"Homicide: Life on the Street" Partners and Other Strangers (1997)

User Rating:

8.8/10   

Directors:

Leslie Libman
Larry Williams

Writers:

Paul Attanasio (creator)
Anya Epstein (writer)

TV Series:

"Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993)

Original Air Date:

9 May 1997 (Season 5, Episode 21)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Police | Baltimore Maryland | Murder | Police Detective | Based On Book

Cast

Richard Belzer	...	Det. John Munch
Andre Braugher	...	Det. Frank Pembleton
Reed Diamond	...	Det. Mike Kellerman
Michelle Forbes	...	Dr. Julianna Cox
Clark Johnson	...	Det. Meldrick Lewis
Yaphet Kotto	...	Lt. Al Giardello
Melissa Leo	...	Det. Sgt. Kay Howard
Max Perlich	...	J.H. Brodie
Kyle Secor	...	Det. Tim Bayliss
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Daniel Baldwin	...	Beau Felton (archive footage)
Robert Bornarth	...	George Bayliss (as Robert Bonarth)
Robert Carlson	...	Officer Denys
Peter Gerety	...	Det. Stuart Gharty
Aaron Hern	...	Aaron Moss
Isabella Hofmann	...	Det. Megan Russert
Clayton LeBouef	...	Col. George Barnfather
Toni Lewis	...	Det. Terri Stivers
Walt MacPherson	...	Capt. Roger Gaffney
Harlee McBride	...	M.E. Alyssa Dyer
Jon Seda	...	Det. Paul Falsone
Judy Thornton	...	Judy
Scott William Winters	...	Eddie Dugan (as Scott Winters)

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Movie Connections:

References Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)

An excellent episode - too bad it was the beginning of the end

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Former detective Beau Felton (Daniel Baldwin, missing from season 3) is found dead: it looks like a suicide. The case is assigned to Pembleton (Andre Braugher) who famously did not get along well with Beau.

Kay Howard (Melissa Leo, who was utterly convincing as a Homicide cop, unlike the other actresses who came after her), former partner and friend of Beau, is shocked and incredulous, and so is Al "Gee" Giardello (Yaphet Kotto).

Meldrick (Clark Johnson) is also shaken, as he has not yet accepted the loss of his own partner Crosetti - plus, he, Kellerman (Reed Diamond) and Stivers(Toni Lewis) have just faced in the previous episodes the dramatic situation of the Mahoney shooting, and are still trying to cope with their decisions.

Pembleton also tries to discover the secret his partner Bayliss (Kyle Secor) seems to have. Megan Russert (Isabella Hoffman , in a guest star appearance) comes back from France, and, much to her chagrin, she finds out that Munch (Richard Belzer) hasn't still solved her open cases.

This magnificent episode -great scenes: the final Pembleton-Bayliss dialogue, which gives me shivers; the detectives' flashbacks about their not always easy relationships with Beau - is also sadly remembered for the introduction of Paul Falsone (Jon Seda), who in the next two seasons will become a series regular and, with the help of other characters such as Gharty (Peter Gerety, who also has a role here), Ballard (Callie Throne) and Sheppard (Michael Michele), will nearly destroy the series. In fact, the second episode of this two-parter is made nearly unwatchable by the emphasis put on Falsone and on Gharty.

Pity, really. But this episode, in spite of that, is superb.

9/10