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willowmosby · 19 days ago

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Seven Seasons & a Movie

I have now finished all 7 seasons and the Movie of Homicide: Life on the Streets. Well actually I finished it yesterday but I needed to process (ie Read as much fanfic as i could my hands on) but now I am ready to info dump, forcing all of you to hear my thoughts on a show that aired over 20 years ago in a similar way to my CSI Post.

The TLDR is Homicide is a really well built show that more people should watch. There are things that you don't agree with but it mostly feels like those things happen because its grounded in reality. Also i can't think of a procedural that does continuity as well as this one did.

Sorry that this is so goddam long & Spoilers incoming.

Lets talk seasons:

1 &2: they are short enough that they feel like one continuous season. the Adena Watson case starts as something for the show and the characters that, honestly, never goes away (I personally feel like the arabber did do it if your curious). I feel like these seasons are a masterclass in introducing characters and a formula. also name another show where a season one case is refenced every season including the end.

3: the 22 episodes season is were H:lots hits is real stride. Season 3 has some episodes that will live rent free in my head for ever. Crossetti, the last of the watermen, the city that bleeds arc those are the stories that I'm really going to remember.

4: The season of 2 part episodes, I think this is the season we really start to see a shift with the addition of Kellerman and the promotion of Howard and demotion of Russert the characters get to be put in new and unique postions.

5: While I would say season 3 has my individual favorite episodes I think 5 is the shows most compelling. Some people do bad things some people do good things. It was hard to watch some of those things but it never felt like the show was going to hard or jumping any sharks.

6: Don't getting me wrong their were some bangers, looking at you Subway and Finnegan's wake , but i did start feeling the weight of this show a bit more in this season. Some of the new characters don't work for me.

7: Some of the new characters still didn't work for me but some of them were a lot better. I feel like this was Bayliss season to win or lose and in a way that just makes sense for the series. I think that there are very few shows that can say they stuck the landing as well H:lots dose.

The movie: listen "avengers assemble" has nothing on the montage of the detectives getting the call that Gee's been shot. Some of this was probably because i knew this was the end of the line for the story but i genuinely was really moved by a lot of the movie. The Scene between Pembleton and Bayliss deserves every award possible.

The characters (kinda in order of how long they were on the show):

Steve Crosetti: I'm going to be honest besides his obsession with the Lincoln assassination the reason he is memorable is because Lewis remembers him. His death means something for everyone but I can't pretend like I remember a great deal about his life, which i suppose is a morbid point the show likes to make a fair amount

Rene Sheppard: At the other end of the only here for about a season, she is one of the better late season additions. I think they were trying something interesting with her to examine what it means to be a female detective in a male dominated squad. unfortunately i don't think the show had enough time to make a clear arc for her.

Michael Giardello: His relationship with his father was compelling and I never minded seeing him on my screen, but also i don't know he wasn't my favorite no real reason just didn't know him long enough.

J.H. Brodie: Fuck him, honestly. This is the clearest example of how I will forgive a character for anything except being annoying & without purpose.

Staurt Gharty: I really didn't understand the choice for him to come back after that one guest spot. I had moments were his presence meant that other character had some great development but i still don't like the guy.

Paul Falsone: Ehhh he had his moments I actually quite liked him when he was paired with Ballard and Stivers but I also i don't know i think its fair to say I have a bias for characters who are there for the long hall and he unfortunately doesn't benefit. The scene where he and Kellerman pulled their weapons on each other kinda ate though.

Laura Ballard: Kinda in the same boat as Falsone, I appreciated what they were going for and I definitely think there was a lot of good. I didn't like when they had her kinda go out with Bayliss but thats not really her fault you know. It was also interesting to hear an outside perspective of Baltimore.

Beau Felton: I love to hate this guy. I mean what a fucking mess (affectionate). He was never my favorite and he doesn't seem to be that great of a detective but you know I valued what he did on the show.

Stanley Bolander: What a guy, i mean he's just some dude. He and Much are hilarious. I don't know what else cause like he's just a very solid detective who is sometimes a bit annoying but in like a fun way.

Jullianna Cox: At the start there was a bit were i felt like she was only there cause they knew they needed more female characters but i do think they found a way to make her compelling. I mean she can be toxic as fuck, like she and Kellerman needed to attend AA soooooo badly, but i enjoyed having her on my screen.

