Homicide Episode Guide: Something Sacred, Part 1

Written by Anya Epstein

Directed by Uli Edel

Two weeks after the announcement that Homicide would be back for a seventh season, the producer tried something that they hadn’t done before (and as it turned out, that they would never do again). They aired both hours of a two-part episode together in order to make a ‘Homicide  movie’ centered around a single investigation. The episode was titled ‘Something Sacred’, a satire of Nothing Sacred  a critically acclaimed but little watched ABC drama that dealt with the life and service of a priest. The pastiche was fitting considering the center of the episode--- the murder of a priest.

 Ballard and Gharty get called out to a Baltimore parish where they find a middle-aged priest tied up, beating with a blunt object, and finally stabbed to death. It appears that the rectory was the victim of some kind of robbery, and the initial suspects are two Guatemalan refugees---- both teenagers----  who the priest took in and watched. Initially, the refugees are nowhere to be found.

What we mainly find in this part of the storyline is a lot of false leads that go nowhere. A poem in Spanish about ‘a god of love, forgive, forgive’ is found written on a blackboard near the priest’s body. It isn’t a message from the killer; the priest wrote out when he tried to give a lesson in Spanish. A few hours later, the news receives a tape from a ‘swami’ claiming that the good father was responsible for the sexual molestation of a dozen young boys, including the two refugees. Turns out not only are the charges false, but the ‘swami’ isn’t even a real religious leader  who has apparently chosen to smudge the good name of a colleague from the seminary they both studied in. The tip line set up in an effort to find the killers results in a tip involving a suspicious robbery attempt leads to the  pick-up of a young black kid named Roc Roc  who in the end can’t be identified. (As it turns out, even the dead ends are not dead ends) Finally, the refugees seems almost certainly to be the killers--- and this seems more than likely a day later when another priest is found dead outside his rectory---- and the refugees have jumped bail.

The similarities between this investigation and the Annabella  Wilgus murders in Season 3 are easy to see. There are two distinct differences. First, this is clearly not the action of a serial killer, second religion is not at the center of the murders; robbery is. More importantly is the issue of faith. This time, however, the Catholic at the center of the murders is not Pembleton but Stu Gharty. From the start it is clear that he has some real problems with what has happened to the victim and the charges that he molested young boys. (Considering the number of charges that have come in the years since the episode aired, its astounding that Epstein didn’t make the charges legitimate) It is clear that this hurts him immensely for, unlike Pembleton, he is a loyal Catholic, one who still believes in the church.  This is the first time since Gharty first appeared on the show that we get a look at his psyche and Gerety plays it up well.

Though the focus is mostly on the case at hand, there’s a lot of other business going on during this episode. For starters, Stivers has been rotated into the homicide unit. She will remain in the cast for the rest of the season, though Toni Lewis will not become a regular until the next season.  Then there’s the fact that no one has seen Meldrick since his suspension, something that has Kellerman very concerned. He has called his wife, his mother and checked  everywhere but he can’t find him, which causes Mike to fear Georgia Rae has taken some kind of action.  His concern that Stivers has come to ‘replace’ Lewis, combined with his fear that she is the weak link in Luther’s shooting, probably accounts for his open hostility towards her. Add  the fact that Falsone is on his case and Mike is running out of friends in the unit.  Finally Falsone’s custody hearing has begun, and even at this early stage, it’s not going to go that well.

Aside from the continued absence of Clark Johnson and  Kyle Secor (Bayliss is on vacation), the first part of ‘Something Sacred’ is a pretty good mix of the old and new Homicide. In addition to Gerety, Callie Thorne continues to show good form, particularly in two scenes--- one with Gharty, one with Pembleton---- where she discusses faith and her lack of it. The priests are murdered has a more realistic feel then some elements of the Wilgus murders, and the exploration of the Central American refugees is an interesting one (especially looking back from the post 9-11 views against immigration). Yet the character development is not quite as good as it has been in some of the episodes and it seems a little underdone. Perhaps it’s because there is so much unresolved, but since we don’t have to wait long for resolution, we can let that go for this one.

My score: 4.25 stars.

The Greatest Episodes of the 21st Century, Part 1

50. Transparent - 'Elizah' -  Episode 3.1

Despite the controversy that has emerged over the series in the past year, one can't deny that there was an energy and realism to this series that few TV shows on any service could have provided.  And in my mind, the high point of the series came its most atypical outing, when Maura working at an LGBT suicide hotline, receives a call from a troubled woman, and frantically goes on a search to find her. A journey that becomes both increasingly surreal and incredibly painful for Maura, mixed with a sermons from Raquel, makes for the finest episode the series ever did. It may have been Jeffrey Tambor's finest hour, and the fact that he won't be able to continue with the series next season is another reason I won't watch any more.

49. True Detective -' The Long Bright Dark' -  Episode 1.1

Yes, there's no denying this limited series degenerated into a hot mess, and turned what was the most highly anticipated season into a disaster.  But that doesn't change the fact that for the briefest of moments, this series  was one of the great achievements in HBO's history, and that's saying something. And watching two of the worlds greatest actors - Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey breath life into two of the greatest characters they would ever play - particularly McConaughey, whose Cohle's deterioration and philosophical stylings rank of there with some of the greatest monologues of David Milch -  made for some truly memorable TV. The fact that the mystery itself may have been smoke and mirrors almost didn't matter - that what happens with far too many of these shows.

