Homicide Rewatch: Blood Ties, Part 2

 

Teleplay by David Simon ; story by Tom Fonatana & James Yoshimura

Directed by Nick Gomez

 

In the middle section of the three part opener of Season Six we find ourselves dealing with two stories. One is a subplot that is one of the most comic murders Homicide will deal with (and its dealt with some humorous ones. The other, which continues the investigation into Melia Brierre, is far more serious and at the time drew far more controversy among long time viewers.

The former, which bears the biggest imprint of the author, reminds the viewer the importance of setting of Homicide. Baltimore is not the main character of this show in the way that Simon would famously claim it was of The Wire five years later but it's very much an important series regular. I've referred to this in passing in several of my reviews of this series but I don't think I've emphasized how groundbreaking it was for a network drama to be shooting in Baltimore at a time when every other series was being filmed in LA. It had been just as groundbreaking when Law & Order had filmed in New York at the start of the decade but unlike the more iconic series while the writers and much of the staff were from Baltimore they rarely drew attention to in a particularly showy way. One of the handful of times that Baltimore was directly put at the center of the setting is in the major storyline where Munch and Kellerman get 'a red ball with seams'. They're called to Camden Yards in the middle of a day game with the Orioles in the midst of a tight pennant race.

During the 1990s the Orioles were more of a contending team then they'd been in a decade (and in fact would end up not contending for another twenty years) Indeed much of the reason this episode was at the center of the story was because many believed the Orioles would be in the World Series that year. Unfortunately by the time the episode aired on October 24^th 1997 the Cleveland Indians had eliminated the Orioles in the ALCS and would do on to lose to the Florida Marlins in a world series so painful that it killed many of the viewers and commentators watching it. That doesn't change the fact that its still one of the most entertaining stories in Season Six and one of the most quintessentially Baltimore storylines.

Munch and Kellerman are called to the Camden Yards where a panicked adviser tells them that a New York tourist, one Tommy Elefante, has been found dead in the midst of an Orioles game. Everyone is initially excited about this – Falson wants Munch to pull one of the Oakland stars out of the lineup until the eighth inning and Gharty wants Munch to ask one of the Orioles management if Armando Benitez will be getting any more time in the bullpen for the fantasy league. (I'll get to how this pays off, because its hysterical.) When Munch and Kellerman get there the security crew chief shows up panicked and before he can open his mouth Munch says his line for him, tourist attraction, 48,000 fans, important this be done quietly and without attention. And of course even though the detectives have literally just gotten there when he finds out they haven't immediately solved the case he calls the governor.

Kellerman actually seems unwilling to believe the governor will be called and for once Munch actually seems clued in: "A murder at the Yards in a late season game with the playoffs just around the corner? You're talking millions of tourist dollars in ticket revenue." After the description of fecal gravity they walk into the stadium and Kellerman says: "Lucky us. There's only 48,000 people here with a possible motive."

It doesn't help that Elfante is the quintessential horrible Yankee fan, degraded Davey Johnson and the sainted Cal Ripken ("The Iron Mitt") The fans are distracted by the game and seem more interested about how Jimmy Key is pitching then the fan's death. And in one of those hysterical twists he's not been killed by an Oriole fans but his fellow New Yorker who can't even manage to hide his Bronx accent, doesn't know how to pronounce Baltimore, and agrees to confess if they'll let him finish watching the game and by him a dog and a beer. (The fans cheer as he's hauled off…because there's a rally, of course.) He and his friend got drunk, threw a battery or two at the left field ("Where I come from it's a custom," he says proudly) he then beat his friend to death and then went back to the bleachers even though he changed his seat. He makes it clear that there is a pennant race in the American League East and he wants to see the game.

