Son of a Gun (Homicide: Life on the Street)
Encyclopedia
"Son of a Gun" is the third episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street
. It originally aired on NBC
in the United States on February 10, 1993. The teleplay was written by James Yoshimura
based on a story by executive director Tom Fontana
, and the episode was directed by Nick Gomez
. In the episode, recurring character Officer Thormann (Lee Tergesen
) is shot while on duty, and his close friend Crosetti
takes the investigation personally.
"Son of a Gun" was originally supposed to be the fourth episode of the first season, but was broadcast third when the episode "Night of the Dead Living
" was moved to the end of the season. The shooting of a police officer, as well as other aspects of the script, were directly inspired by real-life events chronicled in David Simon
's non-fiction book, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
. The episode included guest appearances by actors Luis Guzmán
, Paul Schulze
and Edie Falco
, who played Thormann's wife. It also marked the first of five appearances by Washington Bullets team sports announcer Mel Proctor
, and the first appearance by actor Walt MacPherson
, who would later be cast as recurring character Detective Roger Gaffney
.
"Son of a Gun" was seen by 6.52 million households in its original broadcast, continuing a downward trend in ratings since the premiere of Homicide: Life on the Street. "Son of a Gun" lost viewership in part due to competition from a live Oprah Winfrey
90-minute interview with pop singer Michael Jackson
on ABC
. 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.
(Yaphet Kotto
) informs the detectives that Officer Thormann (Lee Tergesen
) has been shot in the head, and he orders an immediate investigation. Lewis
(Clark Johnson
) and Crosetti
(Jon Polito
) arrive at the hospital to find the doctors working frantically on Thormann; Crosetti, a close friend of Thormann, becomes very emotional. Crosetti comforts Thormann's wife Eva (Edie Falco
), but is privately told by Dr. Eli Devilbiss (Sean Whitesell
) that Thormann may be blind or mentally disabled, even if he survives. Crosetti begs Gee to give him the case and, even though Gee believes he is too emotionally involved, he gives in when Crosetti tries to make him feel guilty by showing him his previous gunshot wounds. When an investigation at the crime scene turns up nothing, Lewis catches Crosetti praying with a rosary
in the locker room. Crosetti convinces a skeptical Lewis to pray with him for help in the investigation.
Meanwhile, Bayliss
(Kyle Secor
) and Pembleton
(Andre Braugher
) continue their investigation into the murder of 11-year-old Adena Watson. They repeatedly comb through the crime scene and conduct arrests and interrogations throughout the neighborhood, but they fail to find anything new. A frustrated Bayliss snaps at Pembleton, prompting Pembleton to request a new partner, but Gee refuses and remains confident Bayliss will solve the Watson case. Elsewhere, while Bolander
(Ned Beatty
) prepares for a date with medical examiner Blythe (Wendy Hughes
), he complains to his neighbor Lorenzo Molera (Luis Guzmán
) about noise he is making while doing his carpenter work. The two end up bonding over beers, with both confiding in each other about their ex-wives. Inside Molera's room is a coffin he built for a customer, which Bolander insists is bad luck. Bolander's date with Blythe goes well, but he nervously rejects an invitation back to her apartment when he receives a call about a murder. The call brings him back to Molera, who has been found dead inside his coffin. Bolander tells the investigating police that Molera died of "a broken heart". Inspired by his deceased neighbor, Bolander returns to Blythe and asks to come inside after all.
While investigating a murder involving a hitman, Howard
(Melissa Leo
) and Felton
(Daniel Baldwin
) question Miles Stradinger (Paul Schulze
), who serves as an arbitrator between hitmen and their customers. Stradinger gives up several of his clients, including Calpurnia Church (Mary Jefferson), a woman suspected of murdering five husbands for insurance money. Although Church denies killing anybody, the detectives find enough evidence to close many outstanding cases. Lewis, who had previously been investigating the Church case, believes his prayer with Crosetti led to her arrest. This is further upheld when Crosetti receives an anonymous call claiming a man named Alfred Smith shot Thormann. While searching for Smith, Crosetti meets a man named Charles Flavin (Larry E. Hull) who said he saw Smith shoot Thormann and will testify to it in court. The episode ends with Crosetti sitting with an unconscious Thormann in the hospital and listening to jazz music, which the two friends used to discuss frequently.
