"The Gas Man"

Homicide: Life on the Street - Season Three

Airdate: May 5, 1995
Daniel Baldwin, Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Isabella Hofmann
Clark Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, Kyle Secor
And Ned Beatty
Created by Paul Attanasio
Teleplay by Henry Bromell
Story by Tom Fontana & Henry Bromell
Directed by Barry Levinson

The teaser opens on Danny Newton, sitting alone in a parked car singing alone (badly) to 70s pop music. He's quickly joined by Victor Helms (played by Bruno Kirby), who's just out of prison after six years. Helms gives Newton an address, they park, and we see Pembleton emerge in a bathrobe to get the morning paper. Helms tells Newton that this is Det. Frank Pembleton, and that this is the last day of his life.

What the fuck is this? This is Cape Fear, except the target is a homicide detective, rather than the prosecuting attorney. And it's told from the point of view of this double act of Helms and Newton. These characters have a great rapport, but they're not "Homicide: Life on the Street" characters. They're not real people. They're characters in a thriller. Once again, we're far, far away from anything that we could call realistic. We're operating in a kind of heightened reality now, where every week we get another improbable situation.

And it gets worse. Helms decides to screw with Pembleton by interfering in his current murder investigation. He manages to find the victim's severed head and the murder weapon before Pembleton does. This is all about Helms making sure his revenge is suitably dramatic. He doesn't just want to kill Pembleton, he wants to publicly humiliate him first. What does that remind you of? A comic book villain? A Bond villain? The Master? What the fuck is a character like this doing in this show? He's even got his own schtick. The episode is called "The Gas Man" because he kills people by sabotaging gas appliances. It's utterly absurd.

Ok, so if you're going to do something like this, casting Bruno Kirby in the role is a good move. He's terrific, and he has a certain down-to-earth quality that makes him almost believable even when his character is anything but. He can do the sort of over-the-top melodrama that this script asks for in a way that is compelling and engaging. But there's a subtle difference between conversation and dialogue, and these characters talk in dialogue. Once again, no matter how good it is (and it's good), it's a betrayal of what this show set out to be.

I'm not the only one who despairs at this new direction for the series. Both Daniel Baldwin and Ned Beatty declined to return for the fourth season because they were dissatisfied with what the show had become. I don't blame them, but it's a shame. They're right, this is no longer the show they signed onto, but it's still a quality show. Felton and Bolander are original characters, which means they're based on real Baltimore detectives written about in David Simon's book. That makes them rich, detailed, and believable. I don't know who's going to replace them. But any new characters will be designed to function in the series as it has become. Maybe that's better in some sense, but I don't hold out much hope that Bolander and Felton will be replaced by characters half as good, half as interesting, or half as believable as they are.

"Colors"

Homicide: Life on the Street - Season Three

Airdate: April 28, 1995
Daniel Baldwin, Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Isabella Hofmann
Clark Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, Kyle Secor
And Ned Beatty
Created by Paul Attanasio
Written by Tom Fontana
Directed by Peter Medak

So if this show isn't really "Homicide: Life on the Street" anymore, what is it? This episode is a lot like "The Practice", which is kind of impressive, because "The Practice" wouldn't premiere until nearly two years after this episode aired. This episode contrives an ambiguous moral situation, constructed to make the viewer think about how we would behave if we were in the situation depicted in the story, and to think about how the law should address the situation. It's an "issue" episode about racial prejudice, which is where it gets its title, but it avoids the usual black/white cliches by focusing on a different set of circumstances. It would be really easy to do this as a familiar story about the white/suburban fear of the black/urban. Keeping away from that gives us a more generalized look at prejudice.

The guest star here is David Morse, who was then best known for starring in "St. Elsewhere" throughout its six-year run. Like Steve Buscemi, Morse's movie career was just about blow up when this episode aired, and he was an outstanding choice for this character. He has an everyman quality that makes him especially handy for playing the central part in a "What would you do if...?" kind of story. He brings to his performances a quiet, reflective working class sensibility, and somehow that combination makes him easy to identify with.