48. The Blacklist - 'Anslo Garrick - Part 1' -  Episode 1.8

Considering how messy this series eventually became, its easy to forget just how remarkable it was, particularly in the first two season. Rarely has there been such a perfect match of character to actor as there has been with Raymond Reddington to James Spader. He works with such charm and smarminess that he almost makes you forget how monstrous Raymond truly is. And yet Reddington's finest hour came when all of his boundless energy was contained within a small, closet like box where he was being held prisoner and tending to a man who would, at that point, have left him to die had the tables been turned. As he tries to tell him to hang on the life, he also witnesses the loss of one of his closest allies, only to surrender his position when another friends is about to die. It may well have Spader's greatest moment in the medium, and yes, I know he won three Emmys for two other series.

47. Master of None - 'The Thief' -  Episode 2.1

There were so many brilliant comic moments in this Netflix series all too brief run that its hard to pick which episode was by far the best. One could easily choose 'Parents', the first season episode which dealt with all the main characters problems with their family, or the Emmy winning 'Thanksgiving'. But in my mind, the moment that will probably linger far longer was the most daring experiment actor-showrunner Aziz Ansari took. Set in Italy, after Dev relocated following the trauma of season 1, the episode paid homage to the Italian neorealist classic The Bicycle Thief by having Dev lose something even more vital than that of the hero of that film - his cell phone. Mostly subtitled in Italian, and filmed in black and white, it was a glorious production, and hysterical to watch. Ansari may be under a cloud now, but one can't deny the brilliance of his work.

46. This is Us - 'Super Bowl Sunday' - Episode 2.13.

As any longtime TV viewer can tell you, its the rare revelation behind a series' big secret that lives up to the hype. It is typical of just how brilliant this new series that when we finally learned, after nearly two years, how Jack Pearson finally died that it packed so much of a gut punch. And the writers did everything they possibly could to make it sting more -  we never saw Jack's actual death, just some offscreen rushing, and Rebecca's reaction to it.  That alone made it powerful. It was watching how all the Pearsons reacted to it nearly two decades later that gave the episode even more of a punch, particularly from Kevin, in the way he finally confessed to his dad how he felt he had failed him. The rare Super Bowl episode that actually lived up the hype, I see a lot of Emmys nods in this series future.

The Best of The Best: An Introduction

About a month ago, in conjunction with TV Guide's 65th Anniversary, the publication did a variation on a theme that it's done about every ten years or so. Rather than try to determine which are the 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time, they decided to settle on the 65 Greatest Episodes of the 21st Century. Apparently, having considering in a permanent position the great moments of Hill Street Blues and Homicide and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, they felt that since the 20th century is pretty much locked and loaded, it made a certain amount of sense to go in the new century. They also conceded, considering how rich the Golden Age of Television has been, its time to start considering what the new age will present us with.

This led to a certain level of reflection on my part. About ten years ago, I wrote my own list of the 50 greatest episodes of the last twenty years. Done in the early stages of my professional criticism, there was a certain level of amateurism to it. I didn't include Breaking Bad, for one thing, I had issues with series like ER and The Sopranos, which I had never made an emotional connection with, and I'm pretty certain my decision on Fringe was premature. But I did have a certain level of foresight that I will admit. No less than five episodes that I considered among the best were listed among TV Guide's most recent selections.

Unfortunately, the remnants of the lists have been lost, not only to history, but also to me - somehow I never had the foresight to keep track of that long essay. So, using the TV Guide Article as an impetus, I've decided to follow up with some of my own choices for the 50 Greatest Episodes of the 21st Century.

But first, a few provisos. Don't consider this a mathematical ranking - to try and figure whether a series is 43rd rather than 41st includes a level of madness that I'm not prepared to go down, and I can be quite anal in my calculations. Second, there are going to be some noted gaps in what I consider 'great' - I've never watched Game of Thrones or Walking Dead, I haven't gone around to Handmaid's Tale,  I've never been a fan of Law & Order SVU or any of the CSIs. In their places, I intended to try and put a couple of episodes that might not make the cut for series that were either ignored or never quite got their due. And third, in order that my choices don't completely curtail with TV Guide, I'm going to look for some alternate choices within the TV series that they've listed. Fortunately, a lot of them have more than a few options when it comes to among the greatest ever.

Finally, I want the average reader to consider this a listing for series that are among the greatest ever made. Some will be obvious choices. Others may be ones that I really hope that the average viewer will seek out on their own. They may not be everyone greatest hits, but in  my mind, the list starts here.

Homicide Episode Guide: Shaggy Dog, City Goat

Written by Eric Overmeyer

Directed by Kyle Secor

 The biggest shock surrounding the  premiere of this episode in January of 1998 was not anything that happened on it (though there was a stunning plot twist). It was that Homicide, despite the fact that it had not raised its ratings, was going to be brought back for a seventh season. As was often the case during Homicide’s run, extenuating circumstances played a key role.

For starters Jerry Seinfeld had recently announced that he would not continuing his smash hit Seinfeld  beyond the last season. This led to a huge and messy contract negotiation with the producers of ER to keep it on the schedule for several years. Mad About You, a vital part of NBC’s Must-See TV lineup was considering changing networks (which never happened) Finally, on top of all this, NBC lost its professional football contract to CBS and FOX. In a matter of weeks NBC had gone from king of the mountain down to lords of the manor. This would also lead to NBC making a series of big investments for multi-year contracts of hit programs instead of investing revenue in new shows--- a decision that would ultimately lead to NBC dropping from first to third in  five years.

All of these obstacles were down the road. For now NBC’s concern was on the here and now.  Warren Littlefield decided that Homicide was a highly acclaimed program with a low budget, and that it would make sense to hold on to the show for at least a little longer. Unfortunately, they decided in order to keep it fresh, they would start tampering with it, a move ultimately killed the show.

Little of this is evident in ‘Shaggy Dog, City Goat’, a well written episode that features many of the trademarks of Homicide  while focusing its attention on less profiled cast members. Bayliss and Pembleton are nowhere to be found, so the show turns its attention to M.E. Julianna Cox and newcomers Ballard and Gharty.

