NYPD Blue, Season 2, Episode 17, "Dirty Socks" Written by Larry Cohen Directed by Elodie Keene PLOT ONE: FATAL ATTRACTION Bobby and Medavoy are investigating a double-homicide where both victims were found shot in bed. It appears that the killer made his escape out an alley-way, but when Greg asks Joyce, a woman whose flower shop/apartment looks out on the alley, she claims to have seen nothing. Bobby can't get anything out of her, either, though she's much friendlier to him. However, a few hours later, she shows up at the stationhouse with her hair done and a new dress and confesses to Bobby that she did see a man run out of the building and dump a paper bag in a trashcan. That fits the crime; the police recovered the murder weapon in a brown paper bag in the can in the alley. Furthermore, her description of the man is very specific, right down to a nose that was broken once, and matches the ex-husband of the female victim. Things start to get "hinky" (in the words of Bobby) when Sylvia arrives to take a statement from Joyce. Her story's the same, but with one major added detail: now she claims that the man made eye contact with her while he was making his escape. That's a pretty major detail, and makes Bobby and Sylvia (not to mention Fancy) fairly nervous about Joyce's credibility. Sylvia speculates that she's looking for a police guard; specifically, Bobby. In fact, Joyce proceeds to ask for a police guard. Bobby immediately has her set up in a motel room - with Lesniak as the guard. Joyce is decidedly non-plussed. The next day, Greg and Bobby arrest the ex-husband. Joyce comes in to view the lineup dressed "for choir practice" And when Bobby tries to prep her for the lineup, she asks him if it would be better for her to lie about whether she saw a paper bag or an actual gun. Fancy's afraid this will blow the case, but Bobby's convinced he can keep Joyce together. He takes her outside to buy her a hot dog, and very carefully tells her that even if he had feelings for her (a fact he never confirms nor denies), those feelings couldn't be acted on until the case is put down, lest the suggestion of improprieties get the whole thing thrown out of court. Joyce, assuming that Bobby means he would like to get involved with him once the case is put down, goes into the lineup, picks out the husband quickly, and repeats the original version of her story. Later on, Bobby reminds her about what they talked about in the street, and she seems willing to wait (the fact that the case may be plea-bargained out helps that decision), but that night, she calls into the squadroom attempting to get Bobby's home phone number.... PLOT TWO: THE ANDY MAN Andy gets a call from David Nyberg, a childhood friend whose parents owned a candy store in Brooklyn where Andy used to work as a kid. David's mother was shot and killed during a robbery attempt. Andy, who views the Nybergs as family, immediately heads out to Brooklyn. Moe Nyberg, David's father, is devastated; he was supposed to be in the store that day but had to stay home because of chest pains. The Nyberg's other son Ernie is home under sedation when Andy arrives at the crime scene. He tries to comfort Moe, and suggests to the detective working the case that he check out the methadone clinic down the street. A few hours later, the crime lab gets four fingerprint hits from the counter of the store: three junkies from the clinic, and Jimmy "Socks", another childhood pal of Andy's (so nicknamed because his feet always stank). Ernie (who's finally arrived at the station) explains that Jimmy, who moved out of the neighborhood years ago, stopped by the store a few days ago, but Andy smells something fishy. Jimmy Socks is brought in, and caves in quickly to Andy's interrogation (the Brooklyn cop figures that Andy would be more effective, since he knows these people). Jimmy admits that he and the four junkies were hired by Ernie to rob the store - Mrs. Nyberg wasn't supposed to get shot, but she tried to take a baseball bat to Jimmy. Andy, furious, brings in Ernie, who also quickly confesses; he needed money to pay off gambling debts, and was afraid to ask his father for another loan. he had expected Moe (whose policy was always to give a potential robber whatever he wants) to be in the store, and is devastated that his mother is dead. All that's left is to tell the grieving Moe that his son is responsible for his wife's death, a fact that Moe actually takes better than David. PLOT THREE: THE GAY SECRETARY John Irvin, who worked with Bobby at City Hall, is the temp secretary assigned to fill in for the vacationing Donna Abandando. Bobby's glad to see his old friend, but Andy's a bit uncomfortable around the very swishy Irvin. PLOT FOUR: KID MARTINEZ James, who used to box in school, has decided to enter the Department boxing tournament, representing the 15th precinct. Fancy tells him that he used to box Golden Gloves himself, and offers to spar with James sometime. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- There. That's a longer summary than I've written in a while. I must've liked the episode. :) That's two good episodes in a row now. And, considering that six of the last eight episodes (going back to "In the Butt Bob") have been good or better, I'm starting to feel very optimistic again. But if the next two episodes are as bad as "A Murder with Teeth In It" and "Bombs Away", I think I may have to shoot the TV. Back to "Dirty Socks." There were really only two plots here; the new secretary and James' boxing were both very minor, though I expect both to receive more play in coming weeks. But the two plots tonight were exceptionally well-done, especially Andy's. In a way, this episode really reminded me of a first season show, in that most episodes last year usually split up Kelly and Sipowicz, giving Caruso and Franz equal room to show off. This year, with few exceptions (the road trip in "Travels with Andy" and the singalong in "Large Mouth Bass"), when Andy and Bobby get put together, rather than have them play off each other, the writers just showcase one and leave the other standing in the background. While I'd still like to see more interaction between the two, splitting them up at least lets Smits and Franz get an equal chance to shine. And they both did. In a way, Smits was even more impressive than Franz, because he had the tougher, subtler part to play. While Andy was keeping both his grief and his anger pretty close to the surface, Bobby had to treat Joyce with kid gloves - while Smits still had to let us know in no uncertain terms how Bobby really felt. The conversation by the hot dog stand (excusing the fact that there wouldn't be a stand there) was very well-done. In fact, for the first time since "In the Butt Bob," I find myself interested in where a plotline is going - specifically, will Joyce (already touchingly dubbed "Psycho Woman" by the readers of this group) continue to stalk Bobby, as suggested by the episode's creepy final scene? Another plus of this particular story was that we got to see Sylvia on the job again - heck, we saw her exclusively on the job this week. And while she didn't have a lot to do, Sharon Lawrence did some great double-takes at Joyce's continually changing story - especially the bit in the coffee room where she says to Bobby, "I understand you've decided to put off the lineup?" The look in her eyes was great. Franz was great as well in his story, though Bill Macy (who played Moe) was even better - I've never seen this guy before (Moe, that is; I'm a Macy fan from way back), and already I felt moved by his pain. What I thought was particularly good about both stories tonight is that while we knew who did it fairly early, the issue wasn't resolved by the ever-tiresome device of The Big Interrogation. Bobby had to make sure Joyce kept her story straight and didn't latch onto him, and Andy had to keep his fury with Jimm Socks and Ernie under control and also keep the news from devastating Moe further. These kinds of focuses have a much more human face to them, which is why I prefer them every time to stories devoted solely to sleuthing. A final note, before shorter takes, on Andy and John the secretary. I don't think his "homo" comment means he's homophobic. For one thing, we have the very humane way he treated the gay screenwriter last season. For another, we have the casual way he acted around the gays and transsexuals in "Don We Now our Gay Apparel" this season. I think the comment stemmed from two things: 1)He was in a supremely bad mood; 2)John is very swishy, and whereas Andy might not dub a gay man who acted "masculine" all the time a homo, it's just his coarse shorthand for those who are especially "light in the loafers". However, what we all need to keep in mind is that Andy Sipowicz is a very rare specimen when it comes to TV main characters, in that he's not remotely politically correct. At times, he goes too far, as with his bigotry towards blacks (dealt with wonderfully in the rib joint scene last year). At other times, it just limits itself to crude barbs: the height jokes in last week's episode that have drawn the ire of Italians, and the homo comment tonight. I find this sort of thing refreshing - no attempts are being made to make Andy into a saint. Shorter takes: -I happen to know gay men who are just as effeminate as John, so I'm not as uncomfortable with the portrait as some of my friends, and so long as they keep him professional and don't have him mooning over Simone, I can live with the portrayal. Then again, as a Jew with a big nose and a guilt-inducing mother, I understand the truth of certain stereotypes better than most. :) -I really hope to see more of Martinez the boxer in future episodes. Unlike the dopey Lesniak story, this sort of thing seems perfectly in character. In addition, it should provide opportunity for James and Fancy, two characters who rarely share the screen together, to play off one another. Plus, it just seemed like they were having *fun* throwing punches at each other, and Fancy and James can get too serious at times. -Watching the episode, I got the impression that Andy hadn't been to the old neighborhood to see the Nybergs in a while, so how did he know about the methodone clinic? That sort of thing wasn't around when Andy was a kid. -Line of the week: "That's one case I wouldn't mind closing." (Bobby, in response to Fancy suggesting that Joyce might try to claim she knows where Jimmy Hoffa's buried.) -Alan Sepinwall -sepinwal@mail.sas.upenn.edu -http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~sepinwal/ RANDOM QUOTE: "This is a very romantic bar. As many people fall in love here as throw up." -Nicholas Colasanto, "Cheers"