"Son of a Gun" was written by James Yoshimura
based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana
, and was directed by Nick Gomez
. It was the first Homicide: Life on the Street episode written by Yoshimura, who would serve as a writer and eventually supervising producer throughout the entirety of the series. The episode featured a blending of hard-edged emotion and amusing character comedy, the combination of which would become common in future Yoshimura-penned episodes. It was originally supposed to be the fourth episode of the first season of Homicide: Life on the Street, but was broadcast third when the episode "Night of the Dead Living
" was moved to the end of the season. NBC programmers were worried that the latter episode, which takes place entirely within the detective's squad room, was too deliberately paced for a series still trying to win viewers. However, as a result of the move, the Adena Watson investigation has suddenly advanced far further than it last stood in the previous episode, "Ghost of a Chance
."
The episode continues the story arc of the Adena Watson murder case, which was introduced in the final scene of series premiere "Gone for Goode
" and dominates much of the Homicide: Life on the Street first season. The Watson case was based on the real-life 1988 Baltimore slaying of Latonya Kim Wallace, which is chronicled in Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
, the 1991 David Simon
non-fiction book about a Baltimore Police Department
, which was adapted into the Homicide series. The investigation into Calpurnia Church was inspired by the real-life case of Geraldine Parrish, which was featured in Simon's book. Parrish was accused of killing five husbands for insurance money and was eventually convicted for three of their deaths. The shooting of Officer Thormann was also adapted from true-life events in Simon's book, although Homicide writers added the twist of Crosetti taking the case personally based on his close friendship with the victim.
Edie Falco made a guest appearance in "Son of a Gun" as Officer Thormann's wife Eva. Fontana cast Falco after watching her performance in Laws of Gravity, a 1992 film also directed by Nick Gomez. Fontana said of her, "She's an actress who's unadorned by any embroidery. She does everything with such simplicity and honesty, it's breathtaking." Falco was a struggling actor at the time, and said her salary from one Homicide episode paid for one month's worth of rent. Fontana cast Falco as a regular in his HBO series Oz
based on her work in the Homicide episodes.
"Son of a Gun" was also the first of five Homicide: Life on the Street episodes featuring Mel Proctor
, then the home team sports announcer for the Washington Bullets
, as recurring reporter character Grant Besser. Actor Walt MacPherson
made a brief appearance as a uniformed police officer who finds an earring at the Adena Watson crime scene and offers it to Bayliss as possible evidence. MacPherson would return in the third season
as the recurring character Detective Roger Gaffney
, but there is no indication whether or not the beat cop he played in "Son of a Gun" was the same character. The line spoken by Lewis, "Murderers lie because they have to, witnesses lie because they think they have to, and everyone else lies for the sheer joy of it", is almost a verbatim line from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. The line represents a three-rule theorem about police work Simon created after following a Baltimore Police Department
homicide unit for one year while writing his book.
of Abraham Lincoln
, the 16th president of the United States. Crosetti said he believes the killing was arranged by the highest ranks of the Confederate States of America
. Crosetti's fascination with the Lincoln assassination was based on Tom Fontana's real-life obsession with it. A number of songs are featured throughout the episode, including "Going' Around in Circles" by Jules Taub, "Telephone Blues" by Sam Ling and George Smith, "Something I Dreamed Last Night" by Sammy Fain
, Jack Yellen
and Herbert Magidson, and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday
" by Freddie Perren
and Christine Yarian.
series premiere, "Gone for Goode
". "Son of a Gun" lost ratings in large part due to a live Oprah Winfrey
90-minute interview with pop singer Michael Jackson
, which aired on ABC
and was seen by 36.59 million people, the fourth-highest total recorded by an entertainment program at the time since 1960. Yaphet Kotto said of the scheduling, ""Heck, on that night, even I was watching Oprah instead of our show." Homicide also lost in its time slot to a cast reunion of The Andy Griffith Show
, which aired on CBS
and attracted 11.36 million viewers.
