"Homicide: Life on the Street" Stakeout (1996)

User Rating:

9.2/10   

Director:

John McNaughton

Writers:

Tom Fontana (story) &
Noel Behn (story) ...

TV Series:

"Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993)

Original Air Date:

15 March 1996 (Season 4, Episode 15)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

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

Cast

Richard Belzer	...	Det. John Munch
Melissa Leo	...	Det. Sgt. Kay Howard
Clark Johnson	...	Det. Meldrick Lewis
Andre Braugher	...	Det. Frank Pembleton
Kyle Secor	...	Det. Tim Bayliss
Yaphet Kotto	...	Lt. Al Giardello
Isabella Hofmann	...	Lt. / Capt. Megan Russert
Reed Diamond	...	Det. Mike Kellerman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Helen Carey	...	A.S.A. Maggie Conroy
Harlee McBride	...	M.E. Alyssa Dyer
Tyler Miller	...	Paul Hassett
Max Perlich	...	J.H. Brodie
Jim True-Frost	...	George Buxton (as JimTrue)
Kate Walsh	...	Cathy Buxton

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Quotes:

Det. Frank Pembleton: I don't know about you, but I don't wanna see Munch run out a bunt.

Movie Connections:

References Stakeout (1987)

"No job is worth that"

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Ranking among the best ten episodes of the series, Stakeout is a gem. It'a character driven episode that sums up Homicide: Life on the Street perfectly. The Homicide Squad sets up a stakeout to catch a multiple murderer: the whole episode focuses on the interactions and dialogues between the several detectives - their profession, their personal lives and how the job affects them, their relationships with each other. The teleplay by Noel Behn is fabulous, with vivid, fascinating dialogues which sharply define the characters and their personalities.

It's great to see the interplay between unlikely pairs, and it's really admirable how in less than a hour the episode manages to give each one of the main eight characters something to do - and, additionally, it examines the difficult relationship of the house-owners where the stakeout is taking place, and the shallow motivations of an accomplice of the killer. As the long hours of wait pass, problematic Bayliss (Kyle Secor) muses about leaving Homicide and reveals how the profession - and, in particular, his first and still unsolved case - is haunting him; cold Pembleton (Andre Braugher) pretends to be indifferent to Bayliss' threats to leave, but is actually worried about losing his partner; Lewis (Clark Johnson) wonders why Bayliss did not open up to him, which brings painful memories about his old partner Crosetti killing himself; cynical Munch (Richard Belzer) comments on his disappointment about people and friends; captain "Gee" Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) realizes, as time goes by, that he is probably going to miss his daughter's wedding, which he wasn't really sure he wanted to see in the first place; and so on...

Utterly captivating, expertly paced, directed with a sure hand by veteran (John McNaughton), Stakeout is one of those episodes to bring with you on a desert island.

10/10