Homicide Episode Guide: A Doll's Eyes

Written By James Yoshimura; story by Henry Bromell and Tom Fontana

Directed by Kenneth Fink

     One of the reasons that Homicide remained a brilliant show for its seven year run was its ability to examine one of the most critical emotions in any murder investigation: grief. Most of the time we would only seen the grief over the deceased for a few minutes. But at least once a season the writers would take an in-depth look at the loss and pain  that comes with death on those who suffer the most greviously. In Season 2 the episode was ‘Bop Gun’. In season 3, it was ‘Every Mother’s Son’. And this year the writers explored it in ‘A Dolls Eyes.’

     Now because every murder causes a different kind of pain, there are countless reactions. But what makes ‘A Dolls Eyes’ an agonizing hour of television is that unlike the episodes I mentioned--- and indeed, for most episodes of the series—is that for the majority of the episode the victim is still alive. Technically. As the doctor who examines Patrick Garbarek’s chart for the detectives, he has  ‘dolls eyes’--- a slang term in emergency medicine for being brain dead.

This faces the Garbareks with an agonizing choice for their ten year old son—whether or not to take their son off life support so that his organs can be donated to others.

     The episode focuses on the tragic--- and for that matter pointless—anguish of Joan and Paul Garbarek. They bring their son to a shopping mall and are in the process of leaving when two teenagers run by firing shots at each other. In the process Patrick is hit by a stray bullet--- one that we never even see fired. The Garbareks then spend most of the episode in a daze as events unfold. At first they are numbed and focus on trivial things, like where their car is parked. Then when Bayliss and Pembleton come into talk to them about the shooting, they understandably freak out when they hear the words ‘homicide detective’. Their son is alive, they argue and it is for just that reason that they are in agony. Their son is brain dead. But this is a world where medical miracle seem to be happening every other day. If they don’t take their son off life support, he could exist in a vegetative state for fifty or sixty years--- something that would very rapidly eat away all of their money. But to ask a parent to just let their child submit to death is a decision that no parent should have to make. Gary Basaraba (pre ‘Boomtown’) and Marcia Gay Harden (pre Academy Award) give absolutely wrenching performances which don’t hit any false notes or go for histrionic high points. The scene where they finally turn of their sons life support is an absolutely gut-wrenching one. Even the writer of the story (Fontana) says that he was moved by that last moment.

     With the attention focused on the bereaved Bayliss and Pembleton find themselves investigating a crime like this. They speak for the dead, and to deal with someone living unnerves and upsets them. Both want to pass the case off to Violent Crimes but Gee and Howard insist they follow up on it.  They spend much of the episode sniping at each other over trivial things--- Bayliss not picking Pembleton up, Pembleton not asking the victims mother for her sons clothes (which are now evidence. This is business as usual for them, but it is pretty clear that they both feel a lot of distress over having to deal with the case like this. It doesn’t help matters that this murder (like those in ‘bop Gun’ and ‘Every Mother’s Son’) was committed by children--- a sixteen year old was shooting at his younger brother over an incident with his girlfriend. Again this has a crime with no real criminals, something that we can tell pisses off both detectives no end.

     Religion is not explicitly mentioned in this episode but there is a very subtle theme. The episode occurs when the Pope is visiting Baltimore.  At first this is used for levity as Munch tries to persuade Captain  Russert to sell her ticket. It becomes more serious when she offers her ticket to Pembleton, and Frank refuses it. Even if he wasn’t already estranged from the church, this case is not one that would reinvest one with faith in God. Eventually Frank watches a televised broadcast of the Pope at Camden Yards. Another show might have Frank give some kind of reaction—but all he does is look at the screen for a few seconds and then answer another call. There is no  rest for the murder police; it’s one tragedy after another.

     But for myself, the most painful part of the episode occurs when a father of the boy who received Patrick’s kidney and thus saved his life.  He wants to talk to the Garbareks to thank them for letting them have their son donate his organs. The happiness in his voice  strikes such a discordant note when we realize their tragedy brought joy to this family. It is something that they will never understand and something that we the viewer, having got caught up in these parents lives, find very hard to hear.

     Like most of the episodes when Homicide does this kind of thing, it is very difficult to enjoy ‘A Doll’s Eyes’ But one can not deny that an episode like this is what good television is all about.

My score:4.75 stars

Viewer Rankings 15^th