Homicide Rewatch: The Damage Done

 

Written by Jorge Zamacona ; story by Henry Bromell & Tom Fontana

Directed by Jace Alexander

 

In many ways The Damage Done is the most important episode in Homicide's history to this point, as significant to the series' second half as Adena Watson's murder in the Pilot was. Like so much else involving Homicide it was done almost by accident I still don't know if when decisions were made. And in a way the repercussions of the character introduced here would be felt not just throughout Homicide's run but would be just as significant to how much of 21^st century TV would unfold, not just on HBO but overall.

Homicide was to this point famous for not following the traditional police procedural structure of having villains in the traditional sense. The series dealt with the banality of evil better then any major drama during the 1990s with the exception of The X-Files. The monsters on this show were very human and frankly not particular interesting in their own rights,  which made the crimes they committed all the more horrific. That is until Luther Mahoney came along.

The effect that the war on drugs had on Baltimore was at the center of Season 1 but since then it has increasingly gone to the backburner. Considering that the majority of homicides in Baltimore, then and now, were drug related some fans of the early seasons were no doubt chafing at how 'formulaic' these red balls were becoming. 'The Damage Done' is the first episode in a long time to directly deal with the body count that this has in Baltimore eventually coming to see it as a battle between two opposing forces.

Considering this episode introduces Luther Mahoney its striking how little he actually appears in the episode. One of the best tricks of Homicide was how little it was willing to actually show its primary force of evil and malevolence and this would continue right up until…well, you know. Erik Todd Dellums only appears in two scenes and the last one is almost incidental to the story, so passing you might almost think his character was going to be a one-shot. This is true of the Mahoney organization in general: we rarely see Luther and when we do in so many of his appearances he's so careful not to be doing anything overtly monstrous. The aura is enough.

It's not clear which of the major drug lords in The Wire Mahoney is the most like. It's true he has the idea of the community organizer roles and never personally getting his hands dirty that we would see in Stringer Bell but he has such clear menace and unctuousness in his tone that we can only see how Avon Barksdale works. The latter is more likely an influence considering, like the Barksdale crew, it is based in family though we won't learn that part until Season Five. There's also an arrogance to him that seems to be daring the detectives to catch him knowing how safe he is from protection. In that sense the way that the detectives – Kellerman in particular – begin to take Mahoney's flaunting of the law increasingly personally will be made very clear in Jimmy McNulty, though in the latter's case his attitude is based more on the fact that he wants to prove he's smarter than the drug lords he chases. With Kellerman and Lewis they're more upset because of the body count he racks up.

In truth to this point I still find Kellerman and Lewis's attitude more forgivable than McNulty's when it comes to the drug lords they chase. The fact that Mahoney is responsible for so many deaths and keeps skating infuriates them because they can't stop the man responsible for so many murders. McNulty is a narcissistic personality who wants to catch drug runners because as to how it reflects on him personally. In his mind drug dealers and addicts dying is just how the world is, what he wants is to be recognize for the fact he's smarter than the bosses.

And its interesting to compare Giardello's reaction to the dead bodies as opposed to Rawls. Where Rawls is always angry when a string of dead bodies comes Giardello becomes increasingly cheerful and sanguine as the red piles up under Kellerman's name. This is actually more effective than Rawls' profanity. The detectives are used to the ranting of their boss in The Wire, but Kellerman and Lewis become increasingly unsettled the nicer Gee becomes. (And it's a lot more fun to see the always imposing Yaphet Kotto playing against type.)

Speculation about influences on The Wire aside (we'll deal with it more in future seasons) The Damage Done is another fine episode which gives another chance for Reed Diamond to shine as Kellerman. Much of the discussion in the early stages is about the two detectives sex lives (note how Lewis does not share) and when Kellerman learns that he is about to be connected to a triple homicide his reaction is typically Baltimore PD. "With all this overtime, I'll never get schtupped."

