NYPD Blue: "Girl Talk" Summary/Review
Alan Sepinwall
Story by Bill Clark & Theresa Rebeck
Teleplay by Theresa Rebeck
Directed by Perry Lang
PLOT ONE: TYRANNOSAURUS ANDY
It's another unpleasant day for the boys at the 15, as Andy and Bobby
find themselves examining the body of a little girl who was sexually
assaulted and then thrown off the roof of her building. The closest they
come to a lead is a tape-recording of her scream as she fell,
accidentally picked up by a DJ wannabe in the building, so they head back
to the precinct, where Fancy informs them that the 27th detective's
squad is working on a similar case from a week ago in which the victim
miraculously survived - barely. The Lieu informs our heroes that they'll
be working with the detective on that case, Martina Escobar. Bobby's
pleased as punch, since he went through training with Martina. Though
he's never met her, Andy is far more chagrined by the news, since Det.
Escobar received a pay raise two years ago that Andy felt should have
gone to him.
Andy and Martina fail to hit it off upon meeting, especially once he
finds out that the only useful information she's turned up is a
tape of a 911 call alerting police to the location of the first body by
an anonymous male caller. Andy's mood dims even more when she tells him
that the Puerto Rican Labor Union has announced a $10,000 reward for any
information leading to the arrest of the killer, whose two victims were
Puerto Rican. All that will do, reasons Andy, is flood the squad with
crank calls; anyone with any useful information will already know that
the police will pay them for it.
Sure enough, the calls generated by the reward offer are almost all
useless, and no progress has been made on the case by the end of the
shift. As Andy's getting dressed for work the next morning, he gets a
call that another child - a boy this time - has been thrown off a
rooftop. At the crime scene, Sipowicz and Escobar clash over whether a
witness should have been interviewed in English or in Spanish. While
they're talking to the victim's sister, her Caucasian boyfriend Bill
Walsh comes home from buying groceries. All three detectives recognize
his voice - it's the one on the 911 tape - and bring Walsh back to the
precinct for questioning.
While Bobby and Martina bring a polaroid of Walsh to the loan surviving
victim to ID, Andy decides to work the interrogation himself. In his most
charming, relaxed voice, Andy threatens to beat the living daylights out
of him if he doesn't confess. Walsh buckles easily under the threat,
especially in light of the fact that Andy knows about a prior arrest for
exposing himself to a minor. He says that the first girl fell while he
was having intercourse with her, and once he got it into his head that no
one would ever believe that, he decided to go rape and kill another girl
for the heck of it. He killed his girlfriend's brother because he thought
the boy knew what he was up to.
Bobby's pleased with the confession that Andy coaxed, but not Martina,
who feels that Sipowicz may have jeopardized the case if he had scared
Walsh into lawyering up. At the end of the shift, she rips into him,
calling him "a dinosaur" like all the other white male cops who refuse to
believe that she deserved her promotion. Andy says that he's put in
far more time than her on the job, and was deserving besides. She retorts
by sarcastically commenting that women and minorities never get shafted
in situations like this.
PLOT TWO: HE SAID, SHE SAID
James calls in Diane's help when he's handed a case more ideally suited
to a female officer: date rape. A young woman named Farrell McCleary
tells the detectives that she met a man named Mark Drennan at a bar last
night, made out with him, and then invited him home to her place. But,
she says, at some point she decided she didn't want to have sex with him,
and he forced himself on her. While James runs Drennan's name through
BCI, Diane takes Polaroids of the bruises on Ms. McCleary's hips.
Drennan, a family man with a wife and young daughter, seems baffled by
the rape charge when he's brought in for questioning. According to him,
they were extremely affectionate with one another at the bar and in the
street outside, and the only time Farrell told him "no" was while she was
pulling off his shirt. He also says she told him the bruises came from
her gymnastics class at the Y.
James, who had been moved by Farrell's initial statement, also finds
Drennan's account of things credible, and decides not to arrest him
without investigating further. Diane doesn't believe Drennan at all, but
because it's James' case, she has to go along. Farrell's gymnastics
instructor says she doesn't know if Farrell injured herself recently, but
she does mention that she talked to her earlier that day. A bartender at
the bar where the two met says he's never seen Drennan before, but that
Farrell is a pretty regular customer and often goes home with men.
Diane's incensed with the way James is handling the case - they have
Farrell's statement, the photos of her bruises, and a positive rape kit,
and no one else they've spoken to has positively confirmed anything in
Drennan's story. James insists that he's just being thorough, and if that
makes him look insensitive, so be it. Eventually, he decides to tell
Farrell that a prosecution could be difficult and ugly, but Diane - who
thinks it will only be tough if James makes it so - insists on delivering
the bad news herself.
Farrell can't believe they haven't arrested Drennan already, but decides
to think about the matter after Diane's warning. Fortunately, a female
bartender from the same bar (who was walking in as James and Diane were
finishing their interview with the other bartender) comes in to swear out
a complaint about Drennan: he raped her, too, a few weeks back, and she
was afraid to come forward until now.
They arrest Drennan, and James tries very ham-handedly to explain to
Diane (and to Sylvia, who's been involved with the case and also took
umbrage at James' handling of it) that cases like this are "difficult."
Greg and Fancy concur, but Diane and Sylvia and Adrianne don't buy that
excuse.
PLOT THREE: ANDY KNOWS BEST
Now that Andy Jr.'s going to become a cop, Andy's decided to show his son
the ropes. While munching on pizza after a shift, the senior Sipowicz
points out some punks harassing passersby on a particular streetcorner,
and instructs Andy Jr. on how to deal with them - first with a warning,
and then later with force if necessary. He gives some thought to actually
scaring the thugs away himself to give Andy Jr. some firsthand
experience, but decides to call for a radio car instead. He extolls the
virtues of The Job to Andy Jr., who tells his father that he won't let
him down. Andy says he doesn't doubt it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Good evening. Tonight on "High Incident," Bonner is again placed in a
threatening sexual situation when a vice bust... oh, sorry, that's right:
Blue's back! :)
But seriously, folks...
At its worst, NYPD Blue is a fairly routine police procedural drama
spiced up by some excellent acting, naughty words, and flashes of skin.
At its best, NYPD Blue is a fascinating study of the moral issues a cop
in a crime-ridden city like New York faces.
"Girl Talk" was NYPD Blue at its best.
Well, that's not exactly true. This season alone, "The Backboard Jungle"
and a couple of other episodes might have it beat, but this was still a
damned good episode, and one that exemplifies a lot of the things that
can make this show so great. There were some bumpy spots along the way,
but by the end I said "WOW," which is my usual benchmark of excellence
for a Blue episode.
