NYPD Blue Summary/Review: In The Still Of The Night
Amanda Wilson
Season 8 Episode 10
"In The Still Of The Night" 3/13/01
Teleplay by Alexandria Cunningham
Story by Bill Clark & Alexandria Cunningham
Directed by Bob Doherty
Ah, Spring. When nearly every man's fancy turns to love...or toward saving the
Captain's ass. It's a love-packed episode tonight! For the fun and frolicky
summary, read on. If you're going to go cheap on me and read just the review,
buzz off. (OK, scroll down, ya whinin' losers, it's there, but you don't know
what you're missing!)
Summary:
COUSIN HIT: Fresh off his successful effort to save the very white hide of Det.
Danny Sorenson, Det. Andy Sipowicz finds himself in a position to help the
beleaguered uniform officer Szymanski.
Szymanski, as you may recall, is the white officer who pulled over Lt.
Fancy and his wife in a questionable traffic stop a few years ago (1997's
"Tailights Last Gleaming" from Season Four). Fancy ran into Szymanski's racism
then and responded by having him transferred out of his mostly white precinct
down to the 1-5 where he's worked ever since.
Today, as Andy arrives for work, Szymanski is trying to convince a few
other uniforms to take the cuffs off his cousin, Steve Riordan. Seems Steve,
his brother Terry and a friend were out getting hammered all night when Terry
stumbled into the path of an oncoming car and was killed. Steve wigged out,
bashed the car and bashed the driver pretty good, too. The cops who arrived
arrested him for assault.
As the uniforms uncuff Steve, Danny arrives and cheerfully tells his partner
that he's back on full duty. As they chat, a black man walks in followed by a
few uniform officers. Steve, with hands free now, charges the black man
screaming how he's the one who killed Terry. He gets a few good licks in on the
guy's head, and it takes nearly every cop in the joint to pull him off.
Danny wants to join in, but Andy pushes him back and tells him he needs to
keep a low-profile where tossing haymakers is concerned. Andy then tells
Szymanski to back off until he can work things out.
Fancy gets the story and tells Andy to mediate: get the driver to come down
off the assault charges and get Riordan to pay for damages to car and face.
Andy does this. He relates the information to Szymanski who responds by asking
if Fancy knew the driver was black before he came up with his mediation idea.
Andy tells him, essentially, to shut up. He then warns Riordan to leave the
driver alone. An apology is offered and accepted, and everyone goes home happy.
The next day, Andy and Danny are called to the scene of a bar brawl. A guy
named Billy is lying dead in the street after what is described as a 15 second
fight with Steve Riordan the night before. The bartender is no help, so Andy
and Danny return to the house to find Szymanski.
Szymanski is already there and tells Andy and Danny that he's got his
cousin in a hotel drying out. Steve called him the night before, afraid he'd
killed someone in a fight. Danny tells him he did kill someone. They give
Szymanski one hour to bring Cousin It in.
Steve shows up with Szymanski and tells the story of how he was just upset
over his brother's death, is all. Billy told him to keep it down once in the
bar, and that pissed old Steve off. They took it outside, and bam, things got
out of control. He didn't mean to kill the guy. He was just upset. He admits
he's an asshole who shouldn't drink but asks for them to cut him a break. It
was an accident.
Later, while Szymanski sits at the catching bench waiting for his cousin's
paperwork or something, a young black woman arrives and tells John she's got
information on Billy's death.
Szymanski jumps up and starts to question her, but John steps boldly
forward and ushers her quickly away from Szymanski before she says a word to
him. John casts a strong look toward Szymanski and puts the witness in the
coffee room.
The witness, Tracy, tells Andy and Danny that she and her husband were the
only blacks in another bar that night, a bar where Riordan and Billy were both
drinking earlier. Riordan was mouthing off about the "nigger" who killed his
brother and making a rather large scene. Tracy and her husband decided now was
a good time to leave. As they were getting the check to go, Billy--who knew
Tracy -- told Riordan to keep it down and show some respect. Riordan responded
by saying that if he ever saw Billy again, he'd kill him.