We get a sense of the drug war in Baltimore from every angle in a way we haven't in a long time. The episode begins with the raid on the supplier, we see a street level dealer engaging in a re-up before he gets killed, then we see a very up class white woman stepping into a car owned by her dealer.  We also get a chance to see two narcotics detectives for the first time since Season 1 (and one will become critical in regards to this storyline two years later) as well as the sanguine to the point of bloodthirsty attitude of the narcotics to their jobs when they realize that they now have less work to do. We also get the very blunt perspective of the neighbors who have to live around them; in the aftermath of three people being killed a neighbor says he knows what they were doing "but it's considered more of a sin to be on welfare then deal drugs in Washington." Seeing as we've just seen a rich white woman by from people she no doubt personally despises the statement is clear.

But the squad is just as unsympathetic to Kellerman. Bayliss seems to take a special joy in watching the new guy have to deal with four stone cold whodunits and Pembleton wants to be clear that he and his partner want nothing to do with it in case things go badly. Of course they eventually agreed to help on a bust and actually cheer him when the case is closed  - Frank of all people actually leads the cheering section which is actually nice of him.

And its worth noting Kellerman and Lewis acknowledge themselves just how well 'the game' works for some of these people. Prior to a bust that the target is going to get $50,000 Lewis acknowledges its better than waiting to hit the lotto.  And waiting outside a club for their target they acknowledge the expensive cars a lot of these people are driving. This leads to a conversation about "whether you've ever been tempted". Kellerman acknowledges that every cop in Baltimore knows what they're talking about: they raid a bust on a stash house and there's a whole pile of money lying around. Lewis and Kellerman both claim they've never been tempted but Meldrick acknowledges that he gets why a patrol officer might be.  Considering that The Wire will never actually deal with corruption at this level of law enforcement in its entire run (most of the cops who were labeled that way were just the ones who had been ground down by the system) its fascinating that Homicide will not only talk about it but in fact address the issue in a far more direct matter than its successor. (And almost by chance it presages Kellerman's major storyline the following season.)

In keeping with how Homicide works we only learn of the major monster while pursuing another one Antonio Fortunato, aka Drac.  The man connected to the dead bodies Kellerman and Lewis, after a great deal of effort, track him down. His attitude is not unlike Mahoney overtime, ridiculously cheerful to the point he almost seems to be baiting the cops. But once he's brought in the conversation takes a more interesting turn.

Drac has no official criminal record, went to the same high school Meldrick did and indeed their paths took similar courses. When Drac learns Meldrick walked out of Lafayette Court, he's astonished he's still alive and actually thinks he's a role model. He graduated with a 3.1 average and had a track scholarship but somehow he ended up here. And he has a far more realistic view of the world of drugs then we ever hear Mahoney state: he knows that he has made bad choices but he also knows that this is very much how America works. He clearly mourns the deaths of those he lost and while he's combative he's not nearly as nasty.  There's more empathy in Drac's one appearance then we see in any of Mahoney clan in the two years they are part of the series, not just towards the cops but even their employees and their own family.  You could make the argument that Mahoney is no more cutthroat then a corporate CEO – in which case the real comparison for him as a villain is not anyone on The Wire but George Hearst on Deadwood while Drac for all his sins still has empathy.

The first impression we get of Mahoney is someone who really seems to enjoy baiting detectives. One of his first lines is "I'm smart' and that's the defining aspect of Luther. His aura of the community organizer is so fully realized that there's a good chance the people who only know that side of it don't know anything about the other – and if they do, they don't care. We'll see this model carried out in several brilliant shows that will unfold in the next decade, most notably Gus Fring in Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul.  (The fact that Giancarlo Esposito actually starred in Homicide – albeit after all stories involving the Mahoney clan were resolved – might have served as an influence for his character: many of the traits we see in Luther are very obvious in Gus Fring on both sides.)

The show is essentially a drug war: we see Drac's crew kill one of Mahoney's suppliers in the opening (we don't learn the connection until the episode is half over) and Luther retaliates by taking out five different members of Drac's crew.  It's never clear how many of Drac's crew were involved in the murders or if Mahoney was just using the raid as an excuse to wreak vengeance on one of his rivals. We will quickly learn Mahoney is a man who believes that he is the king of the mountain in Baltimore and those who encroach him have violated the code. As we'll learn, he is big on principle but he is the only one who gets to make the rules.

