NYPD Blue Summary/Review by Alan Sepinwall aka sepinwal@stwing.org

"Sergeant Sipowicz' Lonely Hearts Club Band"
Season 12, Episode 17
2/8/05
Teleplay by Tom Szentgyorgyi
Story by Bill Clark & Tom Szentgyorgyi
Directed by John Hyams

The real world continues to hold Amanda hostage, and I don't have much 
time myself, so this one's gonna be real brief (and skimpy on names and 
other small details, since I didn't take notes while watching). Sorry.

In brief: some good stuff with Gordon Clapp, plus material in the Sgt. 
Sipowicz subplot that I was waiting for last week, so not bad. More 
after...

SUMMARY

LOVE AND WAR
John investigates the murder of an Army recruiter at a public school, with 
a little help from a military investigator and a lot of help from his 
ex-partner, the now-Sgt. Sipowicz. At first, the case seems to point to a 
troubled student who lost a brother in Iraq and had made threatening 
comments about the Army, but John and Andy suspect the dead soldier's 
female partner knows more than she's tellingTwo things become clear: 1)the 
two military partners were having an affair, and 2)her soon to be 
ex-husband was the killer. Though the military cop initially was gung-ho 
to arrest the high school kid, Andy helps John figure out how to steer the 
investigation the way he wants to, and they get the appropriate 
confession.

TAKE OUT THE TRASH
A woman comes to the squad looking for a missing relative who was known to 
spend time on the streets and was last seen wearing a Knicks jacket and 
hat. That ensemble turns up on the person of King Tut (the homeless man 
who helped Laura Murphy close her first case in the season premiere), who 
admits that he found the clothes on a dead body in a restaurant dumpster. 
After some legwork, Medavoy and Jones find out that their DOA apparently 
died of natural causes, and was placed in the dumpster by a cook he had 
befriended, who was afraid of being fired for allowing a bum into the 
snooty joint's kitchen.

A NEW PATH
Greg spends part of the homeless case dumpster-diving and looks and smells 
awful when girlfriend Bridgid stops by to present him with a gift: 
business cards for Greg's potential new career as a realtor. At the end of 
the shift, Greg pulls Baldwin aside and announces his intention to retire 
so he can focus on his new life with Bridgid. Baldwin tells Greg that he's 
the best partner he's ever had, but he respects the decision.

SIPOWICZIAN HOMESICK BLUES
Though he has the sergeant's stripes and the blue uniform, Andy can't help 
but keep acting like a detective. He grudgingly tolerates a few jokes from 
John at their crime scene, then keeps popping into the squadroom for no 
particular reason. He doesn't really get into the sergeant groove until he 
gets a call to intercede between a rookie beat cop and a man who started 
arguing about a traffic ticket. Andy quickly susses out that the rookie 
overreacted, and calmly explains how this situation should be handled in 
the future. But even after giving out this lesson, it's obvious Andy's 
heart is still on the second floor, where he makes yet another stop before 
the end of the shift.

REVIEW

This episode didn't have the big epic finish the way last week's did, but 
I felt the emotions more, in part because the script acknowledged the 
truth of Andy's new situation in a way that the previous show didn't.

Like I said last week, Andy deep down doesn't want to be a patrol 
sergeant. He's been a detective for a few decades; it's what he knows and 
what he loves. Supervising beat cops may hold some minor pleasures like 
the occasional lesson, but overall it bores him and it takes him away from 
the people he's worked with for years. I was glad to see the show address 
that head-on, as well as deal with John's regret over losing his partner, 
something I thought we needed to see last week.

What I wonder is if we'll see some kind of reversal from Andy in the next 
couple of weeks. Maybe the end is him finding some loophole (with the help 
of the kinder, gentler, rule-ignoring Lt. Bale) to return to detective 
work. We'll see. Certainly the decision to bring in a one-time-only cop to 
sit at Andy's desk suggests that the writers want to leave the seat warm 
but open, just in case.

(Personally, I thought it would be funny to end the show with some 
Hollywood producer hiring Andy to be the technical consultant on a new cop 
show, turning Sipowicz back into Bill Clark. But I'm weird that way.)

Andy's fate may be up in the air, but we know what's happening to Greg: a 
happy ending with the real estate babe and a new career. Good for him. 
Unlike Sipowicz, Medavoy has never struck me as someone attached at the 
hip to The Job. He's good at it and it gives him a good feeling when he 
closes a case, but Greg's ongoing quest for personal happiness hasn't been 
tied as much to professional fulfillment. And unless Donna Abandando 
suddenly flies in from Silicon Valley with a new sweater and some hockey 
tickets (if the lockout ever ends), selling real estate with Bridgid seems 
like a pretty darn sweet fate for our stuttering pal.

One complaint: Baldwin getting all nostalgic about the partnership didn't 
fly for me, because it's been at least two seasons since he's done more 
than tolerate Greg's company. The Jones-Medavoy team in its early stages 
had a strong bond, but it hasn't for a while, and this felt like an 
attempt to pretend like the last few seasons hadn't happened so viewers 
would mist up again. Didn't work for me.