"Not my day. A pinch hit home run in the bottom of the tenth… and I have to cop to murder." For a Yankee fan, it's hard to know which he considers worse. The two of them rode four hours as Yankee fans because they thought the Yankees would be playing the Orioles that day. When Munch tells them the makeup game wasn't until next week, something the New Yorker didn't know until they scalped the tickets.  Then in the first Elfante tells this fan that Robby Alomar is the best second baseman in the league. Worst when they go to the bathroom Elfante tells him that the Orioles are a better team. And worse they were the better team last year. "The Yankees wouldn't have won that series except for the fan that stole the game!" (See below for details.)  So like any good New Yorker he knows he has to lay a beating and he throws one punch and Elfante does a header.

 

The larger problem with the Brierre investigation – the one that troubled many viewers at the time – was how Frank Pembleton spends the first two episodes doing everything possible not to look at the most likely suspects. Just as troubling in the minds of many was how Giardello seemed determined to keep the Wilsons save from the eyes of his detectives, even if it means protecting them from murder.

This never troubled me that much at the time and does so less now for multiple reasons. For one thing its been established that Al Giardello has a long history with many of the prominent voices in the black community. We saw in Season Three his complicated friendship with Sam Thorne who he clearly respected and it took him a while to get around to investigated Burundi Robinson because he believed he was doing good work for the black community. It's easy to see his relationship with the Wilsons in the same light.

Frank's case appears different as we know this is a man who has adamantly pursued the truth and considers all victims equal in death. But it's worth noting in five seasons he's never once been in the position to investigation an African-American like Felix Wilson. This is a man who we've seen spending every day seeing the absolute worse of black men and women in his city, the majority of who are dope fiends and criminals. We've saw how much a fourteen-year old African-American killing another fourteen year old affected him because of the wasted life and we know how afraid he was of bringing a child into the world. He's justifiably cynical because of the job and the people he should respect – like the bosses and the higher-ups – he knows too well are just political animals who have no use for the rank and file.

Into this world comes Felix Wilson a man, who as we see in this episode, is a man who has done good work for the poor and misfortune minorities in Baltimore. Wilson is a black multimillionaire in an America that has built multiple obstacles against that happening and he has used his success to give back to the community. Pembleton has no heroes in his day to day life; is it so wrong that he wants to believe the best in one who has given no sign of being anything but one?

Its worth noting at every part of this its clear Frank feels more committed to this then Al is. Indeed, his decision to leak the suspect to the press in order to put daylight between the Wilsons is so blatantly unhelpful that Pembleton actually calls Al on it. He even is willing to say that while he believes the Wilsons are innocent, he thinks they should submit blood and hair samples if only to eliminate them as suspects.  The fact that Giardello then pulls him off the case to have him go to the rec center for the sole purpose of showing him the good Felix Wilson is doing to the community is the first time we've seen him putting his finger on the scales and not in a good way. Frank knows he's being manipulated but allows himself to be so even when Wilson acknowledges the manipulation is in play. In the scene that follows as he and Bayliss are driving to the factory you can tell there's a part of him trying to justify it to himself as much as his partner. This might have bothered some viewers but its actually part of how Frank will continue to show growth even in Braugher's final season: even as they plan to end his chapter the writers are still finding depths in him that the viewer is unaware of.

To Ballard, who just transferred from Seattle and has no idea of the importance of Wilson the fact that Pembleton and Giardello seem hung up on 'Caja' rather then looking at Felix and Hal, seems like they're giving privileged treatment to rich people. To Gharty there's clearly something darker in play – and this is the episode that makes it clear where he stands in a way that is guaranteed to make the liberal viewer uncomfortable, even as we acknowledge the greater point. The most fascinating man to watch in this scenario is Bayliss who makes it clear that he's just along for the ride. However when Ballard makes it clear she wants to have a talk with Hal Wilson Bayliss gives tacit approval.

The contrast comes in the interviews: Bayliss and Pembleton deal with Regina and Thea with something close to kid gloves while Ballard and Gharty take on Hal with a slightly more pressing attack. Despite his attitude afterwards it's hard for me to look at this as any other tactic. Hal takes the appearance of an entitled prep school kid who seems above it all and deflects the questions. Its only the fact the detectives are white and Hal is black that makes it different. Ballard treats Gharty with anger afterwards acting as if he's racist and she talks with him about the idea of Baltimore being black.

