I swear each time I complain or comment about something the show isn't doing, the following episode does exactly what I said it wasn't. In the case of the third episode, it covered more characters than the pilot. (Actually, the fact that the first two episodes were so Furillo-centric supports that both were functioning as the pilot episode overall.) In the case of the fourth episode, Lucille Bates gets a story right after she was invisible in the first three episodes. So remember whatever I say, I say without having seen further in the series.
Can WWIII be an Attitude?
This title confused me when I first clicked on it, but it makes a lot more sense after watching it. The president cancels on walking on Hill Street and the gangs revolt thinking they've been played. The lights go out on the precinct, every cop gears up right to start a firefight, and it seems like a war between the gangs and police will break out. I didn't think that would happen, but the stakes got raised tenfold in about ten seconds.
My memory is a little hazy, but I'm pretty sure this was foreshadowed earlier. I think that the president has canceled before, which given the hassle it takes to prepare for the president, explains why Captain Furillo is so frustrated with needing to deal with this. And the gangs threatening the cops was chaotic and frantic. When the lights went out, it genuinely seemed horrifying and scary.
Surprisingly, despite the onset of a battle occurring at a precinct, that wasn't as prominent of a storyline as you'd imagine. Halfway through the episode the president announces he isn't coming, and the lights go out with 10 minutes left. Exacerbated by the precinct melting down is that Captain Furillo is busy at a hearing for JD LaRue and later trying to help him get free of charges.
The JD LaRue story is well-handled here and I mean from how others treat LaRue. LaRue goes to the captain, and from what we know of the captain, it's not all that surprising when he treats LaRue like he's guilty. It's not so much that he's convinced, but that he doesn't immediately start defending him. It was previously mentioned that Hill Street used to be corrupt, and it was implied Furillo came there to clean it up. So if there's an allegation that his cop is dirty, he's not going to start blindly defending him.
I cannot say how well that scene when they interrogate Detective Macafee was played by all involved. If you know LaRue is innocent, it's really easy to detect that he's lying, but you can also see how you might be convinced that LaRue actually did it if you had no context. Given what LaRue told the captain earlier, the way Macafee lies and the words he says make it somewhat obvious he's lying. So what we have here is a very confusing situation where we're privy to everything LaRue did, Furillo is privy to only what LaRue told him, and the other board members are only aware of Macafee's testimony. So the writers needed to find that very tough line between making it evident how Furillo could detect he was lying while still making it plausible that the other board members would believe him. And damn if they didn't nail it perfectly.
Furillo though isn't the only character whose scenes with LaRue were seemingly perfectly written. His partner, Neal Washington, seems betrayed by what LaRue has done. Somewhat because he can't believe he never noticed, but also because LaRue may have screwed him here. It's probably usually both partners that are dirty or neither.
On the light-hearted side, Officers Bobby Hill and Renko captured a car thief who goes by the name Malibu. Renko and Hill appear to be completely resolved and back to being happy partners. I'll refrain from complaining about the quick nature of this, but I hope this isn't the last we see of the two partners needing to get over their shootings. Malibu on the other hand provides some comic relief as he keeps expertly fixing things in the precinct. This pays off when he falls from the ceiling when things have gone to shit and Captain Furillo finally arrives.
Meanwhile, Grace Gardner is back to help redesign the precinct with the same begrudging help from Phil Esterhaus. This time though, she notices him comforting Bates about what Howard Hunter said to her (more on that later). It's sort of weird that she's attracted to him for saying he'd definitely date her if he hadn't met a teenager. But hey, who am I to judge? It does make more sense when she jumps into his arms during the police lockdown. Basically, what I'm saying is that I kind of buy it.
Previously, I had complained that Lucille Bates had
nothing to do and I very rarely mean that literally, but in the case she was not even in the previous two episodes so far as I could tell. Hunter, on the other hand, hadn't worked because he was too portrayed as too incompetent for the sake of laughs. This week remedies both situations to an extent. Having him compliment Bates on her muscular physique and inadvertently offend her is the perfect balance. On the one hand, you have to admire his acceptance of a female into his squad, which I can only imagine is alpha male. So he's sort of progressive in not looking at gender. On the other, it's usually not a good thing to tell a girl how much like a man she seems.
Other Notes
- Ray Calletano gets a little more meat in his screentime this episode as he volunteers to go outside when the police is in lockdown mode. Still for as much lines and screentime he gets, he's largely just exposition.
- No Mick Belker. Wonder how his date went?