Szymanski is then told by Andy and Danny to get his cousin a lawyer.
Szymanski gets angry. He begins to say something nasty about the witness, but
Andy shuts him up fast. They remind Szymanski that his cousin already used his
get out of jail free card, and that if they all hadn't let him, Billy might be
alive today.
BASS KNIFED: The somewhat fragile wife of Capt. Bass has become the victim of a
stabbing early this morning in the antique mart where she maintains a booth.
Fancy takes the call and sends Greg and Baldwin to the crime scene and Diane to
the hospital while he tries to reach the Captain.
At the hospital, Diane meets Nicole Bass, a slight woman who looks
terrified. Diane asks her for details and, as if she's not been married to a
cop for 20 years, Mrs. B tells her she's already said everything to the uniform
officers. Diane gently tells her she needs to repeat the story.
Mrs. Bass tells how she arrived at the mart early that morning and put her
purse in her booth and then went to the ladies room. She returned to find a
black man in his 20s with his hands in her purse. When he saw her, he produced
a knife and stabbed at her, cutting her on her right arm. She didn't get a
good look at him because she tried to look away so he wouldn't kill her. While
Diane is there, Capt. Bass arrives and his wife dissolves into a helpless mass
of quivering muck the second she sees him. Her voices goes up a couple of
octaves, she literally clings to his arm and whines about her pain (which
seemed to leap 10 notches upon his arrival) as she asks him to get the nurse
for some more pain pills.
Diane gives her signature sideways nod and leaves.
Ah, but we know that when Diane gives her signature sideways nod (to say
nothing of her signature squint!), trouble is afoot. Her instincts are telling
her something, so she goes in to tell Art what that something is.
Greg and Baldwin have found no prints on the knife from the scene and the
manager of the antique mart is on his way in with security videos, but Diane
tells Art a story of how ten years ago, Mrs. Bass was burned in a fire. She was
in the bag and assigned to baby-sit Mrs. B. The case was never solved, but
many of the detectives working the scene swear up and down that Mrs. B. set the
fire herself. Art tells Diane he doesn't want to hear it. She leaves.
Capt. Bass arrives in Art's office next. He's overreacting about as much as
his wife is, ordering a "full court press" and all the overtime anyone can
stand to stop this "maniac" who, essentially, scratched his wife's arm.
Meanwhile, out at John's desk, a spark is flying. The manager of the
antique mart has arrived with a boatload of charm, tastefully chosen attire, a
bag of security video tapes and a great big smile for Our John. The manager's
name is John, too. John Buzetti. (More on this blossoming romance below).
Buzetti gives the alphabetized, categorized and color-coded tapes to Greg and
Baldwin along with his own personal mug book of people who've been caught
shoplifting in the mart. (Rather than pressing charges for first time offenses,
he photographs offenders and bans them from the mart.)
Baldwin and Greg speak with a couple of people they get from these tapes,
including a guy who shoves Greg down the stairs and ends up with Baldwin
shoving him into a wall for his trouble. None of their leads pan out.
Meanwhile, Diane has been following her instincts. She comes back to Art
with evidence that a few days before the stabbing, Mrs. Bass purchased the
exact same kind of knife used to stab her. She asks to be allowed to speak
with Mrs. Bass. Art lets her after she reminds him that if this were anyone
other than a Captain's wife, she wouldn't even have to ask.
At the hospital, Diane asks Mrs. Bass if she owns a knife like the one used
to stab her. Mrs. Bass, a little less helpless now that her husband isn't
around, cocks her own sideways nod and inquires as to whether Diane has her
Captain's permission to ask such questions. Diane moves on and confronts Mrs.
Bass with the information about the knife. She notes Mrs. B. was stabbed in
the right arm and is left-handed. She also reminds the now-silent Mrs. Bass
that they've met before, about ten years ago, at the time of the fire.