I'm not sure if we'll see Medavoy after next week, so I'll just say a 
quick word about Gordon Clapp. There has never been a cop on TV quite like 
Greg Medavoy, and there probably never will be again, and that's a 
testament as much to him as it is to the writing of Milch, Bochco and 
company. Sipowicz is obviously the most important character in the history 
of the show, but if I could pick anyone else whose journey I would have 
wanted to follow from season one to season twelve, it would be Medavoy. 
(Not a knock on Kelly or Simone or Danny or anyone else; it's just that 
Greg was unique enough that there was 12 years worth of stuff for him to 
do.) Enjoy the real estate game, buddy.

Neither case really grabbed me, but it's hard to imagine that one would at 
this late date. We've been through virtually every combination of perp, 
victim and crime by now. I did like the scene with the parolee cook, 
though; a familiar tune, but played well.

QUICK HITS:

-What's up with Murphy acting like a veteran detective while praising John 
to Andy? She's had her gold shield less than a year. In fact, with Andy 
gone and Greg going, that leaves Baldwin as the most veteran detective in 
the squad, and he only got his shield about five years ago. This is a very 
green bunch.

-Considering their first one-on-one encounter -- when Bale all but told 
Greg it was time to retire -- I would've liked to see Greg breaking the 
news to the lieutenant instead of just seeing him walk into the office. 
And there had better be a good Andy and Greg scene next week.

-Good to see King Tut once again. A funny character in both appearances.

GUEST CAST LEGACY

Previously on NYPD Blue...

Lisa Lackey as A.D.A. Lori "Flip" Munson, Lou Myers as King Tut, Mary Page 
Keller as Brigid Scofield, Andrew Sikking as desk sergeant, Andre 
Marcellous as desk sergeant

Previously on NYPD Blue as someone else...

--Joe Nieves (Roy Gonzales) -- he was in Season 6's "Raphael's Inferno," 
Season 7's "Bats Off to Larry," and Season 10's "One in the Nuts." He's 
also appeared on "Judging Amy" and "CSI"

Not previously on NYPD Blue...

--Rebecca Lowman (Angela Payson) -- she's appeared on episodes of "L&O: 
SVU," "Without a Trace," "Will & Grace," "Judging Amy," and "Boomtown"

--Lesley Fera (Debra Campo) -- you've seen her on "Medical Investigation," 
"CSI: Miami," "Judging Amy," "3rd Rock," and "Drew Carey"

--Jeffrey Sams (Steve Nutting) -- was on "Line of Fire," and also had a 
recurring role on "CSI" and "CSI: Miami." He's also been on "Jack & 
Bobby," "Without a Trace," and "L&O" and was also a regular on "Cupid," 
"Breaking News" and "Wasteland," all of them short-lived.

--Tegan West (Oren Dixon) -- his credits include "Everwood," "CSI: Miami," 
"West Wing," "Hill Street Blues," and "Brisco County, Jr."

--Sean Marquette (Paul Corbelli) -- has had regular roles on the sitcom 
"Hidden Hills" and the Cartoon Network show "Foster's Home for Imaginary 
Friends," as well as guest parts on "Still Standing," 'Titus," and 
"Judging Amy"

--Jon Manfrellotti (Ed Corbelli) -- plays the recurring role of Gianni on 
"Everybody Loves Raymond." He's also been on "L&O" and in the films 
"Welcome to Mooseport" and "Spy Hard"

--Ernie Grunwald (Jonas Grissom) -- he's appeared on "Due South," 
"Friends," "Boomtown," "It's Like, You Know," and the movie "Men In Black 
II"

--Jernard Burks (Clarence Bell) -- his other roles include "ER," "10-8," 
"L&O," "L&O: SVU," and "The Shield"

--Scott Hamm (Officer Akins) -- his resume includes episodes of "JAG," 
"Moesha," MTV's "Undressed," and "Buffy"

--John C. McDonnell (Carl Payson) -- you've seen him on "Everybody Loves 
Raymond," "ER," "Friends," "King of Queens," "Drew Carey," and "Joan of 
Arcadia"

--Lacey Kohl (Lara Kent) -- she's made appearances on "Ally McBeal," "Two 
Guys and a Girl," "L&O," and "Hercules"

Anthony Azizi (Nestor Duarte) -- he was a cast member on "Threat Matrix," 
and has made appearances on "Gilmore Girls," "The Shield," "L.A. Dragnet," 
"24," and "JAG"

LINE OF THE WEEK

Um... uh... remember when I said I didn't take notes when I watched the 
tape? Nothing's coming to mind, though if I see a good suggestion on 
alt.tv.nypd-blue, I'll throw it in here later.

NEXT WEEK

Clark and Jones team up for the show's buffest partnership ever, and 
Medavoy puts in his papers. Hopefully, Amanda comes back to review it.

See ya in the funny papers...
Alan Sepinwall