The series follows the Strike Team, an elite anti-gang unit operating out of a rundown, overcrowded police station in the fictional Farmington district of Los Angeles. Leading this crew is Detective Vic Mackey, played with terrifying charisma by Michael Chiklis. Vic is not your typical television cop. He is not a flawed but ultimately noble hero who bends the rules to get the bad guys. Vic Mackey is, flat out, a criminal who happens to wear a badge. The show announces this immediately in the legendary opening scene of the pilot, where Vic murders a fellow police officer who is about to expose his corruption. It was a gut punch that served as a warning to the audience: you are not in Kansas anymore. From that moment on, you are complicit in Vic’s crimes because you are rooting for him to get away with them.
What made The Shield so brilliant was how it surrounded this monstrous central character with an incredibly rich ensemble cast that represented every facet of law enforcement. You had Shane Vendrell, Vic’s deeply insecure and ultimately tragic right-hand man, brought to life with jaw-dropping nuance by Walton Goggins. You had Claudette Wyms, the fiercely intelligent detective played by CCH Pounder, who spent the entire series fighting against the systemic rot embodied by Vic. And then there was Dutch Wagenbach, the deeply awkward, brilliantly analytical detective who provided a stark contrast to the Strike Team’s brute force approach. The show used these characters to explore the sheer exhaustion of police work. The Barn, as their station house was known, felt like a pressure cooker. It was a place where idealism went to die, crushed under the weight of endless caseloads, bureaucratic nonsense, and the depressing reality that the justice system is often deeply broken.
Visually and tonally, The Shield felt like a punch to the face. Ryan and his team utilized handheld cameras, harsh lighting, and a documentary-style grit that made the show feel dangerously real. There was no glossy cinematography or sweeping orchestral scores. The soundtrack was often just the ambient noise of the city, punctuated by sudden, shocking bursts of violence. This aesthetic choice was crucial because it stripped away the Hollywood glamour usually associated with police work. When Vic and the Strike Team kicked down a door, it didn’t look like an action movie; it looked like a chaotic, terrifying intrusion that left you feeling uneasy. This raw approach forced the audience to confront the physical and emotional toll of the job without any safety net.
When we talk about how The Shield redefined basic cable, it is hard to overstate its importance. Before this show, basic cable networks like FX were terrified of alienating advertisers. The Shield blew that hesitation out of the water by introducing unprecedented levels of profanity, nudity, and violence to non-premium television. But it wasn’t just about shock value; it was about authenticity. The criminals in Farmington talked like actual criminals, and the cops talked like actual cops who were fed up with the system. By proving that audiences would tune in in massive numbers to watch a show that didn’t hold their hand, FX essentially built its entire brand identity around The Shield. It paved the way for everything from Sons of Anarchy to American Horror Story, proving that basic cable could rival the creative freedom of HBO.
Interestingly, the success of The Shield also had a massive trickle-up effect on premium cable. HBO had been sitting comfortably as the king of prestige television, but suddenly a basic cable show was matching them punch for punch in terms of narrative complexity and character depth. Shows like The Wire and Breaking Bad (which debuted later on basic cable) owe a massive debt to the path Shawn Ryan blazed. The Shield proved that you didn’t need a massive HBO budget to create high art; you just needed a sharp script, fearless actors, and a network willing to take a risk. It forced premium cable to stop resting on its laurels and realize that the competition was no longer just the broadcast networks, but the upstarts on basic cable who were hungry for prestige.
The show’s influence even bled into the film industry, fundamentally altering the cop genre on the big screen. Before The Shield, the standard cop movie usually followed a fairly strict moral compass, or if it did feature a corrupt cop, like in Training Day, it was contained within a neat two-hour narrative arc. The Shield introduced the concept of the serialized corrupt cop. It showed audiences that the psychological unraveling of a dirty officer is much better suited to a long-form television format, where you can spend years peeling back the layers of their justification and paranoia. After The Shield, Hollywood started realizing that the simple “good guy versus bad guy” cop movie felt outdated. Films had to get darker, more ambiguous, and more willing to dwell in the gray areas of morality just to keep up with what was happening on television.