Overwhelmed with the obvious, Mrs. Bass breaks down and cries. She says she did
it so her husband would pay some attention to her.
Diane relays this information to Fancy who tells her to make the paperwork
disappear by writing "all leads exhausted" on it. He tells Greg and Baldwin the
same and just then, Bass walks in.
Art sits him down and tells him the story. Bass is mad at first that Diane
spoke with his wife without him knowing about it. Art says calmly that no one
is out to hurt her; they only want to help her. He assures Bass the
investigation is over for good and tells him to go spend some time with the
woman. Bass exhales deeply and gives Art a long look. He tells Art that now he
knows why everyone calls Art a natural leader who puts his people at ease. He
leaves.
JOHN, JOHN: Mr. John Buzetti, the manager of the antique mart where Mrs. Bass
has her booth, is not only the highly organized mart manager with a TV show and
a million dollar smile, he's also got the hots for Our John.
John is impressed with his work, of course, and says so. Buzetti is
impressed with John's face, etc., and all but says that. John tells him that
he's got some antique toys he'd love to have someone look at. Buzetti is all to
happy to comply and hands John his card. As he walks to the coffee room with
Greg and Baldwin, Buzetti gives a smoldering glance back over his shoulder at
John.
Later, after his meeting with the detectives, he asks John if he'd like to
meet for a drink and to talk about toys. John says he'd love to, but has to
baby-sit. Buzetti doesn't hide that he's impressed with John's domesticity,
smiles and leaves an invitation for John to call him anytime.
DANNY & DIANE: There's a brief little chat between these two again. This time,
Danny's apologizing, admitting he's been a child and vowing to take himself out
of the squad if he can't behave like an adult.
ANDY HITS A HOMER: John's baby-sitting is, of course, for Theo. Andy is
spending the evening with Cynthia who's cooking dinner at her place. They have
a long chat over her decision to start living her life after the death of her
mother.
Cynthia took her dying mother in and cared for her. After the death, she
decided to try all the things she never was brave enough to try before. She
lists these for Andy, who asks what's next? Bungee jumping? The answer is
Andy. They kiss, she gets very shy all of a sudden, and he takes over, leading
her to the bedroom.
The next morning, at a crime scene, Uncle Eddie gives Andy the business,
telling him he can call him Uncle Eddie only if he marries Cynthia. Andy seems
a little put off, no doubt wondering if Uncle E knows he was doing the
horizontal mambo with his niece just a few hours before. Eddie doesn't really
seem to know, however, and takes a moment out from joking around to tell Andy
that if he's just going for a little "grab ass," he should go elsewhere.
That evening, as Andy and Theo are reading, Cynthia calls looking for some
reassurance. She hasn't heard from Andy all day, and he apologizes for not
calling her yet. He assures her that he's OK with the way things are going
between them and that she didn't push things.
Theo jumps out and begins quizzing Andy on who's on the phone. He hangs up
and tries to answer Theo's questions. Theo wants Daddy's friend to have dinner
at their house. Andy says that'd be OK. Then Theo asks if Aunt Katie can come.
Andy replies by suggesting they finish their book.
DOO-WOP DATE WITH D: During a down moment in the squad, Baldwin and Greg
wander into the coffee room to find ADA Heywood sitting at the table doing some
paperwork. She says she's there to work the vehicular homicide case, but has
just found out that it's been mediated.
Sensing an opportunity, Greg rather loudly explains to Baldwin that he's got
a couple of tickets to a doo-wop concert that night but can't use them because,
gosh golly wow, Katie has a school play. He knows, he says even louder and
more deliberately, that Baldwin has a few doo-wop tapes in his truck. Baldwin
nods, embarrassed. Greg says he was just thinking that Baldwin might like to
go. And then Greg makes a rather obvious production of leaving Baldwin alone
with Valerie.
Baldwin takes the chance and asks her to go. She turns him down flat and
says it's not a good idea for them to date. He tells her it wouldn't be a date,
but she refuses anyway and starts to leave. He asks her what time he can pick
her up, and she then gives in. They go to the concert, share a few moments of
Baldwin's blessed childhood, and then dance. She hesitates to get too close at
first, but ends up putting her head on his shoulder.
