TVSquad

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of your favorite shows, in order, every week.

(S01E02) David Schwimmer is still around. I love it! Even better is that Kelly refuses to call Schwimmer by his character's name. Rather he keeps referring to the guy as his apartment number, 4B. Hilarious.

Back to the story though, we pick up right where the pilot episode left off. Sipowicz is in the hospital, but he's talking and seems to be recovering quite well. The only problem is that he has no recollection of who shot him. At least that's what he tells Kelly and Fancy. It becomes clear pretty quickly that Sipowicz wants Giardella for himself, so he's keeping his mouth shut.

One of the things I'm loving about this show are all the great cop show stereotypes that NYPD Blue adheres to. Good cop, bad cop. Seasoned veteran who's seen it all and the balanced partner. The compassionate hard-ass of a lieutenant. This show follows all the rules and then goes ahead and breaks them. It's interesting to watch though. It's like seeing a child being born because you can see things that have influenced other shows in the years that followed.

Kelly is still seeing Janice when the two of them are off-duty. But she's having a hard time with the relationship ever since Moreno ordered her to take out John. So how does she deal with it? She sets up a meeting with Moreno and then she kills him and his goon. Problem solved right? Well it would have been had Kelly never found out. But then Giardella gets busted after Lois, the hooker with a heart of gold, comes clean about her involvement with Andy's shooting. Alfonse cuts a deal, which has both Andy and John soured, but part of the deal was giving up the names of dirty cops on Moreno's payroll. One of the names? Janice's father.

Kelly confronts her about it and it's still unclear as to her involvement, suffice to say that she was involved. While she's a little testy about the whole ordeal, she never tells John that she was behind the Moreno hit. She alludes to it (and John is no idiot), but I'm not sure where he stands on that. Regardless, it seems like he's done with Janice for now because he goes home to the ex.

Sipowicz receives a full reinstatement, so it's going to be interesting to see how handles getting his job back along with the new lease on life. In one scene, he ends up in a bar but all he can do is stare at the drink. He can't take it. I love that he walks around with one of those little inflatable seat cushions to help with the pain. Remember, he was shot in right buttock. That can't feel good.

One thing this episode introduced was a B-Story to help flesh out the hour. The story itself was irrelevant, but it was good in the sense that it showed how dedicated a cop Kelly was. He's committed to this job and it truly pains him to see someone who's blatantly guilty get away with whatever. He even talks smack to the city judges. Unfortunately, despite all this drama, there was no David Caruso head tilt. Not going to lie, it was a little disappointing.

And in the ongoing list, more profanities were thrown around in this episode. On the list of things heard in this episode that probably hadn't been heard on TV before?

• I'll have your ass.
• He's got my nuts in the ringer.
• He ain't got the balls.
• You're an asshole.
• Stick it up your ass.
• Smart-ass.

And my personal favorite:

• I'm gonna take a dump.

That's what it takes to become revolutionary and ground-breaking TV folks. Find creative ways to say, "I'm going to the bathroom."