At the core of the series is a really fascinating, easy-to-understand analysis of utilitarianism versus deontology. In simple terms, Vic Mackey operates on the belief that the ends justify the means. He robs drug dealers, beats confessions out of suspects, and ruins innocent lives, but he argues that he is keeping the streets of Farmington safe. The show constantly challenges the audience to wrestle with this uncomfortable philosophy. Is a neighborhood actually safer if the people protecting it are worse than the criminals they are locking up? The Shield refuses to give you a tidy answer, which is what makes it so rewatchable. It presents a system where doing things the “right” way often lets the bad guys walk, while doing things the “wrong” way gets results but destroys the souls of everyone involved.
As the series moved into its later seasons, the narrative tension became almost unbearable. You cannot build a house on a foundation of lies and expect it to stand forever, and Vic’s world inevitably begins to collapse. The introduction of internal affairs, the escalating violence with the Mexican cartels, and the fracturing of the brotherhood between Vic and Shane created a tragic downward spiral that was riveting to watch. Walton Goggins’s portrayal of Shane’s descent into desperate paranoia is some of the best acting in television history. The show stopped being just about police corruption and turned into a Shakespearean tragedy about loyalty, betrayal, and the inescapable consequences of one’s actions.
The series finale of The Shield remains one of the greatest and most satisfying endings in television history. Without spoiling every detail, it manages to perfectly punish Vic for his lifetime of sins in a way that is far more cruel and poetic than simply sending him to prison or killing him. It is a masterclass in writing, wrapping up seven seasons of tangled plotlines and emotional baggage into a devastating final image. Vic Mackey gets exactly what he wanted, but he loses absolutely everything that made his life worth living in the process. It is bleak, brilliant, and completely uncompromising.
Ultimately, The Shield is a show that changed the DNA of television. It took the cop drama, stripped away all the nostalgia and hero-worship, and replaced it with a brutal, unflinching look at the cost of authority. Shawn Ryan and his incredible cast created a universe where the line between good and evil wasn’t just blurred; it was completely erased. It proved that audiences were smart enough to handle deeply flawed protagonists and narrative structures that refused to offer easy absolution. Whether you are looking at the rise of prestige basic cable, the evolution of the anti-hero on premium networks, or the dark turn that cop films took in the 2000s, you can trace the lineage right back to a rundown police station in Los Angeles. The Shield didn’t just redefine a genre; it helped build the modern era of television as we know it today, and for that alone, it demands to be remembered as an all-time great.
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 guest stars take over.
Episode 5.15 “Wu’s On First?”
(Dir by Tim McCann, originally aired on Feberuary 7th, 1997)
When a cop is shot and killed, the new Baltimore Sun crime reporter, Elizabeth Wu (Joan Chen), writes up a story about what a great guy the cop was. She is soon contacted by an informant who reveals that the cop was shot while buying drugs. Eventually, the informant reveals that he was the one who shot the cop but he claims it was self-defense. Wu gives up her informant to the police and when Col. Barnfather (who was embarrassed by the revelation that the victim was a dirty cop and who wants to get Wu off of the crime beat) makes a point of thanking her at the press conference, it leads to Wu being exiled from Baltimore and sent to cover the news in “the sticks.”
Meanwhile, Kellerman’s obnoxious brothers (Eric Stoltz and Tate Donovan) show up and try to convince him to move to Miami with them. Kellerman is tempted but, when it turns out that his brothers have stolen Babe Ruth’s uniform, Kellerman remembers why he left home in the first place. This episode features Kellerman getting arrested, though Lewis and Dr. Cox both show up to bail him out of jail. (And don’t worry about his brothers. They eventually get freed as well.) In the end, Kellerman stays in Baltimore. He does, however, give his brothers $155 to help them set things up in Miami.
This episode suffered from the guest star syndrome. The regulars are all present but, for the most part, they take a back seat to Elizabeth Wu and Kellerman’s brothers. Joan Chen, Eric Stoltz, and Tate Donovan are all talented but they’re not the reason why anyone would want to watch Homicide. In Elizabeth Wu’s case, the story really does feel like fan fiction. A new character shows up out of nowhere, all of the characters talk about how talented she is, and Giardello takes a liking to her. This episode was co-written by David Simon (who, of course, wrote the book that the entire series was based on) and, much like the final season of The Wire, it makes the mistake of thinking that everyone else would be as interested in Simon settling old scores with The Baltimore Sun as Simon obviously was.
As I watched this episode, I wondered if maybe it was meant to be a backdoor pilot. Actually, I guess it would count as two backdoor pilots in one. It’s easy to imagine a show about Elizabeth Wu covering the news in small town Maryland. It’s also easy to imagine a show about Kellerman’s brothers getting into trouble in Florida.
