About Last Night…HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET

Let’s talk about last night’s TV!

HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET: “Justice Part 1”: Part of me is anxious to finish the show* so I can read/devour everything behind the scenes about it. I’m so curious about how many multi-part episodes they’re doing this season. But by the nature of the title, I was nervous before I even pressed play.

It’s always complex when a cop is involved in a crime, but this whole situation was extra messy given Lewis’ connection to Jake beyond the case. On paper, another unit maybe should have handled it, but I also don’t know if anyone could be investigating things without a real conflict of interest. (But, hey, Bruce Campbell as Jake, the son of the murdered cop!)

I’ve mentioned this before, but even when the “part 1” spoils the case won’t be confined to an episode, the writers have been good about finding ways to surprise even hardened/cynical viewers of these kinds of shows. Yeah, it was a two-parter, but we had the whole case and trial in an episode. The continuing element was, well, the quest for justice.

(Also: Confronting a juror was bad, but ending a trial and not convicting a killer because you wanted to go home for the weekend was…even worse.)

*I’ll likely watch the final seasons of the show for ALN in the summer, barring a really unexpected hiatus of television this winter/spring. Trying to avoid the urge to read up in the meantime will be torture.

“Justice Part 2”: I’m shocked, just shocked, that Kenny Damon was killed. (Did I mention I was shocked?!) Who could have guessed that someone killing a cop and then getting off because of a lazy jury would wind up dead?!

While Jake being responsible wasn’t a shock, it was interesting how they navigated around the reveal. There were a bunch of genuinely tense moments—whether or not Lewis should be allowed to work the case, the reveal that Jake killed his family’s dog (I hated the scene, but it was an effective shock)—leading to them actually breaking Jake’s partner. And Kellerman being insulted both that Jake’s partner helped facilitate the murder and he gave up his partner was a good, darkly twisted beat.

But, on the lighter side: Oh my God, Frank and Tim and the grilled cheese war. It was extremely funny (and understandable) how passive-aggressive it was, but then when Frank got Tim a grilled cheese at the end, my initial note was, “Why does Tim trust this grilled cheese?!” But, nope, that wasn’t the revenge; it was a billion (slight exaggeration) grilled cheeses everywhere Tim could look. Absolutely hilarious payback.

“Stakeout”: A rule of thumb: If you claim you can make an event while you’re also trying to juggle a big work thing in any kind of scripted programming, that will almost never be true.

The stakeout itself was interesting. It was fun to see the mess of the homeowners (boy, is it wild how much Kate Walsh has not changed in almost three decades), but it was juxtaposed with our guys pretty trapped, too. I loved that Tim has never let go of Adena and the grief/trauma of not solving her case.

On a structural level, as someone who covers this industry, I’m fascinated by how they were allowed to keep Adena as a running thread in an era that pre-dated seasons being available to rewatch outside of syndication. Even a decade ago, I heard from showrunners who got pushback over wanting to bring back long-buried storylines because of how much you’d have to remind the present-day audience of what they missed. It’s honestly refreshing how much HOMICIDE believes the audience just gets it.

Which shows did you watch last night?

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