Double Jeapordy
This cast is HUGE. I already knew that, but here's an episode that seemingly involves the most characters so far in this show's run - as far as significant storylines go - and it still leaves out Howard Hunter completely. At the beginning, it seems like Operation Duckling will be a major part of the episode, but it ends up being in the background. No less than seven characters have at least a minor plot.
For most of the episode, it appears LaRue is screwed. In fact, I actually thought they would somehow delay his trial. Furillo and Washington would then spend time trying to collect evidence against Detective Macafee. But instead, it appears it's mostly wrapped up in this episode with the potential for later consequences.
In a nice twist, Macafee has two wives that he somehow has kept separate from each other. I like this because it somehow makes Macafee a piece of shit while also humanizing him a bit. He's dirty because he has to provide for two families. Now, that whole matter that he has two families isn't exactly a good thing. Or the fact that he framed LaRue for no good reason. (Actually, he probably thought LaRue was going to turn him in) But it's certainly something more interesting than a cop who just likes the extra cash.
Plus, long-term wise, he's on probation for six months and has it on his record. He's also apparently an alcoholic, which is something that might get him into trouble in the future. Taken separately, both of those things are manageable, but if you're an alcoholic who can't make a mistake, you've got issues. As Joyce Davenport says at the end of the episode, he's a ticking time bomb.
As a nice counterpoint to Macafee, Esterhaus suddenly has two women in his life. It's a bit presumptuous and arrogant to assume both women love him as he says, but nonetheless both are interested. (I like him as a character, but that teenager must be seriously fucked up) If I read the scene right, he at least appears to not have had sex with the teenager yet making that whole relationship seem less creepy (but still creepy). He's already had sex with Grace Gardner so it's pretty clear who he should and will end up choosing. It doesn't appear to have made up his mind yet though.
There's a wonderfully random and truncated Goldblume story. Joe Spano is one of my favorite actors so far on this show and this is his best performance yet. He has to talk to the sister of a 20-year-old who committed suicide. I cannot emphasize enough how great his performance is in that scene. Then he gets a flat tire and almost gets mugged by a group of petty criminals. There's something I love about the fact that he seems utterly unconcerned about the group who seems sort of sketchy. He's a man who wants to see the good side in people and not assume the worst.
When things turn, he eventually pulls out his gun and barely gets away. We later find out he's never taken the gun out of the holster and previously didn't even put any bullets in it. I got to say I wish more cops were like him. (refrains from explaining further) Like all bad days, he's really put off by a minor thing when his orange juice is finished. The talk between him and Alf was well done, especially since I don't think we've met Alf. I guess they needed him to talk to a black character.
In Operation Duckling, all the cops need to disguise themselves as women. This was largely funny with Bobby Hill being the funniest in both outfit and his defensive reactions about his appearance. There was also Mick Belker, who did NOT have his date yet evidently. Of course, today is the day he has a date so naturally, he'll be dressed as a woman when she comes. Not much going on here, but I do like that Belker, so far portrayed as batshit insane, is well-served as more tempered when trying to look good in front of girls.
Other Notes
- I like the rapport between Daniel Travanti and Veronica Hamel at the end of the episode. They really do feel like a real couple and make it seem as natural as possible.
- Kind of odd that Lucille Bates gets attacked off-screen seriously enough to go to the hospital. Sort of weird that it was just thrown in at the last minute and not more of a major point. I'm guessing this may pay-off later, but right now it just seems rushed for such a serious thing.
Character Rankings
1. Henry Goldblume - Fuck it, got to go with my heart
2. Captain Furillo - Still like him, but he's up here more because I don't love everyone else
3. Joyce Davenport - That ending scene in Double Jeopardy sealed it
4. Neal Washington - I have no explanations, I just really like how he's handled the LaRue situation
5-6. Officers Hill and Renko - I wonder if either will distinguish themselves from the other?
7. Phil Esterhaus - Michael Conrad deserves all the credit
8. Mick Belker - I think I like Bruce Weitz better than I like Kiel Martin
9. JD LaRue - He's still a huge slimeball so I think he'll fall down when lower characters get more to do
10. Fay Furillo - She gets a nice scene with Esterhaus that made her rise in my head if not the rankings
11. Lucille Bates - Her only plot point: she's concerned with her looks. Not promising.
12. Ray Calletano - I like that he aggressively volunteered in lockdown. Otherwise, he's done nothing else
13. Howard Hunter - He had a worthwhile scene and no appearance in other; going to need to do more than that