Using the construct of  an annual meeting of the National Association of Medical Examiners,  Dr. Cox is named Examiner of the Year (perhaps a subtle dig at Homicide’s own problem winning major awards despite critical acclaim) Cox has dinner with several of her colleagues where they discuss oddities. Cox  wows her colleagues with her work on a case where a man jumped off a seven-story building trying to kill himself, but ended up getting  killed  when he was shot in the chest on the way down. Munch  and Kellerman investigate and learn that shotgun blast came from the apartment of an old, feuding couple who played out a little exercise when something went wrong--- he would pretend to fire his shotgun at her--- only this time it was loaded. The capper? The victim was the couple’s son, who had loaded the shotgun hoping that  his father would kill his mother and then, when nothing happened for a while, decided to end his life by jumping off the building where they lived--- ironically setting the stage for his own murder.

Sound familiar? It should. This is an urban myth used by medical examiners in teaching exercises. Furthermore, these exact circumstances would be described in the opening montage of Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 film Magnolia. What gives the story its energy and wit is the work of Michelle Forbes, who for the first time in a long time gets something to do as she manages to solve the case on her own work. It also helps immeasurably that the feuding couple is played by television legends (and real-life husband and wife) Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows. They add a real zest and comedy to a tale that, under other shows and other performers could have been routine.

Meanwhile, in the here and now, Ballard and Gharty get the murder of a low-level drug dealer. (Strange. Its been a while since we had one of those.) This drug dealers was also a fraud known for selling bad packages. In an unusual twist, the killers are white dealers from the Appalachian section of Maryland--- or  city goats, as Gharty condescendingly calls them. Turns out this not-very-enlightened detective is as condescending to white trash as he is to black gang-bangers. In a very disdainful way he tells a clearly unsettled Ballard about the inbred, redneck trash that make up a part of Baltimore’s drug trades. He’s not very enlightened, but the suspects in the killing are  the children of incest. Ballard in the meantime, is going through her own version of culture shock. The ghettos of Seattle and the blacks of the West Coast are a far cry from what she is used to, and she clearly shows. Both detectives get seriously messed up in the fight, and Gharty says that they’ll never be able to catch these guys. (In fact, they do; it just takes a few weeks) Then again Gharty  is a little distracted as he flirts with Billie Lou.

But the biggest shocker comes in two parts. Part one hits when Lewis, Kellerman and Stivers (along with Gee, the city, and the police department) in a wrongful death civil suit by Georgia Rae Mahoney of guess who.  Everybody is upset about this but the one who gets really pissed is Meldrick. In a scene of anger, he’s goes to Georgia Rae’s house, gives her a tongue lashing, and bashes her in the face. This is an action so extreme that even Giardello, who stood by his men and let them stay on rotation, doesn’t intervene when Barnfather orders Lewis to be indefinitely suspended for his assault attempt.  Meldrick hands over his gun and badge, grabs his hat and the football (which the detectives have been tossing around since season one) and walks out of the squad without a word. To be honest I thought that we were never going to see Meldrick again. And we didn’t--- for almost all of what was left of the season,  As it turned out Meldrick would be very busy--- doing stuff that we would have not thought him capable of doing.

‘Shaggy Dog, City Goat’ is a layered story with ongoing storylines, dark humor and addled social commentary--- in short, it’s what we’ve come to expect from Homicide. Its not perfect, but if this was a representative of how the show would proceed into the post-Seinfeld era, it would have been in fine shape. Unfortunately, ‘twas not the case.

My score: 4.5 stars.

I Won't Miss Scandal - But I'm Still Glad It Happened

One of the better things that has been found when the great series of the Golden Age reach their final moments has often come in the last moments when the antiheroes realize just how far they have sunk. I will never forget the long pause that Vic Mackey took in the penultimate episode of The Shield (it lasted for nearly a minute) before finally confessing to all the crimes he had committed over the length of the series. There was a moment nearly as powerful in the last episode of Mad Men, where Don Draper, who had spent the last half of the final season going on walkabout, seemed to realize what a terrible person he'd been and confessed to Peggy, the one person who always had the clearest view of him. And who among us can't remember Walter White's final admission to Skyler in the finale of Breaking Bad? "I did it for me. I was good at it. I liked it. It made me feel alive." That was the true climax of the series.

As anyone who has read my blog for the last several years, I have utterly loathed all things Shondaland. But, as a TV critic, I felt obligated to watch the last two episodes of Scandal, just to see how low she could sink. I certainly didn't expect to see Olivia Pope, who has spent the last seven year cleaning up the mess of every politician in the country, go to the special counsel investigate President Mellie Grant, and then publicly out B613, the agency that has been doing everything evil in the series, which she ran for most of the final season. And I really didn't expect her to look both Presidents Grant in the face, and tell them flat out: "We're not the heroes of this story. We're the villains."

Honestly, I'd been waiting the entire series for all of the characters to admit just how corrupt and rotten the system was. And the rest of Pope's entourage spent the next half-hour admitting how badly it was they had failed at their goals, including all her former gladiators willing to go 'over a cliff' in order to try and save the country. It was almost - not nearly enough, but almost enough - to make Scandal seem like it was finally being worth the trouble.

And then last night in the final episode, everybody testified before Congress about all the horrible things that they had done over the last seven years in the name of the Republic. (The closest moment to realization of evil came when Huck, asked how many people had killed, took a long drink water before finally answering 'A lot.'.) There were also some odd moments of redemption . When David Rosen, the only purely good guy among the much of the series, confronted Jake Ballard and looked him dead in the face. This made the horrifying moment when Vice-President Beene poisoned him, then suffocated him to finish the job. And even after all the horrors had unfolded, there was one last poigniant moment when Cyrus, who had been the most contemptible villain of a show full of them, who had killed or driven away everybody so that he could have the White House, finally admitted to Olivia before resigning that even getting the Presidency probably wouldn't have been enough to satisfy him.