Lon Grahnke of the Chicago Sun-Times
called the episode "outstanding" and gave it his highest possible rating of four stars. Nicholas Read of The Gazette
praised "Son of a Gun" for its realism; regarding the episode's portrayal of Thormann's injuries, Read said, "For U.S. network television, it's pretty disturbing stuff. ... The series isn't afraid to show (it) in as graphic a way as network television will allow." Alex Strachan of The Vancouver Sun
said it was among the "sharpest, most gruelling episodes" of Homicide. Bruce Dancis particularly complimented the performances of Jon Polito and Edie Falco, who she said "played brilliantly" in her guest role.
on May 27, 2003 for $69.95.
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...
. It originally aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in the United States on February 10, 1993. The teleplay was written by James Yoshimura
James Yoshimura
James Yoshimura is a Japanese American writer and producer, best known for his screenwriting work on the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street and the short-lived Fox series The Jury, for which he served as a co-creator. He also co-wrote Homicide: The Movie, a made-for-television film that came...
based on a story by executive director Tom Fontana
Tom Fontana
Tom Fontana is an American writer and producer.-TV career:Fontana has been a writer/producer for such series as Oz , The Jury, The Beat, The Bedford Diaries, Homicide: Life on the Street, St...
, and the episode was directed by Nick Gomez
Nick Gomez
Nick Gomez is an American film director and actor. He has directed for a number of television and film studios. He has also acted in a few minor films...
. In the episode, recurring character Officer Thormann (Lee Tergesen
Lee Tergesen
Lee Allen Tergesen is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Tobias Beecher in HBO’s prison drama Oz and as Evan Wright in Generation Kill.-Early life:...
) is shot while on duty, and his close friend Crosetti
Steve Crosetti
Det. Steve Crosetti is a fictional character on the television drama series Homicide: Life on the Street portrayed by actor Jon Polito for the show's first two seasons. He is believed to be based on Baltimore Police Department Det...
takes the investigation personally.
"Son of a Gun" was originally supposed to be the fourth episode of the first season, but was broadcast third when the episode "Night of the Dead Living
Night of the Dead Living
"Night of the Dead Living" is the ninth episode and first season finale of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 31, 1993. In the episode, the homicide squad works the night shift on a summer evening, but...
" was moved to the end of the season. The shooting of a police officer, as well as other aspects of the script, were directly inspired by real-life events chronicled in David Simon
David Simon
David Simon is an American author, journalist, and a writer/producer of television series. He worked for the Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years. He wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood with Ed Burns...
's non-fiction book, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets is a 1991 book written by Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon describing a year spent with detectives from the Baltimore Police Department homicide squad...
. The episode included guest appearances by actors Luis Guzmán
Luis Guzmán
Luis Guzmán is an actor from Puerto Rico. He is known for his character work. For much of his career, he has played roles largely as sidekicks, thugs, or policemen....
, Paul Schulze
Paul Schulze
Paul Schulze is an American actor best known for portraying Ryan Chappelle on the FOX series 24 from 2001 to 2004 and Father Phil Intintola on HBO The Sopranos from 1999 to 2006....
and Edie Falco
Edie Falco
Edith "Edie" Falco is an American television, film and stage actress, known for her roles in Oz as Diane Wittlesey, as Carmela Soprano on the HBO series The Sopranos, and as the titular character on the Showtime series Nurse Jackie...
, who played Thormann's wife. It also marked the first of five appearances by Washington Bullets team sports announcer Mel Proctor
Mel Proctor
Mel Proctor is an American television sportscaster, actor, and book author.-Biography:A Denver, Colorado native, Proctor has called play-by-play for such teams as the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Clippers at various points in his career...
, and the first appearance by actor Walt MacPherson
Walt MacPherson
- Film:*Tin Men *The Exorcist III *In the Line of Fire *Serial Mom *Donnie Brasco *The Jackal *Message in a Bottle *Waking the Dead *Thirteen Conversations About One Thing -Television:...
, who would later be cast as recurring character Detective Roger Gaffney
Roger Gaffney
Roger Gaffney is a fictional police officer of the Baltimore Police Department on Homicide: Life on the Street. He was played by Walt MacPherson....
.
"Son of a Gun" was seen by 6.52 million households in its original broadcast, continuing a downward trend in ratings since the premiere of Homicide: Life on the Street. "Son of a Gun" lost viewership in part due to competition from a live Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
90-minute interview with pop singer Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. 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
GeeAl 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...
