Homicide Episode Guide: Deception

Written by Debbie Sarjeant; story by Tom Fontana, Julie Martin, and James Yoshimura

Directed by Peter Medak

In the real  world, drug dealers like Luther Mahoney probably do exist. And in real life, they do get away with murder again and again and again without ever setting foot in jail. However, in the world of television, the bad guys are not allowed to perpetually triumph. We get enough depressing news in the paper and on CNN; once a while the good guys got to win. That is probably why in ‘Deception’ (which probably not by chance, coincided with the May sweeps) the Professor Moriarty of Homicide faces justice. However, Fontana and associates are not going to let this go smoothly, nor are there going to be no consequences.

For two years, we have watched Kellerman and Lewis go after the slippery Mahoney with absolutely no success. Now an opportunity literally falls into their labs when a Nigerian drug mule dies in a third-rate motel when the condoms containing Mahoney’s latest shipment of heroin bursts in his stomach. The department, headed by Stivers and aided by the FBI (including a customs agent named Borders) cease upon this opportunity to put a sting on the drug dealer. In a move that shows how ruthless cops can be they substitute baking soda for the heroin and send an agent disguised as another courier with the faux shipment. Twelve hours later, hell break loose as the dope fiends of Baltimore find that the crap they’re snorting isn’t anywhere near genuine. When the crap reaches Mahoney, he loses the cool that he has possessed   in every previous encounter with him and begins to blow up, mainly at the lieutenant in his organization that received the heroin. Convinced that either he or the Nigerians that serve as his suppliers have double crossed him, Mahoney arranges a daylight meeting in Druitt Hill Park. Here the detectives hope to swoop up the guts of the organization. This being Homicide, it doesn’t work out that way.

Pissed beyond belief at his supposed betrayal Mahoney kills the lieutenant he thinks is responsible (as well as a passerby who gets in the way of a bullet) and flees the scene before the cops can nab him. Enraged at how the sting goes Meldrick grabs a squad car and chases Mahoney back to his apartment, where Luther is preparing to flee. Luther immediately surrenders but that’s not good enough for the detective who has had to clean up after a dozen homicides related to him. He delivers a serious beat-down on Luther but in the course of it Mahoney gets his hands on Meldrick’s gun. A few seconds later Kellerman and Stivers burst in, telling Mahoney to surrender. In a fifteen second sequence that is repeated ad infinitum throughout season six, Mahoney puts his gun down in apparent surrender. Kellerman tells him he has the right to remain silent, and then bang!  He shoots Luther in the chest.

Why did Mike, a basically good cop, commit this kind of shooting? Psychoanalysis is not part of these reviews, but it’s probably a combination of frustration with Mahoney’s ability to manipulate the system combined with how Mike’s own experience being investigated for bribes last year. He has come through the system one side and come out the other. Gone is the apparent righteousness that he showed earlier. When Gee asks him about the shooting, he has no problem lying to his boss as to the exact circumstances of the murder. Meldrick willingly backs him up and, more reluctantly, so does Stivers. Both detectives will begin to draw away from Mike in the months to come--- Meldrick will stop partnering with him; Stivers won’t want to work with him, period and slowly Kellerman will become more isolate from the squad in general. In the space of a year, everything he has worked for will have deteriorated into nothing.

Even with all this going on, the show still has time to have a secondary story. Munch receives a call on an old case of Bolander’s from a paroled  gangster wannabe named ‘Punchy’ DeLeon, out after doing a ten-year stretch for murder. He gives the location of a man who was murdered ten years earlier who is supposedly buried  under the parking lot at Pimloco race track. Only when Munch has the lot dug up, no body is to be found. Munch then begins a search for the dead man only to find him very much alive in a home in Baltimore. Unfortunately, he isn’t alive for long --- Punchy has followed Munch and tracked him down.  After the lot has been repaved Munch catches up to Punchy. The dead man killed the man Punchy just got out of prison for killing, and this was his version of payback.  This case is very funny and also surprisingly poignant, mostly from the restrained performance of Lewis Black as Punchy. Those who recognize him from his weekly rants on The Daily Show will barely recognize the comedian who has done his time for a murder he didn’t commit and now has to go back for doing a justifiable one.

There is even a brief recap back to Bayliss and Pembleton, who have patched up their feud and are back to working together. But the issue that separated them has resurfaced---  Tim goes out to see and care for his Uncle George. This issue will still cause strife between Tim and Frank for what remains of season 5.

So much happens in ‘Deception’ that we almost feel cheated when Mike and Meldrick are seen writing up their reports for the Mahoney shooting—all this excitement for so little. What neither of them know is that Luther will end up haunting everybody--- especially Kellerman and Lewis--- for the next year until the squad is literally torn apart. Maybe the executives at NBC thought this was there kind of positive resolution to a popular character’s storyline. They forgot that on Homicide nothing goes away and problems are not resolved by enough bullets

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My score: 4.5 stars.

Ranking by fans: 11th