Morse plays Jim Bayliss, who is Tim Bayliss's cousin. And they're not just ordinary cousins, as Tim is eager to point out. They're the sort of cousins who may as well be brothers. That's how close they are. This element doesn't really add much to the story, but it gives Kyle Secor a chance to chew some scenery. The one beat that really works extremely well is Tim's concern about Pembleton's interrogation technique. Normally, Tim admires and appreciates Pembleton's ability to gain a suspects confidence and gently ease a confession out of him. And we've seen situations previously in this show where Pembleton has persuaded innocent suspects to confess. He's that good, and Tim knows it. Unfortunately, the script doesn't just make this point and allow it sink in. It has to milk as much drama out of the situation as it can, which starts to strain credulity a bit.

As I was saying yesterday, this show can still be really good even if it's become far more conventional and formulaic, and that's what this is. The story is contrived because it has to be to establish a nicely ambiguous moral situation, but then it explores both sides of that situation with great insight and sophistication, and none of the ambiguity is ever really resolved. Clearly, Jim has some issues with prejudice, and even he comes to recognize this by the end of the episode. But is that why he shot the kid? Does it matter? The law says that if he reasonably believed he was under threat, he's in the clear, but is that still the case if it was his prejudice that contributed to that belief?

What I appreciate about this story is the recognition of the fact that there's a lot more to racism than white sheets and ugly epithets. I also like the emphasis this episode puts on procedure. Danvers is clearly not sure whether or not there's a prosecutable crime here, but because it's Tim's cousin he worried about the appearance of corruption. So he leaves it to the grand jury to decide, which is technically what the grand jury is for. Usually the grand jury is just a procedural step designed to make sure that the prosecution has enough evidence to justify bringing charges, but here, it's actually up to the grand jury to decide whether or not a prosecution is in the best interests of justice and society.

The grand jury decides not to indict, and how are we supposed to feel about that? Is this a good thing, because you want the government to be really damn sure before bringing someone up on homicide charges? That makes sense. Or is it a bad thing, because it's just another manifestation of white privilege? That makes sense too.

Starting Monday...

Season Three of "Homicide: Life on the Street" will wrap up on Friday, which leads naturally to the question of what's next. I am here to answer that question.

Monday morning, we'll start in on "The X-Files" Season Six. We're well past the midpoint of the series now, and are approaching a period of change and instability in the series, and I'm really looking forward to that. There should be plenty to talk about.

On Monday afternoon, I'll be launching "Torchwood" Series One. That's another show that took a little while to find its feet, and shows like that are always a lot of fun to discuss. "Torchwood" was also rather contentious within the online "Doctor Who" fan community, so I'll be looking for other points of view in the comments. (If you think I might be referring to you, I'm definitely referring to you.)

Anyway, all that starts next week. Tell everyone you know. And if you happen to have access to skywriting capabilities, I certainly wouldn't discourage its use.

"In Search of Crimes Past"

Homicide: Life on the Street - Season Three

Airdate: April 14, 1995
Daniel Baldwin, Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Isabella Hofmann
Clark Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, Kyle Secor
And Ned Beatty
Created by Paul Attanasio
Teleplay by Jane Smiley
Story by Henry Bromell and Julie Martin
Directed by Kenneth Fink

In this episode, Col. Barnfather is taken hostage by a young woman whose father is about to be executed for a murder she claims he did not commit. Bolander, who investigated the original murder sixteen years previously, reluctantly re-opens the case in an effort to mollify the daughter. Conveniently, the real killer is so overcome with guilt at the looming execution of an innocent man that he kills himself and confesses in his suicide note. The execution is averted, the hostage-taker surrenders, and Barnfather is recovered safe and well.