(Yaphet Kotto
Yaphet Kotto
Yaphet Frederick Kotto is an African-American actor, known for numerous film roles , and his starring role in the NBC television series Homicide: Life on the Street .-Early life:Kotto was born in New York City, the son of Gladys Marie, a...
) informs the detectives that Officer Thormann (Lee Tergesen
Lee Tergesen
Lee Allen Tergesen is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Tobias Beecher in HBO’s prison drama Oz and as Evan Wright in Generation Kill.-Early life:...
) has been shot in the head, and he orders an immediate investigation. Lewis
Meldrick Lewis
Meldrick Lewis is a fictional character on the television series Homicide: Life on the Street played by Clark Johnson. The character was in the series for its full run and had the very first and last lines of the series...
(Clark Johnson
Clark Johnson
Clark Johnson , sometimes credited as Clark 'Slappy' Jackson, Clarque Johnson, and J. Clark Johnson, is an American actor and director who has worked in both television and film.-Early years:...
) and Crosetti
Steve Crosetti
Det. Steve Crosetti is a fictional character on the television drama series Homicide: Life on the Street portrayed by actor Jon Polito for the show's first two seasons. He is believed to be based on Baltimore Police Department Det...
(Jon Polito
Jon Polito
Jon Polito is an American actor and voice artist, who is known for working with the Coen Brothers, most notably in the major supporting role of Italian gangster Johnny Caspar in Miller's Crossing. He also appeared in the first two seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street and on the first season of...
) arrive at the hospital to find the doctors working frantically on Thormann; Crosetti, a close friend of Thormann, becomes very emotional. Crosetti comforts Thormann's wife Eva (Edie Falco
Edie Falco
Edith "Edie" Falco is an American television, film and stage actress, known for her roles in Oz as Diane Wittlesey, as Carmela Soprano on the HBO series The Sopranos, and as the titular character on the Showtime series Nurse Jackie...
), but is privately told by Dr. Eli Devilbiss (Sean Whitesell
Sean Whitesell
Sean Whitesell is an American film and television actor, who is also a television writer and producer. He studied acting at the University of California in San Diego, where he received an MFA in acting...
) that Thormann may be blind or mentally disabled, even if he survives. Crosetti begs Gee to give him the case and, even though Gee believes he is too emotionally involved, he gives in when Crosetti tries to make him feel guilty by showing him his previous gunshot wounds. When an investigation at the crime scene turns up nothing, Lewis catches Crosetti praying with a rosary
Rosary
The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...
in the locker room. Crosetti convinces a skeptical Lewis to pray with him for help in the investigation.
Meanwhile, Bayliss
Tim Bayliss
Timothy Bayliss is a fictional detective on Homicide: Life on the Street. He was a primary character, and was played by Kyle Secor. He was loosely based on the real-life Det...
(Kyle Secor
Kyle Secor
Kyle Ivan Secor is an American television and movie actor, best known for his role as Detective Tim Bayliss on the crime drama Homicide: Life on the Street.-Early years:...
) and Pembleton
Frank Pembleton
Francis Xavier "Frank" Pembleton is a fictional homicide detective on the television drama series Homicide: Life on the Street portrayed by Emmy Award winning actor Andre Braugher. He is a primary character of the show through the first six seasons...
(Andre Braugher
Andre Braugher
Andre Braugher is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Thomas Searles in the film Glory, as the fiery detective Frank Pembleton on Homicide: Life on the Street from 1993 to 1998 and again in the 2000 made-for-TV film Homicide: Life on the Street, and as Owen Thoreau Jr...
) continue their investigation into the murder of 11-year-old Adena Watson. They repeatedly comb through the crime scene and conduct arrests and interrogations throughout the neighborhood, but they fail to find anything new. A frustrated Bayliss snaps at Pembleton, prompting Pembleton to request a new partner, but Gee refuses and remains confident Bayliss will solve the Watson case. Elsewhere, while Bolander
Stanley Bolander
Stanley Bolander is a fictional character in the American crime drama / police procedural Homicide: Life on the Street. He is portrayed by Ned Beatty and appears in the first three seasons and Homicide: The Movie.-Character overview:...