There were two major conflicts here revolving aroudn sexism: Andy's
bitterness over Martina getting what he felt was "his" raise because of
Affirmative Action (in his mind, at least), and Diane and James' clash about
the date rape case. I'll deal with the latter first, as it was the less
satisfying of the two.
I won't complain too much, because any script that treats the Blue women
as anything other than second-class citizens gets extra kudos in my book
- especially one that also manages to give some added characterization to
James along the way. For a while, Theresa Rebeck's script managed to walk
the narrow tightrope on the issue, largely by letting James employ the
traditional Blue logic that "If doing my job right makes me look
racist/sexist/homophobic/etc., then I'll have to live with that." But
that final scene, with James looking sheepish, Greg hemming and hawing,
and Fancy deciding not to say anything for fear of putting his foot into
his mouth, seemed a bit too much like heavy-handed male-bashing to me.
Yes, James eventually turned out to be wrong, but his motivation was an
honest and valid one (hell, Drennan sounded fairly believable to me at
first), and while I wouldn't necessarily expect all three of the women to
acknowledge that, in the end James was painted as a sexist yutz, and I
didn't buy that at all. Still, while I didn't like the way the final
resolution was handled, points to Ms. Rebeck for tackling a potentially
thorny issue in the first place and for having the guts to take a stance
on it (even if I do think she took it a bit too firmly).
And though I had a few problems with the date rape argument, I thought
the show's other battle of the sexes was wonderfully handled. I found it
interesting that though Escobar tells Andy several that she's a good
detective, we never actually see it - no headway is made on the
investigation until Walsh walks right in front of the three detectives,
and Andy is the one to obtain the confession all by his lonesome. But
while Andy has two good points about his lengthier term of service and
the fact that he closed the seemingly impossible Bucci case (remember the
kidnapped girl whom Andy found years later at the end of season one?),
we're also only being given his own, biased view. Maybe, just maybe,
Andy, you got passed over for promotion because for who knows how many
years before the Bucci case, you were a drunken wildman who was often a
disgrace to the department. Could that be it?
While I enjoyed a lot of the aspects of the story - particularly Andy's
extremely effective interrogation of Walsh - the highlight of the episode
for me, by far, was the scene at the end with Andy Jr. Even if I hadn't
checked the credits at the start of the episode, I would've known that
Bill Clark had a hand in this one, because that kind of detail can only
come from someone who actually had to take back streetcorners at one time
in his life. And Andy's effort to differentiate for Andy Jr. the
difference between being black and being a bady guy shows that maybe he
has taken the events of "The Backboard Jungle" to heart, after all. But
what got me the most were those last few lines (see below for a full
transcription). They seem so simplistic, yet say so much about why Andy does
what he does despite all the hassles -- like dealing with child-killers and
getting passed over for a deserved promotion -- as well as showing the
great bond that's developed between father and son, especially in light
of the rocky state of their relationship that we saw in season one. This
whole scene has to go right up there with Kelly's speech to Martinez
about possibly beating a suspect from season one and Andy's speech to
Sylvia about why he lost his faith in God from last year - it may not
have been as riveting as the former or as heartbreaking as the latter,
but it was just as fantastically written and acted. Wonderful.
Shorter takes:
-Guest Star Notes: Lots of soap opera folk this week. Wanda
DeJesus used to play Santana Andrade on "Santa Barbara" and was
a castmember of UPN's now-defunct "Live Shot." Jessica Tuck (Ferrell
McCleary) used to play Megan on "One Life to Live." Finn Carter (the
female bartender) was Sierra Montgomery on "As the World Turns."
And Jake Weber (Drennan) plays Matt on CBS' "American Gothic."
-Speaking of the Bucci case, this episode had a couple of
of ties to it. After his dad closed the case, Andy Jr. (who
was hanging out with him at the time) commented that he
should get a medal. "I'd settle for first-grade pay," Andy
replied, and now we find out that Martina got that pay instead
of him.
-A totally gratuitous appearance by Upstairs John this week,
manning the phones to help with the hotline calls. Did Bill
Brochtrup need to make a car payment or something and ask
to be written in at the last minute?
-Another thought on that interrogation scene: Andy tends to be at
his scariest when he seems the calmest, like here, where he had
a big smile on his face and was speaking practically without
his trademark accent (which I noticed that Dennis Franz doesn't
have when I watched him on Larry King earlier in the evening).
-Line of the Week: I had originally planned on giving it to
Andy's "Hold on-o" comment to a Spanish-speaking caller to
the hotline, but figured I'd get serious for a change and
quote the end of Andy's talk with Andy Jr.:
"This is a good job for people like us. We don't have a lot
of education, but we can read and write, and we're honest.
Don't ever embarrass this job."
"I won't."
"I know you won't."
That's it for this week. There are only six new episodes left in the
season (sigh...), and four of them are almost certainly going to be saved
until May Sweeps, which leaves only two new ones to tide us over for the
next five weeks. Whenever ABC decides to air them, I'll see you then!
Alan Sepinwall * e-mail: sepi...@mail.sas.upenn.edu
Personal homepage: http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~sepinwal/
NYPD Blue page: http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~sepinwal/nypd.html
RANDOM QUOTE:
"The last time I was inside a woman was five years ago, and that was the
Statue of Liberty."
-Woody Allen, "Crimes and Misdemeanors"
Michael Timlin
(Alan Sepinwall) wrote:
>NYPD Blue, Season 3, Episode 16, "Girl Talk"
>
>Story by Bill Clark & Theresa Rebeck
>Teleplay by Theresa Rebeck
>Directed by Perry Lang
>
>PLOT ONE: TYRANNOSAURUS ANDY
>It's another unpleasant day for the boys at the 15, as Andy and Bobby
>find themselves examining the body of a little girl who was sexually
>assaulted and then thrown off the roof of her building. The closest they
>come to a lead is a tape-recording of her scream as she fell,
>accidentally picked up by a DJ wannabe in the building, so they head back
>to the precinct, where Fancy informs them that the 27th detective's
>squad is working on a similar case from a week ago in which the victim
>miraculously survived - barely. The Lieu informs our heroes that they'll
>be working with the detective on that case, Martina Escobar. Bobby's
>pleased as punch, since he went through training with Martina. Though
>he's never met her, Andy is far more chagrined by the news, since Det.
>Escobar received a pay raise two years ago that Andy felt should have
>gone to him.
