HOMICIDE - LIFE on the STREET

S01E02
"Ghost of a Chance" (B+)

          Episode two picks up right where the first left us, with Bayliss at his first crime scene.  The victim, one Adena Watson, has been murdered in a most unsavory way.  The extremely young age of the victim, along with the vicious manner in which she met her demise, has garnered a substantial amount of attention from the press.  The term "red ball" is used to describe the case, a term which is used to denote a high-profile homicide case with no apparent leads.



          Bayliss is apprehensive, carefully observing every detail of the crime scene, asking himself: "What am I missing?"  Eventually Giardello arrives, telling Bayliss that it's time to move the body.  Other members of the homicide unit are on the scene, looking on in a blend of pity and contempt for the rookie detective.  Munch, in the meantime, has a conniption brought on by a rat nearby the crime scene.  He hurls insults at the rodent with no apparent motivation for his outburst, which to me seems like the writers were somewhat overselling his character as the "angry guy".

          The squad room is teeming with frenzied energy as the entire department converges to bring down the case.  There's pressure from both the press and the superior officers of the police department.  Most are unsure of Bayliss' ability to handle a case of this stature, with Pembleton even going so far as to undermine Bayliss by asking Giardello to replace Bayliss with himself as the primary.  He even kisses his ass while doing so, calling Giardello "my esteemed Lieutenant".  Giardello, however, is unwavering in his support of Bayliss, even refusing to replace him at the insistence of his immediate superior, Capt. George Barnfather (played by Clayton LeBouef, better known for playing the role of Orlando on "The Wire").  Tensions between Bayliss and Pembleton are high to begin with, and escalate further when an anonymous source reveals to the press that the rookie detective has yet to be assigned to a desk of his own, an anonymous source that was likely Pembleton.  Clutching at straws, the unit scrambles to find a suspect, even bringing in a somewhat-crazed vagrant for interrogation.  Bayliss attends the funeral of Adena Watson, guilt-stricken by his inability to find reason behind her senseless killing.

          But not is all gloomy in this episode, as we are treated to a substantial dose of humor (though it's somewhat dark in areas) as Munch and Bolander investigate a potential homicide.  Travelling to one of the more affluent neighborhoods of Baltimore, they find an elderly couple in their 16-room house, the husband lying motionless on the floor.  The wife, who already identifies herself as "the Widow Doohan", initially seems distraught at the death of her husband, but is even more beside herself once it is discovered that he is not, in fact dead.  ("Where's that slut?" he asks upon regaining conscious.  "Die, you bastard!" she screams at him.)

          Later on, Team Surly is called back to the same house, and this time Mr. Doohan is genuinely deceased.  Though, this time, he is found in the cellar of the house, and foul play is most definitely suspected.  All the while, Munch and Bolander discuss Bolander's sex life, or lack thereof, including his near-induction to the mile-high club with a woman who prefers it "iguana-style".  The officer on the scene, Chris Thormann, probably looks familiar.  That's because it's none other than Lee Tergesen, who later appears in the David Simon universe as "Evan 'Scribe' Wright" on his "Generation Kill" mini-series.  Back at the morgue (or Medical Examiner's Office, as they'd have you call it) Bolander awkardly flirts with Dr. Carol Blythe, M.E.(Wendy Hughes), to fairly humorous effect.  TV nerds, such as myself, might recognize Hughes from her single episode appearance on Star Trek: The Next Generation (S06E19 - "Lessons") as Picard's fleeting love interest.

          We are also introduced to Assistant State's Attorney Ed Danvers (Zeljko Ivanek), who shows up at rhe station to pressure Howard into making his life easier.  Danvers is trying to prosecute Ralph Fenwick for the murder of Agnes Saunders, and without the murder weapon the charge will most likely be reduced to manslaughter.  Kay believes she knows the location of the weapon after having an honest-to-god paranormal experience, in which the ghost of Saunders visits her and tells her the weapon's whereabouts.  This encounter occurs off-screen, but judging by the conviction with which Howard describes the event, she truly believes it happened.  Naturally, the rest of the unit pokes fun at this, with Crosetti and Lewis treating her to their a capella rendition of the "Casper: The Friendly Ghost" theme song.  This subplot is by far the weakest part of the episode, as the absurdity of it all greatly negates the show's sense of authenticity.

          Overall, it was a fairly good episode, despite the presence of some magical realism.  But the show continues to develop characters, and even finds its stride in the humor department, something a lot of TV dramas struggle with for most of their debut season.

Potent Quotables

• "You've got a one-track mind that leads to an empty depot." - Meldrick, to Crosetti, regarding his continued obsession with Lincoln conspiracies.
• "Iguana-style, huh?" - Munch, to Bolander
• "We made a promise we wouldn't get divorced until after all the children were dead." - The Widow Doohan
• "Detective Lewis says you tend to have crabs." - Bolander, to Dr. Blythe

And now, time for some:
Familiar Faces

Clayton LeBouef

Wendy Hughes

Lee Tergesen

It's a bird!  It's a plane!  It's State Delegate Odell
Watkins! (Frederick Strother) I'm not sure if he
actually has any lines during the series.

Tags: Homicide: Life on the Street, NBC, David Simon, The Wire, Richard Belzer, John Munch, Clark Johnson, Meldrick Lewis, Yaphet Kotto, Al Giardello, Kyle Secor, Tim Bayliss, Andre Braugher, Frank Pembleton, Melissa Leo, Kay Howard, Jon Polito, Steve Crosetti, Salami Brain, Fat-Headed Guinea, Ned Beatty, Stan Bolander, Clayton LeBouef, Lee Tergesen, Wendy Hughes, Frederick Strother, State Delegate Odell Watkins.