A Simple Excuse To Bring Everyone Back: Homicide: The Movie

The Good: Moments of character, Concept isn't bad, Moments of acting
The Bad: Most of the characters don't contribute, Plot is somewhat obvious, Lack of DVD bonus features.
The Basics: A disturbingly blase film that closes off the plot of "Homicide: Life On The Steet," Homicide: The Movie returns all of the credited characters for one last case.


As I finally finish the last disc of Homicide: Life On The Street, I find myself feeling a strange sense of relief. The series has its highs and lows and on DVD, fans will be glad to get everything all together with the complete series pack (reviewed here!), but for those whom the show seldom sparked, the final production in the series is simply an almost pointless epilogue. That disc, that final episode, that final act is Homicide: The Movie.

Billed as "The case so important, everyone is back," Homicide: The Movie is a few minutes of substantial storytelling surrounding a much longer collection of cameo appearances, flashbacks, references and unfortunate dead ends in plot threads. The story is straightforward in its plotting, but obtuse in the execution because the film has to accommodate so many characters being brought into the mix. So, rather than being a love letter "good-bye" to Homicide: Life On The Street, Homicide: The Movie is a clumsy collection of characters and actors waddling in the vicinity of a murder mystery story.

Al Giardello is running for Mayor of Baltimore and on the eve of what appears to be a landslide victory with the electorate, he is shot at a rally. As Giardello lays dying, all of his former subordinates converge on the homicide unit he used to run. Run now by Gharty, the Homicide Unit mobilizes with the help of the still active detectives, like Kay Howard, John Munch (who comes in from New York), Falzone, Stivers, and the suddenly-back-from-sabattical Bayliss. Retired detectives Frank Pembleton and Bolander show up to lend a hand. While Michael Giardello sits by his father's side waiting for him to get better or die, the detectives past and present get to work on solving the (attempted) homicide.

Unfortunately, Captain Gaffney - still nursing old wounds against Pembleton - rears his head to express disdain for Gharty's command style, despite the fact that Pembleton and Bayliss seem to be making progress. When the case hits a dead end, Michael Giardello - accompanied by Kellerman - goes on a rampage through Little Italy in search of a potential suspect. As Pembleton and Bayliss move in on the killer, though, Bayliss finds himself at a crossroads that compels him to break down to his old partner.

Ever emotionally fragile, Tim Bayliss left in the seventh season finale after a murderer who was released on a technicality was killed and there was some ambiguity about who the murderer was. Homicide: The Movie removes that ambiguity. Bayliss is shaken up from the moment he sees the murderer's name on the whiteboard and fortunately, the movie makes an effort to explain his emotional reaction by providing grainy black and white flashbacks of what was in the series finale.

This is worth mentioning because despite the appearance of everyone - including deceased detectives Beau Felton and Crossetti - the movie quickly becomes another Bayliss and Pembleton case with the other members of the squad only peripherally involved. As well, Jason Priestley plays a new detective whose sole purpose in the episode seems to be to give Gaffney something to lord over Gharty. In an episode already mixed up with far too many characters - Falzone, Munch, Howard and Bolander essentially show up (even Brody has a more important moment than them!) - the new character does little to make the film more meaningful.

Instead, Homicide: The Movie suffers because it is already packed and it attempts to squeeze everyone in. Stivers and her partner are essentially relegated to watching video tapes of the crime scene for most of the movie and the usually-interesting Lewis is sent with Sheppard to investigate a few racist white pride organizations that could, possibly, be involved in the assassination attempt.

The thing is, the nature of the story could go one of two ways: either there is a massive conspiracy and the combined talents of all of the detectives and former detectives must be pooled to allow each to reveal a clue that is vital to putting the larger puzzle together or all but one pair of detectives is off chasing red herrings. Sadly, Homicide: The Movie opts for the latter tact and it is not a surprise to anyone who watched the series that it is Bayliss and Pembleton who are the pair of detectives that are on the right path. So, while the others chase down loose ends, dead ends or just sit around (I swear, outside showing up and staring at a television for about ten seconds, I can't recall a single thing Kay Howard did!), Frank and Tim head out to solve one of the biggest cases of their careers.

Fans of the series will be pleased by that. Those who never saw an episode of Homicide: Life On The Street will be utterly baffled. There is absolutely no connection or emotional resonance with anyone other than Michael, Al, Tim or Frank in this film. Moreover, because it is an esoteric film based upon a very esoteric series, it is entirely inaccessible to those who do not know the backstories. Otherwise, the things that serve as reminders to the fans - like Michael's brief statement about his role in the final season of the television series - come off a simply glib, lame attempts at characterization.

Because most of the plot elements focus on weak dead ends, there is very little in the way of actual character development in the movie as well. Instead, the work of this movie is largely to wrap up the dangling plots of Homicide: Life On The Street and provide a more satisfactory good-bye for the fans and to the relationship between Frank Pembleton and Tim Bayliss.

Unfortunately, even for the power of the revelations that Bayliss has for Frank, there is not so much character development as there is plot resolution in the act of Bayliss confessing to Pembleton. This finally puts to rest their turbulent relationship, which lasted six of the show's seven years. Bayliss is still essentially the fractured character who opened the seventh season alone and departed it empty at the end of the series. Fortunately for Homicide: Life On The Street, as Bayliss wigged out and became more broken and monolithic, Meldrick Lewis stepped up to become much more interesting. The disappointing aspect of Homicide: The Movie is that Lewis is almost completely relegated to the back burner after doing much of the heavy lifting of the latter seasons of the series. The movie reasserts the idea that this is the story of Tim Bayliss (and Frank Pembleton).

This is not to say that just because most of the character appearances are essentially cameos that there are no meaningful performances. As one might expect, Andre Braugher returns to the role of Frank Pembleton with an apparent effortlessness that allows him to resume the mantle of the character he left after six years in order to give him a proper sendoff. Pembleton opens the movie as a teacher and Braugher infuses that part of the role with a reality that makes it seem the most natural leap for the character. And once back investigating, it is Braugher who sells the audience on the believability in the character's sense of moral absolutes. Pembleton has always been an intriguing character, but it is Braugher who transforms the dogmatic words on the page into a vital, believable character.

Similarly, Kyle Secor's return as Tim Bayliss is pretty wonderful. Secor has shed the later season's slightly effeminate mannerisms (which coincided with the character realizing he was bisexual) in favor of a very generalized broken quality which makes Bayliss appear deeply wounded, shaken to his core. Secor manages to do this with a blank stare and a quiet delivery of most of his lines, leading up to his final scene.

But even the quality of the two lead actors' acting is not enough to recommend this film. For sure, it ties up the last of the essential questions from Homicide: Life On The Street, but it truly does nothing more than that.

For other works with Zeljko Ivanek, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
True Blood - Season 3
True Blood - Season 1
Heroes - Season 4
Heroes - Season 3
The West Wing - Season 5

5/10

For other television movies, please be sure to visit my index page here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Homicide: Life On The Street On Video, PBS Style: "The Subway" & "Anatomy Of A Homicide!"

The Good: "The Subway" is intense and well-written
The Bad: "Anatomy Of A Homicide" is dull and obvious, medium
The Basics: Featuring the slightly above average "The Subway" and the below average documentary "Anatomy Of A Homicide," this video set falls flat.


For those who might not otherwise follow my reviews, I have a pretty lukewarm relationship with the television series Homicide: Life On The Street. While every show has its ebb and flow, on the balance, I remained more unimpressed with Homicide: Life On The Street (reviewed here!) than many other television viewers. From the moment I started reviewing the series, though, I heard the praised of "The Subway," an episode which was in the sixth season of the series and took an awful long time to get to as far as I was concerned.

Long before 24 came along, but well after M*A*S*H* had done a real-time episode came "The Subway" on Homicide: Life On The Street, a murder in the process of happening, a murder waiting to happen. Because this episode won the show a Peabody Award (an award, it ought to be noted that has no set criteria) and was the subject of a PBS documentary, both "The Subway" and "Anatomy Of A Homicide," the documentary, were released on VHS as a two-tape video set. The thing is, as someone who appreciates a decent documentary, this gift set is a pretty hard sell because while "The Subway" might live up to some of its hype, "Anatomy Of A Homicide" . . . well, it just falls flat.

Commuting in the morning, John Lange suddenly finds himself trapped between the wall of the subway and the platform. Pinned there, the medics who arrive on the scene call the police because it is unclear whether he slipped or was pushed. While the medics work, Detectives Frank Pembleton and Tim Bayliss arrive to deal with Lange and the case. Because the medics quietly have revealed that there is almost no chance Lange will survive the process of unpinning him, this is either a terrible accident or a homicide waiting for its victim.

Pembleton sits and talks with Lange who is alternatively cold, hostile, confused and hopeful, while Bayliss canvasses the commuters to try to find a suspect and get another perspective. While Bayliss and Pembleton work and Lange lashes out and clings desperately to Frank, Lewis and Falsone head topside to find the victim's ex-girlfriend to try to give him someone to say good-by to.