(Ned Beatty
Ned Beatty
Ned Thomas Beatty is an American actor who has appeared in more than 100 films and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain and a Golden Globe Award; won a Drama Desk Award....
) prepares for a date with medical examiner Blythe (Wendy Hughes
Wendy Hughes
-Career:Hughes began her career on television in the early 1970s with appearances in Homicide, Number 96, Matlock Police and in 1976, ABC Mini-Series, Power Without Glory...
), he complains to his neighbor Lorenzo Molera (Luis Guzmán
Luis Guzmán
Luis Guzmán is an actor from Puerto Rico. He is known for his character work. For much of his career, he has played roles largely as sidekicks, thugs, or policemen....
) about noise he is making while doing his carpenter work. The two end up bonding over beers, with both confiding in each other about their ex-wives. Inside Molera's room is a coffin he built for a customer, which Bolander insists is bad luck. Bolander's date with Blythe goes well, but he nervously rejects an invitation back to her apartment when he receives a call about a murder. The call brings him back to Molera, who has been found dead inside his coffin. Bolander tells the investigating police that Molera died of "a broken heart". Inspired by his deceased neighbor, Bolander returns to Blythe and asks to come inside after all.
While investigating a murder involving a hitman, Howard
Kay Howard
Kay Howard is a fictional homicide detective from Homicide: Life on the Street. She was played by actress Melissa Leo. In the first two seasons of the show her character was the only female detective or member of the main cast. This was in keeping with the book and the actual Homicide unit in...
(Melissa Leo
Melissa Leo
Melissa Chessington Leo , is an American actress. After appearing on several television shows and films in the late '80s, her breakthrough role came in 1993 as Det. Sgt. Kay Howard on the television series Homicide: Life on the Street for the show's first five seasons from 1993 – 1997...
) and Felton
Beau Felton
Det. Beauregard D. 'Beau' Felton is a fictional character on the television drama series Homicide: Life on the Street portrayed by Daniel Baldwin for seasons 1-3. He was loosely based on Det...
(Daniel Baldwin
Daniel Baldwin
Daniel Leroy Baldwin is an American actor, producer and director. He is the second oldest of the four Baldwin brothers, all of whom are actors. Daniel Baldwin is known for his role as Detective Beau Felton in the popular NBC TV series Homicide: Life on the Street...
) question Miles Stradinger (Paul Schulze
Paul Schulze
Paul Schulze is an American actor best known for portraying Ryan Chappelle on the FOX series 24 from 2001 to 2004 and Father Phil Intintola on HBO The Sopranos from 1999 to 2006....
), who serves as an arbitrator between hitmen and their customers. Stradinger gives up several of his clients, including Calpurnia Church (Mary Jefferson), a woman suspected of murdering five husbands for insurance money. Although Church denies killing anybody, the detectives find enough evidence to close many outstanding cases. Lewis, who had previously been investigating the Church case, believes his prayer with Crosetti led to her arrest. This is further upheld when Crosetti receives an anonymous call claiming a man named Alfred Smith shot Thormann. While searching for Smith, Crosetti meets a man named Charles Flavin (Larry E. Hull) who said he saw Smith shoot Thormann and will testify to it in court. The episode ends with Crosetti sitting with an unconscious Thormann in the hospital and listening to jazz music, which the two friends used to discuss frequently.
Production
James Yoshimura
James Yoshimura is a Japanese American writer and producer, best known for his screenwriting work on the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street and the short-lived Fox series The Jury, for which he served as a co-creator. He also co-wrote Homicide: The Movie, a made-for-television film that came...
based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana
Tom Fontana
Tom Fontana is an American writer and producer.-TV career:Fontana has been a writer/producer for such series as Oz , The Jury, The Beat, The Bedford Diaries, Homicide: Life on the Street, St...
, and was directed by Nick Gomez
Nick Gomez
Nick Gomez is an American film director and actor. He has directed for a number of television and film studios. He has also acted in a few minor films...
. It was the first Homicide: Life on the Street episode written by Yoshimura, who would serve as a writer and eventually supervising producer throughout the entirety of the series. The episode featured a blending of hard-edged emotion and amusing character comedy, the combination of which would become common in future Yoshimura-penned episodes. It was originally supposed to be the fourth episode of the first season of Homicide: Life on the Street, but was broadcast third when the episode "Night of the Dead Living
Night of the Dead Living
"Night of the Dead Living" is the ninth episode and first season finale of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 31, 1993. In the episode, the homicide squad works the night shift on a summer evening, but...