Review:
COUSIN HIT: This is what happens white trash drinks too much.
Szymanski returns, but without any of the previous Fancy fireworks that made
him so interesting.
Race was still an issue for him, because he's a bigot, but we see Fancy has
moved on from making everything black & white. I guess it's part of his swan
song. But I wonder why it is that every little thing that drives you nuts
about a character for seven years is finally wrapped up in the two shows before
they leave.
Must be because I'm concentrating on Art more than usual. Yeah, that's it.
St. Andy, is it now? He gets Danny out of a jam, then holds him back from
throwing punches less than five minutes back into regular duty, and at the same
time, tries to save Szymanski's cousin from trouble. Later, he gets the girl
and puts a smile on her face while maintaining his superdad alter ego. This
keeps up, he's putting Bobby Simone (angel choir up) to shame.
I know many of you are bellyaching for the good old days when Andy was
taking lead in the ass as he humped some whore and drank himself blind, but you
gotta hand it to Dennis Franz for making it all work somehow. In my opinion,
he got a little lost during the conversations with Jesus and dreams of his dad,
but he's pulled it back out into some really solid work.
BASS KNIFED: What some women won't do for attention.... sheesh! And we thought
Diane had problems!
I wasn't really very moved by this story (or by the previous one, for that
matter).
I really liked what Bass had to say to Art about being a leader. It's true.
It's the kind of thing every manager wants people to say about him/her but that
so few actually live up to.
Seems to me this was a set up not only for Art's big promotion, but maybe
one for Diane. Not only did she help save the Capt.'s wife, but she and Danny
had that little chat. That was so clearly a set up chat. "I'll leave if it's
too much...." he says. "OK" she says. And we know she's going to leave. (And
if her new show flops, she'll think there's enough time gone by between her and
Danny and she came come back to the squad?) What. Ever.
The best part of this story was meeting John's potential new beau. It was
at least interesting!
JOHN, JOHN: A little more screen time for Our John always works for me. He was
appropriately peppered throughout the show, doing more than staring and phone
holding, but not so much more that it dominated the action.
He's involved in squad life, baby-sitting for Theo, etc., and he's doing a
better job as PAA than anyone. Could you have seen Gina getting that witness
away from Szymanski? Donna maybe could have wedged herselves between them, but
no one could have done it with the finesse of Our John. Not to mention the
bravery of an openly gay man pitting himself against a bigot cop. And then
there's the spark of romance. John, in all his seeming innocence, bedazzled by
an antique wielding TV star who wants to meet his iron soldier. Ah, love!
Gee, all that from one character in about three minutes. That's good!
I am a bit perplexed by what to call our New John. New John? No. And Buzetti
seems so...well, crude. I think I shall call him Antique John--- Anti John for
short. Maybe, if he doesn't turn out to be a schmuck, he'll be Anti John to
Theo. I suppose he may also turn out to be The Anti John. He did seem a little
slick, didn't he? I am cautiously suspicious, and I hope very much this story
is pursued a little bit every now and then. (You know, maybe Buzetti secures a
fine toy for Theo, or drops off some biscotti...stuff like that.)
ANDY HITS A HOMER: The third date is the charm, I guess. It's cute, these two.
She seems a little fragile to me, but...I don't know. My jury is still out on
this one.
DOO-WOP DATE WITH D: The jury decided this one in five seconds: thud. Methinks
Henry Simmons needs to work with someone who has talent AND looks, like he
does. She was SO awkward, and before any of you starts telling me she's
supposed to be awkward, let me remind you that she's been stiff as a corpse
since the first day on the show. I think I'm done giving her the benefit of
the doubt. She was better in the last episode (with Mark Tinker directing her),
but let's face it, you can't make wine from a lima bean. This was a casting
mistake. (How about she gets fired and he hooks up with that witness Tracy
instead?)