As it is, this episode doesn’t really feel like Homicide. It’s a rare misfire.
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.
What happened to the diamond ring?
Episode 5.14 “Diener”
(Dir by Kyle Secor, originally aired on January 31st, 1997)
Still on the outs with Bayliss, Pembleton is forced, by order of Giardello, to work with Lewis. The last time that Pembleton and Lewis worked together, the result was chaos. Lewis didn’t have any patience for Pembleton’s arrogance and Pembleton obviously didn’t respect Lewis as a detective. This time, it goes a bit smoother. Pembleton, thanks to Bayliss, has learned how to work with others and Lewis, having lost Crosetti and seen Kellerman pushed to the edge of suicide, is a bit more sensitive than we’ve seen in the past.
The victim is a rich woman who liked to support struggling art students. Lewis suspects that the killer was one of the students. Pembleton suspects that it was the woman’s brother and his suspicions turn out to be correct. When the woman’s belongings are released by the ME’s office, the brother immediately notices that a diamond ring is missing. But how did the brother know that his sister was wearing the ring when she died?
As for the diamond ring, it was stolen by Jeff (Glenn Fitzgerald), who works in the morgue. It turns out that Jeff has been stealing from the dead for a while. Dr. Cox gets a big scene in which she fires him. He definitely deserved to be fired and I assume that he will also be going to jail. That said, the name of this show is Homicide. It’s not named “Medical Examiner.” I like Michelle Forbes’s performance as Dr. Cox but it’s still hard not to feel that, at least as far as the fifth season is concerned, the show is sometimes a bit too quick to try to force her into every story.
While Pembleton solved there case, his wife considered leaving him. Bayliss tried to warn Pembleton but Pembleton shrugged off Bayliss’s comment. In fact, Pembleton told Bayliss that he’s fine no longer working with him. I nearly screamed with frustration. Seriously, you two — work it out!
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.
Luther Mahoney returns.
Episode 5.13 “Have A Conscience”
(Dir by Uli Edel, originally aired on January 17th, 1997)
Mike Kellerman is back on the job but he’s still angry. He’s angry that the U.S. Attorney didn’t officially announce that he had been cleared. He’s angry because he feels that his fellow detectives failed to support him when he was at his lowest. He’s angry because people like Roger Gaffney continue to assume that he’s guilty.
Given how angry Kellerman is, the last thing he needs to get stuck with another case involving the arrogant and apparently untouchable Luther Mahoney. However, that is exactly what Kellerman gets when an Asian shopkeeper is gunned down after trying to chase one of Mahoney’s crews off the corner. Everyone knows that Mahoney is behind the murder but, as always, there’s not enough evidence to take him down. Witnesses won’t talk. No one can connect Mahoney directly to the murder. While the smug Mahoney heads off to a fund raiser, a bitter Kellerman goes to his boat and considers suicide.
Fortunately, Lewis barges onto the boat and keeps Kellerman from shooting himself. This episode reveals a lot about Homicide’s less heralded pair of detectives. Kellerman is desperate for his father’s approval and he has a huge chip on his shoulder. Just the fact that anyone would even consider the idea that Kellerman would ever take a bribe is enough to set Kellerman off and Kellerman does not easily forgivce. Lewis, meanwhile, is still haunted by the death Crosetti.
The majority of this episode is just Lewis talking to Kellerman and Kellerman talking to Lewis. It’s not the most exciting episode of Homicide but it is wonderfully acted by both Clark Johnson and Reed Diamond. While Pembleton and Bayliss appear to be growing apart (with Bayliss spending most of this episode politely ignoring Pembleton while Pembleton solved one of his cold cases), Lewis and Kellerman are now even closer than they were before.
That’s a good thing. Luther Mahoney is still out there and, for whatever reason, Lewis and Kellerman seem to be the two detectives who always end up investigating Mahoney’s crimes. That’s a little hard to believe. With the number of people that Mahoney kills and the size of the Homicide division, you would think at least one Mahoney-directed murder would be investigated by either Munch or Pembleton. Regardless, Luther Mahoney is a great villain and I look forward to seeing where Kellerman’s obsession with taking him down is heading.
