At the time of "The Wire", master-minded by David Simon with the essential co-writing help of former Baltimore cop Ed Burns, I started hearing about "Homicide" and gave it a try. What a surprise I had because the sections of 'Wire' having to do with the local cops were light years better than the banal and unbelievable 'Homicide' shows I watched. It takes a certain lack of talent to write scene after scene that has virtually no believability to them. I bailed after a half dozen of. But over the years I kept reading about Simon & Wire & Homicide, so when my local library introduced the third season of Homicide, I decided to give it another try. My god, what a miserable show it is! Virtually all of the regulars seem to be beginning their PMS cycle and the 'cool' ones ultimately are shown to be ready for episodes of near-psychotic rage. Now I understand that Homicide is fiction, not documentary but the overall deciding style of the shows are going after super-realism and once that's chosen what ever becomes of the need for real life police personnel to detach themselves as much as they can from what they have to deal with on a daily basis to keep their mental health? Plenty of black humor, sure but the constant boiling point of rage? Then we get into the individual characterizations: Yaphet Kotto as the captain, plays the part as a detached, highly educated philosopher whose job description is to walk around the offices giving orders, without apparently having to stop and think about the logic of the orders. At times he's unwatchable. Melissa Leo, costumed and haired-up to be an undercover aging hippy, instead goes out on homicide calls with her hair, either blown out or in a long ponytail. Can't you just imagine a violent perp jumping at the chance to pull her into a compromising situation? Richard Belzer continues to be cast as the wiseguy cop doing standup; the Rodney Dangerfield of detectives. Daniel Baldwin, still vocally impersonating Edward James Olmos's whispering delivery is just so full of himself. Does he think his ego's a shield that will protect him from a well directed bullet? Isabella Hofman as Lt. Russert is simply miscast; I never, ever saw the interior toughness via her eyes that any cop must have, especially if your a slight and good looking woman in a position of leadership. Stories: Hatched too soon with story bugs not worked out. "Nearer My God To Thee" depicts a female serial killer who apparently had the wealth and leisure to go from city-to-city finding women of a very specific description to murder. How was she able to get into personnel records of these people? Also, why in god's name did she confess since she wasn't even a suspect? This episode also has an embarrassingly written and performed interrogation of the suspect by Andre Braugher which if actually occurred, would mean the immediate release of the suspect. Finally, for those of you who commented that this was the best police series they ever saw, rent or buy "The Wire"; you'll change your opinion immediately.
Review of Homicide: Life on the Street
