Season six of Hill Street Blues starts completely differently. In fact, viewers may think they are in the wrong place, Jablonski (Robert Prosky) isn’t running roll call, it’s Jenkins (Lawrence Tierney) and we don’t recognize anyone around the precinct, though someone is looking for Belker (Bruce Weitz). Where are we? We’re on the hill, but it’s the night shift.

It’s a great way to start the season because it immediately puts the viewer on the back foot. And what’s more shocking is that Goldblume’s (Joe Spano) moustache seems to have migrated to Bobby Hill’s (Michael Warren) face.

Written by David Milch, Walon Green and Jacob Epstein from a story by Steven Bochco, Jeffrey Lewis, Barry Jay Kaplan and Milch the season got underway on 26 September, 1985.

Renko (Charles Haid) learns you should never meet your heroes, especially when you’re a cop and you catch them doing drugs. Goldblume gets pulled into a hostage situation with an unstable Calvin Matthias (Yaphet Kotto) threatening to detonate the dynamite vest he’s put on Goldblume and the explosives he’s wired around the building.

And Renko and LaRue (Kiel Martin) decide to have a wager to see whose route to work is the fastest.

We check on Jablonski through the course of the episode, just spending time in his apartment with his dog, and Belker, as the episode closes has his stakeout/bust interrupted (which saw him sitting in a garbage dumpster) to be told that his mother has passed away.

There’s some fun to be had in the episode, some very nice character moments, and it seems to be a little more solid after the melodramatic leanings of the previous season. We’ll see if it lasts.

Hacked to Pieces was penned by Milch from a story he created alongside Lewis. It was first broadcast on 3 October, 1985.

There’s a new, if familiar face, around the precinct this week. It seems Ray Calletano (Rene Enriquez) may be moving on to another precinct thanks to his bid to be captain and his replacement has already shown up on the hill, Lt. Buntz (Dennis Franz returning to the series in a different role). Unfortunately for Ray, the captaincy he is in line for may disappear as the retiring officer is reconsidering.

Mimi Kuzyk’s Mayo is blatantly missing though it gets mentioned that she took a transfer to another precinct, and behind the scenes, it seems Steven Bochco was fired from the series. But the show soldiered on.

Garibaldi (Ken Olin) has some problems with a local bookie and may owe some serious cash, but the biggest news is once again saved for Belker, who is still reeling from his mother’s death. It seems Robin (Lisa Sutton) may be pregnant.

Two episodes in, and there are definitely some changes to be noticed, Fay (Barbara Bosson) isn’t around anymore either. Not a bad thing, honestly her character felt a little forced at times, and removing her from the everyday life of the precinct lets us focus on the men and women in blue, which is what we tune in for.

Oh and watch for two fabulous guest stars, Soon-Tek Oh and Stuart Margolin!

So until next week, let’s be careful out there!