The Gharty-Ballard partnership is a fascinating dynamic because its one we genuinely haven't seen on Homicide: a young twenty-ish detective with a season veteran. Both Thorne and Gerety would be superb because the despite the clashing politics and worldview both had there is a genuine respect. It's also interesting to see Ballard as the most openly liberal Gen X type whereas Gharty sees the world in real terms. She wants to get blood and hair samples from Felix and Hal because that's the way she would do things but Gharty makes it very clear there's a different power structure in Baltimore.

"Even if you were the primary, you think Giardello would let you work this case the way you want it? Not a chance in hell. Giardello would still be in our faces. He'd still be working to protect Wilson and his family…You and I, we're just working the case, taking in the facts…Giardello and Pembleton they are covering Wilson's ass because his ass is the same color as theirs. I'm not saying Giardello is a bad lieutenant, I'm not saying Pembleton is a lousy cop, but the racial stuff is right there on the table. Nobody's talking about it, but it's there."

Gharty is speaking in the frequently crude terms that have made up his character from the start. What makes the viewer uncomfortable is that we've seen what Giardello and Pembleton are doing and its hard to disagree because it makes us take the side of a man whose using such bigoted terms.

The fact that Pembleton is at the same time trying to argue that Ballard and Gharty are racist and that he's being the same detective we've always seen makes a contrast that is fascinating: we're so inclined to see Frank as the hero that we want to disbelieve the evidence of our eyes – and it becomes harder to do so once he learns that Caja is has been in a Haitian prison for four months. And when Giardello comes down and is pissed that it had been leaked that Caja was no longer a suspect – and more importantly, that the Wilsons are being harassed – the simmering tension between Pembleton and Ballard in particular explodes.

Its refreshing the first person to get into a pissing contest with Frank Pembleton and be on the ride of things is a woman. Gharty then pushes back at Frank, Bayliss defends his partner and unfortunately Frank starts defending the Wilsons.  Its Frank who starts using the most racial of terms to refer to how Ballard and Gharty see the Wilsons. Sadly then Gharty points out that they're black and successful and have half of city hall in their pocket. Again despite his crudeness he's not wrong: indeed much of The Wire will make it very clear how much the city is in control of powerful African-Americans who are fine with the status quo even as it ostensibly comes on the backs of 'their own people'.  Pembleton is right when he points out how things change when Irish and Italian ruled the city, but so is Gharty when he says two wrongs don't make a right. And its telling that Frank takes Bayliss's 'betrayal' the hardest.

That said it's telling that at this point in their partnership Frank knows that if Tim thinks he's pulling his punches he really is. So while he seems to be acting like a crybaby when he decides to bring in Felix Wilson we know at some level he realizes he has to do it. Bayliss has always been the conscience of the unit and Frank knows he can't mess with it.

The scene in the box between Wilson and Pembleton is a high point as we get to see two of the greatest actors of all time sharing the screen.  Wilson acts like he wants to see the 'hot seat', almost like he's looking forward to being interrogated. The two of them talk about what it's like to be black in a white world, they talk about Al Giardello, Felix Wilson says he thinks Al has the more important job, Frank says he knows Wilson is not some CEO out to make a buck.  Frank tells Wilson the details about the murder and then he says that they'll need a blood sample. Frank then lowers his voice and makes it clear he doesn't want to do this but he has too. Its uncomfortable for us to see him contorting himself in this position. And then comes what is a shock though it shouldn't be given what the viewer has been through for five seasons.  Felix Wilson had sex with Melia that night. He had in fact been having an affair with her.