QUICK HITS:
*I feel the need to turn into a TV character myself and go on a sympathy date
with Medavoy. He's just about the only one not getting any these days. (Danny
doesn't count. He's had enough.)
*As good as Rick has been the last few episodes, I didn't mind the break from
Danny's angst.
*Again our boys come out less than perfect in letting the cousin go and him
then going out and killing someone. Yet another argument for tearing down that
stupid, sometimes-deadly, blue wall.
*If EVER you needed an example of "gaydar," John Buzetti was it. How'd he know
John was gay?
*BTW, I have no opinion on whether Buzetti was a stereotype or a cliche or
anything offensive to the gay world. I'm sure others do, so have at it.
*NOTE for all you kind folks who read this on Alan's page: you're all invited
over to our little family newsgroup alt.tv.nypd-blue where you can post your
thoughts, ideas, etc. to a whole community of people who may not think you're
batty. We've got a troll or two (really just one, but he likes to think he's
more than one) but almost everyone else is normal.
*Why no background on Szymanski? I admit I remember it very well, which I
can't say of very many episodes despite all this writing, but does everyone
remember his history with Art and all that racist stuff? That was a long time
ago. It wasn't essential to the story, but it did add some texture. I'm
curious to hear from people who had no idea who he was: did you get it? Did it
matter that you don't know his history with Art?
*Damn, but those Riordan boys sure were putting it away at 5 or 6am! Third
shifters....
*Hank! I saw him slinking down the stairs from Anti-Crime for a split second.
*Speaking of split second shots: anyone else catch that lovely, stunning,
me-want-one red Mercedes in the first half second of the show? As fast as that
went by, it caught my eye and I rolled it back a few times. ((Aside: some men
think women love them for their cars. Not me. I see a car like that, I wanna
knock the guy driving it out and take it for myself. ;) ))
*Another thing I didn't like about Baldwin and Val: cheesy dialogue in the
coffee room. Not up to the usual sleek, sexy standard of Blue. (I can be
convinced that this was ALL in the delivery, of course.) But the whole date
thing: very 70s, IMO. She calls him Pizza Man, I'm outta here.
*Very cool scene when Greg gets shoved down the stairs. It looks like it hurt,
though...
*Andy was wearing, and playing with, his wedding ring at dinner with Cynthia.
If Diane's any example, Cynthia needs to look out. Rebound romance is doomed
to fail.
*Cool new view of the sergeant's desk area, it seems. I don't remember seeing
it from that angle before. These things, they do jump out...
*Nice seeing the same old Sarge there, too. Gives us a good feeling of
continuity while our detective bureau changes hands .....
CAST LEGACIES AND SUNDRY INFO:
Previously on NYPD Blue: Garcelle Beauvais as ADA Valerie Heywood, Austin
Majors as Theo Sipowicz, Larry Joshua as Captain Bass, Christopher Stanley
as Szymanski, Juliana Donald as Cynthia Bunin, John F. O'Donohue as
Eddie Gibson, Jack McGee as Sgt. Mahoney.
Cordelia Richards as Nicole Bass: She was on Blue in 94 as another character.
She was also in the film Erin Brokovich and has done a guest spot on The
Practice.
Previously Other Places:
Scott Lawrence as Anthony Mackie: He's the voice of Darth Vader on some CD-ROM
games. He's been on tons of TV shows including Bochco's LA Law.
Sonny Marinelli as Steve Riordan: He was in the short-lived TV series Falcone.
Amani Gethers as Napolean Rapp: He'll be in the upcoming flick Buffalo
Soldiers.
Rounding out the cast: Jeffrey Marcus as John Buzetti, Kimberly Huie as Tracy
Thomas, Garland Spencer as Jesse Carpenter, and Frank Novak as Bill Syzmanski.
LINES OF THE WEEK:
The clear winner, there is no equal, and it may be the number one of all time:
John to John: "I was wondering...would you like to grab a cocktail later?