Does this make the series better? Not really. Considering that Shonda Rhimes had originally planned to end the series with Mellie Grant becoming President, one kind of thinks that the final season was more of an afterthought as well as an apology for politics today. She wasn't quite as bloodthirsty as she was in Grey's Anatomy or, for that matter, Private Practice; for all the deaths in Scandal, it's telling that Joshua Malina was, with one exception, the only regular to die, and that in the last episode. George R..R Martin would not approve. And despite all the confessions in the series, it was disappointing to see that Eli Pope's decision to confess took the characteristics of a deux ex machina - there was no real motivation given for him testifying, and when he did it, it seemed less a confession and really more like bragging, like he wanted credit. I was disappointed by many things in Scandal; that Rowan never got what was coming to him was the biggest one.

I'm never going to be convinced Scandal was everything critics and fans thought it was. It certainly doesn't rate as a great TV series even from the standards of network television. But, if I am to be honest, I am glad for what the show represents more than anything else.

Just prior to the premiere of Scandal in the winter of 2012, Entertainment Weekly wrote a long article in which they casually noted the series premiere, and the fact that this was the first network drama with an African-American female lead in more than twenty years. And that is a crime. The fact that in an era of Peak TV, black women were still being underrepresented on that medium was offensive. And it is very telling that Kerry Washington had left a career in film to follow a role on TV.

After her came the deluge: such talented black actresses as Octavia Spencer, Regina King, Taraj P. Henson, Angela Bassett, and of course, Viola Davis would soon be at the center of the new revolution. Over the last three years, African-American women have slowly but surely been making a dent in the field of the Emmys. Orange is the New Black alone showcases half a dozen brilliant black actresses, and I was delighted to see Lena Waithe finally move forward in running a series of her own.  I can only hope to someday see Issa Rae also accepts an Emmy.

It is very telling that the highpoint of the much publicized Scandal-How to Get Away With Murder crossover had nothing to do with the arguments before the Supreme Court. Rather, it was a moment where Annalyse's mother, played by the national treasure Cecily Tyson gave credit to Olivia Pope for all the things that she had done behind the scenes, and all the sacrifices that women like her had to make so that they could stand where they are.  I really think that some day very soon we will see real excellent series about black women by black women. And if that is something that Shonda Rhimes had to do.. well, then I'm glad, for the sake of the medium, that it was handled

Homicide Episode Guide: Sins of the Father

Written by Darryl Lemont Wharton; story by James Yoshimura and Julie Martin

Directed by Mary Harron

Baltimore is a violent city, no question about it. And, at the core of it, race plays a substantial role in that violence. But the history of that discord goes back much further  then this century.  In the nineteenth century, when the sectional divide over slavery was growing, Maryland was a border state. It had a huge population of free blacks and had many key stops on the Underground Railroad. But there was also a substantial slave market and it was on the Mason-Dixon Line.  Much of the greatest violence in the Civil War occurred Maryland--- in fact, the bloodiest single day of the fighting occurred  near Sharpsburg---  or, as it is known by historians, Antietam.

The violence and anger of that time period is revisited in ‘Sins of the Father’ and shows that not even a hundred and thirty years has  diminished its ugliness. A wealthy  white executive named Martin Ridenour is found dead in a vacant row house in West Baltimore ---- a section of the city that is predominantly black. Furthermore, the victim is found beaten and hung in what is basically a lynching.

Falsone and Lewis are called into investigate. Gradually, they learn that the motive for this murder is not drugs or sex or money--- it is about history. The Ridenour family goes back nearly three hundred years  and, as we see when we visit his home, they were on the Confederate side of the conflict.  Martin is the great-great-great grandson of Patricia Ridenour, a female bounty hunter who dragged both escaped slaves and free blacks back in the bondage. Seeing mementos of that time, Meldrick is very discomforted. Then the detectives return to the crime scene and find that Ridenour’s body was discovered less than a block away from the Orchard Street Church, once a stop on the Underground Railroad, now a prominent Baltimore museum.

All of this seems irrelevant until Pembleton recognizes Patty Ridenour as one of his grandmothers boogeymen. This allows Meldrick to make a leap of his own and link the murder to Dennis Rigby, a lower-class black student who has an obsession with black history.  In a memorable confrontation between Meldrick and the suspect, Rigby reveals that his  great-great-great grandfather was a free black land owner who Patricia Ridenour captured and sold back into slavery. This reveals not only the huge racial divide that exists but the economic which spins out of it. For generations blacks families spent their lives devoted to expanding the wealth and position of white ones. Now, even though slavery is long gone, those white families (like the Ridenour’s) continue to benefit from those gains: Martin Ridenour is a multi-millionaire executive with an unlimited future; Dennis Rigby works for a small music company and struggles to make a living. With all this in consideration, one can almost sympathize with Rigby desire for revenge. But all the bloodshed has done is extend the circle of violence that has linked both families, except Rigby is now the villain.

This episode is one of the best showcases for Clark Johnson in a  long time as he devotes his zeal and righteousness into pursuing Rigby. Yet he is a complicated enough individual to feel very depressed about the great divide that separates this country, over the ugliest issue in our nation’s history. Slavery is not an anachronism, but a living history that we as a nation have not yet gotten past.

