Homicide Rewatch: Something Sacred (Conclusion)

 

Written by David Simon

Directed by Uli Edel

 

The second part begins with the perfect note of comedy. With the Guatemalans on the run and a second priest dead the Baltimore PD have become desperate and are trying and an undercover operation. Part of that involves members of Homicide dressing as men of the cloth looking to be robbed, even if that means they're walking the same avenues as ladies of the evening.

The detectives realize the humor of this in many ways (see Detective Munch for the high point) but it also argues the relative futility of where the investigation is right now. It doesn't bring them closer to solving the red ball and it just makes it very clear how depraved the underbelly of Baltimore is. Giardello knows this better than anyone when Munch comes in with the two men who tried to rob him in the teaser. They know that the MO is wrong. The shift has been dressed in clerical garb and all they have to show for it is six robbery attempts, none of which resemble the approach of the murders of Juneau and Jaeger.  As for Pedro and Luis the search is all over the wire but they're nowhere. More importantly the refugees left with only the clothes on their backs. A search of the grounds found no sign of any money and while the diocese of Jaeger was robbed they still don't know what to look for. Giardello is infuriated about being forced to release the two refugees and he makes that point very clear when he's called in to meet with Bonfather who calls him in to meet with City Hall and the archdiocese.

Kotto has always been superb at managing diplomacy when it comes to dealing with the bosses as he understands what his job is. Here he doesn't even bother with formalities, tearing into Bonfather, the mayor and the church from the moment he enters the room.  It helps matters that both representatives are the epitome of arrogance and ignorance and he has no problem being that way. Asked if this is his subtle way of telling them 'I told you so.' Al says coldly: "I don't have time to be subtle. But if you want it, I told you so." The way that both the mayor and the archdiocese seem utterly unwilling to admit error even in the fact of another dead priest makes it so frustrating that Bonfather has to play diplomat for once and Al runs right over him too. Al is called on the carpet later in the episode but he clearly has no patience for that either.

After a failed interrogation by Gharty all seem clear that the recent robber is the wrong tree Ballard finds the inventory from the archdiocese: a gold chalice taken from the altar. (There's a little humor when Ballard explains to Giardello what a chalice is and Al, whose Catholicism is never stated in this episode, gently tells her.) They put it on the pawnbroker's list and then they want every cop to visit every pawn shop in Baltimore. They make the assumption that if you're dead broke  you're gonna grab whatever you can and this leads them to Pedro and Luis stealing what they can and hocking it for money to get out of town.

This leads to a conversation between Gharty and Falsone, who haven't really talked since this season began. Gharty asked Falsone about his religion and Gharty says he still goes to Mass and how he believes. His monologue is one of the highpoints of Gerety's tenure on the show:

This mook sees what he thinks is a priest at a Frederick row bus stop and out comes his .32. Yo father, give it up?...I'm nuts, someone is robbing and killing priests and I'm up to my neck in it. But hey, there's Stu Gharty, wanting to believe. He's down on his knees, his mouth open, waiting for that little wafer.

Falsone's response is interesting. He tells him the job doesn't have to change it. "What is faith? Believing without any real evidence." Gharty thinks it's a joke but Falsone assured him he wouldn't do that. He may not be religious but he's not going to knock another man's faith. 

When Ballard and Gharty go to the morgue looking for more details and get more info on the knife, once again we see Gharty's devotion as he's upset that a Monsignor is displayed the same way as all the other corpses. "It isn't right," he says.

In the midst of the shift change when Pembleton comes in after a sleepless night, helped by his children the man who had a stroke asks for a black coffee. He never gets to drink and we don't ponder it long because the phone rings and he calls in Stivers. They've found Pedro and Luis.

Gharty and Ballard are outside St. Jermaine, taking photos to see if the killer comes back to see both priests paid respects too. Gharty actually goes inside to pay his respect and Ballard eventually follows. Sister Diane shows up and Ballard begins to question her about Pedro and Luis. Diane remains certain, despite everything that has happened, that they're not guilty. Falsone then comes in and briefs Ballard and Gharty that the refugees have been found in Frederick. Furthermore there was a hit on the chalice in Hanover this morning. Sister Diane demands to know what happened and all three detectives walk out without telling her a thing.

Pedro and Luis were found with $34 on them and receipts for fast food and motels running about $40. (This is 1998 Baltimore, remember.) Sister Diane reaches Frederick not long after Pembleton and Stivers do. That Sister Diane seems determined to put them in the custody of the archdiocese saying nothing has changed seems to speak to her naivete. She admits they have demonstrated they are a flight risk but Pembleton actually starts chuckling when he makes it very clear that he finds her position foolish now. The refugees made a statement and its clear she's unsure whether or not they'd confess. They maintain their innocence but can't explain how they were found with more than $70, nor can they give any reasonable explanation for fleeing, having signed an affidavit not to.  Sister Diane seems stunned that they didn't ask for an attorney. When asked if you still believe, Sister Diane says: "I'm willing to believe. Why does belief so appall you?"

