bellino-angelo2014

My summary refers to the fact that since HOMICIDE belongs to the LAW & ORDER universe there have been various crossovers throughout this show's run. And as we are coming towards the end we had yet another crossover, and is it good like the others? Let's see.

When the story begins detectives from both Baltimore and New York continue investigating the deaths of both a government official and her killer, and they discover that the plot to commit the original murder started with allegations of discriminations made in the office of the White House chief of Staff. In the meanwhile Danvers comes up with a judicial appointment but loses it after reports of his criminal record resurface, and Gee regrets of having allowed his son to work in the unit after some of Mike's reports to the FBI manage to derail the investigation.

When the story begins Bayliss and Ballard investigate the case of a bride-to-be found dead at the bottom of a cliff but none of the evidence can point to homicide or suicide and even the interrogation of a burglar doesn't bring to nothing. This also reopens a scar for Ballard because she ran out of her own wedding years before the events of the show. In the meanwhile Sheppard and Michael Giardello are called in a movie theater to investigate on Frank Hopper (Wallace Shawn) found dead on his seat and the man was killed because he used to yell the movies' endings and the fed up manager put some drugs in his pop corn. And some time before the end Gee's daughter gives birth to a son.

As usual with the multiple stories episodes the strong point are the cases and the way they are handled by the unit. Especially the Hopper one, it was funny in its own tragic way since Shawn manages to tickle all the funny bones in every live action role he does. Another good entry.

As I said in the summary, in the crime TV shows from the 1980s to 1999 (when this episode was made) dealt even more than once with the ever growing Internet. In KNIGHT RIDER we had the car with a mini-computer where Michael Knight could have called the Foundation at any moment when he was on the road and in RENEGADE and WALKER TEXAS RANGER we had some episodes dealing with the Internet especially the ones where Reno and Sixkiller or Walker and Trivette had to help computer whiz kids that were in the hands of psychotic villains. Here in HOMICIDE we had an Internet episode, and for what crime will be used? We'll see now.

When the story begins Sheppard and Bayliss investigate a woman's ritual of stabbing her victims that has been broadcast on the Internet for everyone to see. As Sheppard just returned to duty at the end of the previous episode, she fights to keep the case in line and Giardello pressures her for get more results as possible. Luke Ryland the killer misdirects the police for doing his second murder undisturbed but they manage to arrest Ryland before he can commit a third one.

As with all the episodes of those aforementioned TV shows dealing with the Internet, the ones using it for committing crimes are often so stupid that they can be fooled after a while. Nothing fresh but still worth a look.