Maybe you could bring that lead soldier."
NEXT WEEK: Now it's Andy's turn in the jackpot as a split-second decision puts
his entire career in jeopardy. Det. Connie McDowell returns to the 1-5 and a
rape at a bar leads to a disturbing discovery.
You know what to do:
Drink green beer (two if you see Hank)
Amanda Wilson
Meanderers
Amanda Wilson wrote:
> NYPD Blue: Summary/Review by Amanda Wilson aka Pue...@aol.com
> Season 8 Episode 10
> "In The Still Of The Night" 3/13/01
> Teleplay by Alexandria Cunningham
> Story by Bill Clark & Alexandria Cunningham
> Directed by Bob Doherty
>snip
>
>
>
>
> DOO-WOP DATE WITH D: The jury decided this one in five seconds: thud. Methinks
> Henry Simmons needs to work with someone who has talent AND looks, like he
> does. She was SO awkward, and before any of you starts telling me she's
> supposed to be awkward, let me remind you that she's been stiff as a corpse
> since the first day on the show. I think I'm done giving her the benefit of
> the doubt. She was better in the last episode (with Mark Tinker directing her),
> but let's face it, you can't make wine from a lima bean. This was a casting
> mistake. (How about she gets fired and he hooks up with that witness Tracy
> instead?)
Outstanding review, as always, Amanda....
And you took the words right out of my mouth with the Baldwin/ ADA Heywood
connection.
I tryyyyy to be optimistic. I knew they were going to connect (read an interview
with her after the first episode, and she greatly hinted at it), so I kept
thinking, "Get her away from work; get her in a relaxed situation, and maybe, just
maybe, she'll be likable." Nope.
I'm beginning to think she was hired for her height, rather than talent and looks.
Stiff as a corpse indeed, even at a bar, with sensuous music for chrissake!
And yes, you are right about witness Tracy even being a better casting call for
him. I liked that girl! She had spunk (hubby didn't want to be involved, but she
DID), she was sharp, articulate, and attractive to boot.
Cindy
EGK
> The best part of this story was meeting John's potential new beau. It was
>at least interesting!
Good observations, Amanda. After some pretty good plots this season they
kind of reverted to the type of episode that had the show going down hill in
my opinion. There was nothing much either one of the main plots had going
for it. Maybe something more will come from the Szymanski relatives but so
far that seemed pretty lame. No offense to all who like John but when the
most interesting part of the episode is the appearance of a possible love
interest for him you have to think something is wrong. Did you notice
"Antique John" (maybe your name will stick) mouthing "Call me" as he left?
>ANDY HITS A HOMER: The third date is the charm, I guess. It's cute, these two.
>She seems a little fragile to me, but...I don't know. My jury is still out on
>this one.
Did anyone but me think of Andy and Sylvia when he was leading his date to
presumably the bedroom? Was his need for Viagra back then just a temporary
thing or what? You'd think he'd have been sweating bullets at the prospect
of failure to take off.
I kind of like them together but Theo seemed to forshadow something more
coming from that when he asked if Aunt Katie could join them all for dinner.
>DOO-WOP DATE WITH D: The jury decided this one in five seconds: thud. Methinks
>Henry Simmons needs to work with someone who has talent AND looks, like he
>does. She was SO awkward, and before any of you starts telling me she's
>supposed to be awkward, let me remind you that she's been stiff as a corpse
>since the first day on the show. I think I'm done giving her the benefit of
>the doubt.
This didn't bother me so much because I liked watching Greg playing cupid.
This is the best Greg we've seen since the early years by far. It's no nice
to see him playing the quirky character he started out as and not the total
buffoon they turned him and Martinez in to.
On the other hand, people are going to start whispering that you have a
thing for Baldwin ever since he took off his shirt in the locker room. <G>
You haven't liked either of the woman they've hooked him up with.
>*If EVER you needed an example of "gaydar," John Buzetti was it. How'd he know
>John was gay?
