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"Bop Gun" is the second season premiere of the American police drama television series ''Homicide: Life on the Street'', and the tenth overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on January 6, 1994. In the episode, the Baltimore homicide unit investigates the shooting death of the wife of a tourist, played by guest star Robin Williams. The episode was written by David Mills and David Simon based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana, and directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal. In response to network feedback and poor ratings from the first season, "Bop Gun" marked several changes in the series, including a less bleak visual style and a greater focus on one plot, rather than multiple subplots. It was also the first episode to focus primarily on a homicide victim, rather than on the detectives. Simon felt the dialogue was realistic, especially that of the dark humor employed by detectives as a coping mechanism for dealing with the horrors of the job. Williams previously worked with ''Homicide'' executive producer Barry Levinson on the films ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987) and ''Toys'' (1992). This led to speculation that Williams took the role on "Bop Gun" as a favor to Levinson, but the actor insisted it was out of admiration for the series itself. A young Jake Gyllenhaal, the son of the episode's director, makes an appearance as Williams' son. The episode was the first to feature Chris Tergesen as music coordinator, which resulted in the use of more songs than previous episodes, including "Killer" by Seal and "Feels Like Rain" by Buddy Guy. "Bop Gun" was seen by 16.3 million viewers, one of the highest Nielsen ratings of the week, thanks in large part due to interest in Williams' appearance. The episode received generally positive reviews, with several particularly complimenting the dramatic performance by Williams. "Bop Gun" won a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay of an Episodic Drama. Williams also received an Emmy Award nomination for Guest Actor in a Drama Series. The episode, along with the rest of the first and second seasons of ''Homicide: Life on the Street'' was released on DVD in the United States on May 27, 2003. == Plot summary == Felton (Daniel Baldwin) and Howard (Melissa Leo) investigate the murder of an Iowa woman who was shot to death in front of her husband Robert Ellison (Robin Williams) and two young children during a stick-up. Since the victims are tourists, the case becomes a "red ball" and receives considerable attention from the press, city officials and top police brass. Bayliss (Kyle Secor) tries to interview the two young children, but Ellison stops him, protesting that the experience is too hard on them. After obtaining information from street thugs, the police arrest Marvin (Antonio Charity), who possesses 45-caliber bullets matching those used in the shooting. A mournful Ellison overhears Felton making jokes about the investigation and bragging about the overtime he expects to receive from it. He angrily demands Felton be thrown off the case, but Gee (Yaphet Kotto) calms him down by explaining the police have to be detached from the victims because they encounter so many. Ellison takes his children back to their hotel room, where his daughter Abby (Julia Devin) is in denial about her mother's death, and his son Matt (Jake Gyllenhaal) angrily refuses to talk to his father. The police arrest a second suspect named Tweety (Vincent Miller), who was found in possession of the murdered woman's locket. The detectives question Marvin and Tweety separately until Tweety identifies the shooter as 19-year-old Vaughn Perkins (Lloyd Goodman). Howard is surprised to learn Vaughn has a mostly clean criminal record, and his family insists Vaughn would never kill anybody. Vaughn is arrested without incident, but Ellison is unable to identify the three suspects because he does not remember their faces. Meanwhile, Ellison sees his wife's body in the morgue, and gets upset that her clothes and wedding ring have been removed. Bayliss later returns the ring to Ellison, who admits he feels guilty for not protecting his wife or stopping the shooter. Ellison asks to hold Bayliss' gun just to know how it feels, and Bayliss reluctantly agrees. Howard repeatedly questions Vaughn, believing he is acting as the fall guy for his two friends. Vaughn says nothing, but eventually writes a letter of apology to Ellison. Felton closes the case despite Howard's protests for more time to investigate. Vaughn eventually pleads guilty at his arraignment and insists on serving life without parole. Marvin and Tweety are sentenced to 30 years in prison, but Ellison tells Howard he feels no comfort because his wife is still dead. Howard tries to give Vaughn's letter to Ellison, but he refuses to accept it. Howard eventually speaks directly to Vaughn in prison, where Vaughn admits he handled the gun during the stick-up because he thought if he had the gun, he could control the situation and prevent anyone from getting hurt. Vaughn said he lost control of the robbery, and insists he needs to serve the life sentence to make amends. A devastated Howard finally agrees with Felton's opinion that Vaughn was indeed the shooter. 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「Bop Gun (Homicide: Life on the Street)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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