Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 5.19 “Deception”

Posted on August 2, 2026 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, the Luther Mahoney saga comes to an end.

Episode 5.19 “Deception”

(Dir by Peter Medak, originally aired on April 25th, 1997)

A Nigerian drug courier is found dead in a hotel room and, of course, that means that Kellerman, Lewis, and Stivers are going to get another chance to go after Luther Mahoney. After covering up the death of the actual courier, the police send in an undercover officer who delivers a batch of “bad” drugs to Mahoney’s middleman, Antonio Brookdale (Christopher Mann). When the drugs hit the street, it leads to a revolt amongst Mahoney’s customers. No one is buying from Mahoney and that causes Mahoney to lose his temper. Luther Mahoney can handle almost anything but he can’t handle losing money.

Mahoney demands that Antonio meet him at a public park. What Mahoney doesn’t know is that the police — including Kellerman, Stivers, and Lewis — have got the park staked out. When Mahoney, in a fit of rage, shoots both Brookdale and an innocent mother with her kids, the police rush to the scene. A panicked Mahoney jumps in his vehicle and drives away, leaving his crew behind to get arrested.

Lewis tracks Mahoney down to his apartment, where Mahoney is desperately packing up his money. The sight of Mahoney causes Lewis to lose control. He starts hitting Mahoney, demanding to know why Mahoney had to kill so many people when he could have just been content to sell drugs. Mahoney manages to grab Lewis’s gun. Kellerman and Stivers burst into the apartment with their own guns drawn. Seeing them, Mahoney lowers his gun and says, “What are you going to do? Read me my rights?”

“You have the right to remain silent….” Kellerman says, before shooting and killing Mahoney.

OH MY GOD, KELLERMAN JUST EXECUTED LUTHER MAHONEY!

Technically, you could argue that, as Mahoney was still holding the gun, the shooting was justified. Mahoney lowered the gun but he never dropped it. Nor did Mahoney ever say that he was surrendering. Instead, he laughed and mocked the cops. If Mahoney had raised the gun quickly enough, he probably could have gotten at least one shot in before Stivers and Kellerman had time to take action. Then again, Kellerman also never ordered Mahoney to drop the gun. Instead, he just shot him. After Mahoney falls, Kellerman asks Lewis and Stivers if either has a problem with what happened. “Nope,” Lewis says. Stivers, however, doesn’t look convinced that the shooting was justified.

It’s a shocking moment but it’s also a moment that feels somewhat inevitable. Kellerman has spent this entire season with people accusing him of being crooked. Even though he was never charged, even his fellow detectives assumed that he must have been doing something to get in trouble in the first place. Meanwhile, Mahoney killed numerous people and smirked every time that he got away with it. Kellerman snapped and probably committed a crime.

If that’s not bad enough, Munch is contacted by Punchy DeLeon (Lewis Black), a small-time mobster who has just spent ten years in prison on a murder charge. Punchy tells Munch that he knows that a criminal associate of his, Jimmy Pugliese, was murdered and buried in section C of the parking lot at the Plimco race track. With Munch and Brodie in attendance, the parking lot is dug up and …. nothing is found. Munch does some further investigating and discovers that Pugliese had a girlfriend named Fallon (Deborah Hazlett). When he drives out to see her, he discovers that Pugliese (Brian Hemmingsen) is still alive. Pugliese orders to Much to get off his front porch. Much leaves, not realizing that he’s been followed by Punchy.

Back at the office, Sgt. Howard tells Munch not to worry about it because there hasn’t been an actual homicide. However, then Fallon shows up and says that Pugliese has disappeared. Munch drives out to Plimco, where he finds Punch waiting for him in Lot C. Punchy explains that he took the fall for a murder the Pugliese committed. Because Pugliese didn’t keep his promise to take care of Punchy’s wife while Punchy was in prison, Punchy used Munch to track down Pugliese. And now, Pugliese really is buried under the parking lot. (It helped that the parking lot itself was already ripped up due to Munch searching for the body the first time.) Munch tells Punchy that he’s going back to prison. Punchy replies that he did ten years for a murder he didn’t commit and suggests that should allow him to commit one murder without punishment. It doesn’t work that way, which is kind of sad because Punchy was a likable guy.