Ok, so we've given up any semblance of realism now. This story is just absurd. This just isn't the sort of thing that happens in real life. This is TV. But it's good. I mean, we like TV, right? That's why I'm writing this blog and why you're reading it. But it's such a come-down for this show. This series was based on a non-fiction book by David Simon, "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets". The characters and stories were fictionalized and dramatized, but the series always stuck close to its real-life roots. That's been completely abandoned now. The characters are still great, and the cast is still great, and for the most part, the writing is still as sharp as ever. So it's still a really good TV show, but it's no longer unique. I find that incredibly sad.


Let's take a look at another example. Bayliss and Pembleton are investigating the death of an elderly woman who died in the bath. It initially looks like natural causes, but investigation reveals that she was murdered by her husband. He murdered his wife because he wanted to be free to remarry. Specifically, he wanted to marry his first love, the woman he left decades before to marry the woman he murdered. He regretted it for his entire life and wanted a chance to change things before it was too late. It's a good story. It's not a "typical" murder investigation, and that's refreshing. But there's this tacked on ending, as the murder is allowed to have one final dance with his one true love, who now knows that he murdered his wife in order to be with her. It's shot like it's supposed to be a sweet, romantic moment, but think about it. It's creepy as fuck!  

Another sign of the show's decline is how it's having to start to reach for the comedy. I chose a picture featuring Jerry Stiller because I love Jerry Stiller. But this story about an eccentric bartender at the Waterfront is a real turkey. Stiller and Belzer are great together, as is to be expected, but the script is trying too hard to be funny. It comes across as forced and self-conscious, to say nothing of predictable. 

But to be fair, the script is using these cheesy, unrealistic stories to make interesting points that apply very well to real-life. After the hostage situation is resolved, Bolander tries to figure out what went wrong with the original investigation. The real killer was never a suspect in the original investigation, and his name never even came up. As far as Bolander can tell, there's no connection at all. The script doesn't connect all of the dots as clearly as it might, but it's a great story about how innocent people can end up on death row. Bolander's job was to assemble the evidence, and he did that, and that evidence was sufficient to convince Bolander, the District Attorney, and a jury that an innocent man was guilty. The system worked the way it was designed to, but it got the wrong answer anyway. That happens sometimes, and leaving aside all the moral arguments and the racial politics, that right there is a good reason not to execute people.

"The Old and the Dead"

Homicide: Life on the Street - Season Three

Airdate: March 3, 1995
Daniel Baldwin, Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Isabella Hofmann
Clark Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, Kyle Secor
And Ned Beatty
Created by Paul Attanasio
Teleplay by Randall Anderson
Story by Henry Bromell and Jorge Zamacona
Directed by Michael Fields


It was when I first watched this episode that I suddenly realized how much this show had changed. At first I thought it was just a fluke, but the next three episodes confirmed my fears. Then I thought about some aspects of previous episodes this season and realized that a gradual redefinition of the series was taking place without my noticing. Ok, that sounds a bit grand. But this show has become a lot more conventional. The structure has become more episode, and the stories are changing too. This show is starting to look less like a Homicide unit and more like a network television drama about a Homicide unit. And it's been happening all season long, all the way back to the decision to dump Jon Polito and bring in Isabella Hofmann.

I don't mean to pick on Hofmann, because it's not her fault that the writers still haven't figured out what to do with her character. This episode involves a bizarrely convoluted story which starts with bad plumbing in the precinct house and ends with Megan Russert being promoted to Captain by the newly-promoted Col. Barnfather, replacing Granger, who was forced to resign by a scandal uncovered and leaked to the press by Gee. I said it was convoluted. This means that Gee and Russert will no longer be shift commanders on opposing shifts. Instead, she'll be his boss. This move doesn't entirely fix the problem of Russert's disconnectedness from the rest of the show. She's still be cut off from most of the rest of the cast. But at least she's no longer the only regular character working the opposite shift. That's progress.