There was a *BIG* discrepency early in this show that wasn't explaned.
The DJ wanna-be has a recording of a screamming girl going past his
window. However, the girl was "raped, strangled, and thrown off the
building" says Andy. Later in the show, they expand on the necktie being
used to strangle the victim. The confession also confirms that the girl
dies, then goes off the roof. So how did the DJ wanna-be get a recording
of a dead girl screamming as she went by his window?
--
Mike Timlin
tim...@colorado.edu
The 5th dentist caved, now they all recommend Trident?
C. Campbell
I>
> It's another unpleasant day for the boys at the 15, as Andy and Bobby
> find themselves examining the body of a little girl who was sexually
> assaulted and then thrown off the roof of her building. The closest they
> come to a lead is a tape-recording of her scream as she fell,
> accidentally picked up by a DJ wannabe in the building, so they head back
Am I wrong or wasn't she strangled (murdered) then thrown off the
building? I know they spoke of ligature marks? Would they have been so
prominent if she hadn't been strangled? And if she were dead, how could
she scream as she was falling? I'm puzzled!
>
> PLOT TWO: HE SAID, SHE SAID
Personally, I was bothered by the fact that Diane was so sure
the guy did it. I thought he did at first, but his story backed up by
the bartender sounded plausible to me. I think very few women go to the
police with false claims of rape. Maybe that's what Diane was thinking,
but she didn't say so. She seemed so angry with James. She seemed to
take his decision personally with no explanation why. Sylvia's reaction,
knowing her personal story, is much more understandable. As a woman I
fully understand the fear, anger, whatever, the women were apparently
feeling, but as professionals, I think they need to rise above it the
same way Andy should have risen above whatever he was thinking/feeling
about the female detective.
Lori L. Karn
> -A totally gratuitous appearance by Upstairs John this week,
> manning the phones to help with the hotline calls. Did Bill
> Brochtrup need to make a car payment or something and ask
> to be written in at the last minute?
Is Upstairs John going to replace Donna when she leaves (if the on-going rumor
is true)? If so, maybe he was on last night for continuity.
Another great review, Alan.
Lori K.
Jeff Reed
Also, did you notice how they're getting creative getting that ol' T&A
in there?
That bit with the rape victim's photo op was pretty clever, although a
little predictable....
Jeff Reed
The folks who put 'Blue together have done us a favor. Last night they
had the "I'm sorry for your loss" line within the first 5 minutes. In
the old Alfred Hitchcock movies he started doing his cameo early in the
films so that viewers wouldn't be distracted by waiting old boy to
appear.
So it is with NYPDB, and the famous line. Maybe.
Hey, wasn't it AMAZING that the suspect just happened to be in the
mother's apartment when the cops got there? Talk about timing!
Amazing things happen on 'Blue....
David Lesher
>NYPD Blue, Season 3, Episode 16, "Girl Talk"
> -A totally gratuitous appearance by Upstairs John this week,
> manning the phones to help with the hotline calls. Did Bill
> Brochtrup need to make a car payment or something and ask
> to be written in at the last minute?
I hope it's because he's being primed for Donna's slot.
John allows the continuing investigation of Andy's intolerance
to be a minor, but recurring, theme....
--
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close...........(v)301 56 LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead........vr vr vr vr.................20915-1433
Kate McCann
> victim to ID, Andy decides to work the interrogation himself. In his most
> charming, relaxed voice, Andy threatens to beat the living daylights out
> of him if he doesn't confess. Walsh buckles easily under the threat,
> especially in light of the fact that Andy knows about a prior arrest for
> exposing himself to a minor. He says that the first girl fell while he
> was having intercourse with her, and once he got it into his head that no
> one would ever believe that, he decided to go rape and kill another girl
> for the heck of it. He killed his girlfriend's brother because he thought
> the boy knew what he was up to.
the other great aspect to this scene was Andy wearing his bifocals
throughout. He looked like a kindly old dad reading the paper while he
was talking to Walsh.
a great review, Alan, and welcome back from Paris! I too thought this was
a great show; I was anticipating a boring 'been there, seen that' date
rape case, but then when it began to revolve around the officers'
reactions to the case, rather than solely the victim and perp, it got
interesting. And I wouldn't be surprised to find that reactions to the
show come down on gender lines: my boyfriend sympathized with Drennan, and
I was totally behind Diane's feelings about the case.
I also wanted to pick up on the Escobar story:
> While
> they're talking to the victim's sister, her Caucasian boyfriend Bill
> Walsh comes home from buying groceries. All three detectives recognize
> his voice - it's the one on the 911 tape - and bring Walsh back to the
> precinct for questioning.
> I found it
> interesting that though Escobar tells Andy several that she's a good
> detective, we never actually see it - no headway is made on the
> investigation until Walsh walks right in front of the three detectives,
> and Andy is the one to obtain the confession all by his lonesome.
the surviving victim mentioned a blue leather jacket in her ID of the
attacker. It was Escobar who went into the kitchen and found the blue
leather jacket, which was Walsh's. That was why they took him into the
station, and there they listened to the 911 tape.
Her line at the end about 'things like that never happen to minorities,
and certainly never to women,' was great.
Kate
Geoff Falen
>Subject: NYPD Blue: "Girl Talk" Summary/Review
>Date: 20 Mar 1996 06:41:50 GMT
>NYPD Blue, Season 3, Episode 16, "Girl Talk"
excellent summary snipped.
>There were two major conflicts here revolving aroudn sexism: Andy's
>bitterness over Martina getting what he felt was "his" raise because of
>Affirmative Action (in his mind, at least), and Diane and James' clash about
>the date rape case. I'll deal with the latter first, as it was the less
>satisfying of the two.
I thought that the "golly, guess we were wrong" scene was badly handled, too.
Looked like "our girlfriends are mad at us so we should figure out what to
say." James called it as he saw it, which is fine. He turned out to be
wrong, and if he's smart (which I think he is), maybe he'll think a bit
differently the next time this happens. I think that was the point that
should have been made, not "I'm sorry I'm a sexist yutz."
>I won't complain too much, because any script that treats the Blue women
>as anything other than second-class citizens gets extra kudos in my book
>- especially one that also manages to give some added characterization to
>James along the way. For a while, Theresa Rebeck's script managed to walk
>the narrow tightrope on the issue, largely by letting James employ the
>traditional Blue logic that "If doing my job right makes me look
>racist/sexist/homophobic/etc., then I'll have to live with that." But
>that final scene, with James looking sheepish, Greg hemming and hawing,
>and Fancy deciding not to say anything for fear of putting his foot into
>his mouth, seemed a bit too much like heavy-handed male-bashing to me.