Finally, Bayliss and Pembleton decide to be partners again. Good news! But Bayliss is also buying groceries for the uncle who molested him. What the Hell, Bayliss!?

Seriously, this episode got dark!

Well, dark or not, this was one of the better episodes of season 5. This was Homicide at its most cynical. Luther Mahoney is dead but someone else will inevitably take his place and now Kellerman really has committed a crime. (For all the cheering the cops do as they listen to Mahoney incriminate himself on tape, it’s not going to be much comfort to children of the innocent woman that he shot in the park.) For once, Munch actually does his job well and the end result is a man getting murdered and Punchy going back to prison.

One final note: I will miss the magnificently evil performance of Erik Dellums, who played Luther Mahoney with the right mix of arrogance, hubris, and ruthlessness. A good villain is hard to find!

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 5.16 “Valentine’s Day”

Posted on July 12, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 5.15 “Wu’s On First?”

Posted on June 28, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 5.12 “Betrayal”

Posted on May 31, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life on the Street 5.9 “Control”

Posted on May 10, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life on the Street 5.8 “The True Test”

Posted on May 3, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 5.5. “ME, Myself, and I”

Posted on April 12, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 5.4 “Bad Medicine”

Posted on April 5, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 5.3 “Prison Riot”

Posted on March 29, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, we have one of Homicide’s best episodes.

Episode 5.3 “Prison Riot”

(Dir by Kenneth Fink, originally aired on October 18th, 1996)

At the Maryland State Prison, convicted murderer Claude Vetter (Mark Rogers) accidentally bumps into another murderer, James Douglas (Tim McAdams), in the cafeteria. James pulls a knife and stabs Vetter in the stomach. As Vetter collapses, a riot breaks out. By the time the guards have forcefully restored order, Vetter and James Douglas are dead. Everyone knows who killed Vetter. But who stabbed James in the back?

Lewis, Munch, Howard, Bayliss, Kellerman and Giardello head down to the scene. (Pembleton, who is still struggling with his up-coming shooting test, is left behind.) Munch and Lewis don’t care about solving Douglas’s murder. As far as they’re concerned, both Claude Vetter and James Douglas got what they deserved. Munch gets annoyed and returns to the station. Lewis sticks around to help Bayliss with a few interrogations before he also leaves. Bayliss, however, is determined to solve the murder of James Douglas and Kellerman, looking to make up all the ill will that has existed between him and Bayliss, does his best to help.

Bayliss is convinced that Elijah Sanborn (Charles S. Dutton) saw who killed James. Sanborn is serving a life sentence for shooting a drug dealer who previously shot and killed Elijah’s wife in drive-by. (Elijah’s wife was an innocent bystander.) Elijah has been in prison for 14 years. He’s never getting out and he sees no reason why he should help the police. However, when Elijah’s 14 year-old son is arrested for a petty theft, Bayliss offers a deal. If Elijah tells Bayliss who killed James Douglas, Elijah’s son will only do 6 months at a juvenile facility. If Elijah refuses to talk, his son will be charged as an adult.

Elijah is outraged that Bayliss would “use my own son against me!” It’s only after his estranged daughter (Heather Alicia Simms, giving a wonderful performance) visits that Elijah agrees to share what he knows. He has one condition. He wants to see his son. When Elijah’s son turns out to be a sullen and uncommunicative wannabe gangster who tells his father that he doesn’t care about him, Elijah announces, “I killed James Douglas.”

Bayliss knows that Elijah is lying but he also knows that Elijah’s confession is enough to send him to the gas chamber. With no prospects of ever walking free and having been rejected by both his daughter and his son, Elijah has decided to use the system to kill himself.

Fortunately — or unfortunately, depending on how you look at things, another prisoner, Tom Marans (Dean Winters), beats Trevor Douglas (John Epps) into a coma. Trevor was James’s cousin and Marans reveals that Trevor is also the one who killed James because he thought James had stolen a carton of cigarettes from him. Marans explains that he was James’s “wife” in prison.

As the episode ends, Giardello congratulates Bayliss before adding that it’ll only be a matter of time before Trevor’s people seek revenge and they all have to return to the prison to investigate the murder of Tom Marans.

