Black and Blue (Homicide: Life on the Street)
3rd episode of the 2nd season of Homicide: Life on the Street / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"Black and Blue" is the third episode of the second season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street, and the twelfth overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on January 20, 1994. In the episode, Pembleton aggressively investigates what he believes to be a police-related shooting. Amid pressure from Gee to pursue civilian suspects, Pembleton elicits a successful confession from an innocent man, leaving Gee feeling conflicted. Directed by Chris Menaul, the episode's teleplay was written by James Yoshimura based on a story by series executive producer Tom Fontana.
"Black and Blue" | |||
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Homicide: Life on the Street episode | |||
Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 3 | ||
Directed by | Chris Menaul | ||
Story by | Tom Fontana | ||
Teleplay by | James Yoshimura | ||
Cinematography by | Jean de Segonzac | ||
Production code | 202 | ||
Original air date | January 20, 1994 (1994-01-20) | ||
Guest appearances | |||
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Episode chronology | |||
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List of Homicide: Life on the Street episodes | |||
List of episodes |
Yoshimura considered "Black and Blue" the favorite script he wrote for Homicide. Pembleton's investigation was based on a real-life investigation into a suspicious shooting featured in David Simon's non-fiction book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, on which the Homicide series was based. However, fictional elements like Howard's romantic interest in the perpetrator were added so more cast members could be part of the story. Detectives from the Baltimore Police Department wrote a letter of formal protest to executive producer Barry Levinson over the negative portrayal of police in the episode.
"Black and Blue" featured Julianna Margulies as a waitress who befriends Bolander and Isaiah Washington as an innocent man who Pembleton tricks into confessing to murder. Mel Proctor, home team sports announcer for the Washington Bullets, also reprised his recurring role as reporter Grant Besser. According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by 10.83 million household viewers, a drop from the previous episode "See No Evil". It received generally positive reviews, with critics particularly praising the performance of Andre Braugher.