Finally, I hope this Pembleton/Bayliss estrangement won’t go on for too long. We just got Pembleton back and Pembleton was finally starting to accept that he could actually handle working with a partner. I get that Bayliss is upset but breaking up Pembleton and Bayliss just doesn’t feel right. They’re just meant to work together.
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, Kellerman finally clears his name and Bayliss takes the job too personally …. again!
Episode 5.12 “Betrayal”
(Dir by Clark Johnson, originally aired on January 1oth, 1997)
It’s finally time for Detective Kellerman to testify in front of the Grand Jury. At first, Kellerman is thinking of taking the Fifth so that he won’t have to testify about what any of the other members of the Aron squad may or may not have done. However, when Kellerman realizes that another member of the squad has named him in order to try to make a deal with the prosecutor, Kellerman changes his mind. He says that he will testify. He will throw his career away. He’ll do it because he’s not going to let anyone think that he’s a dirty cop. The prosecutor (Rebecca Boyd) is so moved that she allows Kellerman to testify that he never took a bribe but then declines to ask any follow-up questions. Kellerman is cleared.
This, of course, is something that would never happen in real life. A prosecutor declining to ask follow-up questions because she respects the witness? Seriously? That said, if it means the bribery storyline is finally wrapped up and Kellerman can return to active duty, I’m happy.
Meanwhile, Pembleton and Bayliss investigate the death of a teenage girl who was found abandoned on the side of the road. When it’s revealed that the victim was horribly abused, Bayliss — of course — takes the case personally. For Pembleton, it’s just another case. It’s what he does for a living and he knows better than to get personally involved. For Bayliss, it’s a crusade. At the end of the episode, Bayliss reveals that he was abused as a child. He also says that he no longer wants to be Pembleton’s partner.
WHAT!?
Dammit, Bayliss, we just got Pembleton back and now you don’t want to work with him!?
Don’t get me wrong. This was a good episode but it did leave me feeling a bit frustrated. Hopefully, Bayliss and Pembleton will make up soon. The Kellerman bribery subplot went on forever. Here’s hoping the same doesn’t happen with Bayliss and Pembleton’s divorce.
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, Brodie reveals his film!
Episode 5.11 “The Documentary”
(Dir by Barbara Kopple, originally aired on January 3rd, 1997)
On December 31st, the detectives are gathered in the squad room and waiting for the big ball to drop in New York. The phones have not rung all night but, as Munch keeps reminding everyone, that is soon going to change. Brodie comes in with a VHS tape and shows the detectives the documentary that he’s filmed about them. Finally, we learn why Brodie has been filming random corners of the station for the past few episodes.
I have to admit that I was expecting this to be a clip show and there is one lengthy montage that is made up of scenes taken from previous episodes. But, for the most part, the documentary is all new footage. We watch as Bayliss and Pembleton investigate a murder committed by a mortician who didn’t want people to learn that he was dressing up the dead and posing with them. (Yikes!) All of the detectives take a turn explaining how the Miranda rights work, with their dialogue lifted pretty much intact from the David Simon book that inspired the show. In a parody of Homicide’s signature visual style, the same clip of Lewis and Kellerman walking into a bar is shown three times in a row. At one point, Lewis, Kellerman, and Brodie chase a suspect and run into a Barry Levinson-led film crew that is filming a show called Homicide. “Real cops don’t yell ‘freeze,'” Brodie tells Levinson.
It’s a clever episode, made all the more so by the reactions of the detectives watching themselves on screen. Pembleton confesses to Bayliss that it’s hard for him to watch footage of himself before his stroke because Pembleton doesn’t recognize the young and angry detective that he used to be. All of the detectives object to footage of them joking about their job. As the documentary ends, Giardello asks for the original copy for “safe keeping.” Brodie reveals that he already sold the documentary to PBS. “You can’t show us joking about dead people!” Munch says. “It’s an invasion of privacy!” Bayliss says. Brodie starts to defend himself but then the ball drops, the new year begins, and the phones start ringing.
This was a good ensemble episode. If, for some reason, you only wanted to watch the later episodes of Homicide, this would be a good one to start with because the documentary re-introduces us to everyone. Funny, dramatic, and eventually quite emotional, this episode was Homicide at its best.
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 gets his first case as the primary.
