the good, the bad, and the oh-so-fucking ugly

[kellinator]

The good: One of my Homicide fan lists informs me that tonight TNT will be broadcasting both parts of one of the Law and Order/Homicide crossovers. Yaay, Homicide back on TV, even if only for one night!

The bad: The crossover is the sixth-season "Baby It's You", IMNSHO one of the worst episodes of Homicide ever, in large part because of the overpresence and overacting of Det. Paul "You Dunno Janine" Falsone, as played by Jon Seda (who was frankly more sympathetic playing a dirtbag Mob killer on Oz). Last time I saw this episode, I sat down anticipating enjoying a nice glass of wine with my all-time favorite TV show and ended up swilling the entire bottle just to dull the pain.

The ugly: Falsone's greasy hair. Ugggggggghhh.

BTW, I am not alone in my distaste for Falsone. There's also the We Hate Paul Falsone webpage, an entire subgenre of Homicide fanfic dedicated to rewriting the infamous "peach" scene with various lovely painful results, and this gem.

Comments

[gmslegion.livejournal.com]

Well, my problem with Falsone has less to do with Seda's inexperience and delivery and more with the really bizarre decision by TPTB to put him at odds with Kellerman, Stivers and Lewis. All that "There's more to the Mahoney shooting than you're telling me" stuff which opened season six really got in the way of that great storyline with James Earl Jones. I remember thinking "Okay, the Mahoney shooting is none of Falsone's business, and this is wasting valuable time we could be spending watching Jones and Braugher circle each other like hawks."

Wasn't the L&O crossover just a couple of weeks after that? I really felt the network's greasy hand in that, as if saying "Hey, America, look at our moody dark-haired new teevee star. All the ladies think he's groovy; People magazine says so." For such a potentially important ratings episode as that, the spotlight should have been on Homicide's established cast, with Falsone and Ballard in the background until they'd earned a Big Story.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

I agree with all of that. Most of the cast decisions in the final two seasons made no sense -- Falsone got no rookie hazing, and no one minded him poking around in the Mahoney business. Apparently a Baltimore cop was on one of the Homicide boards in its heyday and he was VERY miffed, explaining that a rookie would never get away with that in real life.

Ballard and Sheppard? Secretaries with a gun. Give me Kay Howard any day!!

[renaissancekat.livejournal.com]

Woo! Thanks for the head's up!

And hopefully my season one Homicide discs from Netflix will be arriving soon!

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to hear what you think!

[chicating.livejournal.com]

There must be something to the hate...the "We Hate Falsone" page guy is up to like volume 4. I only have seen him in the Movie, (Oh, and frigging Subway, which I, like a heretic, hate. Maybe cause the critics loved it so. Is my natural perversity and malcontentedness that severe? It would appear so.) But in between, I was like "Who's the oily guy with Meldrick? Dude, that must be the one everyone hates." But he didn't do much so I, personally, have no opinion, yet. But I also didn't buy them as partners.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Trust me -- once you see him running around trying to take my beloved Kellerman down, you'll understand. (But Kellerman is still not so beloved as the Munchkin.)

Will be (hopefully) sending my thoughts on the fics soon!

damn

[libidoergosum.livejournal.com]

I thought we might get together to watch the homicide/L&O double-header.

I guess not then.

Re: damn

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

It's all good!! I believe they're going to be airing the other two crossovers on the next two Wednesdays. We can plan ahead!

Re: damn

[libidoergosum.livejournal.com]

sounds like a good idea.

[chicating.livejournal.com]

I now hate Falsone..it only took 3 episodes.
-he's not as good an actor as well...anybody on there. Or definitely not Sam Waterston. (and I DONT think he's hot, although I have been known to think that type is hot, cf both Christopher and Ade on the Sopranos...but from the way the camera lingered on his face I got we were supposed to)
-FranknTim got cameos and we heard every thought out of Falsone's mouth, even if he is Felton Sue.
I know creators can't give the fans what they want exactly...because they'd be shagging us instead of solving cases, but there has to be better answer to "Falsone is a putz." than the producers/network going "No, he's not. People magazine said."
I can't decide if he or Megan is the bigger Poochie...probably Falsone though since he was supposed to revive a flagging series.(That's uh...obviously a Simpsons reference, huh? Not bad for a beautiful woman with a library card.)
Even if Kellerman was completely dirty(and I'm new but smart enough to stay out of that till my opinion is informed...and maybe even then) he is probably still a better cop than that knockoff Blue refugee.
And that case didn't make sense...the mother raped her? WTF? What about the bleeding when she was eleven? Was that mom too? What exactly did the guy with the shrine see? At first it sounded like he saw everything, but later, nsm. Why would Jack McCoy give a shit about Falsone's custody problems? I didn't and I'm more patient than Jack.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

If you were a guy, I think I'd marry you! ;)

[chicating.livejournal.com]

You know, I get that often enough from women that I'm beginning to think Timmy might be on to something. As Woody Allen said "it's a fifty-fifty shot at a date on Saturday night." During that one scene, I sort of hoped for McCoy to look over his glasses at Falsone, in that way he has and say "Sucks to be you," or whatever lawyers of a certain age say at moments like that. I think it wasn't even Falsone himself that was the problem, though he does not fit in and that is *so* obvious, but it was the way that one episode was written...he is a Felton Sue. All of the detectives talk with and include him(even though both Briscoe and Munch have both trained a few punks that wash out, or whatever. And are both skeptical as hell by nature. Munch, in particular, takes a long time to form attachments...they are quite deep when he does, but it is not easy. Gee hears from Falsone before Frankentim? Yeah, sure.
And he's got the tragic past that's not his responsibility but Jeannine's. Check.(Jeannine is a brilliant genius...it's important to keep your kid away from the knowledge their dad is a plot device and a ratings stunt.)
The supposedly pretty face? check
If he could sing, or had azure eyes...Mary Sue Falsone. As it is, if I wrote him, people in fandom would still tell me to quit it, and I don't make money from this. Professional writing standards should be at least as high as fandom standards.I had to admit...I underestimated my capacity for dislike cause when Willow's gf died on Buffy, there were these super-radical lesbians who freaked out and said Joss Whedon is antigay...I thought Falsone hate might be coming from a similar, well, fringe. And him getting that much attention from McCoy is the coup de grace. McCoy doesn't give that much time to people he's known for years!
And they should left both the squad and the credits dark and creepy.