Hill Street Blues (1983) – Ba-Bing, Ba-Bing, and The Long Law of the Arm

Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti) has a plan backfire on him by episode’s end as he and the precinct attempt to stem the upswing in gang violence by warning all gang members that should violence erupt, the gang leaders will be held responsible arrested and tried with the promise that they’ll make it stick. But it…

The Equalizer (1986) – Breakpoint, and No Conscience

McCall (Edward Woodward) was looking forward to an enjoyable evening at a wedding reception, but things go badly when the entire party is taken hostage by terrorists who were in the building for an assassination. Breakpoint was written by Scott Shepherd and Don Carlos Dunaway from a story by Shepherd. It first went out over…

Hill Street Blues (1981) – Choice Cut, and Up in Arms

Seven episodes in writer Lee David Zlotoff brings us full circle with Choice Cut. First airing on 14 February, 1981, the episode sees Frank Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti) dealing with a hostage situation in a supermarket, not entirely dissimilar from what happened in the first episode. In fact, it’s the same hostage takers! They went…

Fringe (2009) – Earthling, and Of Human Action

The case that cost Broyles (Lance Reddick) his marriage resurfaces in Earthling. Written by J.H. Wyman and Jeff Vlaming, this episode first debuted on 5 November, 2009. When a strange, crumbling body draws the attention of Fringe Division, Olivia (Anna Torv), Peter (Joshua Jackson), and Walter (John Noble), Broyce has information to share about a…

The X-Files (2001) – Deadalive, and Three Words

Series creator Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz pen the first episode back for The X-Files after its month away, and it starts with a gut punch. Mulder (David Duchovny) us dead, and he’s buried. Deadalive first aired on 1 April, 2001, and it plunges us right back into the mythology of the series, as three…

TIFF 2021: Attica dir. Stanley Nelson

Taking a look at the five day rebellion, and hostage taking in September of 1971 at Attica prison, Nelson’s documentary is a stark, unflinching look at the prison system, the industry of it, the culture and race clash that is inherent in it, and the larger world as a whole. Filled with interviews from those…