Homicide: Life on the Street

Crosetti

Season 3, Episode 6, Aired 12/2/94

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Episode Summary

Crosetti's body is found and Bolander is the primary and he thinks the evidence points to suicide. If it is a suicide, there will be no honor guard for the funeral. Refusing to accept the death as a suicide, Meldrick launches his own investigation and tries to thwart Bolander's investigation. Bayliss and Pembleton make arrangements for the funeral reception. Pembleton has reservations about going into the church for the services. Munch works with his brother, an undertaker, to arrange for a coffin. The preliminary ME report shows Crosetti had a blood alcohol level of .25 and wide variety of anti-depressants, The verdict: suicide.moreless

9.5

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Cast & Crew

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Andre Braugher

Det. Frank Pembleton (seasons 1-6, TVM)

9.0
Kyle Secor

Tim Bayliss

6.0
Richard Belzer

Det. John Munch

6.0

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

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Crosetti's body is found in the river, Munch and Bolander think the cause of death is suicide. Lewis wont accept suicide as the cause of death and tampers with the case. Pembleton takes heat from his fellow detectives, but later makes up for it.moreless

9.2

"Superb"

By vegancrusader, Jul 17, 2007 Report Abuse

This episode did a good job clearing up what is up with Crosetti. This episode should have been episode one of season three, alot of confusion would not have occurred if this was done.

When the Rescue crew is pulling a body from the river and melancholic music is playing you really can tell something unpleasant is about to be discovered. The amount of workers out to extract the body, along with the camera angles and music really sets the tone for what is about to be found. This particular scene was well done,i really believed that a child or someone close to home would be extracted from the waters.

Throughout most of this episode i got the impression that nobody really cared about Crosetti's death but his partner Lewis. I didn't really like how this was done, i believe that Crosetti didn't get enough attention and was an underrated member of the team as a whole. With that said, i can still understand why this was done. Lewis feels guilty (maybe thinking that as his partner he could have prevented his suicidal urges) and even Lewis begins to realizes that he didn't know Crosetti as well as he thought he did.

Respect for Crosetti is shown at the end of the episode. Munch gets the best coffin available from his brother, who is in the business. More importantly, Pembleton expresses his views, saying Crosetti should have got an honor guard weather it was suicide or not. Pembleton's words and actions at the end of this episode are really eye openers. Pembleton saluting the funeral procession in full uniform is classy, that along with the saxophone player leading the procession provide for a good ending.

Bolander sharing a drink with Lewis, showing no hard feelings between the two is also a nice touch. Bolander comforts Lewis and reminds him that Crosetti might have been saying goodbye to him, when he offered Lewis his favorite trinket, a yoyo. R.I.P Detective Steve Crosetti.moreless
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An absolutely unforgettable episode

10

"Perfect"

By DavidB226Morris, Jul 04, 2005 Report Abuse

During the third season, in an effort to get more audience friendly episodes of Homicide on the air, NBC executives would juggle the order in which episodes ere shown. Thus, in order to get the more sensational 'Emma Zoole' storyline into November sweeps, they bumped the next episode in sequence out of the lineup. As a result by the time 'Crosetti' aired, viewers of the show would have already learned that Steve Crosetti was dead. Fortunately, neither of the episodes gave away HOW and the total dramatic effect was not sublimated. One wishes the NBC programmers had more faith because the episode is not only better than the ones that followed, it is one of the most brilliant episodes of the entire series.

The beginning is one of the most
memorable that we would see, as the harbor police drag a bloated, decomposing corpse out of the water. Then we learn that Crosetti has not yet returned from his vacation in Atlantic City. Meldrick Lewis is covering for his partner but has no more idea what has happened to him than any of the others. He is concerned but not afraid.

Then Bolander and Munch come across the body--- and the unit is changed forever. From the beginning, the evidence is overwhelming that Steve Crosetti has killed himself. Only Meldrick clings to the possibility that his partner was murdered. Because of his persistence--- and more likely, the fact that nobody wants to accept what has happened--- Bolander begins an 'investigation' which Lewis does everything in his power to circumvent. For most of the episode, Lewis stonewalls him mainly because he can not accept the possibility that his partner could do such a thing

It's pretty obvious from the moment that Meldrick hears the news that he has been hit hard. The most obvious example of this comes talking about his partner. For the first two season, he referred to him as 'Crosetti'; in this episode, he calls him Steve. The difference in names is telling because it may indicate that for all the time that they worked together Lewis never really was close to Crosetti. Perhaps his guilt in not knowing that his partner was in this kind of pain has caused him to overcompensate in death. Clark Johnson gives one of his most emotional performances. His final breakdown when it is confirmed that Crosetti did commit suicide is one of the most painful he will ever go through. For all the problems that he will have on the show, nothing will hit him this hard psychologically.

