S01.E02: Misdemeanor Homicide

[DearEvette]

Quote

When two homicide victims – a young man from the housing projects and a fast-rising hedge fund partner – are discovered in the community, Deputy Inspector Regina Haywood fights to ensure both cases receive the same resources to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Airdate: 10/9/2022

[possibilities]

I still like this.

I'm not looking forward to seeing whatever they plan to do with the therapy stuff.

I loved the Barney Miller shout out. 

[EtheltoTillie]

5 hours ago, possibilities said:

I still like this.

I'm not looking forward to seeing whatever they plan to do with the therapy stuff.

I loved the Barney Miller shout out. 

Also Car 54. One of the funniest shows ever. I still like this also. I liked both plots. The callback with the tape measure was great. 

Edited October 10, 2022 by EtheltoTillie

[shapeshifter]

I'm still not sure about this.
I like the acting and cinematography, and even the wardrobe, but it feels too heavy. 
Apparently name dropping Barney Miller and Car 54, Where Are You? were not hints that the show would have comic relief. Too bad.
It's a little bit like: Richard Kind, Where Is Your Sense of Humor?

[12catcrazy]

I'm liking the show though some parts of it were annoying (the Manhattan detectives for one).   I also like the actress paying Haywood as she seems to bring a realistic world weariness to the role.     At least this isn't another Dick Wolf production so I'll keep watching.  

[possibilities]

Barney Miller was funny! I have not seen Car 54, so I can't comment on that.

But this show is being sold as a drama, not a comedy, so it's probably not going to primarily be funny. 

[buckboard]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

Barney Miller was funny! I have not seen Car 54, so I can't comment on that.

But this show is being sold as a drama, not a comedy, so it's probably not going to primarily be funny. 

The purpose of the older cop mentioning those two cop shows -- which happen to be comedies -- was to show the age difference between him and the rookie and how that might affect their work.  It had nothing to do with suggesting East New York would be a comedy.  

[Snazzy Daisy]

Good job Det. Morales and Officer Brandy Quinlan!

Regina switching place with Morales at the press conference is a nice surprise, a little thing that matters.

Sandeford’s advice to Bentley re tape measure seems ridiculous at first, but then it makes sense.

Det. Killian is still annoying AF. 😣

I love how Chief Suarez is looking out for Regina - takes her name off the article and sets her up with the mandated psych evaluation.

Now I wanna know what happened to Regina’s dad and their backstory.

[possibilities]

9 hours ago, buckboard said:

The purpose of the older cop mentioning those two cop shows -- which happen to be comedies -- was to show the age difference between him and the rookie and how that might affect their work.  It had nothing to do with suggesting East New York would be a comedy.  

I realize that. I was reacting to this comment:

On 10/10/2022 at 10:33 AM, shapeshifter said:

Apparently name dropping Barney Miller and Car 54, Where Are You? were not hints that the show would have comic relief. Too bad.

[FreshPrince]

I'm liking the show so far.

I've not heard name of NYC police commissioner mentioned so far; could it be Frank Reagan from Blue Bloods - do you think there could be a crossover episode if so?

[shapeshifter]

On 10/11/2022 at 3:57 PM, possibilities said:

Barney Miller was funny! I have not seen Car 54, so I can't comment on that.

But this show is being sold as a drama, not a comedy, so it's probably not going to primarily be funny. 

Yeah. But maybe Richard Kind’s lines can be funnier rather than just peculiar?
Or maybe none of the writers hired are experienced in writing comic relief, let alone comedy, and TPTB will just decide to leave him being odd rather than funny?

About 10 years ago I watched a bunch of reruns of Homicide: Life on the Street episodes, which also had minimal amounts of comic relief, and eventually quit.

These days I think my comic-relief quotient needs to be even higher, due to the relentless bad news. 
Heck, I just quit Abbott Elementary last night because it was too depressing.

I’ll tune into this show next week, but, as with the old shoes and purses I tossed recently, I’m in a mood to lighten my load, including my TV viewing load, and my Drama dance card is already pretty full, and I don’t think I’m willing to drop L&O, even if East New York is better.

Edited October 13, 2022 by shapeshifter

[FreshPrince]

Personally I can't stand Stan character, I keep hoping for Regina to tear him a new one. It's really going to become annoying if we need to endure this every week, first it was the car, then Italian, what's next... his lost amazon parcel? Meh...

[EtheltoTillie]

On 10/13/2022 at 7:30 AM, shapeshifter said:

Heck, I just quit Abbott Elementary last night because it was too depressing.

Oh, no, say it ain't so, @shapeshifter ! We need you over at Abbott. 

[Daff]

On 10/11/2022 at 5:15 PM, buckboard said:

The purpose of the older cop mentioning those two cop shows -- which happen to be comedies -- was to show the age difference between him and the rookie and how that might affect their work.  It had nothing to do with suggesting East New York would be a comedy.  

And, he said, “Too bad, you won’t get my references.” Meaning, when things get hairy, and he tries to lighten the mood and see the humanity of the situation, it will leave the rookie partner scratching his head! When things get really difficult, keep a sense of humor. 