This story is paralleled by a subplot in which Frank and Tim investigate an elderly woman who accidentally ran over a man, and ultimately decide not to charge her. The message is subtle, but its there--- some violent acts are decreed to be crimes deserving of punishment, and some are not. And in these issues, race is often a factor. Rigby’s actions were wrong, but were they any worse that Patty Ridenour’s who committed far worse acts, and never was called upon to answer for them. As is often the case, the white person goes free, while the black person is punished.

As if this isn’t enough divisiveness, we still have Bayliss’ and his reputation.  We never get a clear idea about how his date with Chris Rawls went, but just a few days later Frank sees him  actively flirting with Laura Ballard. Rumors of Tim’s supposed homosexuality are spreading through the squad, as we see when the narrow-minded Gharty openly taunts Frank about it. Even though he has his own qualms about Tim’s sexual activities, he does not even hesitate to defend his partner by pointing out his possible relationship with Ballard, which causes Stu to behave like an aggrieved spouse. There will be ugliness about Tim’s love life in the squad in the months to come, but as long as Frank’s around, people will be quiet about it.

That’s not to say Frank isn’t worried about his partner. When he questions Tim about it in the episode, Tim responds by bringing up the Frandina case, now nearly five years old. He reminds Frank of their memorable conversation (flashbacked to in the episode) in which Frank told him that he must embrace the darker, uglier side of himself. This is advice that Tim has never forgotten (though ironically Frank has trouble remembering it) and that he has now decided to embrace. Tim will explore his ‘bi-curious impulses’ throughout the shows last two seasons, but it isn’t fleshed out a great deal more in the next few episodes.

‘Sins of the Father’ like many of the best Homicide’s, asks some very ugly questions and does not provide us with a pat answer. In the episode’s denouement Falsone tries to bring Meldrick out of his blue mood about this case, but Meldrick can’t let it go. There are some scars that don’t heal no matter how much we try to understand why. Homicide tells us this frequently--- and, in the episodes to come, will show the squad how ugly they can really be.
My score: 4.5 stars.

Better Late Than Never: The Crown Season 2

It is 1956, and the British Empire is in turmoil. Nassar's seizing of the Suez Canal has led Prime Minister Anthony Eden (Jeremy Northam) to call for an invasion of Egypt. The resulting turmoil has greatly reduced England's standing in the world, led to an oil crisis, and created economic disaster. With so much in wreckage, and Eden in desperately poor health, he has been forced to resign in favor of Harold MacMillan.

The monarchy in itself is in even more turmoil. Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy, perhaps the best demonstration of how underplaying is as brilliant as overplaying) is still recovering from having been forced to keep her sister Margaret from marrying the man she loved. Her relationship with Philip (Matt Smith, continuing to amaze) has reached a similar breaking point. Having sent him on the Royal Tour, ostensibly to open the Olympics but hoping that the absence will heal the gap in her marriage, things have continued to simmer. Philip's relationship with his private secretary has led to its own source of scandal, as his marriage, already in freefall, finally heads toward divorce when his wife learns not only of her husband's infidelities, but how he reports him to an upper class men's club. The outright scandal has now fallen over Philip as well, forcing him to fire him. Now, with the marriage still in turmoil, Elizabeth has a confrontation with her husband in which they reach a sort of agreement. He will be given the official title of Prince Philip, and she will be allowed to have more children. It is clear, however, that just like the Empire she rules, there are definite signs of rot within.

Having only seen the first three episodes of Season 2 of The Crown, I continue to be in awe of Peter Morgan's masterful command of the corridors of power. Watching the manipulation between the backbenches of Parliament is fascinating even for those of us who know only what we see on C-SPAN. And it is still astonishing to watch these vital and youthful actors play the royal figures we see as doddering old people with very real problems. (How the hell did Morgan learn this much?) Foy remains one of the pillars of this series, and knowing that this will be here and most of the casts last season ( as the main characters age, Morgan has said that Golden Globe nominees Olivia Coleman and Tobias Menzies will replaced the royal couple, starting next season), she continues to make a strong argument to be the frontrunner for this year's Emmy.

The scenery and atmosphere of the changing times are prevalent (and I still haven't gotten to the visit of the Kennedys which is scheduled to come soon), and knowing just how much has changed in the world since this era makes The Crown work as a period piece. And considering how much a mask the monarchy remains even now (even given the amount of change that has come), we should be grateful to this series, even if it wasn't one of the best things of any server.

Note: For reasons which boggle the mind, The Crown is rated TV-MA, even though is no violence, no real sex scenes to speak off, and less foul language than you would find in your typical FX series. Much like Stranger Things, this series would be viewable for teenagers who have an interest in history. And more to the point, what the hell Netflix? How can this series and Black Mirror have the same rating?

My score: 4.75 stars.

Homicide Episode Guide: Closet Cases

Written by Christopher Kyle; story by James Yoshimura and Julie Martin

Directed by Leslie Libman and Larry Williams

The lives of the characters on Homicide took all kinds of twists and turns over the series seven-year run. But the one that caused the biggest uproar began with the central story in ‘Closet Cases’. The reason that it invoked the uproar was not only because  of the controversy of the subject but because it involved Homicide’s  erstwhile center, Tim Bayliss.

The story begins with the severe beating of a homosexual man in the dumpster behind a gay bar. Bayliss and Pembleton are called in. This isn’t the first gay-bashing episode the series has explored---  recall Season 4’s ‘Hate Crimes’, in which Bayliss seemed almost homophobic in his attitude towards the victim. Now we know Bayliss has explored his sexuality in strange ways--- his visiting strip clubs in a black leather jacket in ‘A Many Splendored Thing’ and his relationship with the morbid Emma Zoole--- but none of this brought him anything that could be considered happiness. In addition, by the end of the teaser, he has just ended his three-week relationship with Julianna  Cox. This kind of thing would cause any man to start reflecting on his life.

