City of Refuse may be my favourite episode of the season so far. Written by Peter Silverman, it first debuted on 20 January, 1987.

Hunter (James Sikking) gets to put on his tactical uniform for the first time since his demotion when he joins Goldblume (Joe Spano) in dealing with a hostage situation. Why was Hunter called in? The hostage taker is his old protege, Ballantine (Gary Miller), who has demanded Hunter to show up. And it leads to a dangerous situation for everyone.

Hill (Micheal Warren) has a rough day when he and Renko (Charles Haid) are assigned to help wit garbage collection. They are paired with a driver, Earl (Herbert Jefferson Jr.!) and their day goes terribly when they clash with a very public funeral for a crime boss.

Russo (Megan Gallagher) and Flaherty (Robert Clohessy) do their best to help an elderly man keep his neighbourhood safe from the crack dealers who seem to keep using his yard as a dealing spot. It starts out so well and ends so horribly.

J.D. (Kiel Martin) and Washington (Taurean Blacque) jeopardize their entire case when they use Sid (Peter Jurrasik) to sign off on a lab report that will facilitate a pre-trial meeting and sentencing for a criminal.

This one doesn’t feel like it even brushes against some of the heavy-handed melodrama that permeates the series, instead, it plays everything pretty straight and delivers a powerful, and surprisingly emotional episode.

Each of the characters has to deal with a variety of fallout this week, and it’s handled wonderfully.

Der Roachenkavalier was written by Christian Williams and Bob Woodward and it first aired on 3 February, 1987.

Buntz (Dennis Franz) thinks Joyce (Veronica Hamel) is being unfaithful to Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti) and is deciding how and if to tell him. He also tries to make some plans to make sure the two have some time together. It all works out wonderfully by the end of the episode though.

LaRue is hunting for the largest cockroach to enter into a competition, Renko and Hill make a bust that involves a criminal who ran down a number of pedestrians, a case that is made all the worse because he had been arrested the day before, and was released.

Goldblume takes the heat for it. He’s the prime target as he’s been outspoken about policing and some of the things that have been going on throughout the season. But things actually play out to the benefit of Goldblume and the department.

Hunter is up for review and he’s sure it means his lieutenant bars will be returned to him.

Belker (Bruce Weitz) finds him working undercover, but chasing a purse-snatching dog! When the arrest is made of the dog’s owner, Belker calls home to see if he can offer the canine a place to stay for a while.

Watch for Star Trek’s Marc Alaimo!

The melodrama seems to be back in a big way, which is unfortunate as the series seemed to be leaning towards some solid storytelling there for awhile.