In "Anatomy Of A Homicide," the series Homicide: Life On The Street becomes the subject of a PBS documentary. In this, the viewers are told how the television series came to be developed (rather bafflingly avoiding any possible comparisons to NYPD Blue), starting with the police memoirs upon which it was based. The documentary traces through the various ratings-plagued seasons and changes in cast until it lands at the footsteps of the sixth season.

There, it chronicles the development of a Homicide: Life On The Street episode that is billed as incredibly different from every other episode ever done, "The Subway." "Anatomy Of A Homicide" describes the process by which the script was developed, the casting process and the troubles and travails of shooting the script in an actual subway station. It includes the standard interviews with producers, writers, and stars of the show.

"The Subway," or "Subway" as the writer and producers prefer it to be known as, is an all right episode of television. I know I'll take some flack for that, but it is not the holy grail of television experiences. Honestly, it is perfectly possible to do a dramatic hour of television focusing almost exclusively on two people with little movement and just build up the characters. In fact, I argue constantly that the greatest hour of television is exactly that. The episode is called "Duet" and it is an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

What separates "Duet" from "Subway" is that it is going somewhere and it involves genuine character building for one of the principle characters. The guest character is memorable, but it is truly Major Kira who grows in the course of the episode (and it changes her for the subsequent episodes). In "Subway," the focus is so intensely on Lange that Pembleton is almost an accessory. He is the priest to Lange's confessor and by the end of the episode, there is a pointless quality to the whole dialogue as no one has learned anything (outside a little trivia which Lange gives to Pembleton and Frank shares with Bayliss) or grown in any significant way.

Moreover, the technique of the episode is hardly groundbreaking by today's standards nor is it such a huge coup to have Vincent D'Onofrio on the small screen. D'Onofrio can be seen on Law And Order: Criminal Intent, or at least he could, and he gives a decent performance in "Subway," but it is not as interesting even as his role in The Cell. Instead, "Subway" is a good hour of television and I am glad I saw it . . . I watched it twice and in the second viewing the pacing seems more off and it was hard to get excited about it because it truly is a show about nothing. It's waiting for a man to die and that is not at all entertaining and the conversation between Lange and Pembleton is not as engaging as others want to make it out to be.

Instead, what does pull the episode up into the watchable territory is the realism of D'Onofrio's performance as he is forced to play Lange as erratic. Lange goes through a whole range of the emotional spectrum and the realism of his snapping and confusion and the way he changes topics is a credit to the writer - Gary Fleder - and D'Onofrio's performance abilities. There is never a moment in "Subway" when the viewer feels like they are watching D'Onofrio act or like his sudden changes in demeanor are unreal. Instead, he is engaging and the performance covers the slow bits and lack of movement.

Unfortunately for "Anatomy Of A Homicide," it has less luck at keeping the viewer engaged. After an inordinate amount of time spent charting the course of the series through all of its ratings problems - raising more questions than it answers in some cases, like how it survived so long with the threats that the producers needed to make it more mainstream or else! - the documentary finally settles on "The Subway." By the time the documentary gets there, the viewer is ready for something truly extraordinary.

Instead, the viewer is subjected to a rather blase exploration of how a television show is made. While many of the behind the scenes talent are interviewed in depth, the stars of the show are given minimal airtime. That would be all right, save that Clark Johnson - who has a minimal role in the b-story of "The Subway" - is given more interview time than Andre Braugher, the cast regular who is arguably the subject of the show. I understand Braugher and D'Onofrio being busy with the actual shooting, but their voices are notably absent from some of the important bits of the documentary.

The real problem with "Anatomy Of A Homicide" is that while it thoroughly charts the episode from preproduction through its airing, it is talked about in rather generic terms. In other words, outside the unique challenges of getting the very different script past the network, "Subway" could be any hour of television being documented. It goes through the script doctors, the writer fights with the producers, the episode is cast (it would have been nice to hear D'Onofrio asked the tough question of "What do you have against television?" after it is belabored that his agent's constant response was "Vincent does not do television."), it is shot, it is edited, it airs, blah blah blah.

My point here is that outside the annoying - only because there is so much whining about the ratings - retrospective that opens the documentary, this could be a documentary about virtually any drama and it feels and sounds like that. Moreover, it holds up poorly over multiple viewings. Some documentaries can be watched multiple times and new things can be picked out. I'm not sure why anyone would feel the need to own this one.

As a result, the boxed set averages out to being perfectly average and with it being on VHS anyway, I can't recommend it. I might be in the minority in not being overwhelmed with heaping the praise on "Subway," but after watching it twice (plus a third time on DVD with the commentary track on) and watching the documentary on it twice, it seems like a lot more hype than substance.

For other documentaries, please check out my reviews of:
Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden?
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
Capitalism: A Love Story

5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Homicide! Look Behind You! See That Shark?! Homicide: Life On The Street Season 6.

The Good: Interesting stories, Good acting from older cast
The Bad: New characters are dull, Poor casting, Light on DVD bonus features
The Basics: With twenty-two episodes, Homicide: Life On The Street buries itself with new castmembers and characters that dull the impact of this show.


By this point in my reviews of individual boxed sets of Homicide: Life On The Street, I am relatively certain that my readers are getting sick of seeing me write that the series is not what I anticipated when I started watching the show. I get that and today I shall refrain from that tired refrain, despite its truth. I will, however, say that many people consider the end of the sixth season to be when the series jumped the shark. For me, though, the mark is in the first episodes of season six.

It is in this boxed set that the cast is severely shaken up and the result is a program that is so different from any lingering greatness it once had - even the prior season - that the best the viewer can hope for is a storyline that focuses on Meldrick Lewis. Yes, the throwaway character from Seasons 1 & 2 becomes the character worth watching in the rocky, disappointing season Six. It is worth noting, as well, that it is impossible to write about Homicide: Life On The Street - The Complete Season 6 without revealing details from the finale to season five. That said . . .

Detectives Kellerman and Lewis, along with narcotics cop Stivers deal with he consequences of Kellerman killing Luther Mahoney. This takes the form of Mahoney's sister, Georgia Rae Mahoney. Georgia Rae begins to extort Kellerman, claiming to have a tape of him shooting Luther. While Kellerman works to get out from under her, Lewis goes rogue, initiating a war amongst the remaining factions of Mahoney's organization and leaving the rest of the Homicide Unit to clean up the mess.

While Lewis and Kellerman find themselves resolving their Mahoney problems, the rest of the squad comes back together after six months of being reassigned. Unfortunately for them, Kay Howard stays elsewhere and Brodie has taken a job with a film company. Bayliss and Pembleton return to the Unit to find their desks and prestige taken over by Detectives Falsone, Laura Ballard, and Stuart Gharty. Stivers, as well, finds herself working with the squad as well, despite having her lingering issues with Kellerman. Dr. Cox continues to provide the detectives with the forensic evidence from the corpses for the Homicide Unit, until she is put in an awkward position that she is unable to get herself out of.

And in the entire season, the only notable episode outside the continuing arc of Luther Mahoney's legacy is the peabody-award winning episode "The Subway." The cases in "The Complete Sixth Season" are pretty standard homicide/detective stories. Unfortunately, the new characters do not gel terribly well with the old ones and they often seem more like "types" as opposed to genuine characters. As a result, Ballard seems determined to add a feminine presence and Gharty is pretty much Generic Old Irish Cop. To wit, Ballard - we are informed in the season premiere - is an excellent detective with an amazing clearance rate, yet after the three parter, she is unable to impress the viewer with closing cases left and right. Moreover, Falsone, far from being a clever addition to the cast, seems like he was brought on from a focus group, given his youth and generic Hollywood-good looks.

To better understand what one is getting in Homicide: The Complete Sixth Season, it helps to know who the characters are. The principle characters in this DVD set include:

Detective Frank Pembleton - No longer suffering the effects of his stroke, he is back in prime form. Soon, though his peeping into Bayliss's world gets him and Tim estranged and he struggles to deal with partnering up with others. Professionally jealous of Ballard,

Tim Bayliss - Desperate to find some happiness, Bayliss flirts with both Ballard and a man. Embracing his newfound bisexuality, he becomes increasingly emotionally fragile as he and Pembleton begin to get distance between them,

Detective John Munch - Spending more time bartending and switching detective partners, Munch acts more as counselor than police detective this season,

Meldrick Lewis - Dealing with the suspicious death of Mahoney, he is shot at by surviving members of Mahoney's crew. Soon, he is forced to take time off as he is suspended. While on his own, he begins to set the disparate elements of Mahoney's gang against one another using information supplied by Falsone,

Kellerman - Working without Lewis, harassed by Falsone and having had a fallout with Cox, he becomes more and more edgy. Clearly guilt-ridden over killing Luther, he becomes a liability to the squad when Georgia Rae realizes his weakness,

Dr. Juliana Cox - The medical examiner does such extraordinary work that she wins an award . . . before being run out of town for actually having ethics,

Stivers - The weak link in the witnesses to Mahoney's shooting, she becomes rattled when the surviving members of his gang target her,

Falsone - Constantly sparring with Kellerman when the stories about Luther's shooting do not add up, he finds his attentions split as he undergoes a rough divorce with his wife. Has a child he seldom sees,

Detective Laura Ballard - Has an amazing clearance rate an a tolerance for Bayliss, though she soon becomes interested in Falsone,

Stuart Gherty - Partnered with Ballard, he clearly loves her and is blandly prejudiced against many different groups of people,

and Lieutenant Al Giardello - overjoyed at the increase in the clearance rate because of the shakeup, he finds himself looking to learn the truth about what happened with Luther Mahoney as Baltimore is shaken up by it.