" was moved to the end of the season. NBC programmers were worried that the latter episode, which takes place entirely within the detective's squad room, was too deliberately paced for a series still trying to win viewers. However, as a result of the move, the Adena Watson investigation has suddenly advanced far further than it last stood in the previous episode, "Ghost of a Chance
Ghost of a Chance (Homicide: Life on the Street)
"Ghost of a Chance" is the second episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on February 3, 1993. The teleplay was written Noel Behn based on a story by executive director Tom Fontana, and...
."
The episode continues the story arc of the Adena Watson murder case, which was introduced in the final scene of series premiere "Gone for Goode
Gone for Goode
"Gone for Goode" is the first episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on January 31, 1993, immediately following Super Bowl XXVII. The episode was written by series creator Paul...
" and dominates much of the Homicide: Life on the Street first season. The Watson case was based on the real-life 1988 Baltimore slaying of Latonya Kim Wallace, which is chronicled in Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets is a 1991 book written by Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon describing a year spent with detectives from the Baltimore Police Department homicide squad...
, the 1991 David Simon
David Simon
David Simon is an American author, journalist, and a writer/producer of television series. He worked for the Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years. He wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood with Ed Burns...
non-fiction book about a Baltimore Police Department
Baltimore Police Department
The Baltimore Police Department provides police services to the city of Baltimore, Maryland and was officially established by the Maryland Legislature on March 16, 1853...
, which was adapted into the Homicide series. The investigation into Calpurnia Church was inspired by the real-life case of Geraldine Parrish, which was featured in Simon's book. Parrish was accused of killing five husbands for insurance money and was eventually convicted for three of their deaths. The shooting of Officer Thormann was also adapted from true-life events in Simon's book, although Homicide writers added the twist of Crosetti taking the case personally based on his close friendship with the victim.
Edie Falco made a guest appearance in "Son of a Gun" as Officer Thormann's wife Eva. Fontana cast Falco after watching her performance in Laws of Gravity, a 1992 film also directed by Nick Gomez. Fontana said of her, "She's an actress who's unadorned by any embroidery. She does everything with such simplicity and honesty, it's breathtaking." Falco was a struggling actor at the time, and said her salary from one Homicide episode paid for one month's worth of rent. Fontana cast Falco as a regular in his HBO series Oz
Oz (TV series)
Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons...
based on her work in the Homicide episodes.
"Son of a Gun" was also the first of five Homicide: Life on the Street episodes featuring Mel Proctor
Mel Proctor
Mel Proctor is an American television sportscaster, actor, and book author.-Biography:A Denver, Colorado native, Proctor has called play-by-play for such teams as the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Clippers at various points in his career...
, then the home team sports announcer for the Washington Bullets
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...
, as recurring reporter character Grant Besser. Actor Walt MacPherson
Walt MacPherson
- Film:*Tin Men *The Exorcist III *In the Line of Fire *Serial Mom *Donnie Brasco *The Jackal *Message in a Bottle *Waking the Dead *Thirteen Conversations About One Thing -Television:...
made a brief appearance as a uniformed police officer who finds an earring at the Adena Watson crime scene and offers it to Bayliss as possible evidence. MacPherson would return in the third season
Homicide: Life on the Street (season 3)
The third season of Homicide: Life on the Street aired in the United States on the NBC television network from 1994-10-14 to 1995-05-05 and contained 20 episodes. It was the first full season of episodes.The third season marked the debut of character Lt...
as the recurring character Detective Roger Gaffney
Roger Gaffney
Roger Gaffney is a fictional police officer of the Baltimore Police Department on Homicide: Life on the Street. He was played by Walt MacPherson....
, but there is no indication whether or not the beat cop he played in "Son of a Gun" was the same character. The line spoken by Lewis, "Murderers lie because they have to, witnesses lie because they think they have to, and everyone else lies for the sheer joy of it", is almost a verbatim line from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. The line represents a three-rule theorem about police work Simon created after following a Baltimore Police Department
Baltimore Police Department
The Baltimore Police Department provides police services to the city of Baltimore, Maryland and was officially established by the Maryland Legislature on March 16, 1853...
homicide unit for one year while writing his book.