[Daff]

On 10/13/2022 at 7:30 AM, shapeshifter said:

Yeah. But maybe Richard Kind’s lines can be funnier rather than just peculiar?
Or maybe none of the writers hired are experienced in writing comic relief, let alone comedy, and TPTB will just decide to leave him being odd rather than funny?

About 10 years ago I watched a bunch of reruns of Homicide: Life on the Street episodes, which also had minimal amounts of comic relief, and eventually quit.

These days I think my comic-relief quotient needs to be even higher, due to the relentless bad news. 
Heck, I just quit Abbott Elementary last night because it was too depressing.

I’ll tune into this show next week, but, as with the old shoes and purses I tossed recently, I’m in a mood to lighten my load, including my TV viewing load, and my Drama dance card is already pretty full, and I don’t think I’m willing to drop L&O, even if East New York is better.

I’m still on the fence as well. Smitts isn’t exactly lighting up the screen (has he just gotten older, or has he had medical issues?), but I find myself becoming invested in the other characters and their ambitions. As for Stan, every drama needs comic relief (in moderation-could be worse, he’s not “Animal”). 

[andromeda331]

Always happy for a Barney Miller reference. My dad loved that one and Car 54, Where are you?

I really like Regina and Richard Kind's character.  I like Captain Montgomery too.  

[Daff]

On 10/13/2022 at 7:30 AM, shapeshifter said:

Yeah. But maybe Richard Kind’s lines can be funnier rather than just peculiar?
Or maybe none of the writers hired are experienced in writing comic relief, let alone comedy, and TPTB will just decide to leave him being odd rather than funny?

About 10 years ago I watched a bunch of reruns of Homicide: Life on the Street episodes, which also had minimal amounts of comic relief, and eventually quit.

These days I think my comic-relief quotient needs to be even higher, due to the relentless bad news. 
Heck, I just quit Abbott Elementary last night because it was too depressing.

I’ll tune into this show next week, but, as with the old shoes and purses I tossed recently, I’m in a mood to lighten my load, including my TV viewing load, and my Drama dance card is already pretty full, and I don’t think I’m willing to drop L&O, even if East New York is better.

Car 54 was a half-hour sit-com starring the incredible Ed Gwynn (author, actor, and, yes, Herman Munster-you may think him a dimwit, but he was a very intelligent one). It was a lot of verbal slapstick, filmed mostly on two cops in the front seat of a car (it WAS the 50s, limited sets, mostly imagination). The show WAS funny in its very early day, but even in the 80s, younger people would say, “It’s bored” (try explaining that grammatical error to today’s writers). You’ve hit the nail, saying your quotient needs to be higher (and the sad part is that raw, ironic, truth is no longer funny-maybe because we can’t see an end in sight). Which leads us to:
Homicide: As it aired, Homicide was iconic! It may not have been to your liking because it was one of the first plot-driven, headline prevalent cop shows, viewed by you past its prime. Brauher was perfection, Koto, too. The lesser-known Baldwin played a great troubled cop. Hoffmann, Leo, Secor (who knew the innocent rookie would go on to play both villains and heroes equally well?). The run was too short, (sadly, way too short) and included guests who pretty much filled out the more successful Law and Order cast. It was the first TV show I ever actually mourned. 
Within a year after it was gone, I went to Baltimore for a family wedding. During down time, we explored the inner harbor, shops, local haunts. Walking around, we dropped in to a bar for munchies and a local brew and when we came out, I looked across the street and stopped dead in my tracks. There, in front of me was the building they used as the Homicide precinct! Took a lot of pictures of an abandoned building. But still, to this day I will watch anything anyone in that cast participates in (sadly, no matter how bad it turns out to be). 
 

[buckboard]

2 hours ago, Daff said:

 There, in front of me was the building they used as the Homicide precinct! Took a lot of pictures of an abandoned building. But still, to this day I will watch anything anyone in that cast participates in (sadly, no matter how bad it turns out to be). 
 

When we visited Baltimore, there was a plaque on the building in Fells Point that was used as the exterior of the police station.

I've been wondering what the people who live in East New York think about how the TV show treats their community.  Is it any more (or less) realistic about crime in their neighborhood than "Streets of San Francisco" or "Chicago PD" or "Las Vegas CSI"?  (At least Cabot Cover, with the nation's highest per capita murder rate, was fictional.) 

[DanaK]

I'm liking this too and most of the regular characters, though not all. I'm glad it's getting a full season

[callie lee 29]

22 hours ago, Daff said:

Homicide: As it aired, Homicide was iconic! It may not have been to your liking because it was one of the first plot-driven, headline prevalent cop shows, viewed by you past its prime. Brauher was perfection, Koto, too. The lesser-known Baldwin played a great troubled cop. Hoffmann, Leo, Secor (who knew the innocent rookie would go on to play both villains and heroes equally well?). The run was too short, (sadly, way too short) and included guests who pretty much filled out the more successful Law and Order cast. It was the first TV show I ever actually mourned. 
Within a year after it was gone, I went to Baltimore for a family wedding. During down time, we explored the inner harbor, shops, local haunts. Walking around, we dropped in to a bar for munchies and a local brew and when we came out, I looked across the street and stopped dead in my tracks. There, in front of me was the building they used as the Homicide precinct! Took a lot of pictures of an abandoned building. But still, to this day I will watch anything anyone in that cast participates in (sadly, no matter how bad it turns out to be). 
 