The thing about "Season Six" is that after the great fifth season, the cast shake up almost immediately guts this season. It prides itself on being different - and admittedly, episodes like "Subway" are - but the shakeup changes the show too radically. Pembleton and Bayliss - the brain and heart of the series - no longer illustrate even competent chemistry between them.

Moreover, some of the stories are flat-out disappointing given their references to other works. Granted, this season precedes Magnolia (reviewed here!) but an entire episode is spent having Dr. Cox tell the story that forensic experts have been tossing around for years and is part of the pre-story in the film. As a result, fans of Magnolia, police show, or forensics wait for the surprise, but discover that this is just Homicide: Life On The Street's take on a four minute cocktail story.

On the acting front, the performers are almost universally dull. Callie Thorne - while being very easy on the eyes - underwhelms as Ballard and Peter Gerety plays Gharty like a stereotype as opposed to a genuine character. The less said about Jon Seda's Falsone, the better. The surviving members of the original cast: Andre Braugher, Kyle Secor, Yaphet Kotto and Richard Belzer all do fine . . . when they are given the opportunity to shine, which is far too infrequent in this season.

The standout for the season is Clark Johnson as Meldrick Lewis. He does a masterful job of adding more and more frustration to his character, adding a slouch and a more subtle sense of devotion through an undertone in his performance. He is especially good playing off Toni Lewis (Stivers) and he and Reed play off one another well for the speed of their dialogue. But Johnson is almost handed the easy opportunity to act as his character goes rogue, necessitating his movement toward a different type of performance.

On DVD, Homicide: Life On The Street - The Complete Sixth Season is fairly low on extras. It does include the "Anatomy Of A Homicide" documentary (reviewed here!), as well as a commentary track on "Subway" and "Fallen Heroes, Part 2." The commentary for "Subway" is remarkably repetitive given the presence of the documentary and the lack of anything else of substance disappoints.

All in all, Homicide: Life On The Street - The Complete Season 6 is the show after the shark. It's all downhill from here and it seems like there are moments when many in the cast recognize that.

For the sixth seasons of other television shows, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Lost - Season 6
The West Wing - The Complete Sixth Season
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season Six

5/10

For other television reviews, please be sure to visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Homicide: Life On The Street At Its Peak With "The Complete Fifth Season!"

The Good: Decent cast, Good character work, Interesting stories, Good acting
The Bad: Light on DVD bonus features
The Basics: Over the course of the twenty-two episodes of the fifth season, Homicide: Life On The Street becomes a gritty crime drama that explores better the characters of the Baltimore Homicide Squad.


There have been many, many television series' that people recommend to me as both an avid cinephile and a reviewer. More often than not, when this happens, I discover how very different my tastes are from virtually everyone else in the world. This is especially true with older television series' that are recommended to me, like Northern Exposure and the incredibly disappointing (overall) series Homicide: Life On The Street (reviewed here!). Usually, in any of these series' that underwhelm me, there is a season that convinces me that there is some merit to the show and I can at least understand why the show was made. For Homicide: Life On The Street, that season is "The Complete Fifth Season" and the mystery for me is how the show survived long enough to get to its fifth season to make the show worthwhile.

Ironically, the best season of Homicide: Life On The Street alludes to much that came before and creates a much better overall piece than the prior seasons. As well, characters come and go in more realistic ways, which makes the series seem a lot more real and fresh than it otherwise would. On DVD, the episodes are put in the order the producers wanted them seen and it works out quite well in that the story becomes very serialized and works great for that.

Thwarted time and again by the drug lord Luther Mahoney, Detectives Kellerman and Lewis team up with a narcotics cop named Stivers to try to bring him down. The villain is slick and keeps them on their toes, though, and Kellerman turns to drinking and to the new medical examiner for comfort. Dr. Cox takes over the medical examiner's office and offers a more efficient liaison between the office and the homicide unit. As well, with Kellerman living on his boat, the two are able to sneak out without anyone noticing, which happens more and more as Kellerman is investigated for graft when he worked in the arson unit.

While Lewis and Kellerman go toe-to-toe with Mahoney and his organization, Pembleton returns to the unit and fights for his right to work following his stroke. Slower, less respected and challenged by Giardello for his status, Frank takes up a desk position. While Bayliss and Munch do investigate their cases, Frank struggles to qualify with his firearm to get back on the street. Bayliss works to forgive those who wronged him in the past, Brodie makes a documentary and Sergeant Howard makes a nuisance of herself up until her ex-partner Beau Felton pops back up.

Departing before the season begins is Lieutenant-turned-detective Russert who ran off with a French ambassador, which leaves the station house a bit empty. She does pop up for the two-part season finale, which is nice.

The cases in "The Complete Fifth Season" are pretty standard homicide/detective stories. There is a decent hostage story, the murder that closes the season is engaging and the murders that lead bodies toward Luther Mahoney are intriguing. In the fifth season, the characters hit their stride, save Howard, who seems mostly lost by this point. Indeed, outside annoying the primary characters, there is nothing that she does this season that is unique or character-building, which might be why this was her last season on the show.

To better understand what one is getting in Homicide: The Complete Fifth Season, it helps to know who the characters are. The principle characters in this DVD set include:

Detective Frank Pembleton - Recovering from his stroke six months prior, he is frustrated with words and the looks his coworkers give him. Struggling to be a father to his new baby, as well, Pembleton actually comes to look forward to working with Bayliss, if only he can qualify with his firearm again,

Tim Bayliss - Coming to terms with the childhood abuse that framed much of him, he is reluctantly - temporarily - repartnered while Pembleton recovers from his stroke. He begins to become both more tolerant and more cynical,

Detective John Munch - Upset with Pembleton for not acknowledging his help while Frank had his stroke, Munch becomes that much more bitter and retreats to his bar more frequently,

Meldrick Lewis - His new marriage already strained, Lewis soon finds his professional life made more complicated when Kellerman is investigated. He becomes obsessed with defeating Luther Mahoney when Mahoney's criminal organization continues bringing drugs into the Baltimore area,

Kellerman - Investigated during a corruption investigation into the Arson unit, he becomes severely depressed and when he is suspended, he turns to Dr. Cox for comfort,

Brodie - Perpetually between homes, he crashes with virtually every detective, save Howard, who he is (not quite) secretly in love with. He films the various homicide scenes and eventually makes a documentary of how things are in the Homicide Unit,

Dr. Juliana Cox - She is a new medical examiner who comes into Baltimore with no real attachments. She and Kellerman quickly develop a relationship,

Kay Howard - Somewhat lost without her partner and her new position that puts her above most of her peers, she gets a boyfriend who remains largely unseen by her coworkers,

and Lieutenant Al Giardello - the stern commander of the Homicide Unit, he keeps Pembleton desk bound and frustrated through much of the season in order to try to keep others who would work with him safe.

The thing about "Season Five" is that it might well be the best season of the series, but it is also not at all a perfect season. The show is rather erratic in that the stories are often very straightforward and the characters are almost completely divorced from the quirkiness that defined them in the earliest seasons. Instead, the series takes on a darker and more realistic quality that is frightening for its realism.

On the acting front, the performers all hit their marks, even when their characters are not as strongly written. This season Reed Diamond becomes far less white bread as Kellerman, making him a distinctive addition to the squad. Diamond is able to play the character with a desperate rogue quality that involves more than just him slouching through his role. Indeed, in one of the critical episodes of the season, he performs beautifully with just his eyes to foreshadow his character's next move.

Clark Johnson also shines as Meldrick Lewis. He does a masterful job of adding more and more frustration to his character, adding a slouch and a more subtle sense of devotion through an undertone in his performance. He is especially good playing off Toni Lewis (Stivers) and he and Reed play off one another well for the speed of their dialogue.

The previous cast is added to with Michelle Forbes (Cox), who makes for a good addition. Perhaps best known for her role as Ensign Ro in the fifth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Forbes shines in each of her too-brief scenes as a smart and efficient medical examiner.

But it is Andre Braugher who rules the fifth season of Homicide: Life On The Street. He plays Pembleton with a stutter, a lisp, and a limp. He is able to infuse fatigue into his facial expressions expertly, making this season a true challenge for the actor. He rises to that challenge by recreating the character while maintaining the sense that it is actually the same Pembleton we have seen for the prior four years. Braugher makes Frank difficult to watch at times and the directors are smart enough to keep focused on him through his performance.

