Homicide 2x01-2x04

[oyceter]

Um, yes, I was stupid and didn't realize I hadn't watched disk 3 before popping in disk 4.

So please don't spoil me for the last episodes in S1!

Also, how come S2 is so short?

Wow, I really loved almost all these episodes, except possibly "Many Splendored Thing." And that is largely because I am more interested in the police cases than the relationships. I normally do like relationship things, except for Homicide, all you get to see is people talking about the relationship, which gets rather dull after a while. It's like watching a friend habitually bitch about the person you think they should break up with.

On the other hand, this season is much less Bayliss-centered; I think introducing Bayliss in S1 and giving him the Adena Watson case made many episodes in S1 about him.

I particularly loved the case about the possible cop shooting. Barnfather and Gee and Pembleton all together in a room arguing about a case that isn't directly about race, but is also totally about race underneath the surface, and all three of them have different POVs and agendas, and it is great. The scene with Pembleton and the witness in the interrogation room? Oh my god. I continue to love Pembleton. The actor does such a good job with the dialogue -- there's a rhythm that he gets into in the interrogation room that's almost terrifying to watch, because Pembleton is so good at it.

Every time the detectives are in there, I wince. Because it is so close to the line for me in terms of what is right and what isn't, there's so much psychological intimidation, and yet, the show portrays exactly how problematic it is and why they need to it at the same time. It's so wonderfully complicated. And oh, I loved how twisty and complex the shooting case was, Gee determined to protect his officers, Pembleton just wanting to follow his instincts and Barnfather wanting to keep the department image good for PR. And I can see where all three of them are coming from, and I love so much how the show has cases which don't seem to be about race to begin with, and they always are underneath, because that undercurrent is always, always there and it never lets us forget it. And it does it without being anvilicious, and it does it subtly and smartly, which is just amazing.

And that last segment, with Bolander and the waitress' cello-violin duet playing through Pembleton's arrest of the police officer, oh. Beautiful.

I liked Felton a little more when it came to the case of his friend and his friend's father's suicide, and oh man. That confrontation between him and Lewis in the bathroom. Wow.

Also, I am beginning to see the parade of guest stars! The nurse from ER! Robin Williams! And Jake Gyllenhaal? Was he the kid of the tourist dad?

I loved "Bop Gun" so much. I loved the many angles of a single murder. The family, the detectives on the case, the murderer, the press, the officers. The way the case was red balled. I love how the show managed to portray the murder as a personal tragedy and also as a case of a young man who took the wrong step and also as race relations in Baltimore. I love Gee's speech to Kay about the case, I love Felton's cold-blooded practicality (even though I continue to not like Felton as a person much), I love all the looks at the gun, I love Vaughn's aunt and his mother and how nothing was simple or straightforward.

Comments

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Season Two is very short and has a lot of crowd-pleasing stuff - the stunt-casting and the police-shooting case, because Season One was very disappointing in terms of ratings and the channel agreed to let the creators make a mini-series as One Last Chance to get a serious audience. You'll notice when you carry on that while the series remains very good and better than the average cop-show, it becomes a bit more mainstream in terms of over-in-one-episode plots, new prettier actors, overt shippiness, etc. etc. Still remains one of the best US TV shows ever on racial issues, though.

[oyceter]

I can see the stunt casting as crowd pleasing, but am a little confused about the police-shooting case as such? Unless it was a topic that was very much in the news at the time?

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

I was thinking that it was a topic that is always politicised and debate-causing and possibly more immediately interesting to the audience than the kind of sordid normal homicides that were handled previously. I think when it was first broadcast in the UK there was a bit of a high-profile argument about police shootings over here at the time, which might have stuck in my memory.

[oyceter]

Hrm, that's true. I think I am so used to the dramatic previews for all the other homicide-type shows that I focused more on how Homicide handled it (I really loved how they did!).

[veejane.livejournal.com]

> I continue to love Pembleton.

I don't think that's going to change. What's hilarious is going and seeing various movies Andre Braugher is in -- he's never the star, always the supporting cast -- and he doesn't have nearly the presence. He turns it off when it's not his job to shine, and then turns on the dazzling wattage when his turn comes.

I love scenes in the box. They're like single combat, only with psychological presence instead of with weapons. Sometimes the battle is totally unfair, as Pembleton proves in that cop-shooting episode, but it's always bravura acting.

[oyceter]

Eeeexceeellent, Smithers.

I think Pembleton/Box is my new OTP. I love all his scenes in there (and most of the detectives in there, but Pembleton most of all), I love how he turns the charm on and off when need be, I love how he uses his race in so many different ways in there (I mean, obviously in problematic ways, but the show knows this as opposed to doing this blindly). Man. I am so impressed with Andre Braugher.

I think the other actors are doing good jobs as well (particularly whoever plays Howard), but Pembleton! Box!

[nestra.livejournal.com]

particularly whoever plays Howard

Melissa Leo. Such a fabulous character.

I don't know if it's available on DVD, but the only other thing I've seen Andre Braugher be awesome in is the FX miniseries "Thief", which ran last year. 6 episodes, I think. It kind of got lost in the "thieves are cool!" theme of network programming last year ("Smith", with Ray Liotta, cancelled, "Heist", with Dougray Scott, cancelled), but I'd definitely recommend it.

[oyceter]

OOOOH! THIEVES!

Must find copies!

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, that's exactly why "Black and Blue" blew me away. You're making me want to re-watch my boxset before I rent the next season.

[oyceter]

Yes! I loved that episode so much!