>
>*BTW, I have no opinion on whether Buzetti was a stereotype or a cliche or
>anything offensive to the gay world. I'm sure others do, so have at it.
I have no opinion either but am curious how this plays with people who are
gay. Does it ring true for them or are they offended by it or what?
Curious.
>*Why no background on Szymanski? I admit I remember it very well, which I
>can't say of very many episodes despite all this writing, but does everyone
>remember his history with Art and all that racist stuff? That was a long time
>ago. It wasn't essential to the story, but it did add some texture. I'm
>curious to hear from people who had no idea who he was: did you get it? Did it
>matter that you don't know his history with Art?
I definitely think this would be harder to understand if you haven't been
following the show. They should have at least shown some scenes with Art
and Szymanski in the "previously on" segment.
>*Andy was wearing, and playing with, his wedding ring at dinner with Cynthia.
>If Diane's any example, Cynthia needs to look out. Rebound romance is doomed
>to fail.
They were definitely forshadowing something in this episode pertaining to
Andy and Cynthia but it looks like it could go either way right now.
Thanks for the review.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
These are opinion newsgroups. Please try to remember that when posting. No
one is trying to force you to believe anything and everyone is entitled
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"There would be a lot more civility in this world if people
didn't take that as an invitation to walk all over you"
- (Calvin and Hobbes)
irishpolarbear
>
> I am a bit perplexed by what to call our New John. I think I shall call
him Antique John--- Anti John for
> short. Maybe, if he doesn't turn out to be a schmuck, he'll be Anti John
to
> Theo.
but the gay babysitter has a "friend" that his son refers to as Aunt John!
He'll have Aunt Katie & Aunt John. Think Andy'd be able to distract him from
that discussion with Hop on Pop?
Patricia Fulton
Amanda Wilson <pue...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010314043329...@ng-ce1.aol.com...
> NYPD Blue: Summary/Review by Amanda Wilson aka Pue...@aol.com
> Season 8 Episode 10
> "In The Still Of The Night" 3/13/01
> Teleplay by Alexandria Cunningham
> Story by Bill Clark & Alexandria Cunningham
> Directed by Bob Doherty
<snip most excellent review>
> *Another thing I didn't like about Baldwin and Val: cheesy dialogue in the
> coffee room. Not up to the usual sleek, sexy standard of Blue. (I can be
> convinced that this was ALL in the delivery, of course.) But the whole
date
> thing: very 70s, IMO. She calls him Pizza Man, I'm outta here.
>
LOL! If I had a hat, Amanda, I'd tip it to you. I loved the Pizza Man
reference (I never missed an ep of "Hill Street Blues" and I'll bet you
didn't, either). Another great review & summary -- as always. :-)
Pat
----------------
"Oh Frank--you're so above average!"
Margaret Houlihan, M*A*S*H
Jim Hill
>COUSIN HIT: This is what happens white trash drinks too much.
What, they leave out of sentences?
> I know many of you are bellyaching for the good old days when Andy was
>taking lead in the ass [...]
>John, in all his seeming innocence, bedazzled by
>an antique wielding TV star who wants to meet his iron soldier.
It was a lead soldier and in the interest of building bridges in our
fractious community, I shall leave unsaid my first thought about how
Andy's not the one getting lead in the ass anymore. It just wouldn't
be fair.
>DOO-WOP DATE WITH D: The jury decided this one in five seconds: thud.
You're being overly generous.
>Methinks
>Henry Simmons needs to work with someone who has talent AND looks, like he
>does.
I'd agree, and comment that the talent part is much more important than
the looks. I'd rather see Baldwin going out with a plain Jane who is
believable as <whatever role she's cast in> than with the glamour queen
who has been shoehorned into too damn many episodes in a vain and futile
attempt to make us think she's anything other than Baldwin's Warm Place
To Put It.
>*Again our boys come out less than perfect in letting the cousin go and him
>then going out and killing someone. Yet another argument for tearing down that
>stupid, sometimes-deadly, blue wall.
