Television Review: Justice: Part 2 (Homicide: Life on the Street, S4X14, 1996)

Justice: Part 2 (S04E14)

Airdate: 23 February 1996

Written by: David Simon
Directed by: Peter Medak

Running Time: 46 minutes

By Season 4, Homicide: Life on the Street had cemented its reputation for unflinching, gritty urban realism, a style so consistent that certain episodes felt almost formulaic in their predictability. The show’s signature blend of procedural detail, moral ambiguity, and human frailty often allowed viewers to anticipate plot trajectories with ease. Justice: Part 2, the concluding chapter of a two-part episode centred on Detective Jake Rodzinski’s vendetta, exemplifies this tendency. While the episode’s emotional weight and thematic depth remain undeniably potent, its narrative structure leans heavily on foregone conclusions, rendering its resolution more of a formality than a revelation.

The inevitability of Jake’s downfall is telegraphed from the moment the first part of Justice concludes. At the end of the preceding episode, Jake—played with simmering intensity by Bruce Cambell—implies to Kenny Damon (Wendell Jordan), the son of Jake’s murdered father, that he will personally ensure Damon “pays” for the crime, even if it means bypassing the law. This moment, delivered in a smoky, tense exchange, sets the stage for Part 2’s denouement: Jake’s guilt is never in doubt, only the means by which his colleagues unravel it. The episode’s dramatic tension thus hinges not on surprise but on the path to its predetermined ending.

The second instalment opens with Jake in freefall. His wife, Carol (Martha Thimmesch), and friend Meldrick Lewis (Robert Wisdom) observe his self-destructive spiral—binge drinking, erratic behaviour—as he grapples with guilt and rage. When Damon’s body is discovered execution-style in a city dump, the Homicide Unit is tasked with solving the case. Sergeant Howard (Edward Asner) assigns John Meldrick Lewis and Mike Kellerman (Reed Diamond) to investigate, but orders Lewis to work independently due to his prior friendship with Jake.

Lewis’s investigation into Damon’s drug dealings hits a wall, while Kellerman, the more methodical detective, zeroes in on Jake. Kellerman’s detachment from Jake’s personal vendetta allows him to deduce the truth: Jake and his partner, Pez McAdden (John Haynes Walker), staged a false arrest and executed Damon. The script’s few twists—a red herring involving Damon’s drug ties, a haunting sequence where Jake appears poised to commit suicide—feel perfunctory, undercut by the audience’s foreknowledge of the outcome. Instead, Jake vents his frustration on an innocent victim: his father’s dog, which he shoots for its incessant barking, a grim metaphor for the collateral damage of his rage.

The episode’s emotional core lies in its unflinching portrayal of Jake’s domestic life. Scenes of Carol and their children, juxtaposed against Jake’s unraveling, reinforce Homicide’s central thesis: in its world, “justice” is rarely clean or uncomplicated. Unlike the sanitized police procedurals of the era, the show insists that even righteous outcomes exact a human toll. Jake’s conviction brings closure to the unit—“the right thing” done, as the script insists—but the cost to his family, and to the moral fabric of the department, lingers. The episode’s title becomes ironic: this “justice” is neither swift nor pure, but a messy reckoning with institutional rot.

The most unexpected twist arrives when Pez McAdden betrays Jake, a decision that incenses Kellerman. To the seasoned detective, the breach of police solidarity—a “partner’s back” ethos—feels like a greater affront than the unlawful killing itself. This irony foreshadows Kellerman’s future arc, where rigid adherence to procedure will clash with the moral compromises of the job. The scene underscores the series’ exploration of loyalty versus justice, a tension that defines its characters.

Justice: Part 2 benefits from David Simon’s involvement as writer. As author of the non-fiction book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, which inspired the series, Simon injects the episode with authenticity, particularly in its portrayal of policing’s evolution. The finale features a meta-commentary via Lieutenant Giardello (Yaphet Kotto), who recounts a 1970s case from Simon’s book: a cop killer allowed to surrender peacefully, establishing precedent that contrasts starkly with Jake’s vigilantism. This juxtaposition frames Jake’s actions as a relic of an older, more brutal era, critiquing how institutional values shift—or fail to shift—over time.

The episode’s sole misstep is its forced subplot involving a “mini-feud” between Bayliss (Kyle Secor) and Pembleton (Andre Braugher) over their lunches. This attempted levity feels tacked-on, disrupting the episode’s otherwise sombre tone. While Homicide occasionally uses dark humour to lighten its mood, this particular thread lacks the wit or relevance to justify its inclusion, distracting from the narrative’s gravity.

Justice: Part 2 is a flawed yet compelling episode that encapsulates Homicide: Life on the Street’s strengths and weaknesses. Its predictability is mitigated by its emotional resonance and Simon’s incisive writing, which frames Jake’s downfall as a cautionary tale about justice’s cost. While the script’s red herrings and unnecessary subplots occasionally stumble, the episode’s exploration of institutional morality, personal guilt, and the collateral damage of “righteous” vengeance remains its enduring strength.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
InLeo blog https://inleo.io/@drax.leo

Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax
Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax
1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e

BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
BCH donations: qpvxw0jax79lhmvlgcldkzpqanf03r9cjv8y6gtmk9

Posted Using INLEO