TVSquad

(S01E03) I was talking with a few of my co-workers the other day and I mentioned that I was posting on old episodes of NYPD Blue. One of them flipped out he was so overjoyed. Apparently it was his favorite show, he knew just about every episode inside and out, and he wished that it would have gone on for a few more seasons. I told him to take deep breath because I had only seen the very first three episodes so far and wouldn't be able to dish about that much with him.

But he kept going and went on about how he loved the first season and he remembers how his mother was appalled when the show first premiered. That much I got because if you recall, many station affiliates refused to air Blue during the debut season. I guess what I don't get, and I'm dating myself here, is how this show was considered to be controversial. By today's standards, this show is incredibly tame if you think about some of the things that are on today. I guess the whole point I'm trying to make here is that I'm really enjoying this show so far because it's interesting to see how TV has evolved since the early 90s. There, and now I feel justified. I've turned watching TV into an academic exercise. Moving on...

The episode began with something that I wasn't expecting. We met Janice's father, Dominic. Remember he was the one that was in Moreno's pocket. Giardella gave up his name, along with others. So Dominic came to see his daughter to let her know that he was being indicted. It was a good scene because it let us in on some stuff about Janice. Mainly, she's very private and neither her father (or anyone else I would assume) had any idea she was also in deep with the Moreno family. It was important to see this because it makes her relationship with John a turning point for Janice because she's been opening up to him.

Later, after her father put a gun in his mouth, John was there for her. At this point, the only thing that makes sense to me is that she's going to be tied to the Moreno hit and Kelly will have to get her out of it. The reason I say this is because it seems like John is now going to have women competing for him. He saw the ex-wife at a dinner party and all she had to say was "I miss you." The guy is going to have to pick sides eventually.

On the Sipowicz front, not much is going on. The guy has been confined to desk duty by Fancy. Come to find out, Sipowicz is a giant racist and he gets into it pretty bad with the Lieutenant. Yet somehow, Fancy sees past it all and puts Andy back on the street. These two don't get along at all and I'm sure this won't be the last feud we see between them. Because Andy is back though, it took Martinez off detective duty and sent him back to anti-crime. I hope we see more of him and his flamboyant plaid shirts.

In one of the more humorous scenes, Sipowicz got the chef of the hotel where Alfonse is being housed out of a solicitation charge. In exchange, the chef served Giardella a pile of crap (human? dog? didn't specify...) instead of his usual lasagna. Hence the title of the episode.

One thing I'm getting a kick out of are all the guest stars. Schwimmer is still hanging around but this episode also saw turns by Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me) and Michael Rappaport (The War at Home). It's just funny to see people in roles that you don't associate them with.

As I mentioned before, this show is great, but it's amusing to me that people were so outraged by it back when it came out. I look at something like Deadwood (which is an exception since it's on HBO) and then look at Blue and the gap is astounding. We've come a long way.