>Yes, James eventually turned out to be wrong, but his motivation was an
>honest and valid one (hell, Drennan sounded fairly believable to me at
>first),
>And though I had a few problems with the date rape argument, I thought
>the show's other battle of the sexes was wonderfully handled. I found it
>interesting that though Escobar tells Andy several that she's a good
>detective, we never actually see it - no headway is made on the
>investigation until Walsh walks right in front of the three detectives,
>and Andy is the one to obtain the confession all by his lonesome.
Okay, be honest everyone. How many of you pegged right away that Walsh was
the culprit? I was watching with my brother last night and as soon as Walsh
walked into the apartment, I said "he did it." And it was largely because
they spent so much time talking about the damn tie they found that I knew the
next person who showed up wearing a dress shirt without a tie was going to be
the perp. I know the point of this show is not tantalizing the audience with
clues about the perp's identity, but it seemed too easy once again.
Geoff Falen
Michael L. Patten
Some snipping here
>I thought that the "golly, guess we were wrong" scene was badly handled, too.
>Looked like "our girlfriends are mad at us so we should figure out what to
>say." James called it as he saw it, which is fine. He turned out to be
>wrong, and if he's smart (which I think he is), maybe he'll think a bit
>differently the next time this happens. I think that was the point that
>should have been made, not "I'm sorry I'm a sexist yutz."
While watching the show I pretty much followed James in that I believed the
girl, was confused by the guy's version of events and after hearing from the
other two interviewees, decided that more evidence was requiried.
What really struck me as odd and to some extent scary (sp) was the
semming "rush to judgement" on the part of all the women involved. Diane
seemed to have made up her mind as soon as rape was mentioned. Sylvia, based
on her past, seemed ready to convict the guy without really hearing what he
had to say.
Additionally, it also seemed that the women were demanding everyone to be one
one side or another. They did not seem to want to allow for any in-between
and especially, they seemed to disbelieve entirely anything the acqused (sp)
rapist had to say in his own behalf.
As an aside, both of the case solving officers, Diane and Andy, went on gut
instinct rather than by the book in solving the case. Diane, "knew" the guy
was guilty and was nnot going to stop at anything until she'd proved it.
Andy, likewise, "knew" the child molester was basically a wimp who could be
browbeat into a confession (he "knew" he would not have to hit him).
At the end of the show, both were considered heros by most of their peers, but
while Diane received kudos (and James' apology), Andy was told (by Escobar)
that his technique was the wrong way to go.
========================================================================
Michael L. Patten
Penn State University
Email: ml...@psu.edu
Jim Leahy
[usual great summary snipped]
> witness should have been interviewed in English or in Spanish. While
> they're talking to the victim's sister, her Caucasian boyfriend Bill
> Walsh comes home from buying groceries. All three detectives recognize
> his voice - it's the one on the 911 tape - and bring Walsh back to the
> precinct for questioning.
Actually, I hadn't picked up on the voice right away, but he certainly
stood out as the only non-Latino person in the entire neighborhood (which
helped explain the lengthy (even for NYPDB) panning of the crime scene)
and, furthermore, he had that blue leather jacket. I'm far from up to
date on fashion, but I've never seen anybody wearing anything like that,
so it was immediately apparent that it was him.
[more snipped]
> PLOT TWO: HE SAID, SHE SAID
While this was an interesting story and added a nod to other earlier plot
lines (Sylvia's aforementioned rape), I didn't really care for the
resolution. Although they did a nice job of illustrating how difficult it
is to determine who is telling the truth in an allegation of rape, this
need to neatly tie things up resulted in an unsatisfying ending. I think
this would have been better left hanging for the time being, and having
another rape allegation occur some time in the future. Think of the story
lines that could have been explored here...Martinez' guilt, Diane's
indignation and so forth.
James Lloyd Hill
>There was a *BIG* discrepency early in this show that wasn't explaned.
>The DJ wanna-be has a recording of a screamming girl going past his
>window.
Not to mention (full-bore physics-dork status here) there was no Doppler
shift in the scream as the girl fell; merely a drop in volume. Anyone
who's had a carload of rednecks drive by and yell "Heeeaaaaaaawwwww" at
60 mph is familiar with the rise/fall of a passing sound source.
Jim
--
j-h...@coewl.cen.uiuc.edu http://www.cen.uiuc.edu/~j-hill5/
"Iced tea keeps me in a summertime frame of mind." -- Meldrick Lewis
Eugene Levine
OK - so maybe the whole tape was a fraud by the DJ wannabe - he was
looking for a big break - maybe he tried to create one with a
fraudulent tape - he had the skills, equipment and desire. Have we
heard the last of him?
James Lloyd Hill (j-h...@ehsn7.cen.uiuc.edu)
--
gene levine
ele...@world.std.com
http://world.std.com/~elevine/
BamBam
> Actually, I hadn't picked up on the voice right away, but he certainly
> stood out as the only non-Latino person in the entire neighborhood (which
This was definitely a "sticks out like a sore thumb" moment; but...
> and, furthermore, he had that blue leather jacket. I'm far from up to
> date on fashion, but I've never seen anybody wearing anything like that,
> so it was immediately apparent that it was him.
...as has been noted, the fact that he had the jacket didn't come into
play until Escobar (sp) came from the kitchen with the jacket. BTW, when
she went through the whole bit about wanting to get the girl some water
(who really comes into someone else's house and offers to get *them*
water, even under those circumstances?), it felt to me as if it was a
setup for Escobar to search the area for clues--it never seemed genuine.
"640K ought to be enough for anybody." - Bill Gates, 1981
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the show. It seems that every major crime has a suspect, and in many
cases he is what appears to be an experienced criminal and he doesn't
ask for a lawyer. This is very odd fora show that tries to strike
many chords of realism and suceedes in many regards. I saw a show
about 4 weeks ago where they allowed the murder victim's daughter
handle the case.
Jo Castillo
> NYPD Blue, Season 3, Episode 16, "Girl Talk"
>
> Bobby's pleased with the confession that Andy coaxed, but not Martina,
> who feels that Sipowicz may have jeopardized the case if he had scared
> Walsh into lawyering up. At the end of the shift, she rips into him,
> calling him "a dinosaur" like all the other white male cops who refuse to
> believe that she deserved her promotion. Andy says that he's put in
> far more time than her on the job, and was deserving besides. She retorts
> by sarcastically commenting that women and minorities never get shafted
> in situations like this.