Cue stirring music while TV screen displays an overexposed American flag
waving in the wind on the left half and a Gothic-typeface newspaper on
the right...if only Richard Kiley weren't dead he could provide the
narration on the importance of a Free Press...see if James Earl Jones or
Edward James Olmos is available.
Sorry.
>*If EVER you needed an example of "gaydar," John Buzetti was it. How'd he
>know John was gay?
Because he was tall, thin, neat, and sitting at a deak which not only
featured a little hippo on the lamp but a pencil-cup with troll-topped
pencils?
Just a hunch, mind you, but I might have thought that as well.
>*NOTE for all you kind folks who read this on Alan's page: you're all invited
>over to our little family newsgroup alt.tv.nypd-blue where you can post your
>thoughts, ideas, etc. to a whole community of people who may not think you're
>batty.
But please don't post in HTML, edit others' comments to provide only the
necessary context for your own, and for the love of God add your new
material _after_ the stuff you're replying to.
>*Andy was wearing, and playing with, his wedding ring at dinner with Cynthia.
>If Diane's any example, Cynthia needs to look out. Rebound romance is doomed
>to fail.
Did you _watch_ Franz's eyes during that scene? God, he was great. She
asked him if the wine she was drinking bothred him, he said No, Not At
All and spent the rest of the scene (until booty time(*)) with his eyes
jumping back to that wineglass. Flick/talk/flick/talk/flick/talk. Such
a small thing and such a huge addition to the scene.
(*) All together now:
Because it's booty time, booty time, 'cross the U S A,
Booty time, booty time, hey hey hey!
(See Ed O'Neill in "Big Apple", Thursdays on CBS...)
>*Nice seeing the same old Sarge there, too. Gives us a good feeling of
>continuity while our detective bureau changes hands .....
And nice to see that he and Danny are pals now. No hard feelin's on Da
Job.
Jim
--
"You're looking at a meltdown from the Colbster." -- Survivor Colby
Amanda Wilson
>thing for Baldwin ever since he took off his shirt in the locker room. <G>
>You haven't liked either of the woman they've hooked him up with.
Me? Find a guy with a nearly-perfect body attractive? Oh hell yes! All the
more reason to pair this lovely man off with someone can make watching him more
enjoyable.
(Aside: Actors on top of my strangely ecclectic to-do list include(in no
particular order): Mr. Pitt, Mr. Strathairn, Mr. Douglas (circa 94), Mr. Ford,
Mr. McConaughey, Mr. Affleck.....I better stop now....)
Amanda
uncle...@babyfishmouth.com
: LINES OF THE WEEK:
: The clear winner, there is no equal, and it may be the number one of all time:
ok, but this was a pretty good runner-up: Antique John to Baldwin and Medavoy
re the security videos:
"They're all there, colour-coded by day of the week, front _and_rear_ entrances"
(slimy emphasis his, not mine)
Cyra
> The clear winner, there is no equal, and it may be the number one of all
time:
>
> John to John: "I was wondering...would you like to grab a cocktail later?
> Maybe you could bring that lead soldier."
My favorite:
Our John to Anti John: "I've got some pieces I'd love someone to take a look
at some time."
D
Alan Stamm
<< Szymanski returns, but without any of the previous Fancy fireworks
that made him so interesting. Race was still an issue for him, because he's
a bigot, but we see Fancy has moved on from making everything black & white.
. . . which led me to wonder whether Szymanski and his real-life
counterparts would be too much of a prejudiced prick to drop the 'tude at
least a bit after the Lieu cuts him such even-handed slack -- and, on a
somewhat parallel plot track, to wonder if a character like the ex-security
guard who shoved Greg might adjust his own cops-are-unfair bigotry when
allowed to walk on the unfiled felony charges of resisting and assaulting an
officer.
Two relatively quick screen moments worth deeper reflection ... Not bad
for a network teleplay.
-- the other Alan S.
"Amanda Wilson" <pue...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010314043329...@ng-ce1.aol.com...