On DVD, Homicide: Life On The Street - The Complete Fifth Season is fairly low on extras and the annoying thing is that for the first time, one of the bonuses is NOT a song listing for the music used in each episode. This is irksome in that for the first time I actually cared about what some of the music actually was. In the season premiere, as Frank is walking back into work there is a wonderful piece of music playing that I had to google to find (it's the Cowboy Junkies's "This Street, This House, This Man," for those who might be wondering). There is a commentary track on "The Documentary" which is interesting and explains well the departure of Max Perlich and the character of Brody. Outside the commentary tracks and a little featurette on the overall season, the DVD extras are somewhat lackluster. It is, however, about average for what we expect for this series and this type of drama show. Moreover, sometimes loads of bonuses do not make a series better, they just add more crap that one feels compelled to watch.

All in all, though, this is THE Homicide: Life On The Street season boxed set worth buying and quite possibly the peak of the series that might be appreciated by drama fans and those who like detective shows alike.

For other works with Michelle Forbes, please visit my reviews of:
True Blood - Season 2
Lost - Season 4
"Preemptive Strike"
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 6
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 5

8/10

For other television reviews, please check out my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Homicide: Life On The Street Gets Good With "The Complete Fourth Season!"

The Good: Good character development, Engaging plots, Decent acting
The Bad: Very light on DVD extras, Some predictability/pointlessness.
The Basics: A good season of television is brought down a little bit by how standard it becomes. On DVD, though Homicide's serialized nature really works.


When I started reviewing episodes of Homicide: Life On The Street, I took some flack because it did not grab me. The first DVD set (reviewed here!) follows police detectives of the homicide unit in Baltimore, Maryland, sitting around talking about everything other than actually solving crimes. Interestingly enough, some who took issue with my critique referenced episodes that were not in those seasons and truth be told, as the series progressed, it does seem to have gotten better.

So, I continue to watch the DVD sets and review them. In fact, I am a little backlogged on the reviews for Homicide: Life On The Street and now I am finally up to writing my review of "The Complete Fourth Season." Here the show is hitting a decent stride that more or less kept me engaged. There are two new characters (more or less) and some of the regulars have better roles as a result of the reshuffling that came from losing two of the others. It remains a hard sell, though, especially for rewatchability, which is tough for shows about crime fighting and seems even more difficult for Homicide: Life On The Street. While the show has interesting stories, a lot of the work of the series falls flat on the character front. Indeed, it is only here in the fourth season that Detective John Munch - one of the most recognizable characters on television - begins to get something remotely recognizable as character.

In the fourth season, there are some changes that occur that begin to change the tenor of the series as it transforms into a more standard police detective series. While on a trip for the department, Bolander and Felton get drunk and trash a hotel, leading to a six month suspension for the two detectives. As well, one of the cases takes a tough turn and the recently-promoted Russert finds herself demoted to detective, working in the Homicide Department.

In the fourth season of the drama, the episodes are even more serialized than in the past, making for ideal DVDs that flow well from episode to episode. In this season, the cases involve such things as deaths where the bodies are burned afterward, a murder crime scene caught on camera by an aspiring reporter, a child who is inadvertently shot at a mall, and the death of a man whose murder might be an anti-gay hate crime, given where he died. Detective Mike Kellerman joins the squad in order to alleviate some of the workload as a result of Crosetti's death and Bolander and Feldman's suspension. As well, this is the season that has a "thrill killer" traveling north on I-95 killing people at random as he goes, a pair of snipers who begin terrorizing Baltimore, and a crossover with Law And Order involving poison gas attacks.

As well, Lewis and Kellerman lose a musical suspect, Giardello is passed over for a promotion in favor of the worst possible cop and an ex-cop is killed, sparking intervention from his son. There is a stakeout where the characters converse over the course of several shifts while watching an adjacent house, Bayliss is tormented by his failure to resolve the Adena Watson case, and Howard's perfect record is restored when Lewis catches a good break! Luther Mahoney is introduced as a slick drug dealer who seems able to beat any rap and it all leads to huge changes for two of the characters!

In the fourth season of Homicide: Life On The Street, the show becomes a very typical police drama with very little that is unique to the show outside the characters. It becomes much more formulaic with characters beginning an episode with finding a body or waiting for a murder. A murder occurs and if we're lucky, the old medical examiner stops by and makes a witty quip that makes the viewer smile. The search for a suspect begins, the suspect is found, the killer is caught and the show goes on, usually with a little reflection by the characters. And there is more conflict in this season, as Pembleton and Bayliss struggle with solving cases involving children shortly after Pembleton learns his wife is pregnant and Bayliss finding similarities between cases they work and his great, unsolved murder.

But, in terms of plot and tone, Homicide: Life On The Street in the "Complete Fourth Season" is very typical, very placid and very much a show most of us have seen before. We get it; the show is a police drama. Gone is the quirkiness that made it difficult to watch the first few seasons and the characters suffer more. There is a realism and grit to the series and the director style is well-established with repetition. Just as NYPD Blue shook up the police drama with shaky camera work, Homicide: Life On The Street defines itself with moments that are repeated, often with lines being delivered and repeated with different camera angles used. It's a technique that gets somewhat tired.

Interestingly, just as the plots become more standard and typical, the characters become more interesting and the dynamics between the various characters become far more compelling. What makes the set watchable, if not an easy sell for the boxed set, are the characters. Here is how the fourth season finds the detectives of the Homicide Unit:

Lieutenant Al Giardello - Monitors the squad while trying to get back into dating. This season, his daughter visits, also marries and he is up for a big promotion. When Russert is demoted, Giardello seems like a shoo-in for the job and all are shocked when a racist ex-detective is promoted instead,

Captain Megan Russert - She keeps tabs on Giardello and the squad until the snipers terrorize Baltimore. Needing a scapegoat, Barnfather demotes her back to detective and she begins to work alongside those she previously commanded,

Sergeant Kay Howard - Acing the exam for Sergeant, she begins to act essentially as Giardello's following her promotion. She micromanages the squad and isolates herself more, especially getting in Meldrick's face when he catches the case that broke her perfect record,

Detective John Munch - Having lost Bolander (who retires rather than returning once his suspension is up), he competes with Howard for the Sergeant's Exam, but fails to show up. He works at the bar he co-owns with Bayliss and Lewis in his off hours and is shocked to learn that one of the Law And Order characters had sex with one of his ex-wives! He manages without a regular partner,

Detective Meldrick Lewis - Finally paired with a new partner, Lewis and Kellerman begin their run investigating suspects and he soon finds a lot to like about him. They lose a suspect and Lewis stops his womanizing ways,

Detective Mike Kellerman - Moving from the arson unit to homicide, he is paired with Lewis rather quickly. He lives on a boat and is divorced. His style is rather laid back and in the course of the season, he is quickly forced to upgrade his wardrobe,

Brodie - (heavily recurring) An aspiring cameraman and reporter, his information saves one of the cases, so Giardello brings Brodie into the squad to film crime scenes for the unit,

Detective Tim Bayliss - Still traumatized by not solving the Adena Watson case, he and Pembleton clash more on issues of ethnicity, family and interrogation methods. He begins to come unspooled more and more, frustrated as he becomes with Pembleton and his ways,

and Detective Frank Pembleton - Bayliss's partner, the most efficient detective on the squad. He and Bayliss find themselves in conflict more often, despite Pembleton's wife getting pregnant. As the baby's arrival becomes imminent, he becomes more and more stressed.

The cast stays strong and Reed Diamond, who plays Kellerman, is a wonderful addition to it. He easily takes the place of the absent Daniel Baldwin. Isabella Hoffman is given a chance to show off her abilities better as her character - Russert - is jerked around. Similarly, the change in Howard's status gives Melissa Leo a better chance to show her talent and her awkward restraint is given more challenges. Belzer, Kotto, Secor and Braugher all maintain the high standards for what viewers expect from Homicide: Life On The Street.

Max Perlich recurs as Brodie and he manages to hold his own with the cast, despite being almost the same type character actor as Leland Orser. Orser, who has been in everything from the modern incarnations of Star Trek to NYPD Blue to Daredevil (reviewed here!) occupies the same niche of low-key, subtle actors that Perlich is in. There are no moments in this season where the performance Perlich gives would not be interchangeable with one from Orser.

But despite the devotion the producers have to Andre Braugher and Kyle Secor's Pembleton and Bayliss, the clear talent to emerge in "The Complete Fourth Season" is that of Clark Johnson. Johnson plays Meldrick Lewis and now that the producers have an idea of what to do with the character, Johnson is given a way to grow and work, developing his character. Johnson slowly transforms Lewis from a slouching, mumbling detective into one who speaks clearer and has energy and enthusiasm. Johnson is more energetic this season and as a result, his character becomes more vibrant and engaging to watch.

On DVD there are are very few bonus features. For every episode that features music, there is a list of the songs played of who the artist is, which is convenient. This is not the most exciting DVD bonus feature ever. The six-disc set also includes such bonus features as a commentary track on one episode and a featurette on Season Four.