Terri Stivers: Do I maybe have a weakness for Butch women? Yeah okay but shes just so cool and so good at her job and I love her okay. She's the only one that comes out of the Mahoney chaos with any sense of high ground and I love that for her.

Mike Kellerman: I mean this guy, this guy he feels like every time he tries to do something right he just diggs himself further and further away from what would actually help him. He is the example of how I should hate a character for everything they do but I just can't cause he's just so damm compelling. The scene where he tries to commit suicide, I don't know it really fucking got to me.

Megan Russert: I really love what she was able to do for the show. She was able to play equal to Giardello and she made her own path. She has also actually good a the political game, well mostly good at it. She had her own way of keeping people in line which I appreciated.

Kay Howard: You know this is my girl. You know it. I love her. I know she has her faults and her arrogance but I don't care i can forgive it all. I think she's a great detective and a great leader. I really felt the loss of her in last two seasons of the show. I wish I had something more intelligent to say or something to make it sound less like I am just a simp for her (which to be fair i kinda am but i do think there is more than that). There is a whole essay in my brain as to what Kay Howard means to me as a Queer woman, I mean I don't actually think she's a lesbian, but she's definitely got something LGBTQ+ going on.

Ed Danvers: Okay so technically he might be a reoccurring character but he deserved a mention. As an avid SVU watcher i enjoy a good ADA or in this case ASA. He really dose know when to deliver and he really urns the times when tells the detectives they don't have enough and the times he goes along with their longshots.

Frank Pembleton: There is a reason people think of him as the main character in an ensemble show and its well deserved. Get him in the box and this man shines. He isn't without his arrogance but he gets the job done every single time, even when maybe he should let sleeping dogs lie. He and Bayliss have one of those sexually charged relationships that just make TV work. also got to love a Guilty Catholic tm.

Al Giardello: Name a better leader i dare you. This guy cracks me up like he takes absolutely no shit from his detectives. I feel like there are some really shinning moments that get overshadowed by the flashier Pembleton and Bayliss. His talk with Megan about being a darked skinned black man and the episode where he kills a man are some of my personal favorites in the show. I almost cried when it was reveled he actually died in the movie.

Meldrick Lewis: He has some clear issues with women that I don't love but other than that he's really fun. He just seems like the kind of guy who just keeps going but he gets paired with partners who have some more serious issues. Again the Scene on Kellermans boat is a brilliant piece of acting. I know he was actively involved in some shady/ bad decision but I don't know I just don't blame him for it.

John Much: The reason Homicide was even on my Radar is because of his time on SVU and the man did not disappoint. I mean his conspiracies and crashouts are stuff of legend for good reason. I think the character is also really interesting as a lot of the harsher edges he has on Homicide get buffed out on SVU. I think if i actually met him in real life i would hate the guy but he's great TV. I also just have to take a moment for the scene in the sniper episode where he has an absolute crashout over the possibility of seeing Howard get shot again and Howard is just in the car going "what the fuck john". got to be a top ten moment of the show for me.

Tim Bayliss: I mean just has to be one of TV's greatest characters. He's haunted by a case he didn't solve. He had sex in a coffin. He's Bisexual, He's a Buddhist (?), He's a cop, He's a murderer, He's the new guy, He's the burn out. I could never wright fanfic for this show because there is no way I could do him right. He just so soft and kind but also so angry and harsh. I guess the implication is he commits suicide after the series but I think I want to live in the world where he just goes to jail.

Ships:

Note: I love shipping so I have to talk about it, but as the the low number of fic on Ao3 and lack of ship names implies i'm not sure if its a popular topic for this fandom so..... i guess what i'm saying is that these ships really are base off of my read of the show which i can't pretend is particularly impartial or astute.

Pembleton/ Bayliss: the best iteration of the partners in love bit can't/ won't get together. Like their are so many homoeotic moments but there are also plenty of moments where your just like these two men are so co-dependent and only one of them is aware of that. From blowing smoke in Bayliss's face, to " the sin is not your own", to "yeah i loved him" to " absolve me frank". I mean truly no one is doing it like them. 1000/10

Mary Pembleton/ Frank Pembleton: They are very lovely and I feel like i had to have a chance to mention how much I like Mary. I do feel like they work on their marriage in a way that isn't perfect but is more than most shows do. 10/10.

Russert/ Giardello: What? your saying you don't see it? It just they feel like they are so well matched and have great chemistry. not alot to say just that i think they would be good together. 9/10

Russert/ Felton: Girl you know you can do better. I feel like the sex was probably good though. 4/10.