Then Bayliss meets Chris Rawls, the owner of the nightclub where the body was found. Rawls is the antithesis of the typical television portrayal of homosexuals (at least pre-1997). He is literate, subdued, witty and compassionate, most of which we don’t see in a lot of portrayals of gays.  When the save is resolved Bayliss decided to have dinner with Rawls, something which is not unprecedented given Tim’s history. Frank, however, is floored by this. He has noted that Bayliss has improved in regard to homosexuality in the past couple of years, but that doesn’t mean he expected Tim to take a walk on the wild side.  (Tim must sense that his partner is vaguely uncomfortable with  this; though he will continue exploring his sexuality over the last two seasons of Homicide, he will do most of it when Frank is no longer around.)

Most shows would be content to have one character make a potentially life-changing decision in an episode. But lest we forget Georgia Rae Mahoney is still out on the street and she appears to have Kellerman by the short hairs.  Stivers learns about the possibility of a tape from Meldrick, and needless to say, she is incredibly angry. Stivers has been the most conscience stricken of the three detectives and she pushes for a meeting between the three detectives that’s about four episodes overdue.  The meeting between them is very unpleasant but when it ends the three of them stand united--- they will not be blackmailed by Luther’s sister. This is the high point in their union, relationship between all three detectives are about to plummet.

 Kellerman confronts Georgia Rae and in a move that borders on suicidal, calls her bluff, saying that killing her brother is worth his badge.  Georgia Rae ponders this, then near the episode sends Mike her response--- via videotape. (Hot in here, or is it just me?) On the tape, she admits that the existence of the videotape was a bluff but that she is now certainly that she killed Luther with malice of forethought and that she has every intention of wreaking revenge on him.  And her revenge will not be as simple as a bullet between the eyes. It’s going to be one that will shake the squad to its foundation.

 If all this angst isn’t enough we have Falsone trying to negotiate a better custody agreement of his son with his ex-wife. Unfortunately,  Janine is as determined to make sure that he does not change his custody arrangement, making it clear that there will be a long bitter fight.

All this personal tension going on, you’d almost forget that there had actually been a murder. The beating of Alan Costello leads Bayliss and Pembleton into the gay sections of Baltimore, investigating both the nightclubs and the male hustlers that populate the city. It is eventually revealed that the killer was a gay prostitute that Costello had tried to ‘help’ and was repaid by being bludgeoned to death. This prostitute killed him as an apparent denial of his own homosexuality, and he shows disdain not only of his victim but of Bayliss as well. We see both sides of the homosexual fence--- the civilized, only slightly ostentatious atmosphere of the gay clubs as well as the anger and frustration of the community, and the general disdain of law enforcement for homosexuals.  The murderer was the suspect of a similar killing in San Francisco but when he was flagged by a Baltimore cop, California refused to extradite him. More telling is the attitude of Missing Persons (in the form of the woefully inadequate Detective Higby, on another rotation from Homicide) when they learn that the man he’s helping look for is a ‘corn muffin ‘. NBC had a lot of problems with this episode, ostensibly because of the relationship between Bayliss and Rawls. However, it seems equally likely that the network was afraid of isolating viewers by showing cops with such  homophobic attitudes. This is a controversial issue and Homicide  doesn’t run from them.

‘Closet Cases’ is an interesting episode for many reasons, yet  it doesn’t register as one of the better episodes of Homicide. (Though it must have inspired more fanfiction then any other episode of the series.) Mainly its because it tries to do much and therefore seems a little overloaded. There’s good acting by Secor and Diamond and fine work by Peter Gallagher as Chris Rawls but ultimately the episode seems somewhat less than the sum of its parts. It’s good, but we’ve come to expect more from Homicide, a lot more.

My score: 4 stars.

The Passing of Steven Bochco

The world of television is now one great genius smaller. A man who was a creative force in TV for more than thirty years has left us too soon, as this Sunday, Steven Bochco, a pillar of TV's Second Golden Age, passed away at the age of 74.

Considering where television has been, particularly in the last fifteen years, it is hard to imagine what it was like before Bochco. There had been some bright lights in the TV world before, but when he created Hill Street Blues in 1980, he completed reinvented what the police drama could be, and what it was. With serialized storylines that could stretch on for half a season, some of the most memorable characters in the history of the medium (who will ever forget Frank Furillo, Mack Belker or Howard Hunter?), and some truly incredible talent, Bochco revolutionized the police procedural, and made it dirtier. The 23 Emmy nominations and 8 wins it got in its inaugural season were records that would stand for quite some time - many of which would be broken by Bochco's other series. Hill Street's win would be the first of four consecutive Best Drama awards the show would win, and the first of nine Emmys Bochco would receive for producing.

A few years later, Bochco helped created L.A. Law, a series which would do for the legal drama what Hill Street Blue did for the police procedural. Set in a completely different world than Hill Street, L A Law was one of the most timely and relevant series  that had ever emerged. Possessed with some of the most photogenic actors in the medium, the series would launch the careers of Harry Hamlin, Jimmy Smits, Corbin Bernsen, Blair Underwood, would revitalize the career of Partridge Family actress Susan Dey, and introduce such great character actors as Alan Rachins, Larry Drake, and John Spencer to a wide spread audience. It was extremely engaging, and some of the most memorable storyline in the history of TV (very few viewers can forget the fate of Rosalind Shays), and would be nearly as prodigious a winner at the Emmys as Hill Street was, winning Best Drama four times in its first five years on the air.