Episode 5.10 “Blood Wedding”
(Dir by Kevin Hooks, originally aired on December 13th, 1996)
A robbery at a bridal store leave public defender Meryl Hansen (Delanie Yates) dead. Meryl was the fiancée of State’s Attorney Ed Danvers. Danvers was with her when she was shot and he’s now obsessed with getting justice. He is not happy when he discovers that Pembleton is the primary on the case. Pembleton is still recovering from a stroke. In fact, this is his first case as primary since he returned to active duty. Meanwhile, Pembleton is not happy with the way Danvers keeps trying to tell him how to do his job.
Meanwhile, Giardello meets with the former members of Kellerman’s squad and asks them if they are planning on naming Kellerman to the Grand Jury. Everyone says that they’re not going to name him …. except for one former detective who explains that, if he names Kellerman, his own sentence will be reduced. Giardello even goes to the police commissioner (Al Freeman, Jr.) in search of help. The Commissioner resents Giardello’s independent streak. He’s not only not going to help, he’s also going to actively make Giardello’s life difficult.
As for Kellerman, he spends his time either sitting on his boat or drinking at the Waterfront or bothering his new lover, Dr. Cox, at work. When he’s informed that the Grand Jury has been delayed until the end of January, it’s another weight on his shoulders.
In the end, Pembleton does find the man who shot Meryl Hansen but, by the time the Julius Cummings (R. Emery Bright) is captured, he’s already disposed of the gun used in the crime. There’s enough evidence to put Cummings away for an unrelated robbery but not for murder. Danvers suddenly wonders if he’s been to quick to compromise as a prosecutor. After Danvers goes to the jail and tells Cummings that he will spend the rest of his life proving that Cummings is guilty of murder, Cummings hangs himself in his cell.
I have to admit that, for once, I actually found the Kellerman stuff to be more compelling than the main story. Don’t get me wrong. Andre Braugher and Kyle Secor were both great. Zeljko Ivanek was excellent and he had a few good scenes with Melissa Leo, who has been rather underused this season. But the main storyline felt more like something one would find on Law & Order than Homicide. Pembleton’s very first case as primary turning out to be a red ball? It was a bit too much of a coincidence to be effective.
The Kellerman stuff, however, gave Yaphet Kotto a chance to do something more than just give out orders. Watching him go from detective to detective and slyly ask them if they were going to name Kellerman was a joy. The scene between him and Al Freeman, Jr. was well-played by both actors.
That said, let’s hope this Kellerman thing gets resolved soon. Lewis needs his partner!
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.
Pembleton’s back!
Episode 5.9 “Control”
(Dir by Jean de Segonzac, originally aired on December 6th, 1996)
A drug dealer named Reggie Copeland has been murdered and word on the street is that the killing was set up by Junior Bunk (Mekhi Phifer), who just happens to be the nephew of drug lord Luther Mahoney (Erik Todd Dellums). When Lewis and Detective Stivers (Toni Lewis) arrest Junior, he immediately starts crying.
That certainly makes Lewis happy. He’s obsessed with taking down Mahoney. Junior gives the detectives the name of the man who he hired, on Luther’s behalf, to assassinate Copeland. Munch and Lewis take a trip to the worst city on Earth (Philadelphia, if you had to ask) and arrest the gunman. Even Ed Danvers thinks that they’re finally on the verge of nailing Luther….
Luther, it turns out, has got friends everywhere. Even while sitting in a holding cell, he is able to find out the name of the hotel where the police are hiding Junior. When the cops order room service, Junior makes sure that a baggie with two gold stars is included in Junior’s sandwich. (All of Luther’s heroin comes in baggies with two stars.) Junior realizes that Luther knows exactly where he is. Junior refuses to testify and recants his previous confession. And Luther … Luther goes free again!
Kellerman would be upset, except for the fact that he’s still under suspension. (They’re really dragging this story out, aren’t they?) Kellerman is in such a bad mood that he even kicks Brodie off of his house boat for being too happy. However, at the end of the episode, Dr. Cox shows up at Kellerman’s houseboat. I’m going to guess that she’ll be allowed to stay on the boat.
However, the main event of this episode is that Pembleton is working his first case since his stroke. A woman has been found dead in her home, stabbed twenty times. Meanwhile, her two young sons were both shot execution style. Bayliss may be the primary but Pembleton is determined to take charge. Pembleton thinks that the murderer was the woman’s boyfriend, a sleazy musician named Jimmy Sutter (Andrew DeAngelo). Bayliss thinks that the murderer was the woman’s rigid ex-husbad, Lt. Commander Alex Clifton (Michael Gaston).