Cultural references
"Son of a Gun" continues a common motif repeated throughout the first season of Crosetti discussing various conspiracy theories about the assassinationAbraham Lincoln assassination
The assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, as the American Civil War was drawing to a close. The assassination occurred five days after the commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, and his battered Army of...
of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, the 16th president of the United States. Crosetti said he believes the killing was arranged by the highest ranks of the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
. Crosetti's fascination with the Lincoln assassination was based on Tom Fontana's real-life obsession with it. A number of songs are featured throughout the episode, including "Going' Around in Circles" by Jules Taub, "Telephone Blues" by Sam Ling and George Smith, "Something I Dreamed Last Night" by Sammy Fain
Sammy Fain
Sammy Fain was an American composer of popular music.-Biography:Sammy Fain was born in New York City. In 1923, Fain appeared with Artie Dunn in a short film directed by Lee De Forest filmed in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process. In 1925, Fain left the Fain-Dunn act to devote himself to...
, Jack Yellen
Jack Yellen
Jack Selig Yellen was an American lyricist and screenwriter.-Life and career:Born in Poland, Yellen emigrated with his family to the United States when he was five years old. The oldest of seven children, he was raised in Buffalo, New York and began writing songs in high school...
and Herbert Magidson, and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday
It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday
"It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" is an R&B song written by Motown husband-and-wife songwriting team Freddie Perren and Christine Yarian for the 1975 film Cooley High. In the film, the song is performed by Motown artist G.C. Cameron, whose rendition peaked at number 38 on the Billboard R&B...
" by Freddie Perren
Freddie Perren
Frederick "Freddie" Perren was an American songwriter, record producer, arranger, and orchestra conductor best known for as a co-songwriter and co-producer of such mega-hits as "Boogie Fever" by the Sylvers, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, and "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Peaches &...
and Christine Yarian.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Son of a Gun" was seen by 6.52 million viewers, ranking third in its time slot among major television networks. The episode received a 7 rating/10 share, which continued a downward trend in Homicide ratings since the January 31 post-Super BowlSuper Bowl XXVII
Super Bowl XXVII was a football game played on January 31, 1993 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1992 regular season. The National Football Conference champion Dallas Cowboys defeated the American Football Conference champion...
series premiere, "Gone for Goode
Gone for Goode
"Gone for Goode" is the first episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on January 31, 1993, immediately following Super Bowl XXVII. The episode was written by series creator Paul...
". "Son of a Gun" lost ratings in large part due to a live Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
90-minute interview with pop singer Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, which aired on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and was seen by 36.59 million people, the fourth-highest total recorded by an entertainment program at the time since 1960. Yaphet Kotto said of the scheduling, ""Heck, on that night, even I was watching Oprah instead of our show." Homicide also lost in its time slot to a cast reunion of The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
, which aired on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and attracted 11.36 million viewers.
Lon Grahnke of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
called the episode "outstanding" and gave it his highest possible rating of four stars. Nicholas Read of The Gazette
The Gazette (Montreal)
The Gazette, often called the Montreal Gazette to avoid ambiguity, is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with three other daily English newspapers all having shut down at different times during the second half of the 20th century.-History:In 1778,...
praised "Son of a Gun" for its realism; regarding the episode's portrayal of Thormann's injuries, Read said, "For U.S. network television, it's pretty disturbing stuff. ... The series isn't afraid to show (it) in as graphic a way as network television will allow." Alex Strachan of The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. It is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday...
said it was among the "sharpest, most gruelling episodes" of Homicide. Bruce Dancis particularly complimented the performances of Jon Polito and Edie Falco, who she said "played brilliantly" in her guest role.
DVD release
"Son of a Gun" and the rest of the first and second season episodes were included in the four-DVD box-set "Homicide: Life on the Street: The Complete Seasons 1 & 2", which was released by A&E Home VideoA&E Television Networks
A&E Television Networks is a U.S. media company that owns a group of television channels available via cable & satellite in the US and abroad...
on May 27, 2003 for $69.95.
External links
- "Son of a Gun" at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...