While pulling a graveyard shift on the hottest night of the year (with the AC on the blink) Bayliss brings in a potential suspect in the Adena Watson case, unfortunately he is twelve, Munch ... Read allWhile pulling a graveyard shift on the hottest night of the year (with the AC on the blink) Bayliss brings in a potential suspect in the Adena Watson case, unfortunately he is twelve, Munch is angry after his girlfriend dumps him in the dark, Howard deals with a jumper in a Santa... Read allWhile pulling a graveyard shift on the hottest night of the year (with the AC on the blink) Bayliss brings in a potential suspect in the Adena Watson case, unfortunately he is twelve, Munch is angry after his girlfriend dumps him in the dark, Howard deals with a jumper in a Santa costume who tried to kill his wife with a water pistol while her sister is waiting for bi... Read all
Photos
- Loretta Kenyatta
- (as N'bushe Wright)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode was aired out of order as the last of the season, and in the chronology of the series it is supposed to be the third episode. It is also presented as episode #3 on the DVD release of the show.
- Quotes
Officer Chris Thormann: [Inside the squadroom, Munch relights the candle. Thormann, wearing a tuxedo, walks over to him] What do you do that for, every night?
John Munch: [sounding surprised and slightly annoyed] What's with you?
Officer Chris Thormann: I gotta go to a wedding.
John Munch: At this hour?
Officer Chris Thormann: It's a long story. The wedding's in Connecticut - Old Saybrook. Eva and I are driving up.
John Munch: Oh.
Officer Chris Thormann: I know you're the one who lights the candle.
John Munch: Yeah...
Officer Chris Thormann: So, why?
John Munch: [sounding rather sad] ... It's for all the ones who've been killed.
Officer Chris Thormann: [surprised by Munch's attitude, considering he is usually just a cynical jerk] Uh huh...?
John Munch: What I don't know is, who lit it when I was gone?
Officer Chris Thormann: I did.
John Munch: You?
Officer Chris Thormann: Yeah.
John Munch: Why?
Officer Chris Thormann: I figured it was important to you.
John Munch: It's gonna be our little secret, okay?
Officer Chris Thormann: Yeah, sure, okay.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Homicide: Life on the Street: The Documentary (1997)
On holiday recently I read David Simons' "year on the killing streets" for the first time and it motivated me to try and start to watch Homicide again. On a whim a year ago I bought season 1 and 2 on DVD but had never gotten round to it. When I originally watched Homicide, it did end under a cloud as Channel 4 in the UK started it on a primetime evening slot but then gradually moved it to a very late regular slot before then just throwing it out at 2am on irregular nights and then dropping it altogether for the final season. However starting on the first season was a good place to be in regards what the series first became famous for, which is the gritty and realistic look at the job. It looks even better now as we have more and more sexy and glossy shows that bare little resemblance to real police work.
On this level it is really enjoyable as the characters have a convincing gallows humour and approach that you get from Simons' time with his homicide squad but in a way this was also a weakness. In the book we are introduced gradually and learn the characters as we go; also with the cases, they are used to illustrate life in the unit and are interesting as such while also being engaging as a "narrative". With more of a TV drama narrative requirement, H:LOTS draws heavily on the book throughout season 1 and seemed to use a lot of the material up really quickly. While this helps with the convincing stories, it does make each episode feel contained and prevented a building narrative that perhaps makes better use of the cases. Compare it to The Wire, which is infinitely better, the one case is used to do so much whereas with H:LOTS the cases come thick and fast. This was a bit of a problem for me but perhaps it bugged me more because (with sexes and/or names changed) these are the cases in the book that had been given more time and had more detail. Outside of this, the dialogue and stories that come out are strong as a result with plenty of interest and a good look at the investigations in a "working man" sort of fashion. All the episodes are good with no real weak points but it goes without saying that the "Three Men & Adena" episode is a brilliant one and could only have been better if the season had taken longer to build the Watson case and shown more of the frustrating with interviewing the Araber.
The character development also struggles a bit with the "suddenly we are here" approach that filming the book brought. Everyone starts with their characters more or less where they spend most of the first season, with the exception of Bayliss although even his breakdown suffered from being done in a very short time as opposed to the year long obsession that the case was in the book. Fortunately, just taking a cutout of each of the real people from the book is more than adequate at producing characters that are convincing. Braugher is the strongest of the lot as he has the best character and the best scenes, particularly in the integration room. Belzer is fun on the simple level that his character works he is best on this level and it is seen by how far his character has run on this approach. Secor is good but is perhaps not that convincing because of the speed that he is asked to go. The move to rookie to broken obsession is too rapid and we have not even had time to get to know him as the new guy (they are all "new guys" to us) before we have to move further than this. Leo is OK but I must admit not really taking to her character even though she works well with a good turn from Baldwin. Johnson and Polito were good together and made for good characters. Kotto was strong and did well to bring a lot to his character without that many words working off the ball as it were. Beatty was good as Stan and the smaller support roles were not only good but also provided lots of "oh look it's " moments with the likes of Falco, Tergesen, Gilliard, Waters, Bai, Gunn and a few others I'm sure I didn't spot.
Overall then, a good start to the series. Using the cases and dialogue out of Simons' book as often as possible gives the show immediate access to convincing characters which is at once a strength and a weakness as the characters lack the development across the season that I, as a viewer, like to see (eg The Wire). Still, I think any niggles I had came from just being familiar with the book and liking it more than the TV show but even with these it is a superior cop drama.
- bob the moo
- Jun 14, 2007