Homicide is possibly my favorite show of all time and I pretty much echo everything you have said. 

[magicdog]

On 10/11/2022 at 12:57 PM, possibilities said:

I have not seen Car 54, so I can't comment on that.

Here's a look at the first episode.  Show's on DVD from Shout! Factory.  It was a very well regarded comedy in the day and it's quite jarring for us young ones to see "Herman Munster" and "Grandpa Munster" working on this show first.  The show itself has a NY connection as it was shot at the old Biograph Studios in the Bronx.   It has since burned down, but it was where many silent movies were made once upon a time.

[Dowel Jones]

And for those who don't catch the reference in the theme song, "Idlewild" was the New York International Airport, later known as JFK.

[NJRadioGuy]

On 10/19/2022 at 6:19 PM, Daff said:

Homicide was iconic! It may not have been to your liking because it was one of the first plot-driven, headline prevalent cop shows, viewed by you past its prime. ...
<snip>
There, in front of me was the building they used as the Homicide precinct! Took a lot of pictures of an abandoned building. But still, to this day I will watch anything anyone in that cast participates in (sadly, no matter how bad it turns out to be). 

We were in Bawlmer in 1998, and I made a point of visiting Fells Point. They were just wrapping up filming and I managed to get a call sheet autographed by Clark Johnson (Meldrick Lewis). That was the highlight of that trip for me. What made H:LoTS so riveting was that it was real stories acted realistically with only minor embellishments for the first three seasons. Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon's book (Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets), on which the show was based, had him embedded with the real BPD Homicide unit for a year, and most of the material from seasons 1-3 came from that book and Simon's experiences. The child murder case (Adena Watson) was based on the real-life death of LaTonya Wallace, whose murder has never been solved to this day. Series producer Tom Fontana said, at the time, that Adena Watson's murder (on the show) will not be solved until LaTonya Wallace's killer is arrested. Sadly, he never was.

In later seasons H:Lots went further away from what made it successful initially, but it was still great. They were one of the first shows (if not the first-ever) to use popular music to add emotion to a scene in the wrap-up as well.

The other Homicide: Life On The Street reference that I saw in my favourite true crime series, A&E's "The First 48," I forget which squad this was, but one of the real-life detective's coffee mug is a well-edited mug from that show that was sold by NBC at the time, which consists of the red outline of a body with the words "Homicide: Our day begins when your day ends."

One other H:LOTS reference that I will always remember fondly, in one episode while going after a perp, the guy they're chasing gives himself up to a bunch of cops, who, as it turned out were actors filming a TV show about Homicide police. The twist? The "actors" were the actual real-life Baltimore PD Homicide squad detectives on which the H:LOTS detectives were based (Harry Edgerton become Frank Pembleton, Jay Landsman become John Munch, etc), who agreed to do cameos.

[Dowel Jones]

That cameo scene was in turn based on a real life incident where the crook ran into the set by mistake and thought all the actors were real detectives, and tried to give himself up.  I remember reading the news story which mentioned "None of the actors were eager to arrest him."

[juliet73]

I'm enjoying this show.  I like that is more realistic than other cop shows currently on the air.  Richard Kind's character seemed to be more toned down (in terms of quirkiness) this week.  Curious though how the young female cop managed to move to/live in Italy when she was younger considering last week she mentioned she was homeless and living on her own since she was teen.  I'm also curious about Haywood and Jimmy Smit's past.  I feel like they are more than boss and subordinate, but not in a romantic way.  Maybe they were partners at one point or her dad knew him, etc.  At this point, I think Killian subplot with his wife's restaurant is the worst part of the show.  I would have much rather have the show flesh out the other major characters instead of wasting time on a minor character and her opening a restaurant drama.  

[CheshireCat]

On 10/11/2022 at 5:36 PM, SnazzyDaisy said:

I love how Chief Suarez is looking out for Regina - takes her name off the article and sets her up with the mandated psych evaluation.

Is he? Or does he have an agenda? I mean, he certainly had a point, you probably don't do an on-the-record interview on such a subject without the permission from the department. Still, I'm not sure I trust him yet.

Back to the interview, shouldn't Regina have known herself what she was risking by giving that interview on the record?

On 10/11/2022 at 5:36 PM, SnazzyDaisy said:

Now I wanna know what happened to Regina’s dad and their backstory.

Based on past cop shows, my guess is some kind of corruption and/or cover up. Doesn't have to be him who was on the take but maybe he was accused or he covered for someone. Or he helped cover up something else. Something along those lines.

I hope the show stays around long enough for us to find out.