Ballard/ Bayliss: Bad. I didn't like it for either of them. The writers were trying to work on some stuff and it didn't work. 0/10.

Cox/ Bayliss: Again not good, but at least everyone knew it wasn't good. 1/10.

Cox/ Kellerman: I mean its toxic as fuck, but i also kinda fuck with it. you know. 7/10.

Ballard/ Falsone: Okay they were just so sweet. I really thought they were fun. And i feel a bit bad saying this but i do think them being a couple made me enjoy them both a lot more then before they had a thing. 10/10.

Stivers/ Lewis: I fucked with it at the start, but then the show stopped pushing it for very good reason. Like they both had some bigger issues happening. 5/10.

Howard/ Munch: Okay this one is a little bit cause I read fanfic about them post series,and little bit cause I want my favorite characters to be happy. But Its mostly cause like i actually do see it. I genuinely think that out of all the detectives Howard worked best with Munch, they had a mutual respect and care that should be surprising but really works well and so yeah I ship it. I'm okay if others mark it down as a Brotp but I think it works romantically as well. 10/10.

Howard/ Danvers: Howard says he's great in bed and they stay friends after wards so you know can't be bad. 8/10.

Thanks you so much for reading if you made it this far. I'd love to hear other people's thoughts. I may be moving on to a new show, but I promise you tumblr i have some more H:lots content cooking cause I feel like there need to be more for such a good show!

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denimbex1986 · 2 years ago

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'Director Christopher Nolan assembled an all-star cast for his summer blockbuster “Oppenheimer,” a biopic about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the Manhattan Project. The film, based in part off the definitive Oppenheimer biography “American Prometheus,” stars Cillian Murphy as the famed scientist...

J. Robert Oppenheimer

One of the 20th century’s great enigmas, J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967) was born into a wealthy New York family. His pick as the head of the Manhattan Project was a risky one: He was a theoretical physicist, not a practical one, and he was well known for his eccentricities. But Oppenheimer transformed into a bureaucratic mastermind, deftly leading scientists and the military together at Los Alamos.

After the war, he was swept up in the nationwide panic over communism, and several key figures within the U.S. government accused him of being a Soviet spy. Some of his former colleagues turned on him in a 1954 hearing that would end in the revocation of his security clearance. After a lifelong habit of smoking up to five packs a day, Oppenheimer died of throat cancer in 1967. He is played by Cillian Murphy (“Peaky Blinders,” “Inception”) in “Oppenheimer.”

Kitty Oppenheimer

Kitty Puening (1910-1972) was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States when she was a toddler. Described by friends and acquaintances as smart, mercurial and vivacious, Oppenheimer was her fourth husband. Her first marriage lasted just a year, and she soon became the common-law partner of Joseph Dallet Jr. a member of the Community Party. Bolstered by his convictions, Dallet left for Spain to fight in the Spanish Civil War. He died in combat in October 1937.

When Kitty met Oppenheimer at a party in Pasadena two years later, she was married to her third husband, Stewart Harrison. Kitty became pregnant with Oppenheimer’s child in 1940, and they asked Harrison to grant Kitty a divorce. The Oppenheimers had a son and daughter together. Kitty’s ties to the Communist Party were part of the evidence put forward by Oppenheimer’s detractors.

Kitty Oppenheimer is played by Emily Blunt (“A Quiet Place,” “Jungle Cruise”).

Jean Tatlock

Described by some as the love of Oppenheimer’s life, Jean Tatlock (1914-1944) was a pioneering doctor in the Bay Area. She attended Stanford Medical School and became a clinical psychiatrist in her 20s. Her brilliance attracted Oppenheimer, who met her at a house party in Berkeley. The pair were on and off for years until Tatlock called their engagement off in 1939.

Tatlock was found dead in her San Francisco apartment in 1944. She was just 29...Tatlock is played by Florence Pugh (“Little Women,” “Midsommar”).

Ernest Lawrence

Long before Oppenheimer became a household name, Ernest Lawrence (1901-1958) was one of America’s most famous scientists. He joined the physics faculty at UC Berkeley in 1928 and, the next year, was joined there by Oppenheimer. Both in their 20s, they became close friends — Lawrence later named his son Robert in Oppie’s honor. While at Cal, Lawrence invented the cyclotron, which earned him a 1939 Nobel Prize.