Much of this episode revolves around Bolander and Howard coming back to work. Bolander struggles to pass a psychiatric screening exam, and continues to struggle through his first day back. Of course, he responds by lashing out at Munch, but the story is really about the touching loyalty Munch displays in support of his partner. These two characters have the sweetest relationship in the show, by far. As for Howard, at first she rages about her desk having been moved and then rages about being stuck on phone duty. But she makes the best of it, managing to close Pembleton's case without leaving the building.

There are a couple other murder investigations happening in this episode also, but neither amounts to much. Bayliss and Felton investigate a skeleton and discover two brothers who covered up their father's death in order to continue cashing his Social Security checks. Ok, whatever. The murder Bolander and Bunch are investigating is a bit more involved than that, but no more significant. We're really only interested in the case in so far as we want Bolander to solve it, to help him get his confidence back.

"Law and Disorder"

Homicide: Life on the Street - Season Three

Airdate: February 24, 1995
Daniel Baldwin, Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Isabella Hofmann
Clark Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, Kyle Secor
And Ned Beatty
Created by Paul Attanasio
Teleplay by Bonnie Mark & Julie Martin
Story by James Yoshimura & Henry Bromell
Directed by John McNaughton

I was aware that this series eventually did a number of crossovers with "Law & Order", and that the character of John Munch would eventually end up on one of those ubiquitous L&O spin-offs. It's actually something I've been concerned about. I don't like "Law & Order", not any iteration of it that I've ever seen. Even "Law & Order: UK" with Jamie Bamber and Freema Agyeman. So how do I handle these crossovers. When I saw this episode title, I figure this was it. The dilemma was staring me in the face. Fortunately, I was wrong. Yes, technically this episode is a crossover with "Law & Order", but only insofar as the teaser is a single scene between Pembleton and NYPD Det. Mike Logan (played by Chris Noth), with a cameo from John Waters. It's a funny little dick-measuring contest between the cities of New York and Baltimore, but that's all it is. There are significant crossovers coming up, but I don't know when, and I haven't yet decided how to deal with them. 

This episode represents a kind of transition away from the ongoing saga of the last few episodes. This episode gives us some storylines that have no connection to the shooting of Felton, Howard, and Bolander by Gordon Pratt. But it also involves Bayliss investigating Pratt's murder, so we're not completely done with the story yet. Also the victims of the shooting still have to recover and get back to worth. Felton comes back to work in this episode, and he struggles with it, while Bolander and Howard are still in the hospital.

As for Bayliss's investigation, he's on his own. Not only can't he get another detective to partner up with him, but no police officers want to cooperate with him in any way. It looks pretty likely that Pratt was killed by a cop, so nobody wants Bayliss's investigation to lead anywhere. I'm not sure I believe that the Baltimore Police Department could get away with handling this investigation like this, but we can let that go. What this story gives us is a fascinating veiled conversation about whether the murder of Gordon Pratt was justified. It's a fascinating discussion, but a little bit one-sided, and a bit too ruthless for me.  

This episode also includes another fantastic discussion about race, this time playing out between Pembleton and Lewis. When a woman is killed in a middle-class white neighborhood, Pembleton focuses his investigation on the nearby projects, arguing that crime statistics suggest the killer is much more likely to be someone in the projects. Lewis objects to this approach, and eventually discovers that Pembleton's statistics were wrong this time. But that's not quite how statistics work, is it? Just because the less likely outcome happens to pan out this time doesn't make the statistics wrong, and they weren't wrong. There's two things I love about this argument. First, it's an argument about race conducted between two black characters, which is an extraordinarily rare thing to see on television. Second, because they're both right, and that's always the best kind of argument.  

