About Last Night…HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET

Let’s talk about Monday night’s TV!

HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET: “Heartbeat”: Okay, I love cats and even I’d be freaked out if a black cat suddenly showed up in my office…

The Poe of it all delighted me, even if it made everything approximately one thousand percent creepier. Being buried alive sounds like one of the worst ways to die. But leaning into everything was so freaking creative. The beating heart sound being utilized in the interrogation scene—as a homage to “The Tell-Tale Heart”—was absolutely brilliant, both by the cops and the real-life writing team.

Given the potential bad luck, I was really worried about Tim accidentally quasi-spilling the beans about Mary being pregnant, but it ended up being much worse than I anticipated: Rather than a health scare, Frank made it clear he no longer trusted Tim. (And Tim had been one of two people he trusted.) It HURTS.

I’m so used to Munch being cynical about love on SVU that it was absolutely jarring to see him absolutely giddy and in love here. Of course, he immediately screwed it up by cheating on his girlfriend with her brand-new roommate, but still.

“Hate Crimes”: Well, after they just had a case where they started their investigation before the kid died, we have another similar situation here…but maybe even more disturbing, because Frank actually got to talk to their victim before he died? (No, I don’t blame Tim for being freaked out about watching someone die, either.)

Terry O’Quinn’s character was hard to watch (love your kids no matter what, FFS, no matter who they might love), but, damn, did he give an incredible performance.

Speaking of incredible performers, the young actress who played the child who was still traumatized by her mom’s death was incredible, too. Kid actors are really difficult to get right, but, wow, was she good. And, honestly, this is something that is fun about the binge: It’s wild they brought back Dean Winters as Tom Marans and solved the case a season later. (Also, Tom, asking if you’re a good person and looking for brownie points because you only killed your girlfriend and not her daughter?! Absolutely not.)

I’m not really sure what to make of Kellerman’s take on Lewis and Kay’s relationship…

“Thrill of the Kill”: Oh, hello terrifying Jeffrey Donovan?! Truly such a well done episode, because they made this serial killer terrifying so fast. A voiceover could feel cliche or cheap/lazy, but it was so effective. The bit about sucking in a person’s last breath? Well, uh, let’s just say my notes included a curse I should not repeat here.

Absolutely cruel (and, fine, brilliant) of the writers to have Al be stressed about his (previously unseen) daughter being late for their planned meet-up while we saw another young Black woman fall victim to the serial killer. It’s effectively tense and stressful, and something that would be harder to plausibly pull off with modern technology.

The gas attendant claiming something was wrong with the woman’s card to get her away from the car because he spotted “the killer” in the backseat was also pretty genius, too. Too bad it, uh, was his twin. Also very interesting how the twins protected each other: One was clear they didn’t do it but wouldn’t reveal the actual killer’s identity. The other couldn’t allow his brother to take the fall for crimes he committed and effectively turned himself in. (Though killing someone while taunting the police was insane.)

What a great episode.

Which shows did you watch last night?

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