It's a good set; this is a pretty solid seven out of ten on my regular scale and while I would recommend it to anyone who likes police dramas, it's a tough sell for those who are more generally drama-oriented. It is very much a police detective series and, frankly, there are a lot of those out there. On a side note, it is only with the opening of the fourth season of Homicide: Life On The Street that the third season is significantly weakened. Plotlines and investments involving Feldman's crazy wife are suddenly dropped and given that Feldman and Bolander were both critically shot in the third season . . . well, it just seems like the show would have been made much more powerful if either or both had been killed as a result of that. And yes, for those who have seen ahead, I know what becomes of Feldman, but given where the show is and where it had been, it would have been powerful to have some casualties on screen.

That we get from other shows, ironically, not Homicide: Life On The Street.

For other works with Reed Diamond, please visit my reviews of:
Moneyball
The West Wing - Season 6
Spider-man 2

7/10

For other television show reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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A Better Season Of Homicide: Life On The Street Gives Me Something To Recommend, If Not Own!

The Good: Good acting, More interesting use of characters, Some decent stories
The Bad: Teasers seldom relate to episode, Light on DVD bonus features, Formatting
The Basics: A good season of the show makes for enjoyable, if not enduring, television with this detective series.


After years of anticipation, a few months back I finally got my hands on Homicide: Life On The Street - The Complete Seasons 1 & 2 (reviewed here!) and I did not enjoy it. After a bit of prodding, I picked up Homicide: Life On The Street - The Complete Season 3. Because so many of the people who were not happy with my first evaluation told me that the series changed, I gave it another chance with the next chapters.

Yes, Homicide: Life On The Street - The Complete Season 3 is a different show from its prior incarnation. And yes, this is worth seeing. But having seen it once, it's hard to justify recommending this show for purchase. It is very much a take-it or leave-it show and in its first full season with twenty episodes spread over six discs, it's been hard for me to muster up the enthusiasm to write about it. That's not to say it's not good. It's good. It's just not more than good, it's not extraordinary. In fact, if one were to ask for an average cop show, a standard detective show, Homicide: Life On The Street - The Complete Season 3 might be it.

For those unfamiliar with the series, Homicide: Life On The Street is set in a Baltimore, Maryland detective squad where the day shift detectives solve crimes and talk about current events and big picture ideas. Led by Lieutenant Giardello, the squad is an ethnically mixed group of partners who find bodies and track down the killers. While they work to survive their investigations, they buck for promotions, open a bar, and deal with their wives or significant others or do their best with being single.

In the third season, the semi-serialized show has cases which include the white glove killer - a murderer of women who leaves the bodies naked with only white gloves on -, a teenage boy who kills another boy only to discover he killed the wrong peer, the death of one of the squad members (Crosetti!!!!) and the shooting which takes out three of the squad. Bayliss's cousin kills a drunken exchange student who shows up on his doorstep and Pembleton is targeted by a convict who wants revenge for a case Pembleton once cleared that put him away for years.

While the murder investigations are going on, much time is spent with the detectives sitting around relating to one another. From a Christmas episode where Munch complains about Christmas to Bayliss attempting to get the squad into a betting game of hearts only to be fleeced himself, Homicide: Life On The Street is almost more about the detectives than the cases in the third season, though it is more oriented toward crime solving than its previous incarnation. In this season, Felton deals with being abandoned by his wife and kids and the affair he's having as a result, Giardello deals with the nightwatch commander Lt. Russert, the squad deals with the death of Crosetti, and Bolander, Kay and Beau are shot when executing a warrant where they end up knocking on the wrong door!

The two significant aspects of this season - from one perspective - both have their consequences both within the context of the show and for the viewers. Crosetti's death - which might seem like a spoiler - is an understated event. Crosetti - Jon Polito - does not appear in any of the episodes, having been excused from the first few episodes as being out on vacation. When his body is washed up, he becomes the focus of the episode "Crosetti" and his death becomes a case for Bolander to solve. Several episodes later, even as Meldrick continues to complain about not having a partner, Giardello is forced to reassign Crosetti's open cases, which mostly becomes an exploration of Detective Kay Howard forced to face failure.

The other big event, the shooting of Felton, Howard and Bolander yields one of the most exciting and baffling bits in the third season of Homicide: Life On The Streets. While executing an arrest warrant, the three officers are shot and as they lie in critical condition, the search is on for the shooter. It is soon revealed that the door the detectives knocked on was the wrong one. Still, the search continues for the person who was supposed to be arrested. The disturbing aspect of this is simple and strangely obvious: it takes multiple episodes before Giardello and Pembleton begin investigating the occupant of the door the officers DID knock on! Yes, what seems strangely obvious to a viewer like me - i.e. when someone is shot outside a door and we know it's the wrong door, I immediately ask, "Whose door was it?" - takes the Baltimore detectives a few go-arounds to get to. Given the importance of the case, it frustrated me to watch the behind-the-scenes politics - the Captain goes after Giardello when it becomes evident he signed off on the warrant with the wrong door number - as opposed to the actual crime solving investigation.

That said, the season focuses more on the actual crimes than it does on the random events in the lives of the detectives, making it a more traditional detective story than the prior seasons. Virtually every episode, though, has a detached teaser. The teaser - the part of the episode before the opening credits - seldom relates to the rest of the episode in this season of Homicide: Life On The Street. So, for example, one episode starts with the detectives being recognized at a football game for their service, another has Pembleton getting a prisoner from Law & Order's Chris Noth's character and having a debate with him on New York City versus Baltimore wherein the prisoner, played by John Waters, reveals he encouraged extradition just so he could be locked up in Baltimore as opposed to the City, but then the entirety of the episodes that follow have nothing to do with these openings. It's strange, but some of the teasers are fun and interesting, sometimes even being better than the rest of the episode.

In order to understand the season, it helps to be familiar with the characters and where they are this season and what major events shape their experiences in this boxed set. The squad includes:

Lt. Al Giardello - Sharing an office and desk with Russert, he finds himself beleaguered by paperwork, forced to mediate disputes between his detectives and upper management. He finds himself depressed by his lack of romantic prospects and getting passed over for promotions for the sake of the appearance of balance in the department. Often at odds with his superiors following Crosetti's death over the inability to get a replacement,

Detective Kay Howard - Eager to work with her former mentor, Russert, she soon becomes disillusioned with Felton and her affair and frequently ends up in between Felton and his estranged wife. Her perfect clearance streak is threatened by an impossible case left by Crosetti and she is forced to face failure. Stressed out, she takes off to her hometown, but murder follows her. Returning to Baltimore, she has an ill-fated warrant execution,

Detective Frank Pembleton - Cool and utterly efficient, Pembleton is given greater responsibility until he helps the commissioner keep a congressman's legal problems from becoming an issue, only to have it blow up for everyone. Disgraced, Pembleton tries to strengthen his marriage only to discover complications and his return to the squad puts him with Bayliss which works well until Bayliss' cousin commits a murder,

Detective John Munch - Partnered with Bolander, he manages to survive the grisly hallway incident unshot. His foibles this season have virtually nothing to do with cases (indeed, without reviewing the episodes I cannot recall a single bit of detective work he did this season!) and instead focus on his past as a hippie and the bar he opens with Meldrick and Bayliss,

Detective Tim Bayliss - Still the more or less rookie of the squad, he gains experience aiding Pembleton and his disillusionment begins with working on cases like trying to track down the shooter of the detectives and the boy who shot another - wrong - boy. Bayliss buys into the bar with Meldrick and Munch, which reveals that he has a checkered past with a gambling problem,

Detective Meldrick Lewis - Unpartnered following the death of Crosetti, he and Munch buy a bar only to find the expense of opening it to be overwhelming and unprofitable. Frustrated with Pembleton's apparent class snobbery in a shooting on the border of the projects, Lewis mopes through his cases unattached and largely disaffected by all,

Detective Stanley Bolander - Consistently annoyed by his partner, Munch, he finds himself missing the way things were in the past and when he is cut down in the shooting, his old partner comes in to try to avenge him. He bonds with Giardello on the laments of dealing with women and he becomes strangely optimistic around Christmas,

Detective Beau Felton - Estranged from his wife and partnered with Howard, he begins to drink heavily and becomes less of an asset to the squad. When his affair with Russert ends, he flounders, his life made more difficult by his abusive and somewhat demented wife. When she takes his children and runs off, he becomes even more lost, which gives him little to live for when he is shot down,

and Lieutenant Megan Russert - The night shift lieutenant, she has children and when she ends her affair with Felton, she gains back come of Howard's respect. Often cordial with Giardello, they become friends and swap notes on their positions as minorities on the force. When the opportunity for advancement comes, though, she is fearless in pursuing it.

The characters continue to evolve, but some of them seem rather stuck with the novelty of their characterization. So, for example, Giardello continues to reference his Cicilian heritage, which seems like a characterized eccentricity considering he is played by Yaphet Kotto, a powerful black actor who can pull off heavies easily given his physique. Indeed, the only time Giardello does not reference his Italian heritage is when issues of ethnicity come up and Kotto is given some incredible dialogue about discrimination within the black community between blacks of varying skin color and he pulls off the scenes with amazing pathos. What holds the character together well is that there are moments when Giardello is put in a situation by other characters when ethnicity might come up as an issue and he steadfastly ignores it, like when Pembleton gets into trouble for following implicit orders from a prominent black police commissioner and Giardello refuses to cut either any slack for the sake of ethnic unity.