She picked the wrong man to pose this question to. He shows her respect by waiting for her to see Pedro and Luis and then he makes it clear: "Blind faith is the crutch of the fools."  In this case, her faith is rewarded

Perhaps few scenes speak to the frustration of the local cop then the pawnshop and Ballard's outrage that a man could walk in with a church chalice and doesn't ask any questions. This leads to one of the best lines in the series and its written by Simon, so it makes sense:

Tell me something. If some 17-year old West Baltimore corner boy came in here with a full set of custom made graphite shaft golf clubs, would you wonder if he had stolen them out of someone's car trunk or would you just figure Homey had a change of heart and decided to take up tennis instead?

The pawnbroker, naturally, takes it straight and he shows them the name and address. "Whitney Houston. And guess what? She's got a place on Fayette Street." It's a burned down shop which leads Ballard to naturally say: "Bobby Brown could have done a lot better by the girl." (To be clear, 1998. No one knew how things were going to work out.)

The pawnbroker can't identify the Guatemalans and remembers a young man, possibly white and of course, he wiped the chalice down before he gave it back. However Giardello thinks the chalice is the key and he's right.  They go to the address that was left 1715 Fayette and Ballard figures out the address isn't random. The place burnt down three weeks ago and Ballard figures out maybe whoever left the address saw it burned which means he's a local – not the refugees.  She tells Gharty to go around the corner.

1517 Baltimore Street is the address of Lamar Bryce, aka Roc-Roc.  1517 Baltimore is one block over, two blocks down from 1715 Fayette. Gharty recognizes the name but says that since the pawnbroker identified a white man and Roc-Roc isn't even fair-skinned it doesn't make sense. Ballard thinks it does and they bring him in. Roc-Roc throws his vials in the sewer before he's brought in (we'll get to that) and the rest of the episode centers on his interrogation.

(Noteworthy is how neither detective gives a damn about his dealing. "A few vials here, a few vials there, we throw that back in the pond.")

It's telling that having spent the better part of two episodes with Gharty being the focus of it the resolution of the case has nothing to do with him. It starts out well enough with Gharty and Ballard pretty clear about what happened saying "They put you in." Roc-Roc goes: "They wouldn't do that", clearly giving himself away. Then Gharty grabs Roc-Roc and makes it clear he intends to beat him into next week.  Roc-Roc tells him he's been beat down by police before (that speaks volumes) Before Gharty can get started Pembleton and Stivers rush in and Gharty is told to get out by Ballard herself.

The interrogation then focuses on the two primaries Ballard and Pembleton. The two have never worked the box together once so its telling as to just how in sync they eventually become that Callie Thorne can match Andre Braugher verbal blow for verbal blow. Ballard makes it clear that she doesn't think Roc-Roc did this but that he knows the people who did and they put the murders on them.

Roc-Roc makes it clear he has a code. Pembleton instantly leans into it: "Why they call you Roc-Roc, Lamar? You give yourself that name?" Pembleton is the first one to call him Lamar, something Ballard and Gharty haven't done. "What do you think God is going to do to someone who took out two of his crew? What do you think God is going to do to someone who knew about the deed then lied about it?" Ballard points out he's protecting someone who killed a priest and tortured him; Pembleton makes it clear that they probably asked him for a meal to get in the parish and then killed him.

Roc-Roc's gospel is that of the corner boy and he mocks the idea of God being anywhere near him. Which is understandable. What's telling is that when they bring in Danvers with the vials they found and his record, the next step is to wave his charge in his face. Danvers threatens him with 3 years as a charge as an adult. (He goes in tough by the way.) But when asked whether he wants the years or a deal, he chooses the three years.

After four hours with no progress they change tactics. Ballard says that they've been arguing life is sacred and Pembleton knows that his world makes them out to be liars. This lead to two incredible sequences. First Pembleton and Ballard take Lamar to the morgue and Frank shows him the bodies. "Look at them, Lamar. You've been right all along. No God, no heaven. That's all there is. And if there was anything more, they wouldn't be so empty. You seem someone you recognize, you see someone you know." That last bit hits hard.

This is cold and hard. But it's the final bit that redeems it and makes the episode a treasure. Ballard and Pembleton drive until sunrise to Chesapeake Bay before delivering an incredible monologue about the value of life. Ballard then reminds Roc-Roc that he's 17 and might be dead or locked up six months from now. They have no illusions about how he's going to die and neither does he.  "So the only question left is this: while you were alive, while you were living and taking up space, did it count?"

Roc-Roc has this look of wonder. "Is this the ocean?" "It's the bay," Ballard says.  Pembleton and Ballard put away their guns and uncuff him. He looks out. And apparently that seems to do the trick. The two killers are two members of Roc-Roc's crew.

In the midst of this Lewis pops up looking scruffier then usual and showing up in front of Falsone. Paul admits he and Kellerman have been incredibly worried about him. He doesn't want to go into the squad and he shows a bit of shame for the jackpot he's gotten himself into. Unfortunately this is where the storyline involving the Mahoney real does take Homicide close to 'cop-a-ganda'.

