Mike Giardello
Encyclopedia
Alphonse Michael Giardello Jr. is a fictional character from the television drama Homicide: Life on the Street
. The character was played by Giancarlo Esposito
.
. He comes to Baltimore from Arizona when a family relative is killed to assist the BPD in their investigations. He applies for and gets a job as a liaison to the Homicide unit. Although his FBI resources often help the unit's cases, he and his father often clash over media leaks and a case where Mike gives case information to an FBI supervisor and it leads to the death of a key witness in a politically-charged murder case. Mike is stunned when the FBI allows a mobster in Witness Protection who has murdered a Baltimore resident to take a lenient plea deal because he's needed for a major Mafia trial in Philadelphia, and later resigns from the Bureau. He was earlier left devastated when he was enlisted as a hostage negotiator when a deranged father was holding his son and daughter hostage, and the father ended up killing his son before committing suicide (though this episode aired after the one where he resigns from the FBI). In the series finale he talks of returning to the Baltimore streets, and the 2000 TV movie reveals that he has joined the BPD as a patrolman in hopes of earning a detective's shield.
. Michael tends to have an estranged relationship with his father that is improved upon when he becomes an FBI liaison to the department. Michael remains proud of Al however mainly due to his accomplishments in blazing trails for African American
officers in the BPD (Michael claims Al was one of the first Black Lieutenants in the department and encourages Al to take the Captains' position on the finale as a means of improving the bad relationship between the city's black community and the police department).
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
. The character was played by Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito is a Danish-born American film and television actor and director.-Early life:Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to an Italian father and African-American mother. His mother was an opera and nightclub singer from Alabama, who once appeared on the same...
.
Biography
Mike Giardello is an FBI agent who is the estranged son of Baltimore Police Lieutenant Al GiardelloAl Giardello
Alphonse Michael Giardello, Sr. is a fictional character from the television drama Homicide: Life on the Street. The character was played by Yaphet Kotto...
. He comes to Baltimore from Arizona when a family relative is killed to assist the BPD in their investigations. He applies for and gets a job as a liaison to the Homicide unit. Although his FBI resources often help the unit's cases, he and his father often clash over media leaks and a case where Mike gives case information to an FBI supervisor and it leads to the death of a key witness in a politically-charged murder case. Mike is stunned when the FBI allows a mobster in Witness Protection who has murdered a Baltimore resident to take a lenient plea deal because he's needed for a major Mafia trial in Philadelphia, and later resigns from the Bureau. He was earlier left devastated when he was enlisted as a hostage negotiator when a deranged father was holding his son and daughter hostage, and the father ended up killing his son before committing suicide (though this episode aired after the one where he resigns from the FBI). In the series finale he talks of returning to the Baltimore streets, and the 2000 TV movie reveals that he has joined the BPD as a patrolman in hopes of earning a detective's shield.
Family
Mike Giardello appears as the middle child of Al and Mary Giardello. He has two sisters Teresa and Charisse (who refers to him as Al Jr.) and at least one nephew by his sister Charisse. He was raised in Baltimore's Little ItalyLittle Italy, Baltimore
Little Italy is a neighborhood located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.Situated just east of the Inner Harbor, it has one of the city's busiest restaurant districts. It is so named because of the large number of Italian immigrant families that moved into the area during the 20th century. The...
. Michael tends to have an estranged relationship with his father that is improved upon when he becomes an FBI liaison to the department. Michael remains proud of Al however mainly due to his accomplishments in blazing trails for African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
officers in the BPD (Michael claims Al was one of the first Black Lieutenants in the department and encourages Al to take the Captains' position on the finale as a means of improving the bad relationship between the city's black community and the police department).