Detectives Logan and Barek discover a string of homicides are being carried out by former foster kids.Detectives Logan and Barek discover a string of homicides are being carried out by former foster kids.Detectives Logan and Barek discover a string of homicides are being carried out by former foster kids.
Photos
- Paula Chopauer
- (as Marsha Dietlein Bennett)
- Det. Kandell
- (as Ed Blunt)
- Cousin Chet
- (as muMs)
- Floyd Bolton
- (as Mohamed Dione)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaCo-stars Chris Noth and Whoopi Goldberg share a birthday: November 13th. To the day, Chris Noth is one year older than Whoopi.
- GoofsThere would be no logical reason to arraign the only witness to the crimes with the other defendants, especially if the defendants were being charged with violent offenses and had alleged murdered another one of their criminal cohort.
- Quotes
Detective Mike Logan: What, you're going?
Detective Carolyn Barek: Well, yeah. Sleep, remember?
Detective Mike Logan: You live all the way in Brooklyn. My place is right down the street.
Detective Carolyn Barek: [gives him a wary look]
Detective Mike Logan: I'll take the couch.
[smirks]
Detective Carolyn Barek: I don't believe you got a
[searches for appropriate word]
Detective Carolyn Barek: couch that big.
Detective Mike Logan: Yeah, maybe not.
- ConnectionsReferences Caddyshack (1980)
It's a compelling set up we've seen before, in everything from Charles Dickens to Ma Barker -- a dark parental figure who uses their influence to corrupt children. For much of the episode, things ring true. So, why not a 10?
Two main reasons:
1) The dialogue starts to come apart, especially in an interrogation scene between Logan and Goldberg's spidery villain. It's meant to show her prowess at getting under people's skins and manipulating them -- and we're led to believe on some level it works with Logan. That's a mistake. Logan is too hard-headed at this point in his life for it to work so easily. He'd know going in what he's up against and play poker just as ably, even if he loses in the end. And the dialogue starts to become babble, as they seem to trade off a list of psychological hang ups one or the other might have. If you want to see a much cleaner and more effective version of the same thing, watch The Silence of the Lambs.
2) Whoopi Goldberg. In some ways, Goldberg is like William Shatner, which is to say, less is more. Both have strong faces and can communicate volumes with just an expression. So, when they overdo it, the performance starts to overpower the scene. In this case, Goldberg's psychopath is supposed to be so careful, she's flown under the radar for years. Never mind the subtext that poor children tend to be forgotten in the system. We're to believe she not only creates a successful criminal empire but also can keep it quiet for years. Yet, Goldberg can't resist the temptation to ham it up at times. This undermines the very last moment where just a knowing smile aimed at Logan is enough. Now, imagine if she'd played it without telegraphing everything throughout the episode -- that last scene of her smiling would have resonated even more.
So, this is a good episode. Perhaps had it been done earlier in the season, it might have been great.
- bkkaz
- Apr 21, 2023