I've been lurking since December, posted a couple of times. I love NYPD
but it seems that most of the "confessions" , as this one, would be thrown
out in real life. As soon as a lawyer shows up. Especially in murder,
high profile cases like this. That is usually my only gripe about the
show. On Larry King they were saying how "real" they want the show to
be. Anyway....
>
--
"They may call me a rube and a hick,
but I'd rather be the man who bought the Brooklyn Bridge
than the man who sold it!" -- Will Rogers
Parraquat Kelly
{snip-a-rooni}
>Shorter takes:
> -Guest Star Notes: Lots of soap opera folk this week. Wanda
> DeJesus used to play Santana Andrade on "Santa Barbara" and was
> a castmember of UPN's now-defunct "Live Shot."
I actually enjoyed that show...the little time that it was on. I
think it had something to do with my HUGE crush on Wanda DeJesus,
who also happens to be Jimmy Smits' wife in real life. I agree with
Alan, this was a great episode.
--Terri
=*%*=--=*%*=--=*%*=--=*%*=--=*%*=--=*%*=-
"Everybody wants a box of chocolates and
a long stem rose...Everybody knows"
--Leonard Cohen
=*%*=--=*%*=--=*%*=--=*%*=--=*%*=--=*%*=-
ands...@pacificnet.net
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/4000
JULIUS LESTER
stereotype and not acting as a good cop. The job of a policeman is to
gather evidence that the DA's office can use to successfully prosecute a
case. As a professional Martinez was right. As a man he was wrong to the
extent that he did not respect and sympathize with Diane's gut instinct
about the buy. Diane was right as a woman and wrong as a cop because she
wouldn't respect Martinez's instinct that the evidence to convict was not
there. For this reason I was disappointed in this segment of the show.
The characters were too polarized, too stereotypical.
Anyone wants to bet that Sip's son gets killed on the job?
--
Julius Lester 413-323-9665
Box 9634
North Amherst MA 01059-9634
les...@judnea.umass.edu
bjb
>his voice - it's the one on the 911 tape - and bring Walsh back to the
>precinct for questioning.
It wasn't his voice but his telltale blue leather jacket they recognized.
McCracken
>
> I'd get serious for a change and
> quote the end of Andy's talk with Andy Jr.:
>
> "This is a good job for people like us. We don't have a lot
> of education, but we can read and write, and we're honest.
> Don't ever embarrass this job."
> "I won't."
> "I know you won't."
>
Did anyone else notice the flashing liquor sign in the background as
Andy Sr & Andy Jr had this dialogue? Pretty symbolic. (My husband
brought it to my attention.)
--jl...@wvnvm.wvnet.edu I live for Tuesday nights at 10 Eastern.
Fred B Young Jr
<Usual excellent review by Alan snipped>
> -Guest Star Notes: Lots of soap opera folk this week. Wanda
> DeJesus used to play Santana Andrade on "Santa Barbara" and was
> a castmember of UPN's now-defunct "Live Shot." Jessica Tuck (Ferrell
> McCleary) used to play Megan on "One Life to Live." Finn Carter (the
> female bartender) was Sierra Montgomery on "As the World Turns."
> And Jake Weber (Drennan) plays Matt on CBS' "American Gothic."
Playing a crime victim is nothing new for Jessica Tuck. Some of you (judging by the ratings not that
may of you :) ) may have seen her portray Nicole Brown Simpson in "The O. J. Simpson Story" last
year on Fox (Ironically on the Tuesday night Fox movie slot which means it ended just before Blue)
:) She had curlier hair in the movie (don't know why, as far as I know the real Nicole never had curly
hair).
Fred B. Young Jr.
USC-University of Southern California
yo...@bcf.usc.edu
Adam Felson
: wrote:
: : Not to mention (full-bore physics-dork status here) there was no Doppler
: : shift in the scream as the girl fell; merely a drop in volume. Anyone
: : who's had a carload of rednecks drive by and yell "Heeeaaaaaaawwwww" at
: : 60 mph is familiar with the rise/fall of a passing sound source.
If the DJ was on the top floor, the girl wouldn't be going by fast enough.
bbb...@sheltonlink.com
>In article <4io9be$r...@netnews.upenn.edu>, sepi...@mail1.sas.upenn.edu
>
>lines (Sylvia's aforementioned rape), I didn't really care for the
>resolution. Although they did a nice job of illustrating how difficult it
>is to determine who is telling the truth in an allegation of rape, this
>need to neatly tie things up resulted in an unsatisfying ending. I think
>this would have been better left hanging for the time being, and having
>another rape allegation occur some time in the future. Think of the story
>lines that could have been explored here...Martinez' guilt, Diane's
>indignation and so forth.
I still have some questions about the case itself - How did the alleged
rapist know about the victim's gymnastics class if she hadn't told him
thats where she got her bruises? What about the evasive demeanor of the
gymnastics instructor, who admitted that she had talked to the victim
prior to the police? Do we have any evidence to corroborate the female
bartender's allegation? What about the male bartender's comments that he
practically had to throw the couple out of the bar because they were so
hot and heavy?
Although I'd like to believe the victim, I think there's still a strong
argument for the "she found out he was married and got angry/sobered up
and regretted it/is a loony tune like lost of people in NY" type of
explanation. I wish they'd spend another episode on this one, because I
think date rape opens several gray area questions that offer plenty of
oppoertunities for plot twists and character development.
BBB
B.B. Bean New address------>bbb...@sheltonlink.com
Peach Orchard, MO http://www.cris.com/~Bbbean
bbb...@sheltonlink.com
>....as has been noted, the fact that he had the jacket didn't come into
>play until Escobar (sp) came from the kitchen with the jacket. BTW, when
>she went through the whole bit about wanting to get the girl some water
>(who really comes into someone else's house and offers to get *them*
>water, even under those circumstances?), it felt to me as if it was a
>setup for Escobar to search the area for clues--it never seemed genuine.
Am I the only one puzzled about the inevitable offer of a glass of water
to the crime victime/victim's relative/friend/lover? Does water make YOU
feel better in a moment of crisis?
Sarah Carroll
of Anita Bryant-ish. And what's going on with all those Significant
Glances between she and James, towards the end of the show?
Erin Lazzaro
cc...@cornell.edu (Kate McCann) wrote:
>reactions to the case, rather than solely the victim and perp, it got
>interesting. And I wouldn't be surprised to find that reactions to the
>show come down on gender lines: my boyfriend sympathized with Drennan, and
>I was totally behind Diane's feelings about the case.
