dfich89873@aol.com
Hask
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
Cyndi Glass
>NYPD Blue: Summary/Review by Amanda Wilson aka Pue...@aol.com
>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 totally did not remember it until it was pointed out on the newsgroup,
but then I did. TLG is one of the episodes I have on tape (I have the
Michael DeLuise ones), so I have seen it a couple of times.
RE: playing with his wedding ring - and did Cynthia have to play with the
damn wine glass so much?
--
Cyndi: CEO of FGCO Sonny/Brenda, FGCO Bobbie/Roy, FGC Brenda, FGC Jeff
Webber & FOC Rick Gardener. Member of FGC Bobbie, FGC Sonny, FGC Luke, FGC
Mike, FGC Ned, FGC Alexis, FGC Faison, FGC AJ, FPC Lucy, MHGC Carly, MHGC
Felicia, MHGC Stefan, FGCO Ned/Alexis, CBDSS and L&Loyalists. Fan of ATWT, GH.