From the start, it’s pretty obvious that Clifton’s the murderer. He’s too cold and unemotional when he is told about the murderers. He’s very tightly wound. The fact that the woman was killed in a fury but her children were killed “cleanly and efficiently,” (as Pembleton put it) indicated to me that the murderer was driven by rage against the mother but, in his twisted way, he felt he was sparing the children an even worse fate. Clifton is obviously the killer and Pembleton, to his credit, eventually comes to realize it.
Unfortunately, the case nearly falls apart in the Box. Pembleton and Bayliss have lost their rhythm as partners. Bayliss gets frustrated when Pembleton suddenly starts asking Clifton about the blood pressure medicine he takes. “Do you get any side effects?” Pembleton asks. Outside of the interrogation room, Bayliss admits that he’s scared Pembleton is going to “stroke out” and die. “Everyone dies!” Pembleton says.
Finally, Bayliss and Pembleton make it work. They turn up the heart in the Box and when Clifton takes off his jacket and very carefully folds it, Bayliss presumes to sit down on the jacket. Clifton keeps taking the jacket back and refolding it. Bayliss spills water on the jacket. Clifton finally loses it, yelling and admitting that he killed his ex-wife and his two sons.
Wow, this was a good episode. Michael Gaston give a chillingly believable performance as Clifton. Erik Todd Dellums was, as usual, magnetically evil as Luther. Best of all, it was good to see Kyle Secor and Andre Braugher working a case together. Pembleton is back and it’s about time!
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, a special guest star ends up in the Box.
Episode 5.8 “The True Test”
(Dir by Alan Taylor, originally aired on November 22nd, 1996)
At the end of this week’s episode, Pembleton finds out that he has finally passed his firearms exam and he’s been cleared to return to active duty. Excusing the suspension of disbelief necessary to buy that Pembleton has recovered that quickly from his stroke, it’s a good thing that Pembleton and Bayliss will be working together again. Because, seriously, Bayliss spent this episode acting like an unprofessional ass.
There’s been a murder at the exclusive Larchmont Academy. Fifteen year-old Marshall Buchanan, the only black student at the entire school, has been found on the athletic field, stabbed to death. It’s Lewis’s case but his temporary partner, Bayliss, takes charge. Bayliss is convinced that Marshall was killed by a student and that the killing was racially motivated. Bayliss is rude to the headmaster. He’s rude to Marshall’s 12 year-old roommates. He gets angry in the cafeteria and starts banging his hand on a table while everyone is trying to eat. Lewis finally asks Bayliss what his problem is. Bayliss explains that he grew up near Larchmont. His cousin desperately wanted to go to Larchmont but was rejected because he wasn’t from an old money family. Bayliss has never forgotten the way his cousin cried after getting his rejection letter.
Hey, Bayliss, you know what?
Big freaking deal. None of that matters!
Your cousin wasn’t accepted?
Oh, boo hoo. That has nothing to do with the case!
Usually, I like Bayliss and, even more importantly, I like Kyle Secor’s performance as Bayliss. But, in this episode, Bayliss was just kind of whiny. Pembleton would have told him to knock it off. Lewis just ignores him.
Bayliss is right about one thing. The murderer is a student, a 17 year-old sociopath named McPhee Broadman. (Seriously, Homicide, you couldn’t have come up with a less on-the-nose name?) McPhee is a sociopath who is looked up to by a bunch of the younger students. His mother (Sagan Lewis) is a judge and therefore, he thinks he’s untouchable. McPhee is played by a young Elijah Wood and Wood, it must be said, gives a chilling performance as the young murderer. Towards the end of the episode, a smirking McPhee confesses to the crime. Even after hearing him confess and say that he wants to kill her, McPhee’s mother still immediately starts making plans to defend him and to suppress his confession.
And she’ll probably succeed. Bayliss has an obvious personal issue with McPhee. And, as far as I could tell, neither Bayliss nor Lewis bothered to Mirandize him before interrogating him. Way to let a murderer back out on the streets, guys!
Seriously, thank God Pembleton is back.
As for Kellerman, he is still on restricted duty but he did buy Dr. Cox a drink at the Waterfront and it’s kind of easy to see where things are heading with those two. But if Pembleton can recover from a stroke in eight episodes, Kellerman can beat those bribery charges. I have faith.
Through the Shattered Lens 