But the series that probably lingers the most in this generation's mind when it comes to Bochco is NYPD Blue.  A lightning bolt to the world of television, when it debuted on ABC in 1993, mainly because of how addressed language and nudity in ways that network television hadn't even considered back then. Never doing quite as well in the Emmys as it should, it launched the careers of David Caruso, Amy Brenneman, Sharon Lawrence, and Kim Delaney, and would later play a vital role in reenergizing the careers of Ricky Schroeder and Mark-Paul Gosellaar from their world as child stars. I never cared for  A lightning bolt to the world of television, when it debuted on ABC in 1993, mainly because of how addressed language and nudity in ways that network television hadn't even considered back then. Never doing quite as well in the Emmys as it should, it launched the careers of David Caruso, Dennis Franz, Amy Brenneman, Sharon Lawrence, and Kim Delaney, and would later play a vital role in reenergizing the careers of Ricky Schroeder and Mark-Paul Gosellaar from their world as child stars. I never cared for Blue as much as Homicide (or for that matter, Law and Order), but I can't ignore the fact that many of the better series to come out of the new golden age wouldn't be possible without Blue.

Perhaps even more important than Bochco's considerable work as a producer-writer was his ability to find fellow travelers. He would eventually leave Hill Street and NYPD Blue, in the able hands of David Milch, and L A Law would eventually become the property of David E. Kelley. It's no exaggeration without Bochco we wouldn't have gotten Deadwood, Picket Fences, The Practice, and Ally McBeal, and those were just Milch's and Kelley's contributions to the TV landscape.

Even Bochco's failures (and he had so many that eventually other comedy shows would satirize them) had a level of effort absent from far too many network shows of today. Cop Rock is basically considered a complete failure, but considering that other series have tried musical-based episodes in the past, one would could argue foresight there. And Murder One, a 1995-1997 series that dared to try to follow a single storyline - in this case, a murder trial from crime to final verdict, was radical daring, even if it did come up short, and probably paved the way for series like 24.

Like so many writers who had trouble later in their careers, Bochco turned to cable. His last series, Murder in the First for TNT, was an intriguing mix of the police and the legal dramas he had once mastered. Following a single case, involving the same set of detectives and prosecutors, it had a bit more polish to it than so many of the TNT dramas that existed then. It seemed something of a shame when it was canceled two years ago.

Bochco has not been nearly as successful in this century than he was in the last, but it seems pretty clear that, without him, not only would we not have much of a Second Golden Age of television, the current one might not shine nearly as brightly. His influence was going to linger far longer than he was, but for him to pass away before he had turned 75 was a great loss that will truly be missed. So as a final salute to the man, I will quote his creation Phil Esterhaus (played by another actor who, like Bochco, was taken from us much too soon) and say Steven, "Let's be careful out there."

The Americans Final Season Review

How Will This Cold War End?

The Final Season of The Americans

It's 1987 in DC. The State Department is preparing for the summit at Reykjavík between America and the Soviet Union - the one that will be critical in bringing about the end of the Cold War. Both sides are in private disarray - the State Department fears that Reagan may be going senile, the KGB, alarmed by what Gorbachev's rule has been doing, doesn't want thing to change.

As for the Jennings' - the Russian sleeper agents at the core of The Americans - there is much internal chaos as well. Philip (Matthew Rhys), who finally was approaching burnout at the end of Season 5, has essentially retired from his double agent, and has set his sites on running the travel agency. He looks happier than we have ever seen him. Elizabeth (Keri Russell), in the meantime, is looking like she is finally on the verge of burning out. Desperately trying to hold fast to the ideals she was raised with, she has finally been called by her KGB handlers to try and undermine the summit, and for the first time, is being called outside her usual people. Paige (the remarkable Holly Taylor) has, in the three years since, being trained for the special program that their handlers have been trying to work for since the end of Season 2, but despite the best efforts of Elizabeth and Sylvia (Margo Martindale, finally promoted to series regular), its more than clear she doesn't have the stability for the job. Elizabeth has already killed one man to keep her daughter safe, and it's clear she's having trouble holding it together.

There are other shifts alongside the geopolitical ones. Stan Beaman (Noah Emmerich) has moved into the part of the FBI dealing primarily with the war on drugs, and though the viewer knows just how badly that's going to go, Stan is personally relieved to just be 'dealing with murderers, drug dealers, and crooked politicians'. But it is inevitable that he will be called back into the field, as Oleg (Costa Ronin), who spent the last three years away from the KGB in Moscow, has been called by a similarly-minded official to go back to America and try and do something to help the summit along. He has been called upon to visit an agent who has similar feelings to him - Philip.

The Americans has occasionally been accused of being a slow-moving series. But as the show goes into its final stretch, you get the feeling that the writers are finally beginning to pull all the strings - some of which have been left hanging since Season 2 - together in a way that could be even darker than we might expect. There are all kinds of possibilities that are hanging open, and when Elizabeth had to kill a high-ranking military official at the end of last night's episode, you can get the idea of where they might be headed. Will the Jennings', whose contrasting views on the U.S. have been a constant source of tension, be forced to work against each other? Will Stan, who has had no idea that his next door neighbors are Russian double agents, finally realize the truth? And what will happen to Paige, who has been a subject of tug of war between parents, and in the same way, capitalism and communism, finally end up? From the hindsight of history, we know what's going to happen to the USSR by the end of the season. We also know it will not be the end of the conflicts between America and Russia. But I care less about that than how the writers bring about the conclusion of what is certainly one of the best series of the 2010s. Depending on how the last few episodes go, we may be about to lead this show to rank with some of the true greats in TV.