Its almost worth having had to go through the last two episodes to see the stunned look on Kotto's face and the genuine shock on Braugher's as he realizes his instincts have been completely wrong.  Braugher looks defeated and broken in a way we rarely see: he can barely manage to go through the motions in asking for the blood sample and when Wilson walks out the door he can barely say anything. Even in the aftermath when Ballard points out that Wilson has not only had sex with the maid and lied to the police Giardello and Pembleton are still trying to find ways out of this that they wouldn't do with anyone else.  Its only when the Wilson's attorneys show up and make it very clear that they will not be answering any more questions – or submitting blood and hair – that Frank and Al are forced to face the fact that they can no longer make excuses for the man they've been defending.

And that this story isn't going to have a happy ending for the Wilson family.

 

 

NOTES FROM THE BOARD

Mahoney PTSD: Falsone corners Stivers after telling her about Georgia Rae's bail review hearing and tells her he looked at the file and says he's partnered with Lewis but he still wants to know from her. Stivers takes this hard. "So you sleep with the guy a few times and as soon as he goes to the john, your hands are in his wallet, seeing where he's been and where's he done? Either you trust a man or you don't? (Considering how things will play out later this season there's multiple ironies in play.) Stivers then confronts Lewis about it (while he's looking at Playboy) and they discuss the possibility that Falsone may be from IID and the two detectives bicker about how badly things might go if this blows up.

 

'Detective Munch': Lots of good lines. When he finds the Yankee cap on Elefante "We should check the Maryland annotated code. I'm not sure this is a crime in Baltimore." (There's an argument outside of the Bronx it’s a justifiable homicide anywhere else.) This is followed by his wonderful description of how things will go:

"Right now the governor's screaming at the mayor, who's berating the commissioner, who's abusing Bonfather, who's torturing Gaffney, who's kicking it all over Gee's shoes. We don't put this case down by the 7^th inning stretch, you're back in auto and I'm walking a beat."

The best moment comes at the end when Munch gets to see Scott Erikson. Munch then asks him if Benitez is going to have any save opportunities. Erikson looks over his shoulder. "I don't know. Why don't you ask him?" Benitez then says: "Give me a break." At least you solved the murder.

It was the 1990s: Enough time has passed that I think it's worth explaining at least one of the references.

In the 1996 ALCS the Yankees and the Orioles were playing when a Yankee hit a fly ball that a fan named Jeffrey Maier grabbed and made sure the Yankees would homer and eventually win the game. But as much as Munch and Kellerman might thing otherwise, the Yankees did win the series in five games and the Orioles never had a chance in that series. I know because I watched every game of it.

Scott Erickson pitched 16 years in baseball spending his longest tenure with the Orioles 1995-2000 and again in 2002. In 1997 he won 16 games in 33 starts with a 3.69 ERA which in the 1990s was a big deal. Armando Benitez made his debut with the Orioles in 1994 and was with them until 1998. He would eventually pitch for (horror) the Mets and (blasphemy) the Yankees in 2003. He would eventually go 40-47 with 289 saves in his career. For the record in 1997 he had one of the least successful postseason series ever by a relief pitcher. In the four games the Orioles lost, they lost by one run, and in three of them he was on the mound for the final run, being charged with 2 losses and a blown save. So maybe he should have gotten less save opportunities?

Hey, Isn't That… Lynne Thigpen, who plays Regina Wilson, made her debut in Godspell. Five years later she made her official film debut in the cult classic The Warriors as DJ. She made several appearance in TV shows like Gimme A Break!, Rosie in Season 2 of thirtysomething. Naomi Sayers on the short run series FM and DA Ruby Thomas in the 1991-1992 season of LA Law. She then became beloved to a generation of viewers (including me) for playing The Chief on PBS's Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego for five seasons..

After playing Regina she played Judge Ida Boucher in three episodes of LA Law and Carla Howard in John Singleton's remake of Shaft. In 2000 she was cast as Ella Farmer, the secretary in CBS's crime drama The District. On March 12, 2003 she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died at her home at only 54. Her premature death was a tragic loss to fans of theater, film and television.