This was a great episode. After spending the past few seasons as Pembleton’s sidekick, Bayliss finally got a chance to step up and show off his own abilities as a homicide detective. Kellerman assisting him turned out to be an inspired move, as it allowed Kellerman to finally be something more than just a kind of goofy frat boy detective. Working together, Kyle Secor and Reed Diamond had great comedic timing, which kept this rather grim episode from getting too dark. (Kellerman: “Do you want a hug?” Bayliss: “Do you and Lewis often hug?”)

One thing that made this episode interesting was that the victims, the suspects, and most of the witnesses were all murderers who were previously arrested on this show. It was interesting to see how prison had changed or, in some cases, not changed them. The once preppy Tom Marans now had bright yellow hair, scarred knuckles, and some really nasty facial sores. Meanwhile, James and Trevor Douglas were still the same punks that they were on the outside, when they used to film themselves committing murder.

Finally, what made this episode truly powerful was the performance of Charles S. Dutton. A Baltimore native who served time in prison before becoming an acclaimed stage actor, Dutton has not always been served well by television and the movies. He’s very much a theatrical actor and, when cast in the wrong role, he can come across as being a bit over-the-top. In this episode, though, Dutton is perfectly cast and he gives a truly moving performance of as an inherently decent man who does what he has to do in order to survive as a prisoner in a system that has been constructed specifically to break and destroy him. Elijah’s fury feels earned and deserved but, in the end, he’s ultimately just a father who wants things to be better for his son and his daughter. When Elijah’s son rejected him, it was one of Homicide’s most heart-breaking moments.

Prison Riot has a reputation for being one of Homicide’s best episodes. The reputation is very much deserved.

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 4.13 “I’ve Got A Secret”

Posted on November 2, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Ring ring. “Homicide.”

Episode 4.13 “I’ve Got A Secret”

(Dir by Gwen Arner, originally aired on February 2nd, 1996)

This week, almost everyone has a secret.

For example, when Pembleton and Bayliss are called in about a man found dead in his car, they discover that, earlier in the day, he went to a local ER after being shot. The gunshot wound, which was accidental, didn’t kill him. Instead, it was the internal bleeding that the doctor either missed or intentionally ignored. Dr. Kate Wystan (Mimi Kennedy) may come across as being a selfless doctor who has dedicated her life to helping the residents of Baltimore’s most crime-ridden neighborhood but Pembleton and eventually Bayliss come to suspect that her secret is that, because the victim was black and a known criminal, she didn’t give him the same standard of care that she gives to her other patients. Pembleton considers this to be murder, though it sounds more like a case of malpractice than anything else.

Munch spots Kay kissing a man outside of police headquarters and he becomes obsessed with trying to figure out who the man is. He’s always believed that Kay is happy being single and alone. (Uhm, hello? Munch? Remember when she dated Ed Danvers?) Kay’s secret is that apparently she has a life outside of Homicide.

Finally, Lewis and Kellerman spend the entre episode chasing a burly man who is wanted for killing both of his parents. At first, this entire storyline feels almost like a parody of NBC’s request that the series start featuring more action. Lewis and Kellerman spend the entire first half of the episode chasing this guy through allies and pool halls and every time, they fail to catch him. There’s none of the badass heroics that we’ve come to expect from cop shows. Eventually, Lewis reveals that his brother is in a mental institution. When Lewis tries to visit his brother, he’s just turned away. Lewis’s secret is that he actually cares about his brother.

This was an okay episode. By this point in the series, Homicide had reached the point where it could do an episode where the true enjoyment came less from the storyline and more from just listening to the characters talk to each other. I really didn’t care much about the crimes that they were investigating. Instead, I just enjoyed listening to Pembleton and Bayliss talk and bounce ideas off of each other. They’ve come along way since the day that Bayliss objected to Pembleton’s interrogation technique and Pembleton shouted that he would never have a partner. By the same token, Kellerman and Lewis have their own unique chemistry that is fun to experience. They’re like the sensitive frat cops. As for Munch and Kay, they should just hook up already. It’s obvious to everyone that they’re in love!

Maybe that’s their secret?