Meldrick asks Falsone to do police work for him and gives him some names he wants to run to get rap sheets. This is going against the rules of his suspension and in the past Lewis has been more than willing to not just play by the book but hold those who disobey it accountable. Before Falsone agrees to it, he makes it clear that Lewis who's on suspension is risking his badge if he's caught. Meldrick says that he's tired of playing defense against 'this bitch. She's gonna come back at us, we're gonna come back at her." This is the definition of abusing your badge and breaking the law outright.

Just as troubling is that Falsone, who ever since he joined the unit has been busted everybody's chops about the Mahoney shooting being funky, doesn't even blink about doing Meldrick's dirty work for him. He has just been engaged in a conspiracy and it doesn't bother him. And it's very troubling that when Falsone actually asks Lewis what he should tell Kellerman that Meldrick doesn't even dignify it with a response.

The episode also shows the continued deterioration of Kellerman. Aside from the biggest moment (see Notes From the Board) Kellerman is angry at everybody. He harangues Bayliss for his affair with Cox and while Tim takes it in better spirits then he should, it's only because Frank shows up that it stops getting worse. When Lewis shows up and sees Falsone rather than him Kellerman takes his outrage more on Meldrick for not knowing the meaning of the word partner. Falsone tells him: "That a boy, Mikey. Burn those bridges" and despite the animus between the two it's clear he's concerned. But the climax comes when Kellerman is clearly hammered at the Waterfront and he openly mocks the relationship he and Juliana used to have about always being drunk before having sex. He kisses her clearly without her consent, then goes outside (Bayliss and Cox go after him) and then he cheerfully throws his keys in the harbor. (The next day he'll try to open his car with a  coat hanger.) In the final insult Kellerman will see Lewis in the Waterfront with Falsone across the street and by the time he gets there Meldrick has ducked out the back.

After all of this reality sets in. Pedro and Luis have broken the law and like all illegals they will be deported. There are no illusions of a sympathetic judge even in 1998. In three weeks' time they will be deported back to Guatemala. Pembleton and Stivers drop Roc-Roc off carefully. He makes it clear Sting – the white one – liked to use the knife doesn't bother him as much as Tyrell, who was his cousin. (In a montage we see the felons hugging each other once they've been locked up together. Good for you, Lamar. Roc-Roc acknowledges he was with the two of them and Father Wolcott but he couldn't do it when he saw the old man. After that he stopped hanging with the two of them. Before he says goodbye he says: "I really liked seeing the ocean." He ignores that it was the bay.

The episode ends with Gharty and Ballard returning the chalice to the rightful place. Gharty tells about how he and his brother once when they were in third grade would pretend to be priests. They didn't know the Latin so they'd blabber something. He says there's something about the Latin. "Maybe believing in God is supposed to be mysterious…It made it special. That God was coming through to us on a different signal." Ballard says Gharty would have made a good priest. Gharty responds like the cop he is: "No, I'm where I'm supposed to be. And that makes me wonder every day."

As if a higher power were there (but really the archdiocese) Father Klasky is there to accept the chalice. They assure him the killers will be punished. Klasky expresses remorse about Pedro and Luis's fate. So Gharty reassures him: "You had your doubts. We all did."

The last words of the episode is the poem we saw at the first crime scene. It didn't mean anything in regard to the crime but when Klasky says it, it sums up everything we've seen in this two-parter:

Teach us how truly to live. God of love, forgive, forgive.

 

 

NOTES FROM THE BOARD

In a minor detail while Jaeger is written as 031 in this episode in future episodes we'll see it written as 034. Presumably there were three other murders during the red ball and the other detectives followed up on them.

Detective Munch: Seeing our favorite Jewish detective dressed as a priest leads to wonderful moments. A good Samaritan passed by; he assures him he's fine with "Zei gesund." Asked by the radio car what that is Munch says: "Yiddish. Go with God." Clearly he's betting that the average Baltimorean can't tell that from Latin. Just as fun is when two stick-up artists try to rob him and he pulls his gun. "That's going to be four Hail Mary's and three Our Fathers', he says as he puts cuffs on them.

Just as entertaining is when Falsone comes into the unit and sees Munch reading 'Remembrance of Things Past' 'Deep Thoughts, dangerous thoughts." Falsone's reaction: "You scare me, Munch." If he's reading it in the original French, I'd be even more concerned.

Mahoney PTSD: The mother of all PTSD moments. Stumbling home drunk Kellerman bangs into a corner boy. He grabs him and halls him off arresting him 'for pissing him off. When the cop says he smells like whiskey  Kellerman hallucinates Luther right in front of him saying "What you gonna do detective?" (Erik Todd Dellums name appears in the end credits to hide his cameo. Kellerman reacts by beating him senseless. Only after he finds vials on him – and more importantly a squad car drives up – does he regain enough of his senses to tell the officers to 'make the collar' before stumbling off again.

On The Soundtrack: The opening montage where the detectives are playing priests we hear 'Jesus on the Main Line' by Blues Musician Mississippi Fred McDowell. In the final moments we hear 'You've Got to Dire' by Blind Willy McTell.