Justice: Part 2 (23 Feb. 1996)

Director:

Peter Medak

Writers:

Tom Fontana (story), Henry Bromell (story),

Stars:

Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Reed Diamond

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Belzer	...	Det. John Munch
Andre Braugher	...	Det. Frank Pembleton
Reed Diamond	...	Det. Mike Kellerman
Isabella Hofmann	...	Det. Megan Russert
Clark Johnson	...	Det. Meldrick Lewis
Yaphet Kotto	...	Lt. Al Giardello
Melissa Leo	...	Det. Sgt. Kay Howard
Kyle Secor	...	Det. Tim Bayliss
Bruce Campbell	...	Jake Rodzinsky
Max Perlich	...	J.H. Brodie
Donald Neal	...	Augie Distel
John Haynes Walker	...	Pez McCadden
Martha Thimmesch	...	Carol Rodzinski
Harlee McBride	...	Dr. Alyssa Dyer
Frederika Kesten	...	Janine

Storyline

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Release Date:

23 February 1996 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Company Credits

User Reviews

"There ain't no justice... it's just us"

The first episode of the two-parter ended with Kenny Damon being acquitted from the charge of murdering of a former detective, with the victim's son, Jake Rodzinksi (Bruce Campbell of "Ash" fame in a nicely low-key turn), also a cop, threatening revenge.

Now, Damon is found dead: Kellerman (Reed Diamond) and Howard (Melissa Leo) investigate the case, while Meldrick (Clark Johnson), as a friend of the main suspect, is torn between loyalty to him and the increasing suspicion that Jake did indeed do it.

A tight, gripping script - the final monologue by Gee (Yaphet Kotto) is chilling - shows the difficulty of investigating fellow officers and examines the consequences of the "vigilante" brand of justice. It's the thematic flip side of "Justice: Part One": in the first episode, the law fails, and the guilty man goes free; in the second, a cop takes the law in his own hands, with dramatic consequences.

What's remarkable is the absence of finger-wagging, facile moralizing; Jake Rodzinski is neither a "Death Wish", righteous hero, nor a cartoonish monster - he is decent, exasperated man who faces a moral break down and loses it, in a creepy foreshadowing of Kellerman's (who, ironically, is the primary here) fate in the next seasons.

A very amusing (if lightweight) secondary storyline of Bayliss/Pembleton banter rounds up this fine episode.

8/10