Homicide: Life on the Street (TV Series) Control (1996) User Reviews

You're on my corner, Luther

[petra_ste · 8/10 · 28 October 2013]

A fine episode with two compelling story lines: the first follows Pembleton (Braugher) investigating his first case after the stroke and clashing with his partner Bayliss (Secor), before the two finally handle a suspect in the "Box" with their trademark slick tactics. In the second, Lewis (Johnson) and Munch (Belzer) confront slippery drug lord Luther Mahoney.

A great interrogation by the Frank/Tim duo and one of Lewis' best moments in the series are the highlights of this excellent season 5 episode.

8/10

Weak partner

[bjhex1 · 6/10 · 20 June 2023]

I've loved this show since it was first broadcast, dedicated viewer, and I regard Frank Pembleton as one of the 5 greatest TV characters of all time. That being said, I feel that this episode is one of the weaker efforts to rationalize Bayliss as a peer of Pembleton. We've always known Frank is a stellar detective. We've seen it, largely due to Andre Braugher's brilliant characterization, even through the stroke. But, we only know Bayliss as a premier detective because he's been give nearly all names in black on the board and (most importantly) Pembleton says so. Since we enter the program essentially through Bayliss' eyes, he's clearly with whom we are expected to identify, and we are sympathetic to his initial failure.

Re-watching these episodes decades later have helped me realize that the Bayliss character, for me, never really earned his level of respect, like Pembleton. Nor was he merely, as presented in numerous ways, a naive avatar of white privilege, and the carrier of several silly novelty storylines (the Hearts gambit, the Waterfront cynic, etc), but a supporting character unfortunately thrust into the forefront. It makes me appreciate Frank Pembleton, and Andre Braugher, all the more.