I was with "the girls" up until the possibility arose that the victim was
lying about her bruises. After that, I was with James -- who never
suggested dropping the charges. He simply didn't want to take her word
as gospel, but to actually investigate as much as possible
before locking anybody up. (My husband did not express an opinion before
that point.)
What bothered me was that the cast was divided strictly along gender lines;
there were only two points of view, everyone had the "expected" knee-jerk
reaction, and nobody _thought_ about it (except James, and the script didn't
make that clear enough -- almost as if it was edited out). That's shallow,
unrealistic, and offensive. The "gee we're stupid just because we're men and
we turned out wrong this time" wrap-up did not help.
-Erin Lazzaro
Jackie Brady
:
:<Usual excellent review by Alan snipped>
:
:> -Guest Star Notes: Lots of soap opera folk this week. Wanda
:> DeJesus used to play Santana Andrade on "Santa Barbara" and was
:> a castmember of UPN's now-defunct "Live Shot." Jessica Tuck (Ferrell
:> McCleary) used to play Megan on "One Life to Live." Finn Carter (the
:> female bartender) was Sierra Montgomery on "As the World Turns."
:> And Jake Weber (Drennan) plays Matt on CBS' "American Gothic."
I'm not sure if anyone has said this yet or not (apologies if it's
been mentioned before), but Wanda DeJesus is also the real life love
interest of Jimmy Smits.
Just another tidbit.
--
_ __ __ ___
_ | | \/ | _ ) Finally saw an honest workout tape: "Pay big bucks to
| || | |\/| | _ \ a Doctor with a Fat-Sucking Machine" workout. Maxine,
\__/|_| |_|___/ Shoebox Greetings <>Jackie Brady<>jb...@mars.superlink.net
Geoff Falen
>From: bbb...@sheltonlink.com
>Subject: Re: NYPD Blue: "Girl Talk" Summary/Review
>Date: 21 Mar 1996 18:37:11 GMT
snip..
>I still have some questions about the case itself - How did the alleged
>rapist know about the victim's gymnastics class if she hadn't told him
>thats where she got her bruises?
They were talking in the bar and she may have told him then that she took
gymnastics classes.
What about the evasive demeanor of the
>gymnastics instructor, who admitted that she had talked to the victim
>prior to the police?
Maybe she had something else to hide. People get nervous talking to the
police.
Do we have any evidence to corroborate the female
>bartender's allegation? What about the male bartender's comments that he
>practically had to throw the couple out of the bar because they were so
>hot and heavy?
I don't know about evidence to corroborate the 2nd bartender's allegation, but
she came in all on her own and approached them saying "was it about a man
named Mark Drennan" (I'm paraphrasing here)...
>Although I'd like to believe the victim, I think there's still a strong
>argument for the "she found out he was married and got angry/sobered up
>and regretted it/is a loony tune like lost of people in NY" type of
>explanation. I wish they'd spend another episode on this one, because I
>think date rape opens several gray area questions that offer plenty of
>oppoertunities for plot twists and character development.
I agree with you on all of the above points--just trying to throw a little
devil's advocate your way..
Geoff Falen
Geoff Falen
>From: Sarah Carroll <sar...@wrightinst.edu>
>Subject: Re: NYPD Blue: "Girl Talk" Summary/Review
>Nobody mentioned Lesniak's new 'do.... pretty scary, I thought! Kind
>of Anita Bryant-ish. And what's going on with all those Significant
>Glances between she and James, towards the end of the show?
I think she was giving him the old "let's get going home, NOW, James" and he
gave her the headshake "no" because he had something to say to Russell.
Geoff Falen
Chris Sonnack
> Not to mention (full-bore physics-dork status here) there was no Doppler
> shift in the scream as the girl fell; merely a drop in volume. Anyone
> who's had a carload of rednecks drive by and yell "Heeeaaaaaaawwwww" at
> 60 mph is familiar with the rise/fall of a passing sound source.
I doubt her velocity was high enough for perceptable Doppler shift.
--
Chris Sonnack <cjso...@mmm.com> http://eishcq.mmm.com
Engineering Information Services/Information Technology/3M, St.Paul, Minn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This must be Thursday, I never could get the hang of Thursdays."
Opinions expressed herein are my own and may not represent those of 3M.
Fred B Young Jr
<snip>
>Am I the only one puzzled about the inevitable offer of a glass of water
>to the crime victime/victim's relative/friend/lover? Does water make YOU
>feel better in a moment of crisis?
It's not so much that it will make you feel better psychologically (sp?), but physically, since you (the
victim) have probably been crying, you have lost some water through your tears, and drinking water
helps replace that. That's my amateur scienctist $0.02 on that--you probably don't lose a whole lot
of water through crying, but I guess it doesn't hurt to try to replace it.
C. Campbell
> BB Bean stated:
>
> I still have some questions about the case itself - How did the alleged
> rapist know about the victim's gymnastics class if she hadn't told him
> thats where she got her bruises?
This is easy: she told him about the gymnastics class, and he
claimed she told him that's where she got the bruises.
> What about the evasive demeanor of the
> gymnastics instructor, who admitted that she had talked to the victim
> prior to the police?
I didn't find her demeanor evasive. She was not able to either
confirm or deny that the woman was bruised in class.
> What about the male bartender's comments that he
> practically had to throw the couple out of the bar because they were so
> hot and heavy?
That's his opinion. He may have been a particular prude. Or
maybe he'd hit on her to no avail and was jealous. Didn't the "victim"
herself say they'd been kissing?
> Although I'd like to believe the victim, I think there's still a strong
> argument for the "she found out he was married and got angry/sobered up
> and regretted it/is a loony tune like lost of people in NY" type of
> explanation.
What bothered me (after thinking about it) was that they didn't
check with his wife about the claims he made as to their marital problems.
If she'd said they had regular sex and they were getting along fine, that
would have totally blown his story. It bothers me that they looked into
her background/story but not his.
> I wish they'd spend another episode on this one, because I
> think date rape opens several gray area questions that offer plenty of
> oppoertunities for plot twists and character development.
>
I kind of agree here but from another point of view. I didn't
like the way the women gave the accused absolutely no benefit of doubt.
I think James made a reasonable call, but on the other hand, the man's
claim that the woman was angry because he was married could easily have
been check if they'd talked with his wife.
If I'd been with a man then found out he was married, I tell his wife not
cry rape. I sincerely doubt that there are many false rape charges
brought to the police--it's too much of a kettle of fish. Even with real
rape charges, too many rapists get off. Bringing false charges is just
too risky for anyone whose rational, and there was nothing to indicate
that this woman was irrational.