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Paul Lukas, Dame May Whitty
Cecil Parker, Linden Travers, Mary Clare
Screenplay by Sydney Gilliat and Frank Launder
Based on the Novel "The Wheel Spins" by Ethel Lina White
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

There are many different ways in which a movie can be good, but they can all be divided into one or the other of two broad categories. Movies can either be technically impressive, whether in terms of production, direction, mise-en-scène, story construction, etc. Or movies can be entertaining, providing an enjoyable experience for viewers. Especially good movies manage to succeed in both of these ways simultaneously. The Lady Vanishes is the greatest and most successful film of Alfred Hitchcock's British period. As such, it joins the elite company of movies like Casablanca and The Third Man as a film which succeeds as much as a technical achievement as it does as a popular entertainment.

It is remembered as a Hitchcock film, of course, but the director inherited this script through the production company, Gainsborough Pictures. The script was based on a popular novel, "The Wheel Spins", but the script writers embellished the story considerably, giving it more humor, more complexity, and more action (in the form of an entire third act which is not present in the book). For this reason, much of the credit for this film must go to screenwriters Gilliat and Launder, who inaugurated a long and successful partnership with this script. But of course, Hitchcock made a tremendous contribution as well. He made his own modifications to the story in the interest of suspense, and then of course filmed the story magnificently.

As the DVD commentary by film historian Bruce Eder points out, practically everyone involved in the making of this film, whether in front of the camera or behind, owes much of their careers to its success. It was this film that finally convinced American movie studios to offer Hitchcock the kind of deal he was prepared to accept. Stars Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood were propelled to stardom by this film. Even the supporting comedy duo Charters and Caldicott (and the actors who portrayed them) became quite popular in their own right, appearing in three further films together.

But we must view this first and foremost as a Hitchcock film, even while acknowledging the crucial contributions of the writers and the cast. It fell to Hitchcock to put these elements to their best possible use. The film opens disarmingly with a long, lazy comedy sequence of apparently no great import. There is no tension or suspense in the entire first act, but without us even realizing it, we are being introduced to characters and plot details which will take on a great significance later in the film. The second act is a more typically Hitchcockian suspense thriller (though the humor is hardly diminished, making this one of the funniest Hitchcock films I've seen). The final act is all action, and while the script abandons its clever misdirections for a straightforward climax, the director gives us some of his most remarkable work.

But it's the clever misdirection that I appreciate the most. There is one very long sequence in particular which is simply extraordinary. Hitchcock creates a whole series of suspenseful situations one after another. Again and again throughout this sequence, we learn that we aren't seeing what we think we are seeing. When the characters aren't deceiving each other, the movie itself is deceiving us. It's an extraordinary sequence which should be studied by aspiring writers and directors alike.

If you haven't seen this movie, please, you owe it to yourself to do so. It can be streamed or downloaded for free on the internet, thanks to the wonders of the public domain. We are fortunate enough to live in a world where it is possible to see one of the best movies ever made at your convenience, and at no cost, in your own home, whenever you want. It would be a shame not to take advantage of such a miraculous opportunity.

"End Game"

Homicide: Life on the Street - Season Three

Airdate: February 10, 1995
Daniel Baldwin, Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Isabella Hofmann
Clark Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, Kyle Secor
And Ned Beatty
Created by Paul Attanasio
Teleplay by Rogers Turrentine
Story by James Yoshimure & Henry Bromell
Directed by Lee Bonner

This episode features Steve Buscemi as Gordon Pratt, who is eventually revealed to be the man who shot Howard, Felton, and Bolander. At the time this episode aired, Buscemi was nowhere near as well known as he is today. He wasn't entirely unknown. He'd done loads of guest roles in television and plenty of movies. He was probably developing a small but committed following through his work with Coens. But it was right around this time that Buscemi really started to blow up.

It's interesting, though, how well this role suits him. There are certain expectations we form when we see a character played by Steve Buscemi. There's a certain type of character we expect him to play, and he has a distinctive acting style that we expect to see. This role and this performance satisfies those expectations perfectly. Even if you've never seen this episode, and even if never seen <i>this show</i>, you probably have a pretty good idea what Gordon Pratt is like. Just imagine Steve Buscemi playing a murder suspect in a cop show, and you'll have a pretty good idea. 