It is aspects like that that set this season of Homicide: Life On The Street apart from other series'. The show has the ability to be remarkably smart . . . when it wants to. This boxed set is an oddly fractured collection of moments that are insightful and gutsy and remarkably pedestrian.

The most consistency comes in the performances of Melissa Leo and Andre Braugher. Leo plays Kay and in this season, it seems every effort is made to make her look beleaguered and overdrawn. She plays Kay as mopey and often miserable, yet the consummate professional when on the job. Leo is able to bounce between meticulous and intelligent and desperately lost with minimal changes in body language that convincingly sell her character's mood swings. She is impressive.

Only Braugher is more impressive as Pembleton in this season. Braugher plays Pembleton as less of a snob in this season and he opens the character up to some of the most darkly efficient and deeply human moments. Braugher's ability to play Pembleton as almost psychotic when dealing with the white glove killer is contrasted beautifully by his attempts at being a domestic later in the season. Braugher plays the character with an integrity and enthusiasm that is far more than what is on the page. His performance makes him a legitimate star this season.

On DVD, the episodes generally look good, though the set is fairly light on DVD bonus features. Only one episode has commentary and the track for "The Gas Man" is insightful and very fun - it's a fun, weird episode. Outside that, the discs contain references to the music in each episode and there is a featurette on Season Three and how Homicide: Life On The Street continued to evolve. It is in that segment that we learn the reason for Crosetti's death and the direction for Bayliss's character is hinted at. Outside that, there's nothing and the genuine complaint with the DVDs comes from how they are arranged. Like many DVDs, the chapter listings do not correspond necessarily with things like the opening credits. As a result, if one watches the teaser and wants to jump ahead through the credits using the Chapter Forward button on their remote, they end up instead in the middle of the first act as opposed to the beginning of that. I'm all for giving credit to the cast and creators, but when one sits down for a marathon of this show, it's nice to be able to leap through the credits. That cannot be done with these discs.

Ultimately, though, the episodes are good and I am glad I watched them, but I can't see owning the set. It's enjoyable but there is little to go back for. Honestly, if there were ever a "make-your-own DVD" service whereby individual episodes could be purchased and burned onto DVD for a reasonable price, there might be only two or three episodes from the third season of Homicide: Life On The Street that I would want burned for my permanent collection. My recommend is solely for the view, not the buy.

For other shows that hit their stride more in the third season, check out my reviews of:
The X-Files - The Complete Third Season
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 3
Gilmore Girls - Season 3

6/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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I Finished Homicide: Life On The Street Season 1 & 2 And I've No Idea What I Watched!

The Good: Good acting, Moments of character, Dialogue
The Bad: Plot, Concept, Tone, Much of the mood and feel
The Basics: As a show more about the people who solve murder mysteries as opposed to them solving murders, Homicide: Life On The Street is dull and underwhelms.


I have been waiting four months to get Homicide: Life On The Street on DVD via interlibrary loan. I had been waiting for the "Seasons 1 & 2" boxed set for four months until it arrived last week and I began immediately watching it. I cannot remember the last DVD boxed set that I actually kept out for the whole week. I burned through Dawson's Creek quicker than I made it through the thirteen episodes of Homicide: Life On The Street that comprised the first boxed DVD set of the series.

And now that I'm done with it, I am at a rare loss for what to write. I trudged through the episodes, the DVD bonus features and I am having trouble figuring out what to say about this set that is going to sound either remotely interesting or even vaguely helpful about the set. I'm a cinephile, a lover of dramas and crime series' and detective shows tend to go over quite well with me. But for a series I was so looking forward to seeing - there was so much good hype surrounding it! - I'm left so disappointed.

I did not like Homicide: Life On The Street.

Now, before the fans of this particular series rise up to lambaste me for my lack of enjoyment in the program, I want to save the potential detractors their time and effort by saying this: I GET Homicide. I understood what the show was doing, it took me a few episodes, but I GOT it. In fact, in the interest of full disclosure and complete honesty, I finally put it together as I began the final disc and the format changed, but I understood what Barry Levinson was doing with Homicide: Life On The Street.

Homicide, oddly enough, is a story about homicide detectives, but it is not a detective story. Yes, if you're sitting down thinking, "Homicide, sounds interesting, I wonder what makes this show different from the plethora of other detective series' out there, but hey there's murder, so it's gotta be good," you would be wrong. This show is about the people who solve the murders, but not about the process of them solving murders that occur in Baltimore, Maryland. The distinction is what makes all the difference in watching and appreciating the series. And, in that same spirit of full disclosure, knowing that the series isn't about solving crime, but rather character studies involving the men and one woman who are part of a homicide unit, does not make it any better (I was almost overdue getting the set back to the library because I went back to rewatch some episodes after I "got" what the series actually was).

The irony - again - is that right around the time it might dawn on a viewer who is sitting there scratching their head and asking, "What the hell have I been watching for the past ten hours?" the show becomes a very typical cop drama wherein the detectives are all about solving the cases. That's only the last few episodes of the - presumably - second season and for the purpose of this review (because it is so overwhelming the other format) it does not change the viewpoint; this series is not worth watching, much less owning, at least this boxed set.

Debuting in 1993 - the same year as NYPD Blue, Homicide: Life On The Street is filmed with a grainy film noir look and it is instantly more reminiscent of the comedy series The Job than a cop show. It begins as a series that does not seem to know what it wants to be, plunging the viewer into a state of confusion instead of one of enjoyment or entertainment. The resulting show is slow, just a little too quirky and distracted to be a hard drama and not funny enough to be a comedy. It's a tough nut to crack and as someone who went through the effort of cracking it, it's easy for me to say it's not worth the bother.

The homicide squad in Baltimore, Maryland finds itself getting a new member, Tim Bayliss. While most of the other detectives ignore him, he finds himself quickly catching his first case, the murder of a young girl whose time of death is difficult to establish. Lieutenant Giardello pairs him up with the most successful (of the men, anyway) detective in the squad, Pembleton, who is absolutely convinced that Bayliss's take on the case and instincts are completely off. As Bayliss becomes obsessed with solving the case, particularly proving the murder was committed by a traveling fruit salesman known as an Arabber, the other detectives lose confidence in the rookie.

Meanwhile the other detectives deal with other cases, like Pembleton dealing with the murder of a police dog, Howard solving a case involving a man cheating on his wife and mistress, and Crosetti dealing with a cop who was injured in the line of duty and is now blind. Most of the time, though, is spent with Crosetti spreading conspiracy theories about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Bolander pursuing the morgue doctor or complaining about his divorce, Detective Munch elaborating on the history of marijuana, Felton complaining about his wife, and Lewis showing up until the last few episodes when he actually gets a bit of character in that it is revealed that he is building a car engine from scratch.

Homicide: Life On The Street, as it turns out, is all about dialogue. One might think that would make it all about character, but the truth is, it's less about the people speaking it and much more about what they are saying instead. That might sound unnecessarily confusing, but it's actually true and the best way to describe the phenomenon is this: what the characters talk about is so esoteric and encompassing of the time in the show that is doesn't matter who is saying what, it's not the delivery, it's the subject that is interesting. Moreover, the conversations the characters have do not apply to the episodes or even - in many cases - the characters so it's not like it helps to build character either.

The epitome of this is Crosetti, who spends virtually all of his time on screen elaborating on Abraham Lincoln, his Secretary of War, and the assassination. That's almost all he ever talks about. How does this affect his cases? It doesn't; he does not look for conspiracy theory angles in everything he encounters (indeed, he's one of the more down-to-earth characters outside his obsession with the Lincoln Assassination and Munch is characterized as the conspiracy theorist by everyone else, despite the fact that he doesn't so much promote conspiracy theories, he just talks about hemp and his girlfriend), he does not apply the obsession to his work; the only time it has any effect on a case is when he and Lewis end up in Washington, D.C. on a case and Crosetti uses the time there to get the two a tour of Ford's Theater.