Meghan Hicks
I agree with your assesment of the NYPD Blue episode "Girl Talk." The
only one to didn't make an ass of himself was James Martinez. Alan
Sepinwall seems to think it's feminist for a woman to believe that
another woman has been raped even though the evidence points in a
different direction. For many years women have been believed to be
shitty cops, and it's because of cops like Diane (and women like Sylvia)
who allow their emotions to get in the way of their investigation.
The fact that Diane turned out to be right was dumb luck--and
attributing it to some kind of "woman's intuition" only makes it worse.
I have a problem with the way all the women are portrayed on NYPD
Blue, but that's a whole other conversation. Take Homicide's Kay Howard,
for instance--who is a much more satisfying feminist character. If such a
rape was presented to Kay, and she had some type of "intuition" that
Drennan
might actually be guilty, she would FIND the evidence instead of
insisting that "because McCleary said he did it then he must have." For
Diane
to have been convincingly empowered, she should have NOTICED the strange
look on the waitress's face and asked her questions right then and there.
The fact that Diane and James just happen to stumble on the new evidence
--the waitress comes to them, they don't go to her--only enhances Diane's
inability to get the job done regardless of her emotions. Why is it that
Bobby Simone
can always do his job no matter what he's feeling (the investigation of
Diane's father's murder)? Why is it that Sipowicz can always GET AWAY
with his
prejudices against suspects? Because the writers always give them
evidentially substantiated cases. Diane didn't "stop at nothing" until
the rape was proven. She didn't make it happen for herself.
Not only that, but it's true what you say about Diane and Sylvia
insisting that
the guys "take sides." Cops are notorious sexists--and with many years on
the force or in the DA's office, both Sylvia and Diane should know that.
But instead of taking it with a grain of salt and doing their own jobs as
well as they can, they make it a point to whine and bitch at the men, as
if somehow their changing James' mind about rape is somehow more
important than the rapist going to jail. Cops learn early on that they
can't save the world, and Diane and Sylvia should both know that they're
only capable of putting the bad guys away. In fact, James has defended
himself rightfully--he is doing his job, trying to get to the bottom of
the case perhaps even better than Diane herself. Trying to change James'
mind that doesn't even need to be change is a futile exercise, and only
makes Diane look whiney and overly emotional and most importantly, unable
to put aside her own feelings to do the job well.
Again using Kay Howard as a reference point, would Kay try and
change all the guys' minds about rape? NO--because the cops on Homicide
are intelligent and don't need the sensitivity course. Kay doesn't need
to bitch at them to get them to understand that many men rape women and
get away with it. And Kay doesn't need to exorcise her own demons by
preaching to an already-converted audience.
Dug D
->
-> sepi...@mail1.sas.upenn.edu (Alan Sepinwall) writes:
->
-> >NYPD Blue, Season 3, Episode 16, "Girl Talk"
->
-> > -A totally gratuitous appearance by Upstairs John this week,
-> > manning the phones to help with the hotline calls. Did Bill
-> > Brochtrup need to make a car payment or something and ask
-> > to be written in at the last minute?
->
-> I hope it's because he's being primed for Donna's slot.
-> John allows the continuing investigation of Andy's intolerance
-> to be a minor, but recurring, theme....
->
-> --
-> A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
-> & no one will talk to a host that's close...........(v)301 56 LINUX
-> Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
-> is busy, hung or dead........vr vr vr vr.................20915-1433
Au contraire -- Upstairs John's appearance was, I thought, brilliantly
subtle. If you'll recall, he appeared just after the rape discussion
ended with a comment like "this kind of case is a tough call, whether
you're a man or a woman." In walks John, as if to suggest to the viewer,
"let's ask John what he thinks -- he's neither, or both, or ...." I mean
think about it: apart from this aspect, his appearance contributed
nothing to the show. Agreed?
Dug D
>
> sepi...@mail1.sas.upenn.edu (Alan Sepinwall) writes:
>
> >NYPD Blue, Season 3, Episode 16, "Girl Talk"
>
>
>
> --
Newsgroup NYPB Blue post
McCracken
says:
>
>I'm not sure if anyone has said this yet or not (apologies if it's
>been mentioned before), but Wanda DeJesus is also the real life love
>interest of Jimmy Smits.
>
>Just another tidbit.
Is that the woman whom he affectionately refers to as "my lady?"
(Yikkk -- Rush Limbaugh refers to HIS love interest as same, doesn't he?)
Whenever I've seen Jimmy Smits on late-night programming he mentions
his lady this, and his lady that...never by name, so I assumed his
lady wasn't in show business and didn't want publicity.
--
"I never thought much of Pat Buchanan until I heard one of his speeches
in the original German" -- Molly Ivins.
Barb Johnson
McCracken <JL...@wvnvm.wvnet.edu> writes:
>
>In article <4ist1m$j...@earth.superlink.net>, jb...@superlink.net (Jackie Brady)
>says:
>>
>>I'm not sure if anyone has said this yet or not (apologies if it's
>>been mentioned before), but Wanda DeJesus is also the real life love
>>interest of Jimmy Smits.
>>
>>Just another tidbit.
>
>Is that the woman whom he affectionately refers to as "my lady?"
>(Yikkk -- Rush Limbaugh refers to HIS love interest as same, doesn't he?)
--Barb
Blake and Jane Walter
>
> In <Pine.NXT.3.91.960320...@cstore-next.cl.msu.edu>, BamBam <coo...@cstore-next.cl.msu.edu> writes:
>
> >....as has been noted, the fact that he had the jacket didn't come into
> >play until Escobar (sp) came from the kitchen with the jacket. BTW, when
> >she went through the whole bit about wanting to get the girl some water
> >(who really comes into someone else's house and offers to get *them*
> >water, even under those circumstances?), it felt to me as if it was a
> >setup for Escobar to search the area for clues--it never seemed genuine.
>
> to the crime victime/victim's relative/friend/lover? Does water make YOU
> feel better in a moment of crisis?
I think in most cases its because the person offering the water wants to
help but doesn't know what to do. They want to help, and getting a
drink of water for the person who's upset is a way to show concern.
In this case, however, I thought it was a pretty clear opportunity to scout
out the apartment. Successful, too, since the blue leather jacket was found.
Note that, having got permission to "go get a glass of water", Escobar had
a legitimate reason for being in the kitchen without having to justify
looking around for clues.
--Jane
William Traynor
Martinez in this episode. The writers went out of their way to make him
look like a sexist stooge. Clearly, he approached the case in the proper
manner: He simply wanted to investigate the case further before jumping to
conclusions. Diane and Costas were wrong.
