Belker (a pleasingly scruffy Bruce Weitz) poses as a bum to catch a slasher. Davenport (fine work by Veronica Hamel) defends Donald Lilly (a sound performance by Thomas Carter), a young man who's been wrongfully accused of rape. The van containing the corpse of Renko's father is stolen. Washington (Taurean Blacque, cool as ever) asks Furillo (the always splendid Daniel J. Travanti) to give LaRue (well played by Kiel Martin) his old job back. This episode neatly mines an amusing line in inspired offbeat humor: Hunter (James B. Sikking, the master of deadpan) discusses surviving a nuclear holocaust, Renko (Charles Haid in excellent form) has a hilarious scene at a funeral home in which he tries to pick out an appropriate and affordable casket for his dad, and Belker inadvertently eats a cooked cat. Moreover, there's some nice verbal sparring between Bates (Betty Thomas) and Coffey (affable Ed Marinaro) and an exciting car chase involving the stolen van and several police cars. But it's the fierce loyalty and firm camaraderie amongst the people on the Hill that makes this episode so touching and effective: Washington goes to bat for LaRue, Renko confesses to Hill (Michael Warren) that his pop was a mean and unloving man, and Goldblume (an engaging portrayal by Joe Spano) has a lovely conversation with Fay (the sweetly neurotic Barbara Bosson) in a singles bar. Gail Strickland has a juicy guest role as formidable lawyer Gail Kennedy. A worthy wrap-up for the second season.