Regardless of that, it's worth knowing who the basic characters are on Homicide: Life On The Street if one is even considering watching it. The principle characters include:

Lt. Giardello - the squad boss, he is efficient, kind and has a deep faith in Bayliss. He identifies with his Italian heritage far more than with his obviously black ancestry and he seldom brings ethnicity into his workings within the squad. He looks out for his people in a way that makes him a good leader and he works hard to get Pendleton to work as more of a team player,

Detective Pembleton - The most efficient of the detectives, despite the fact that he spends the entire first episode looking for a car in the police garage because he has too much pride to go back and get the car number of the car he has a key for (again, the show isn't so much about solving crime as it is about the foibles of the detectives!). He has an iron will, a wife he hardly ever sees and when he is partnered with Bayliss, he begins to feel more bugged by the job than ever,

Detective Tim Bayliss - The rookie. His first case is the murder of a girl whose body is dumped in plain view of multiple houses and not solving it right away cripples him emotionally. He becomes obsessed with figuring it out and the most interesting thing he does is try to quit smoking while working in the squad,

Detective Crosetti - Talks about the Abraham Lincoln assassination obsessively and is a friend to his suddenly blinded and bedridden friend in need,

Detective Meldrick Lewis - Shows up, eats seafood with the others at their hangout restaurant and reveals late in the set that he's rebuilding an engine and a car from scratch,

Detective Kay Howard ("Howie") - The lone female detective and one who clears a high volume of cases, she briefly dates a District Attorney and quits smoking,

Detective Beau Felton - In counseling with his wife, he is partnered with Howie and is opinionated, but not honestly pegged by others (especially Giardello) as a racist, despite what Pembleton thinks,

Detective Munch - Characterized by others as a conspiracy theorist, despite only really philosophizing on the role of hemp in U.S. history, he has two divorces in his past and is now dating a woman who he loves very much, but accidentally kills her fish. Partnered with Bolander, he has a secret love of karaoke that comes out,

and Detective Bolander - Recently divorced from his wife of twenty years who went off to find her true self without him based on the advice of a counselor, he is a dour man who misses his old partner and is bugged by working with Munch. He hates the job, but shows up anyway and his happiest moment is when he rediscovers his cello.

Despite being dull and the characters not being developed nearly as much as their weird conversations would seem to imply, Homicide: Life On The Street has an impressive cast and some generally good acting. Andre Brauger, whose work I was introduced to when he headlined Gideon's Crossing, plays Pembleton and confirms that it's hard to get a bad performance out of him. He is cool, carrying himself with an air of arrogant conviction in virtually every scene, perfectly embodying his character who is far less friendly than any other character I have seen him play.

Furthermore, it's nice to see Richard Beltzer originating the role of Munch, who went on to Law & Order: SVU, though he is largely a supporting character in this and not given a chance to shine outside the karayoke scene. And it's funny that so soon after I fell in love with the first season of Veronica Mars (reviewed here!) which featured Kyle Secor as one of the lead recurring characters that I would see him in this, where he is essentially the most-focused on character. He is good, it's hard not to give him that. He plays Bayliss with a commitment and troubled quality that is very different from his other roles. Here he is forced to play quiet and uncertain a lot and Secor succeeds at convincing the viewer that he truly is a rookie out on his first case.

But much of Homicide: Life On The Street is just good casting. Sure, it's nice to see Yapphet Kotto in something other than Alien (reviewed here!), and he convincingly portrays a leader with a strong sensitivity, illustrating that he can act, but Daniel Baldwin, Clark Johnson, Ned Beaty and Jon Polito all seem like they were well-cast as opposed to performing in any outstanding way. Jon Polito, for example, portrays Crosetti in a way that is essentially the same as the character he played in Millennium and the gangster he played in Miller's Crossing. He is not called on to act so much as fill a part and read some lines and as a result, he largely does just that. I enjoyed Polito, but I realized quickly that I was enjoying him in Homicide because it was reminding me of him on Millennium and in Miller's Crossing.

But that's truly the only aspect of Homicide: Life On The Street that is reminiscent of anything else, the adequate, but sometimes bland portrayal of characters similar to others played by the performers on the show. Outside that, the series is not like other police shows and it is not like other character-driven dramas. Instead, it feels uncomfortably slow and purposely difficult.

Particularly agonizing is an early episode wherein the squad is working at night and the air conditioning goes out. So, the hour is spent with the detectives mostly sitting around talking while action happens around them - like other police officers chasing down a perp in a santa suit! The result is an episode that is difficult to discuss because whenever anyone asks "What happened?" the answer truly is "well, nothing." In many ways, this is a show about nothing (Seinfeld doesn't have a monopoly on that!) where little happens, so people sit around talking - often over crab legs in the beginning - and musing on all sorts of philosophical ideas.

How Homicide: Life On The Street got made and aired, I've no idea. How it managed to get immortalized on DVD is an even greater mystery. After all, who wants to see a show about a bunch of people sitting around and basically talking about things like most people end up talking about after three beers. Sure, it may be interesting and consuming at the time, but when you sober up and realize you spent the previous evening absolutely convinced that the most fascinating thing in the world was how street names get changed, yet we remember them often by the name we first hear them as, we realize we wasted a tremendous amount of time.

Ultimately, that's how I felt about this program and DVD boxed set. I'm absolutely convinced it was pitched to the network while the creator of the series was drunk, talking to a drunk executive who saw the pilot episode after a real bender and greenlit it. There's no need for you to make the same mistake (whether you're sober or not!).

On DVD, the series looks and sounds good (as good as it can look given it was filmed with handheld and developed to look grainy and noirish), but the DVD bonus features are a mixed bag. There is a commentary track on the pilot episode, but it's one of those commentary tracks that largely involves the person speaking telling the viewer exactly what they are seeing as opposed to talking about either what it means or how it was made. There are featurettes and advertisements promoting the series which are interesting for those who like the show. There is even an A&E spotlight on real homicide detectives that seems strangely out of place on the disc, but is otherwise fine. These bonuses are not enough to push it up into territory that redeems the basic programming, though.

Ultimately, Homicide: Life On The Street - The Complete Seasons 1 & 2 on DVD is an underwhelming experience and one that I can't recommend to anyone. I don't even know how I would if I wanted to!

For other police works, please visit my reviews of:
The Departed
In The Heat Of The Night
The Other Guys

3.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Homicide: Life On The Street - Tales Of Erratic Police Work!

The Good: Moments of genius in character and acting, Mild benefit of space saving with this pack
The Bad: Series is very erratic, season to season and especially in the first seasons!
The Basics: Homicide: Life On The Street journeys from being a pointless collection of detectives doing anything but sleuthing to a plot-driven crime series.


Sometimes, there is a complete series multipack that might appeal to the fans of that series, but is a very tough sell to those who sit down and watch the whole thing. After highly anticipating the critically-acclaimed Homicide: Life On The Street, I found this to be quite true of that series. With an erratic start, a decent middle, a rocky end, Homicide: Life On The Street not only never truly found its audience, but it never found its footing. It does not seem to know what it wants to be.

To make it easy here at the beginning, I'll just say this: "The Complete Series" boxed set is a value in terms of space saving and content only for those who feel they must have every single episode. I highly recommend picking and choosing the seasons (four and five are the only two I'm ultimately keeping in my collection) and letting this massive pack take a pass. This boxed set includes all of the previously available seasons of Homicide: Life On The Street with all of their original DVD bonus features (usually just commentary tracks, song listings and a featurette on the season) in a slimmer packaging, which is nice because with seven seasons and a movie, the original boxed sets take up some serious space.

Homicide: Life On The Street, oddly enough, begins its run as a story about homicide detectives, but it is not a detective story. Yes, if you're sitting down thinking, "'Homicide,' sounds interesting, I wonder what makes this show different from the plethora of other detective series' out there, but hey there's murder, so it's gotta be good," you would be wrong. This show is about the people who solve the murders, but not about the process of them solving murders that occur in Baltimore, Maryland. The distinction is what makes all the difference in watching and appreciating the series. And, in that same spirit of full disclosure, knowing that the series isn't about solving crime, but rather character studies involving the men and one woman who are part of a homicide unit, does not make it any better (I was almost overdue getting the set back to the library because I went back to rewatch some episodes after I "got" what the series actually was).

The irony - again - is that right around the time it might dawn on a viewer who is sitting there scratching their head and asking, "What the hell have I been watching for the past ten hours?" the show becomes a very typical cop drama wherein the detectives are all about solving the cases. That's only the last few episodes of the second season. Unfortunately, the series then mortgages its originality and eccentricities in order to continue on as a more traditional detective series for the five seasons that follow.

Debuting in 1993 - the same year as NYPD Blue, Homicide: Life On The Street is filmed with a grainy film noir look and it is instantly more reminiscent of the comedy series The Job than a cop show. It begins as a series that does not seem to know what it wants to be, plunging the viewer into a state of confusion instead of one of enjoyment or entertainment. The resulting show is slow, just a little too quirky and distracted to be a hard drama and not funny enough to be a comedy. It's a tough nut to crack and as someone who went through the effort of cracking it, it's easy for me to say it's not worth the bother.

The homicide squad in Baltimore, Maryland finds itself getting a new member, Tim Bayliss. While most of the other detectives ignore him, he finds himself quickly catching his first case, the murder of a young girl whose time of death is difficult to establish. Lieutenant Giardello pairs him up with the most successful (of the men, anyway) detective in the squad, Pembleton, who is absolutely convinced that Bayliss's take on the case and instincts are completely off. As Bayliss becomes obsessed with solving the case, particularly proving the murder was convinced by a traveling fruit salesman known as an Arabber, the other detectives lose confidence in the rookie.

Meanwhile the other detectives deal with other cases, like Pembleton dealing with the murder of a police dog, Howard solving a case involving a man cheating on his wife and mistress, and Crosetti dealing with a cop who was injured in the line of duty and is now blind. Most of the time, though, is spent with Crosetti spreading conspiracy theories about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Bolander pursuing the morgue doctor or complaining about his divorce, Detective Munch elaborating on the history of marijuana, Felton complaining about his wife, and Lewis showing up until the last few episodes when he actually gets a bit of character in that it is revealed that he is building a car engine from scratch.