The episode clearly has far more sympathy and empathy to Drac in the climatic raid on his home. Kellerman has been nursing a grudge as the episode continues and when Drac runs he takes out his gun and it jams. He'll claim to be scared later on but we've already seen him struggling to deal with the burden of the deaths and everything involving Mahoney.

In this case Drac gets the jump on him and while he beats him up confesses in a way that might seem unrealistic but is in keeping with his earlier conversation with the detectives. He says that he's been running all his life and he's been afraid even longer. He also says he's guilty of a lot of things but he's innocent of this. And then he chooses to let Kellerman live, just as much out of his nature as he doesn't want a charge on him.

The case is solved when the narcotics detectives bring in a dealer with the gun that killed all six people. Both Lewis and Kellerman know that Mahoney has pinned the murders are a skell in order to stop the detectives from looking into him but that they can never prove it.

However the real reason that Kellerman wants to take down Mahoney comes in the final scene of the episode. The godmother of the last member of the Mathias family has arranged a candlelight vigil outside the precinct. Kellerman and she have been flirting earlier and Mike is about to ask her out when she introduces him to Danny. This clearly dents Mike's heart. Then as the candles are lit and Amazing Grace is sung we see Drac show up at the vigil with his wife and daughter. He catches Kellerman's eye. A look of understanding is there.

And then a shot rings out. Drac falls to the ground bleeding with his family screaming. Kellerman runs to him and frantically tries to tell the man who held a gun on him to hang on. The shooter is caught down the block and Kellerman tells us Drac is dead.

And then Luther walks up holding a candle. Instantly we know what has happened. Mahoney has taken the opportunity to murder his great rival and what better way to assure his alibi by being right next to him when it happens. Kellerman knows this and Mahoney knows he knows this. And he still looks at him and sense in a tone that is more of pride than sorrow: "What a waste."

This changes the game on the show in a way we've never seen. We have witnessed suspected murderers who we know are guilty escape justice on the show, either because the detectives couldn't prove it (the Araber) or because they have managed to arrange circumstances to alleviate it (Annabella Wilgus). But never before have we seen a man essentially commit a murder in plain view of the cops and all but confess his involvement to one of them and walk away free as a bird. The look on Reed Diamond's face in that final moment speaks volumes.

In a sense the fresh-faced fun-loving detective who was joking freely when we first met him is gone after this episode. It will be a while before the full effects are seen and Mahoney will not be the only reason it happens. But Luther Mahoney will end up haunting Kellerman the same way that the Araber will forever haunt Bayliss. We knew that not even his death would allow Tim any sign of closure and Mahoney will have the same effect on Kellerman. The difference is it will end up being far more destructive and the body count will be far higher. The writers could not have known that when they titled this episode The Damage Done but it was more prophetic then they could have dreamed.

 

Notes From The Board

When Meldrick tells Kellerman he is in love Mike thinks he's joking. He's actually telling the truth as we'll find out in the very next episode chronologically.

One of the narcotics detectives we meet is Detective Castleman. Given what we later learn about him there's a very real possibility that the police themselves may have played a role in making sure that the addict who they found with a gun got it from Mahoney.

Get The DVD: In this case I really do think the syndication takes away from the value of the episode. The use of Dawn Penn's "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No) as the drug war unfolds is extremely effective to the overall mood. Just as effective is the use of Garbage's Vow in critical moments, particularly in the final scene. This time the DVD is the better version.

Hey, Isn't That…Erik Todd Dellums was the son of California Congressman Ron Dellums who served in Congress for twenty six years as the first openly socialist Congressional candidate from 1970-1998. Erik had appeared in many Spike Lee films in small roles before starring as Luther Mahoney in 1996. Strangely enough he never chose a more elite role, though he has had some roles of significance over the years. He played Dr. Randall Frazier, a coroner on The Wire, Bayard Rustin in the TV Movie Boycott and made small appearance in Homeland. By and large most of his work has been small voice overs in video games such as Fallout, League of Legends, The Elder Scrolls Series and Star Wars: The Old Republic. His biggest voiceover work has been as Aaravos in The Dragon Prince on Netflix which ended last year. It's a great pity such a great talent has mostly done voiceover work – though what a voice!