Smarmy, self-satisfied material playing like one of those personal anecdotes drawing guffaws from close friends and awkward silence from other bystanders, this episode has Brodie (Max Perlich) show the detectives a documentary he made on the Homicide unit. Cue embarrassment and cute moments, like Lewis (Clark Johnson) meeting director Barry Levinson (one of the series developers).
There is, however, a "meta" element of interest - the DVD commentary by two of the show writers. It sheds much light on the kind of network meddling they had to face, including romance and racial issues; see also how the primary case followed in this episode was rewritten and considerably softened from its original form - where it was much more sinister and unsettling.
Ironically, the climax is a tirade by Brodie on how his job echoes the detectives' - revealing the whole truth, no matter how hard or distasteful.
6/10
There is, however, a "meta" element of interest - the DVD commentary by two of the show writers. It sheds much light on the kind of network meddling they had to face, including romance and racial issues; see also how the primary case followed in this episode was rewritten and considerably softened from its original form - where it was much more sinister and unsettling.
Ironically, the climax is a tirade by Brodie on how his job echoes the detectives' - revealing the whole truth, no matter how hard or distasteful.
6/10
