|
"A Many Splendored Thing" is the second season finale of the American police drama television series ''Homicide: Life on the Street'', and the thirteenth overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on January 27, 1994. In the episode, Pembleton and Bayliss investigate the S&M-related murder of a young woman, which forces an uncomfortable Bayliss to confront his darker side. Meanwhile, Lewis is disturbed when a man commits murder over a $1.49 pen, and a despairing Munch crashes Bolander's date and ruins it by venting his own romantic woes. Written by Noel Behn and directed by John McNaughton, "A Many Splendored Thing" was not originally planned to close the second season, but the expected finale "Bop Gun" was changed to the season premiere to capitalize on a guest performance by Robin Williams. The homicide case in "A Many Splendored Thing" involving a man who committed murder over a pen was based on a similar real-life killing that took place in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The episode featured the second of two guest appearances by actress Julianna Margulies as Linda, Bolander's romantic interest, as well an appearance by Adrienne Shelly as the owner of an S&M fashion store. "A Many Splendored Thing" marked the final appearance by Jon Polito, who had played Detective Steve Crosetti since the series debuted, but was dismissed reportedly because NBC officials were unhappy with his physical appearance. Polito was publicly critical of the show after his dismissal. According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by 11.2 million household viewers, slight increase from the previous week's episode, "Black and Blue". It received generally positive reviews, and was identified by ''The Baltimore Sun'' as one of the ten best episodes of the series. "A Many Splendored Thing" was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay of an Episodic Drama. ==Plot summary== Pembleton (Andre Braugher) and Bayliss (Kyle Secor) investigate the murder of Angela Frandina, who was found strangled in her bed clutching a note reading, "Ed did it", although it proves to be a false lead. Their investigation leads the detectives to discover Angela had several strange boyfriends and worked at an S&M fashion store and a phone sex hotline. The two detectives visit the Eastern Shores Marketing Phone Sex operation where they speak with the manager, Ed. Ed tells them about a boyfriend of Angela's named Chris Novoselic (Dan Garrett) who used to spend time with her at an S&M club called 'The Eve of Destruction' on Fayette Street. Pembleton and Bayliss go to the Eve of Destruction to question Novoselic. During questioning, Bayliss gets angry and loses his cool with Novoselic slamming the leather-clad, multi-pierced freak against the wall telling him that if he doesn't start giving them some answers, he is gonna slap some cuffs on him, take him downtown and knock him around' whereby Novoselic responds by telling Bayliss, 'If you do that, I might have to kiss you!'. Pembleton calms Bayliss and they leave. While driving, Bayliss claims to be disgusted by the sexual taboos, but Pembleton insists everybody has a darker side and that until Bayliss recognizes his own, his virtues can never truly be tested. Pembleton and Bayliss return to the S&M fashion store and ask about leather belts with bead patterns matching the marks on Angela's neck. Store owner Tanya (Adrienne Shelly) tells them Angela's neighbor Jeremy (Scott Nielson) has a jacket with a matching belt. After an interrogation, Jeremy confesses to choking and accidentally killing Angela with the belt during quirky and violent (but consensual) sex. As a thank you for solving the case, Tanya brings Bayliss a leather jacket as gift, which he reluctantly accepts. That night, Bayliss visits Baltimore's red light district wearing the jacket, as a way to test himself as Pembleton suggested. He is approached by a prostitute but rejects her, thus passing the test. Lewis (Clark Johnson) and Crosetti (Jon Polito) investigate the fatal shooting of a man, who was apparently killed for a $1.49 pen. Lewis believes there must be more to the story, refusing to believe a pen is worth killing for. When they search suspect Mitchell Forman's (Sal S. Koussa) apartment, they find thousands of pens, many of which line the walls like bizarre decorations. Lewis later finds Forman at the police station, where he originally planned to turn himself in, but instead went up to the roof to commit suicide. Lewis lures Forman away from the ledge by enticing him with a beautiful golden pen, which belonged to Lewis' deceased grandmother. Forman is taken into custody. Later, Lewis still cannot believe someone would kill over a pen, but Gee (Yaphet Kotto) suggests it is no worse than killing over a car or woman. Lewis, determined not to develop such a strong attachment to a material item, gives his grandmother's pen to Felton (Daniel Baldwin). Meanwhile, although Munch (Richard Belzer) is cynical and despairing over his recent break-up with ex-girlfriend Felicia, the normally-grumpy Bolander (Ned Beatty) is unusually cheerful as a result of his budding romantic relationship with Linda (Julianna Margulies), a much younger (26-year-old) waitress. Nervous about his first real date with her, Bolander asks Howard (Melissa Leo) to go on a double-date with him, along with Howard's boyfriend, prosecuting attorney Ed Danvers (Željko Ivanek). The double date goes well until a lonely Munch crashes, joins the table and ruins the mood of the evening complaining about his romantic woes. Bolander, Munch and Linda leave together and walk to Fort McHenry, where Linda offers Munch words of encouragement. Impressed with her, Munch leaves Linda and Bolander alone, where they happily watch a fireworks show. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「A Many Splendored Thing (Homicide: Life on the Street)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|