About Last Night…BIG BROTHER and HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET

Let’s talk about Sunday night’s TV!

BIG BROTHER: All I’m gonna say is there’s a real pattern to the people Tucker has targeted.

And the people who were thrilled to flip the house in his favor? Yeah, you are absolutely safe in the short term. How do you think you’re actually going to beat him, though? At least the non-Tucker alliances felt a lot more even/like anyone can win. Tucker’s alliances feel like he’s getting people around him as a buffer to protect himself until he’s done with them. Which, to be clear, is smart on his end…but dumb for everyone who willingly makes themselves

(And, yeah, T’Kor and Kimo…going to be interesting to see if they have a shred of remorse post-game when they see all of the footage of Quinn being clear he was loyal to them.)

HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET: For so many years, HOMICIDE had been one of the shows I really wanted to see, but hadn’t been able to for various reasons. I’ve seen bits and pieces, obviously watched Richard Belzer’s Munch in the LAW & ORDER world, but I’ve never watched in any real capacity. It’s also one of the most respected/praised police dramas by people I know. So with the show now available on Peacock, I’m going to be watching a couple of episodes every day and include it in ALNs. (This will absolutely not continue during the regular TV season; I may come back to watch more during holiday breaks, but it’s TBD.)

It’s absolutely possible I’m biased to love any character the late, great Andre Braugher played, but, man, I already love Frank. And what I kept marveling at during the pilot was how well the show sets up the series as a whole (there are exposition dumps, to the newest member of the team, but it feels earned), but also makes these characters so specific. Frank not marking where his police car was parked, but refusing to get another key for a car with a clearly marked space and instead checking each individual car? It says so, so, so much about who he is, both as a human and an investigator.

One of the things that really surprised me about the first couple of episodes was how it’s not quite as “case of the week” as I expected. So far, there are a bunch of cases at once and the hours end more open-ended than I expected. And, to be clear, that’s actually great and way more realistic. I’m curious to see if this continues and/or if there are times when they entirely shift from this format. (Super big cases, etc.)

Okay, a few extra thoughts about the first two hours:

• I know it was the early ’90s, but I also didn’t expect so many cigarettes. (Not a complaint, just a “wow, this really was a different time” kind of thing.)
• (Okay, also the typewriters.)
• One of the fun things about watching older shows for the first time is seeing all of the soon-to-be famous guest stars. In the first couple of episodes, we got Steve Harris, Zeljko Ivanek, and Lee Tergesen.
• The Lincoln assassination conspiracy theory being a throughline (through two episodes) was definitely not something I saw coming, but I laughed out loud.
• One of my concerns about starting this show was about how the non-white (straight) males in the show might be treated, both within the department and also as developed characters on the show. There’s definitely an imbalance with Melissa Leo’s Kay the only woman on the team, but so far, it hasn’t been as uncomfortable as I feared. Yeah, she was convinced a victim was coming to her in a dream, but the reaction at least felt comparable to anyone saying it versus mocking her due to her gender.
• Hey, it’s 1993 and they’re already (correctly) talking about cops coercing suspects into confessing and manipulating them into giving up their rights. I’m interested to see if this becomes a throughline, too, or if it was done to make a point.
• Munch talking about retiring. Sigh. Buddy, you have so much work ahead of you.
• The old man who was dead, but then wasn’t, but then was? Oh my GOD.
• Bayliss using the watercooler as a desk was funny, but also…what a nightmare to have a big job situation and be using that as your central hub.

Which shows did you watch last night?

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