About Last Night…HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET

Let’s talk about last night’s TV!

HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET: “Scene of the Crime”: Okay, first of all: Directed by Kathy Bates! Love, love, love that.

Unlike the previous episode, I’m confused about this episode in an entirely different way: This doesn’t feel like it should come after “The Wedding,” but Peacock has been running the episodes in the intended order (as far as I know), so while there were absolutely good things here (which I’ll get to in a second), I definitely spent part of the episode wondering why none of the threads from the last episode were addressed at all.

As for what we did get, the potential out-of-order airing was actually relevant because I wondered if the tension between Kellerman and Lewis was in any way connected to Lewis keeping his girlfriend/relationship from his partner. It worked, tension-wise, if so, but it could just as easily be me projecting because I know those characters experienced that strain. It’s interesting to watch them find their footing as a partnership, especially compared to Frank and Tim in the early years. Both partnerships featured one man who was more reserved, but their dynamics still feel very different.

But, man, the cop who froze in the line of duty…a brutally painful subplot, still wildly relevant today. (And handled better than most police reform stories are in modern storytelling.) Of course it’s human nature to be afraid. But as they pointed out, there’s a difference between a split-second fear when faced with a dangerous situation versus actively not doing your job and leading to someone’s death because you didn’t get backup and were too afraid to go in alone. “People can’t trust the police and we can’t trust each other. So who’s left to rely on?” was such a powerful thesis statement, essentially, for the storyline as Megan tried to do what was right and things still didn’t really resolve in a good way. But, man, I do love Megan and Kay, and the fact they’re able to be honest and open with each other..

And, oh, Munch thinks Stan is coming back. Oh, buddy…

(LOL to Al leaking to the press and being absolutely giddy about it.) 

“Work Related”: Aw, Frank had a daughter. Baby Olivia was adorable, as was Tim’s clear adoration for her.

But.

Wow. At first, I thought Frank was faking his health issues given how extreme he has gotten in interrogation, and it would have been a potentially effective way to unnerve someone into potentially confessing. But. Uh. No. And, full disclosure, I ended up bursting into tears at the image of Frank dead in the coroner’s office (in his coma nightmare), given the recent real-life tragic loss of Andre Braugher. There were great performances from the ensemble, there was great writing and pacing as everything suddenly took a (figurative) sharp left turn as everything suddenly became about Frank and his health. It would have impacted me in a different way if I had watched it five years ago. But it was one of the hardest things I’ve watched so far, even though the too-soon loss of him and Belzer has hit me multiple times while doing this first-time viewing.

As much as I’ve tried to stay spoiler-free, I do think Braugher remained with the show, so I’m curious to see how/when he returns and how the stroke impacted him.

On a lighter note (I guess?!), Lewis revealing he was on the verge of divorce…what?! Dude, you just said you got married so fast to outrun any second thoughts, which, look, is a huge red flag there. But now you’re maybe throwing in the towel, right after you got back from your honeymoon? Mess!!

With this marking the end of season 4, I’ll have to take another break from the show…network television is back, hopefully through May, so I’ll be back then to finish the series and watch the movie. (I miss the show already.)

Which shows did you watch last night?

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