Rise Up: Rise Review

Some series seem so easy to summarize that one might be inclined to dismiss them without a second thought. One such new show would appear to be Rise, NBC's replacement to fill This is Us' time slot. Set in a working class Pennsylvania high school where an idealistic history teacher (Josh Radnor, tweaking his How I Met Your Mother personality just a bit) takes over the flagging theater department, determined to shake things up, by producing the controversial musical Spring Awakening.  Upsetting the high-strung replacement Tracey Wolfe (Rosie Perez, playing a character for the first time in decades that doesn't seem a variation of her own personality), he assembles a production, putting the divas in lower level roles, trying to cast the quarterback Robbie Thorne as a lead, and putting one of the better performers Simon in a gay themed role. One could say without having to try that hard that this is just a version of Glee meets Friday Night Lights. And considering that Jason Katims, the man who created the beloved NBC series is the head writer, its an easy assumption to make, and to dismiss as a knock-off.

But, as inevitably seems to be the case with any Jason Katims series (this is the man who brought us Parenthood and cut his teeth on My So-Called Life) , you'd be underselling the show. For one thing, the buoyancy and camp that was always present in Glee isn't there, replacing with an underlying grittiness that Katims has made a critical element of all his shows. Lou, the teacher is considerably more of a nudge than Mr. Schue ever was, and a lot more enemies.  Unlike Mr. Schuster, he actually has a happy marriage with a supportive and Broadway-loving wife (Marley Shelton). His problems lie with his son, Gordy (Casey Johnson). Not in love with show music, he clearly has a drinking problem, and it is becoming obvious that neither of his parents can control him.

Furthermore, the acceptance that ran through Glee, doesn't seem to be there. Robbie isn't supported for appearing in the play, mainly because this high school football team is successful, and he's seen as a kid with a future. He's being pushed by his father as well as his coach, and when the two worlds collide,  as they did last night in an aftergame party, its clear that Robbie is risking exposing himself on two fronts. Furthermore, when Simon is shown to be appearing in a gay role, his very religious father puts him in an academy, and seems on the verge of tearing him away from everything. There's also a teenager named Michael on the verge of transitioning from boy to girl, and he has to fight for his acceptance even within the theater community. There are far worse consequences here than being doused with Slushies.

Rise is a lot less sure of itself than many of the other Katims' series were right off the bat, even though its origins are based on a true story. The singing and musical performances are very good, but unlike Glee, they're not the highpoint of the series. In many ways, Rise is about a high school musical production in the same way Friday Night Lights was about high school football. There isn't the same level of confidence present in this that there have been, but you definitely see the potential in it, much in the same way Lou sees potential in his performers. Its unclear where the show will go if it survives this season, but there's more potential in this, and more rage and real emotion than you get in a lot of network dramas these days. And considering it airs after The Voice, there's more of a complimentary placement than there have been for any reality/dramas shows in awhile. I hope Rise takes more of a grip. We could use more series like this.

My score:3.75 stars.

Billions Season 3 Review

Showtime continues to be the most intriguing network on any system, and unlike HBO and AMC, seems more than capable of coming up with astonishing new series when the old ones depart. Billions has been one of the more intriguing players in its rotation, and with the real world taking new and shocking turns,  it is more than up to the challenge/

When Season 2 ended, Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) had just been indicted for insider trading for his manipulation of the stock 'Ice Juice'. We also learned that this manipulation had been masterminded by U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) at  the cost of his personal fortune, his best friend, and his relationship with his father (Jeffrey DeMunn). As Season 3 begins, both Rhoades and Axe are in strange new worlds. Bobby's marriage to Lara (Malin Akerman) has imploded, with a separation from her, and a further problem with his kids. In the season premiere, facing the possible collapse of Ax Capital, he agreed to suspend trading, and then spent yesterday's episode entirely unable to keep still. Bobby is a shark, and can't figure out what to do if he's not trading. So, even as he tries to stem off prison, he can't avoid doing the only thing he knows how to do.

Chuck is in an even deeper bind. With a new administration and a new attorney general (wonderfully portrayed by Clancy Brown), he has managed to keep his job when all around are losing theirs, and is trying to keep a distance from the new ADA (Christopher Denham, master of the understatement) He has also managed to reconcile with Wendy (Maggie Siff, incredible), but still can't keep his hands off the case. As the prosecutor tells him: "You're a man who's committed a crime of passion. It felt good at the time, but now you want to get all the blood of the walls." Chuck knows the peril he's in, even as he continues to seek the governor's chair.

Ax Capital is in a similar case of flux. With Bobby now 'gone', leadership has been set up between Wendy, Wags (David Costabile, stealing every scene he's in) and Taylor (Asia Kate Dillon, now promoted to series regular). Taylor managed to win over Ax's confidence in Season 2, and in the finale was promoted to CIO. The entire firm is looking to them for leadership, and they have been more than willing to provide it. But Ax can't stop working behind the scenes, even though all of them are desperately trying to protect him. Ax, like Chuck, can be his own worst enemy. The question is, who'll break first?

Billions has now easily risen to the status of best drama on Showtime. It manages to inhabit the gray area that all good series on television now seem to occupy, while not forfeiting any of the great acting and writing that so many of them lack. The creators have put together two of the strongest lead characters on television, and yet you can probably count on one hand the number of the time the two of them have been in the same scene together. Add to this the fact that Wendy's new position has reestablished the power triangle that leads to some of the series best drama (including the fact that Wendy and Bobby have never even considered a romantic relationship), and you have something you barely see on TV any more. All of the acting on this series is remarkable, and yet attention must still be paid to Dillon. I can't think of any series that would hire a gender neutral actor to play a gender neutral role, and then spend the entire series, making sure  that the sex of the character was the least interesting thing about them. Dillon commands the screen in every scene their in, and should be considered among the Emmy nominations.

Billions is currently Showtime's crowning achievement, just like Masters of Sex was five years ago. I really hope that the Emmys find a way to recognize it the way they didn't for Masters.  In an era where the almighty dollar is king, this show seems far more relevant than ever.

My score: 4.5 stars.