So let's finally clear up this issue with the typo on the arrest warrant. Gordon Pratt lived in the same building as Glen Holton. When preparing the arrest warrant for Holton, the secretary accidentally transposed two of the numbers, and recorded Gordon Pratt's address. It just so happens that Pratt also had reason to expect a visit from a team of armed detectives. When he saw them coming, he assumed they were coming for him, and when they went straight for his apartment, he shot them. I love the arbitrariness of this, how a bizarre collection of trivial circumstances added up to a tragic situation which turned so many lives upside down.  There's something poetic about that, but it's also terrifying to think about how little control we really have.

Anyway, the highlight of this episode once again is the interrogation. Pratt is the sort of character who thinks he's smarter than everyone else, but is utterly shocked to discover just how wrong he is about that. He's a white supremacist, and he thinks he's got science on his side. But he's not smart enough to know that he needs a lawyer. Why do they always make that mistake? He's at least smart enough to figure out when he's losing, and then ask for a lawyer, which ends up getting him released, and causes angry recriminations to fly back and forth between Munch and Pembleton.

The episode takes another dramatic turn in the closing moments when Gordon Pratt turns up dead, shot in the head at close range approximately two hours after his release. This story isn't over.

"Dead End"

Homicide: Life on the Street - Season Three

Airdate: February 3, 1995
Daniel Baldwin, Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Isabella Hofmann
Clark Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, Kyle Secor
And Ned Beatty
Created by Paul Attanasio
Teleplay by Jorge Zamacona & Julie Martin
Story by James Yoshimura
Directed by Whitney Ransick

The episode continues the same structure that started yesterday. One arm of the story involves the search for the suspect, Glen Holton, wanted for the rape and murder of a young boy, and also suspected (well, assumed really) to be the man who shot Howard, Felton, and Bolander. Another arm of the story involves the situation at the hospital, which is still pretty dire, particularly for Howard and Bolander. And there's still the lingering issue of the clerical error on the original arrest warrant, and what role that played in the shooting. Russert tries to cover for Gee, but instead manages to blame it on lack of funding and pass the buck to Barnfather, who passes it in turn up to his boss, Granger. Well, it's not much of a story, but it works, it gives Russert something to do, and it gives her a chance to side with Gee against the bosses.

Let's start with that last point. Captain Barnfather orders Russert to look into Giardello's handling of the situation. The big question for this episode is whether Gee signed off on the arrest warrant with the wrong address. And if he did (yeah, he did), does that make him responsible for the error? It's a tense and uncomfortable situation, and I'm not sure I buy it. I mean, the search for the shooter is still ongoing. Is this really the time to launch an internal investigation into the conduct of the shift supervisor handling the case? I don't know, maybe it is. It gives Russert something to do, provides some conflict between Gee and the bosses (and that always works), and it reminds us about the error on the arrest warrant, which will be picked up again tomorrow.

Munch is back at work, and he teams up with Bolander's ex-partner, the legendary Mitch. Mitch and Munch. These two do not get along. They have a strangely competitive attitude with each other. It's not entirely unlike the dynamic you get when a second-wife meets an ex-wife. It's awkward and tense, but not openly antagonistic. But I love how this script picks up on the inferiority Munch feels about Mitch, which was established way back in Season One. I have to say, Mitch doesn't really live up to the hype, but that's kind of the point. Stanley puts the great Mitch on a pedestal than Munch could never reach.

About three-quarters through the episode's running time, the story takes a major turn as Glen Holton is arrested and brought in for interrogation. This sort of disrupts the pacing a bit. It feels like there should have been one full episode devoted to Holton's arrest, and then another episode covering the interrogation. I actually prefer the tighter approach this script takes, but it does disrupt the pacing a bit. It's also a good way to set us up for the big ending: Holton isn't the shooter. This is a devastating setback. Within a matter of moments, they went from having a confession to having nothing at all. As the episode ends, Pembleton doesn't have the first clue about who the shooter could be¹.

