Homicide Episode Guide: Control

Written by Les Carter and Susan Sisko; story by Tom Fontana and Julie Martin

Directed by Jean de Segonzac

                No doubt there was a huge outpouring of relief when this episode first aired as fans finally got what they had wanted, to see Frank Pembleton back on the street. Later, some critics would wonder whether or not Frank’s return—both working cases and in attitude---  had been rushed a bit by Fontana and company. To this I would say how many shows would dare put their star actor on the bench for more than a third of the season. Furthermore, close observance of Braugher over the rest of season five would show that many of the habits and behaviors we have seen throughout the first third of the season--- stumbling over words, faulty memory, slowed speech---  would remain largely present for the remainder of the year.

                This is particularly clear in ‘Control’ where Frank needs to continuously dictate into a tape recorder to protect his untrustworthy memory. He also misspeaks on more than one occasion, and gets on verbal  sidetracks repeatedly. However, the one who clearly doesn’t think Frank has recovered is Bayliss. Acting as primary, and no doubt somewhat buoyed up about working solo the past few months, Tim repeatedly challenges Frank throughout the investigation of  a triple murder. A woman and her two children have been killed—the woman stabbed over twenty times, the children dispatched with a bullet in the head for each of them. Frank wants to pursue her boyfriend, a bartender with a record for assault and a tendency to get angry with the wife. Tim, however, wants to pursue her ex-husband, a naval commander in Annapolis who seems very calm and unemotional--- almost too unemotional.

It seems that Frank is more anxious to interrogate the boyfriend because he’s here and he wants to get back in the box to prove he’s still a good cop. Bayliss, however, seems a little more determined to pursue the other leads, probably because he doesn’t want to be witness to another  stroke by his partner. He has no problem abandoning Frank and butts heads with him more than usual. At one point he complains that the two of them don’t have a rhythm any more, even though the interrogation of the ex-husband has the two of them working at optimum strength. It is clear that Tim has some kind of problem with his partner beyond his understandable fear. Their disputes, which have always been a part of their relationship, will get louder and more frequent until  they hit a breaking point

 While Frank and Tim are getting their groove back (so to speak) Lewis Is

handling a ghost of his own. Called in on the shooting of a low level drug dealer, he finds that the slinger worked for Luther Mahoney. Working again with Terri Stivers, he learns the slinger worked for Junior Bunk, Mahoney’s nephew and, as we will see, one of the most cowardly criminals to work the street. (When Meldrick comes to arrest him, he bursts into tears after being charged.)

Bunk is more than willing to testify ’monogamously’  that his uncle called in a hit man to kill the slinger in question. We learn a lot about Luther when we hear that he paid this hitman $5000 in heroin to kill someone for cheating him out of $300 of heroin. This is how a man like him operates and we will see how far he takes his code.

For once the case seems to be proceeding swimmingly. The detectives get the gun that killed the man, they get the hit man, and they have a man more than willing to testify to conspiracy charges against Mahoney. However, Luther remains as calm and controlled as ever. It is here that things get a little unreal. Supposedly Junior Bunk is in custody, out of reach of Luther. Nevertheless, he manages to get a message to Luther forcing Junior to reverse himself. It seems unlikely that any man would have this kind of reach, but as we will learn in years to come Mahoney does have friends in the department.

Luther’s gall is such that he has the nerve to got to the Waterfront after being cleared and buys a drink for the house. He wisely clears out when Meldrick gets in his face but it is here that Luther that probably goes over the line with Lewis. He’s gone too far and Meldrick will not forget it

Things are getting worse for Kellerman as the grand jury officially subpoenas him. But in another way things are getting better as Juliana Cox makes a couple of visits to him in the squad before spending the night on his boat. This relationship will be a life raft to Mike, but it will eventually become self-destructive to both of them.

‘Control’, much like the previous episode ‘The True Test’ isn’t a bad episode of Homicide. The stories are good, there are good performances by Mekhi Phifer as Junior and Erik Todd Dellums as Luther and it is a critical episode for Lewis, Pembleton and Bayliss. It just doesn’t seem quite up to the high standards that Fontana and company have established this season. Still, there’s little wrong with this episode and it really does feature some good moments, particular in Frank’s final conversation with the ex-husband  in lock-up and Meldrick’s talk with Luther. Fans were probably happy and in truth there isn’t a huge amount to complain about.

My score: 4 stars.