However, their friendship soured, as the men butted heads about the future of nuclear weapons. After the war, Lawrence pushed for more government funding into nuclear research, and founded the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The death knell for their friendship was when Lawrence reportedly discovered Oppenheimer was having an affair with Ruth Tolman, the wife of their friend and Caltech scientist Richard Tolman.

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the chemical element lawrencium are both named for Lawrence. He is played in the movie by Josh Hartnett (“Penny Dreadful,” “Pearl Harbor”).

Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves

The military head of the Manhattan Project, Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves (1896-1970) was tasked with finding a scientist to lead the team in Los Alamos. Groves, who was the son of an Army chaplain, was the consummate military bureaucrat. His skill at building teams landed him in charge of both the construction of the Pentagon and the Manhattan Project during World War II.

On the day the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Groves called Oppenheimer from Washington to congratulate him. “I think one of the wisest things I ever did was when I selected the director of Los Alamos,” Groves said. When Oppenheimer said he wasn’t as sure, Groves replied, “Well, you know I’ve never concurred with those doubts.”

Groves is played by Matt Damon (“The Martian,” “The Last Duel”).

Lewis Strauss

One of the villains of the Oppenheimer story is Lewis Strauss (1896-1974), the chair of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Oppenheimer and Strauss conflicted in just about every way. While Strauss wanted the U.S. to maintain secrecy about their nuclear arsenal and develop ever more powerful hydrogen bombs, Oppenheimer objected to both. Oppenheimer, who was highly regarded and never afraid to embarrass someone he considered foolish, irritated Strauss constantly.

Strauss got his revenge working with FBI director and professional paranoiac J. Edgar Hoover to look for Soviet sympathies in Oppenheimer’s life, which set into motion the security hearing that would revoke Oppenheimer’s top-secret clearance. Strauss is played by Robert Downey Jr. (“Iron Man,” “Dolittle”).

Richard Feynman

Few men involved with the Manhattan Project had lives as colorful as Richard Feynman (1918-1988). Feynman was not yet 25 when he was recruited to work in Los Alamos — he didn’t even have a graduate degree. But the Queens man with a thick New York accent and a devilish grin was an undeniable genius. He also loved pranks. He was known for sneaking into the facility — something that could have easily gotten him shot — and used to crack safe combinations where his colleagues stored top-secret material.

In 1965, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics, and he became a household name thanks to his bestselling memoir “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!” He is played by Jack Quaid (“The Boys,” “Logan Lucky”).

Robert Serber

Robert Serber (1909-1997) was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan in 1934 when he attended a guest lecture by Oppenheimer. The professor’s brilliance was so unforgettable, Serber packed his bags and transferred immediately to UC Berkeley to study under him. The two became fast, lifelong friends. When Serber was ready for an associate professorship, Oppenheimer advocated for him. Department chair Raymond Birge, however, wrote that “one Jew in the department is enough.” (Oppenheimer was Jewish, as was Serber.)

Serber accompanied Oppenheimer to Los Alamos and was later one of the first Americans to inspect the bomb sites at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He is played by Michael Angarano (“I’m Dying Up Here,” “The Knick”).

Werner Heisenberg

Oppenheimer’s counterpart in Nazi Germany was Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976). As the Manhattan Project was getting off the ground, American scientists feared they were far behind the Nazis’ nuclear program. Luckily for them, Heisenberg was nowhere near the creation of an atomic bomb. Despite being a Nobel Prize winner, Heisenberg never got close to unlocking nuclear fission; when he learned of Hiroshima while in an English prison camp, he expressed astonishment that the Americans could create such a weapon at all.

Heisenberg is played by Matthias Schweighofer (“Hinterland,” “Army of the Dead”).

Frank Oppenheimer

Frank Oppenheimer, the younger brother of Robert, also had his life torn apart by Cold War paranoia. A brilliant scientist in his own right, Frank Oppenheimer (1912-1985) joined the American Communist Party in the 1930s. Although he left it several years later, after the war he was ordered in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee. As a result of the Red Scare fervor, he was forced to resign his teaching job at the University of Minnesota. He moved to a cattle ranch in Colorado. There, he was able to get a job teaching again — at a high school.

In the 1960s, Oppenheimer decided he wanted to open a kid-friendly science museum. He found its home in San Francisco, and there he opened the Exploratorium in 1969. He was a constant presence at the museum until his death in Sausalito in 1985. He is played by Dylan Arnold (“You,” “Halloween”).'

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