Requiem for a Cop

An episode that coincides with the release of the movie Serpico starring Al Pacino. Handily Kojak deals with similar themes.

It opens with Tom Donnelly chasing someone and then corners him. Then there is gunfire. Tom Donnelly is dead, the police find his cop badge and $10,000.

The department is shocked not only that Tom Donnelly has been shot dead but that he was dirty. On the take and it means he might not get full burial with honours.

Kojak is given 48 hours to clear Donnelly's name. Suspicion also falls on his cop partner as well. Kojak has him followed.

It turns out that Donnelly's estranged son Jack who is gay had the $10,000. Jack told his father he got it by shaking down a well heeled guy who was gay.

His father tried to sort it out by trying to return the money and was killed. Kojak figures that story was not true. Jack was selling through a snitch valuable information to the criminals gleaned from his father's schedule and small talk.

It is a gritty episode, the gay lingo was conveyed in a more subtle manner. That gay club where Kojak finds Jack is subtle, if it had a few women, no one would had suspected.

"Requiem for a Cop" is a highly unusual TV episode. Why? Because homosexuality is a theme....and this was 1973! I assume the folks who made the show had to have argued with the network to get this one aired, as television at the time was loathe to show or mention gay folks at all.

The show begins with an older detective spotting a suspect. Soon, however, the cop is found dead...shot repeatedly in his car. In addition, inside his wallet is $10,000! Now considering cops' salaries, it's assumed might have been on the take. And, Kojak insists to the Commissioner that he have a couple days to try to figure all this out, as the dead man deserves a funeral with full honors if he was clean. The trail, in a round about way, brings them to the man's son....and his hidden gay lifestyle.

The episode was generally very well made and not salacious...when it easily could have been. Well worth your time.