Old lady Mary Minot (a terrific performance by Fran Ryan) shoots a teenage burglar in what she claims was self defense, but evidence shows otherwise. Hill (sturdy Michael Warren) and Renko (an amusing Charles Haid) put obese criminal Paul the Wall (a nicely huffy portrayal by George Memmoli) in a cell only to have trouble getting him out of said cell later. Belker (an excellent Bruce Weitz) gets roughed up by a bunch of vicious homeless guys while posing undercover as a bum.
The business with removing the bulky body of Paul the Wall proves to be quite funny in a dark and twisted sort of way. In addition, there's a gut-busting moment early on in which a cop (make-up man Bob Westmoreland in a memorable cameo) takes out his false teeth when Jablonski (a perfectly gruff Robert Prosky) asks him about signing up for a dental plan. Moreover, it's startling to see Belker being roughed up by the homeless guys (Dan Hedaya in particular makes a really chilling impression as the nasty ringleader). This episode also states a bitter point on how public perception of certain crimes dictate exactly how justice is served pertaining to those crimes. Jennifer Tilly appears for the first time as Paul the Wall's foxy moll Gina while an extremely young Joaquin Phoenix has a small, but touching role as the upset son of a disturbed man.
The business with removing the bulky body of Paul the Wall proves to be quite funny in a dark and twisted sort of way. In addition, there's a gut-busting moment early on in which a cop (make-up man Bob Westmoreland in a memorable cameo) takes out his false teeth when Jablonski (a perfectly gruff Robert Prosky) asks him about signing up for a dental plan. Moreover, it's startling to see Belker being roughed up by the homeless guys (Dan Hedaya in particular makes a really chilling impression as the nasty ringleader). This episode also states a bitter point on how public perception of certain crimes dictate exactly how justice is served pertaining to those crimes. Jennifer Tilly appears for the first time as Paul the Wall's foxy moll Gina while an extremely young Joaquin Phoenix has a small, but touching role as the upset son of a disturbed man.