IMHO, the writers love to see the males on this show run around with their
tails between their legs. For example, earlier in the season they made
Simone look like a jerk when he was concerned about Diane going on a case
dressed as a slut looking to buy a gun. Later, Andy became the jackass
when he got in trouble with Sylvia for using that hand gesture to indicate
race. In both cases, the deck was stacked against the males and they wound
up looking like jerks. I hope this is stopped soon. It would be nice to
see a female with egg on her face just once.
C. Campbell
On 24 Mar 1996, William Traynor wrote:
> Nice review and I agree with you that the deck was stacked against
> Martinez in this episode. The writers went out of their way to make him
> look like a sexist stooge. Clearly, he approached the case in the proper
> manner: He simply wanted to investigate the case further before jumping to
> conclusions. Diane and Costas were wrong.
I disagree. I (a woman) don't think James came off like a sexist
stooge. As I've said before, I think the women came off as being
unprofessional. Knowing Costas' past as a rape victim, I can understand
her bias but would expect her to get past it as a professional. As far as
I'm concerned, I think Diane was way out on a limb with her treatment of
James. Until the second woman made a charge against the man, I think
James was on firm ground. EXCEPT that, as I've also said before, I don't
understandy why they didn't verify his story of marriage problems with his
wife. Yes, I know this "date" would cause marriage problems if there
weren't any, but that is no excuse for not checking up on him. Why check
only on the woman making the charge--that's where the sexism lies, and why
didn't Diane do something about that instead of just arguing with James.
> IMHO, the writers love to see the males on this show run around with their
> tails between their legs. For example, earlier in the season they made
> Simone look like a jerk when he was concerned about Diane going on a case
> dressed as a slut looking to buy a gun.
I don't think it made him look like a jerk. He brought his
personal feelings into the office, which was unprofessional but
understandable. I'd like to see it turned around now and see Diane afraid
for his safety.
Later, Andy became the jackass
> when he got in trouble with Sylvia for using that hand gesture to indicate
> race. In both cases, the deck was stacked against the males and they wound
> up looking like jerks. I hope this is stopped soon. It would be nice to
> see a female with egg on her face just once.
I think you're looking for all this male bashing. You don't think
whatshername (Adrian?) whose going with James hasn't come off as a jerk or
whatever? I guess we all bring our own points of view to what we watch.
bonnie-marie
that point. The victim was not honest in her initial presentation. The
whole thing was too set up to have meant anything. Nobody was right or
wrong.
My daughter and I thought Escobar (the Latina detective)was great and we
sensed a little chemistry there. I thought she was great with Smits-I
guess he did too because they were at the Oscars together tonight!
Bonnie-Marie
Allan Jenoff
: While watching the show I pretty much followed James in that I believed the
: girl, was confused by the guy's version of events and after hearing from the
: other two interviewees, decided that more evidence was requiried.
: What really struck me as odd and to some extent scary (sp) was the
: semming "rush to judgement" on the part of all the women involved. Diane
: seemed to have made up her mind as soon as rape was mentioned. Sylvia, based
: on her past, seemed ready to convict the guy without really hearing what he
: had to say.
Diane simpyl found the victim more credible than Drennan, and unlike
James she actually saw the bruise. Sylvia only heard Diane's summary of
the case, which omitted all of the positive points for Drennan, like his
explanation of the bruise. In fact, Diane didn't even mention this was a
date rape case, always a complicated and confusing issue. If I'd heard
her summary, I would have had the same reaction as Sylvia. I felt James
was arguing that a conviction was impossible, given the evidence they
had. Drennan had a reasonable alternative explanation of events, and
that's all you need in court. Diane seemed to feel they should charge
him any way. Frankly, I think James was right. A case with the evidence
they had at the time would have led to an acquittal. By following up at
the bar, James actually found the key witness that would lead to a
conviction. But no one seems ready to give him any credit for that.
--
CIS: 76460,1466
Internet: ac...@freenet.toronto.on.ca
C. Campbell
found it "strange" that they didn't check his story of marital problems
with his wife? If he'd been a murder or theft suspect, I'm sure they
would have checked with her, but because it was rape, it seems like they
took his claim of his wife no longer being interested in sex with him as
gospel. Even Diane in her belief of the "victim" didn't suggest checking
his story with his wife. I just don't get it.
Allan Jenoff
: Am I the only one in the whole vast North American viewing audience who
: found it "strange" that they didn't check his story of marital problems
: with his wife? If he'd been a murder or theft suspect, I'm sure they
: would have checked with her, but because it was rape, it seems like they
: took his claim of his wife no longer being interested in sex with him as
: gospel. Even Diane in her belief of the "victim" didn't suggest checking
: his story with his wife. I just don't get it.
What would be the point of checking that? It had nothing to do with his
explanation. At the end of the episode Diane refers to it sarcastically,
since he seems to use it as an excuse for the rape. It's really
irrelevant to the case. It would have been a waste of time to check it.
C. Campbell
I disagree. He made a statement excusing his behavior. It seems
to me that any statement a person makes goes toward his or her
believability. They checked on what he said about the woman telling him
she was bruised as a result of her gymnastics. If they're going to check
that statement of his, I see no reason why they didn't check his claim of
marital problems. His veracity should have been under as much scrutiny as
that of the woman who claimed rape.
I don't remember hearing Diane make a comment about his excuse,
but he was excusing his extra-marital affair; he never admitted to rape.
rha007.tco...@ohsu.edu
>From: Fred B Young Jr <yo...@bcf.usc.edu>
>Subject: Re: NYPD Blue: "Girl Talk" Summary/Review
>bbb...@sheltonlink.com wrote:
><snip>
>>Am I the only one puzzled about the inevitable offer of a glass of water
>>to the crime victime/victim's relative/friend/lover? Does water make YOU
>>feel better in a moment of crisis?
>It's not so much that it will make you feel better psychologically (sp?), but physically, since you (the
>victim) have probably been crying, you have lost some water through your tears, and drinking water
>helps replace that. That's my amateur scienctist $0.02 on that--you probably don't lose a whole lot
>of water through crying, but I guess it doesn't hurt to try to replace it.
>Fred B. Young Jr.
>USC-University of Southern California
>yo...@bcf.usc.edu
Also, if you've ever been so upset as to cry in front of strangers (it would
take a lot for me), you would know that drinking anything gives your body
something else to do and can calm you down. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it
doesn't. It doesn't hurt to try.
Patricia