¹ Incidentally, suppose Holton had been shot and killed in the course of his arrest. No one would have shed a tear. Not only was he a child rapist, but he was assumed to have shot three cops. They would have closed the book on the case, and the real shooter would never have been discovered.  

"The City That Bleeds"

Homicide: Life on the Street - Season Three

Airdate: January 27, 1995
Daniel Baldwin, Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Isabella Hofmann
Clark Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, Kyle Secor
And Ned Beatty
Created by Paul Attanasio
Teleplay by Julie Martin & Jorge Zamacona
Story by James Yoshimure & Bonnie Mark
Directed by Tim Hunter

This episode opens in a fairly typical way for this series. It's the day after the grand opening of the bar, and Munch is teasing a hungover Bolander about his embarrassing drunken antics. I've talked about this sort of teaser before, where it's just about how these characters relate to one another as colleagues. But this teaser is a bit different, and in a sense, more traditional. Munch and Bolander are on hand to back-up Howard and Felton as they arrest a man suspected of raping and murdering a young boy. Outside the suspect's apartment, they're ambushed by an unseen shooter. Howard, Felton, and Bolander are hit. That's a he'll of a teaser, and it launches a storyline which will continue over the next several episodes.

This storyline is pretty well-plotted, in that there are some details in this episode which turn out to be significant only later. For example, the arrest warrant had the wrong address on it, so they were at the wrong apartment. In this episode, Lewis tracks down the source of the error and Gee reacts with pure rage, but it's not clear how (or even if) the error factored into the shooting. That gets filled in later. The first order of business is the immediate aftermath of the shooting, seeing how the others characters respond and try to cope, and of course, the hunt for Glen Holton, the subject of the arrest warrant and only suspect in the shooting.

And believe me, that's plenty for just one episode. I love how different characters react differently. Everyone is upset, of course, but they all express it in different ways. Munch is a complete wreck, spending pretty much the entire episode jabbering inanely at anyone who will listen, obsessing about insignificant details, and beating himself up for letting the shooter escape. Bayliss is guilty for feeling grateful that it wasn't him. Lewis is all business. Pembleton doesn't seem effected at all, until he blows at a briefing due to the tremendous pressure he's putting on himself to solve the case. Gee feels helpless, as I'd he should be able to do something, but can't. He tells Lewis a story about his daughter getting mysteriously sick to illustrate his helplessness. "Daddy, make it better," she said, and he couldn't.

Of course, there are hospital scenes, including a really awkward one between Felton, his wife, and Russert. I'm not sure if Beth knows about Felton's affair with Russert, but this scene makes me wonder. Howard's father shows up, and we get the obligatory angry exchanges with doctors who are doing everything they can.

It has to be said that this is very dramatic. This show has always been somewhat in tension between the desire to feature realistic drama versus the need for commercial television to peddle in heightened drama. This is definitely a heightened drama episode, but it's done to a very high standard. It's not cheap or simplistic. The script strives to find a realistic take on these events and does an excellent job. There's an unavoidable sense of gimmickry about this. Particularly for a cop show that has so assiduously avoided the easy clichés of car chases and shoot outs, an episode where three regulars get shot is going to come off as a bit of a gimmick. The script minimizes this by keeping the aftermath of the shooting as grounded as possible. As gimmicky as the inciting event may be, the rest of the episode is not at all.

I don't normally notce music. It's one of my "blind spots", so to speak. But there's a sequence at the end of this episode which uses music so prominently and so well that it's impossible to miss. There's an extremely tense sequence at the end where Pembleton leads a massive team of cops hoping to make a quick arrest. There's no dialogue. Instead we just have Peter Gabriel's "No Self Control", a strange and disturbing song which suggests flailing desperation. Unsurprisingly, then, the suspect escapes...