Lewis is going through the most pain but everyone in the squad is undergoing their own kind of agony. The loss of one of their own, particularly in this fashion, is painful. Giardello feels it perhaps the strongest--- he pushes the investigation into Crosetti's death--- because he doesn't want to believe that he didn't know the men who worked for him. For him, the wounds are deep. He will not find the strength to erase Crosetti's cases from the board and distribute them for several months. He has trouble telling Crosetti's daughter about how her father died. It is clear that he is going through his own guilt. He is determined to at least send him off right--- which is why that he fights so hard for an honor guard and labors on his eulogy. Perhaps the next most effected man is Munch. He tries to cover his feelings with his dark wit (particularly in a very funny scene where he negotiates price with an undertaker who happens to be his younger brother) but he realizes what the implications are. He doesn't want to face it (though on the scene, he calls it a suicide, he 'rethinks it' after learning who it is) but he knows that everybody must face this eventually--- whether they like it or not.

Though through most of the episode Bolander is considered heartless for doing what needs to be done in order to say what needs to be said but he is going through his own kind of anguish. As he points out he sat three feet away from him for a couple of years and almost never bothered to say hello to him. He feels the pressure from everybody to write this up as murder and take away some of the guilt. But he is too good a detective and too honest a man to do it. As he puts it: "If he chose to commit suicide, what right do I have to make that go away? I don't agree with what he did, but if that's his final statement, should I wipe it clear for our peace of mind?" He also finds himself trying to push Lewis into accepting not merely his death but the fact that he didn't know his partner as well as he did. When Meldrick finally falls to pieces, he is there to comfort him. The image of Bolander embracing a grief-stricken Lewis would be the episodes most memorable image--- but for one.

Naturally the brass do not want this suicide to reflect badly on the department. Barnfather is particularly contemptuous; when Granger mentions a recent suicide he responds "What's to get upset about? He knew when he did it we'd find him like that." He refuses to give a full honor guard at the funeral, being unprepared to answer the uncomfortable moral questions that Crosetti's suicide brings. But even more surprising is Pembleton's reaction. Soured on the idea of the church (particularly after the white cotton gloves murders) he says that he will not go into church for Crosetti's funeral and neither his partner or Gee can convince him otherwise. (In an earlier scene, he seems rather improper when he uses the death of Crosetti to get a reduced price on cookies for the funeral). Pembleton seems like a selfish jerk for most of the episode--- until the funeral cortege passes by the police station. Then we see Pembleton in his dress blues saluting, a one-man honor guard. If this moment doesn't make a chill run down your spine, you're not human.

Perhaps the most unnerving thing about Crosetti's death is that we don't have any idea why he did it. He didn't seem to have any marital difficulties , financial woes or personal problems. Plus his religious upbringing would seem to teach him that suicide is a mortal sin. It is perhaps this fact that rocks the squad more than anything else. What is to stop any of them from doing the same thing? Meldrick will manage to get past Steve's death but he will never get over it. And his ghost will stand over the show until its final episode.

'Crosetti' is an extraordinary hour of television. A lot of TV shows have had to deal with the death of a recurring character but few have dealt with it with the extreme agony and wrenching pain that this episode does. This is as gripping as TV gets yet for Homicide this was business as usual Even almost a decade later, the episode still chokes me up--- like the best television should.

Rank by fans: 3rd
My score: 10
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- The "body" that water patrol pulls out of the water has quite a bit of hair on top of his head to be a realistic Crosetti.
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Notes
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- This episode was shown out of production order. It should have been seen after episode 16.
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- Music in this episode: John Lee Hooker "I Cover the Waterfront" alb: The Real Folk Blues; Chris Carter "Ain't Got No Home"; Paula Lockhart "Howlin' at the Moon" alb: The Incomplete Paula Lockhart; Philip Keveren "Prelude for Lisa" alb: Renaissance; Louis Armstrong "Weather Bird Rag" alb: Louis Armstrong and King Oliver.
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Quotes
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- Bolander: The Italians are an unforgiving lot. Gee: I know, but we make great pasta. It balances out.
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- Bolander:"If he chose to commit suicide, what right do I have to make that go away? I don't agree with what he did, but if that's his final statement, should I wipe that clear for our peace of mind?"
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- Meldrick: "Steve did not commit suicide. And you're both sons of bitches for sayin he did."
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