As the series goes on, a drug lord named Luther Mahoney and his cartel spark a war in the streets of Baltimore, characters enter and depart and Frank has a stroke. Unfortunately, there is only a limited time that the show truly works.

Homicide: Life On The Street, as it turns out, is all about dialogue. One might think that would make it all about character, but the truth is, it's less about the people speaking it and much more about what they are saying instead. That might sound unnecessarily confusing, but it's actually true and the best way to describe the phenomenon is this: what the characters talk about is so esoteric and encompassing of the time in the show that is doesn't matter who is saying what, it's not the delivery, it's the subject that is interesting. Moreover, the conversations the characters have do not apply to the episodes or even - in many cases - the characters so it's not like it helps to build character either.

The epitome of this is Crosetti, who spends virtually all of his time on screen elaborating on Abraham Lincoln, his Secretary of War, and the assassination. That's almost all he ever talks about. How does this affect his cases? It doesn't; he does not look for conspiracy theory angles in everything he encounters (indeed, he's one of the more down-to-earth characters outside his obsession with the Lincoln Assassination and Munch is characterized as the conspiracy theorist by everyone else, despite the fact that he doesn't so much promote conspiracy theories, he just talks about hemp and his girlfriend), he does not apply the obsession to his work; the only time it has any effect on a case is when he and Lewis end up in Washington, D.C. on a case and Crosetti uses the time there to get the two a tour of Ford's Theater.

Regardless of that, it's worth knowing who the basic characters are on Homicide: Life On The Street if one is even considering watching it. The principle characters include:

Lt. Giardello - the squad boss, he is efficient, kind and has a deep faith in Bayliss. He identifies with his Italian heritage far more than with his obviously black ancestry and he seldom brings ethnicity into his workings within the squad. He looks out for his people in a way that makes him a good leader and he works hard to get Pendleton to work as more of a team player,

Detective Pembleton - The most efficient of the detectives, despite the fact that he spends the entire first episode looking for a car in the police garage because he has too much pride to go back and get the car number of the car he has a key for (again, the show isn't so much about solving crime as it is about the foibles of the detectives!). He has an iron will, a wife he hardly ever sees and when he is partnered with Bayliss, he begins to feel more bugged by the job than ever,

Detective Tim Bayliss - The rookie. His first case is the murder of a girl whose body is dumped in plain view of multiple houses and not solving it cripples him emotionally. He becomes obsessed with figuring it out and the most interesting thing he does is try to quit smoking while working in the squad,

Detective Crosetti - Talks about the Abraham Lincoln assassination obsessively and is a friend to his suddenly blinded and bedridden friend in need,

Detective Meldrick Lewis - Shows up, eats seafood with the others at their hangout restaurant and reveals late in the set that he's rebuilding an engine and a car from scratch. As the series goes on, he and Munch buy a bar only to find the expense of opening it to be overwhelming and unprofitable. Frustrated with Pembleton's apparent class snobbery in a shooting on the border of the projects, Lewis mopes through his cases unattached and largely disaffected by all,

Detective Kay Howard ("Howie") - The lone female detective and one who clears a high volume of cases, she briefly dates a District Attorney and quits smoking,

Detective Beau Felton - In counseling with his wife, he is partnered with Howie and is opinionated, but not honestly pegged by others (especially Giardello) as a racist, despite what Pembleton thinks,

Detective Munch - Characterized by others as a conspiracy theorist, despite only really philosophizing on the role of hemp in U.S. history, he has two divorces in his past and is now dating a woman who he loves very much, but accidentally kills her fish. Partnered with Bolander, he has a secret love of karaoke that comes out,

Captain Megan Russert - She keeps tabs on Giardello and the squad until the snipers terrorize Baltimore. Needing a scapegoat, Barnfather demotes her back to detective and she begins to work alongside those she previously commanded,

Detective Mike Kellerman - Moving from the arson unit to homicide, he is paired with Lewis rather quickly. He lives on a boat and is divorced. His style is rather laid back and in the course of the season, he is quickly forced to upgrade his wardrobe,

Brodie - An aspiring cameraman and reporter, his information saves one of the cases, so Giardello brings Brodie into the squad to film crime scenes for the unit,

and Detective Bolander - Recently divorced from his wife of twenty years who went off to find her true self without him based on the advice of a counselor, he is a dour man who misses his old partner and is bugged by working with Munch. He hates the job, but shows up anyway and his happiest moment is when he rediscovers his cello.

Despite being dull and the characters not being developed nearly as much as their weird conversations would seem to imply, Homicide: Life On The Street has an impressive cast and some generally good acting. Andre Brauger, whose work I was introduced to when he headlined Gideon's Crossing, plays Pembleton and confirms that it's hard to get a bad performance out of him. He is cool, carrying himself with an air of arrogant conviction in virtually every scene, perfectly embodying his character who is far less friendly than any other character I have seen him play.

Furthermore, it's nice to see Richard Beltzer originating the role of Munch, who went on to Law & Order: SVU, though he is largely a supporting character in this and not given a chance to shine outside the karayoke scene. And it's funny that so soon after I fell in love with the first season of Veronica Mars (reviewed here!) which featured Kyle Secor as one of the lead recurring characters that I would see him in this, where he is essentially the most-focused on character. He is good, it's hard not to give him that. He plays Bayliss with a commitment and troubled quality that is very different from his other roles. Here he is forced to play quiet and uncertain a lot and Secor succeeds at convincing the viewer that he truly is a rookie out on his first case.

But much of Homicide: Life On The Street is just good casting. Sure, it's nice to see Yapphet Kotto in something other than Alien (reviewed here!), and he convincingly portrays a leader with a strong sensitivity, illustrating that he can act, but Daniel Baldwin, Clark Johnson, Ned Beaty and Jon Polito all seem like they were well-cast as opposed to performing in any outstanding way. Jon Polito, for example, portrays Crosetti in a way that is essentially the same as the character he played in Millennium and the gangster he played in Miller's Crossing. He is not called on to act so much as fill a part and read some lines and as a result, he largely does just that. I enjoyed Polito, but I realized quickly that I was enjoying him in Homicide because it was reminding me of him on Millennium and in Miller's Crossing.

But that's truly the only aspect of Homicide: Life On The Street that is reminiscent of anything else, the adequate, but sometimes bland portrayal of characters similar to others played by the performers on the show. Outside that, the series is not like other police shows and it is not like other character-driven dramas. Instead, it feels uncomfortably slow and purposely difficult.

Particularly agonizing is an early episode wherein the squad is working at night and the air conditioning goes out. So, the hour is spent with the detectives mostly sitting around talking while action happens around them - like other police officers chasing down a perp in a santa suit! The result is an episode that is difficult to discuss because whenever anyone asks "What happened?" the answer truly is "well, nothing." In many ways, this is a show about nothing (Seinfeld doesn't have a monopoly on that!) where little happens, so people sit around talking - often over crab legs in the beginning - and musing on all sorts of philosophical ideas.

As the series goes on, the pendulum swings the exact opposite way; the show becomes gritty and professional, all business, all about the cases. Character is largely sacrificed for plot, like with the incident with Luther Mahony, which drives the fifth and sixth seasons.

How Homicide: Life On The Street got made and aired, I've no idea. How it managed to get immortalized on DVD is an even greater mystery. After all, who wants to see a show about a bunch of people sitting around and basically talking about things like most people end up talking about after three beers. Sure, it may be interesting and consuming at the time, but when you sober up and realize you spent the previous evening absolutely convinced that the most fascinating thing in the world was how street names get changed, yet we remember them often by the name we first hear them as, we realize we wasted a tremendous amount of time.

Ultimately, that's how I felt about this program and DVD boxed set. I'm absolutely convinced it was pitched to the network while the creator of the series was drunk, talking to a drunk executive who saw the pilot episode after a real bender and greenlit it. There's no need for you to make the same mistake (whether you're sober or not!).

On DVD, the series looks and sounds good (as good as it can look given it was filmed with handheld and developed to look grainy and noirish), but the DVD bonus features are a mixed bag. There is a commentary track on the pilot episode, but it's one of those commentary tracks that largely involves the person speaking telling the viewer exactly what they are seeing as opposed to talking about either what it means or how it was made. There are featurettes and advertisements promoting the series which are interesting for those who like the show. There is even an A&E spotlight on real homicide detectives that seems strangely out of place on the disc, but is otherwise fine. These bonuses are not enough to push it up into territory that redeems the basic programming, though.

Sadly, this is definitely a better "pick and choose" series.

For a better idea of what this multipack includes, please check out my reviews of the individual seasons available at:
Seasons 1 & 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
Season 7
Homicide: The Movie

For other shows that air(ed) on NBC, please check out my reviews of:
30 Rock – Season 1
The West Wing
Heroes
Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip
Friends
Frasier
V - The Television Series
Star Trek

4.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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