Season Two, Episode 1 (18): “Hearts and Minds”
story by Steven Bochco, Michael Kozoll, and Anthony Yerkovich
written by Steven Bochco and Anthony Yerkovich
directed by Gregory Hoblit
original airdate: October 29, 1981
“Previously on Hill Street Blues…”
Roll Call: Item 14: Phil chides the troops for using precinct phones for personal business because “budget”. And during the investigation, it was discovered that someone was calling a “boutique”, wink wink, nudge nudge, as well as a bookie. Item 15 introduces Jesse John Hudson, recently released from prison. He’s a big enough deal that his mere presence is causing disturbances. Item 16 addresses a cab driver who was mugged, the sixth in the last week. Finally, there’s a 3’8″ purse snatcher on Pulaski Avenue. He’s 3’8″ because he’s an orangutan.
Perez is bringing in a couple who appear to be in the midst of a domestic quarrel. Meanwhile, Mick’s got his pickpocket buddy in tow. Ray’s got messages for Frank, Joyce is trying to get access to a client, and Coffey’s trying to get Phil to put him back on active duty. As all this is going on, the arguing between the couple intensifies until finally Luis gets so mad be breaks free of the officers holding him, dives through the booking window, gets his hands on a gun, and starts firing at his wife. Everyone manages to duck for cover, and finally four cops — including Renko and Coffey — end the incident in a hail of lead. After a few seconds of post-gunfire reaction shots, we roll credits.
Phil informs Frank internal affairs is on its way, and Frank asks him to get maintenance to come fix all the holes. Leo finally brings Joyce her client, a shaken-up Susan Downey. She makes eye contact with a detective, Lambert, and almost immediately faints. Joyce goes to argue with Frank while Ray is busy arguing with someone on Frank’s phone.
Phil takes a call about a missing seven-year old and dispatches Hill and Renko. He then finally gives the okay for Coffey to head back out on patrol with Bates, before heading to the coffee area… where he’s cornered by Grace. She’s really pouring it on, being so steamy she gets the over-hearing Howard all worked up. Phil commisserates with Howard; he’s really bent out of shape by Grace’s obsession with nudist activities. Howard, on the other hand, wonders if he’s going to break up with her.
At the home of the missing child, Ray arrives to get an update from Andy and Bobby. LaRue and Washington are there, too; this operation’s become a bit more important as it turns out there’s an angry boyfriend in the mix. Andy’s irked that the detectives are on the case now, and takes a pretty wicked shot at J.D.’s drinking problem. Perez and Ellis, and Bates and Coffey, also are on scene, and Ray sets them to handing out photos.
Back at the shop, we discover it was Alf Chesley’s gun used in the cold open, because he’s worried about it. Frank brushes it off, and Henry wanders up to inform him that Jesse John Hudson is on his way in to talk. While Hudson is telling Frank how he’s a changed man, Brooks is telling Belker an entirely different story, saying Hudson is reclaiming his position as head of the Black Arrow.
Afterward, Henry’s been taken in, mostly. Frank’s still suspicious. And then Fay wanders in with a brithday cake, revealing Frank’s middle name (Xavier) to the entire squad. It’s a (disheveled, Hill Street-appropriate) cop car cake, complete with lights. And Fay tries to wheedle Frank into spending the night.
LaRue and Washington round up Jorge, the angry boyfriend, and he’s sauced. They’re interrupted by the denouement of a robbery which happens right in front of them, resulting in gunfire and car chases and all that sort of fun. They corner the suspects in a parking garage, leading to the arrival of Howard’s team and Frank himself. One suspect pretends to be a doctor late for surgery, which nobody believes. Frank notices the car’s a little heavy to one side and suggests his partner is in the trunk. He is, and he’s not coming out. The owner of the car, Doctor Sackheim, arrives, and he’s really angry that Howard’s beating on his trunk.
Frank meets up with Joyce at the hospital, where Susan Downey is being treated. The reason she fainted: she’s a topless waitress, and Lambert’s been a customer at her workplace. He hit on her, and then he basically forced her to perform oral sex on him or else get arrested. Frank and Joyce spar a bit as he leaves.
Bates and Coffey question a hearing-impaired black woman about the missing child; Hill and Renko are on the same floor of the same building, and they kvetch a bit before Bates knocks on another door and it’s answered by… the orangutan. He’s followed by a panicked hispanic man, who Coffey chases down and arrests; the simian gives Renko some hell before escaping.
Ray’s at the Castillo apartment, on the phone updating Phil by way of asking him for more uniforms to help in the search. There’s also a reporter there interviewing Mrs. Castillo while her other son Luis bobbles a basketball. After the phone call, Ray offers Mrs. Castillo some comforting words.
Hill and Renko are now searching a basement, which smells like human decay. They do indeed find a body — but it’s not the missing kid. It’s a Black Arrow gang warlord. That leads to Phil and Frank chatting with Jesus Martinez, who gives Frank much the same information that Brooks gave Belker.
In the station, Belker has apparently collared the orangutan, and starts bonding with him. Meanwhile, Hill’s on the phone with who-knows-who and Phil’s on the phone trying to keep Grace from molesting him via copper wire. After he gets off the phone, Mac MacAllister shows up with tickets to the Monday Night game, and lends an ear to Phil’s terrible problem. Frank interrupts to ask Phil to raise Ray, and then Frank is interrupted by Belker and the orangutan regarding the ape’s disposition. As in destination, not mood.
Ray’s on the phone with Frank now, and he and Henry decide to keep day shift on the case. Henry’s got a reason: young Luis is getting more and more agitated by their presence. Luis leaves the apartment to go sit on the fire escape; Henry follows, and says Henry things… before completely losing it and putting the fear of God into Luis. Turns out that Luis and his friend played a prank on his little brother, who now thinks he shot and killed Luis. So he ran. Luis takes Henry to a basement, where they find Michael.
Afterward, Henry and Ray have a small bicker over how to get help for the family, and then we cut to Gianni’s for Joyce and Frank’s dinner. Frank is insistent on bringing their relationship forward, because he can’t handle just having bits and pieces of everyone he loves (referencing Frank Jr. too). Joyce is terrified. Frank says, flat out, that “we move forward or it’s over.”
It’s over.
End credits.
Look, Pizza Man: “It’s your birthday, Pizza Man. I’m splurging. Maybe later, I’ll let you cite me for soliciting a police officer.” What? Joyce made a funny?
Would You Prefer Internal Injuries?: “You wanna sit down, dogbreath, or would you prefer a collapsed lung?” The pickpocket gives his name as C. Sand. Coffey laughs. Later, when Frank suggests putting the orangutan in holding, Mick’s straight-faced response: “With those animals?”
I’m Unarmed: “I don’t give a damn how young you are, Luis, I swear I’ll see you do hard time.” Angry Henry is best Henry.
My Car!: “Cute little peckerwood, ain’t he? Kinda looks like a miniature Trini Lopez.” Andy’s ever-so sensitive description of the missing kid, directed at Ray.
Judas Priest!: “Frankly, Phil, I would have preferred something a little more uplifting. If you take my thrust.” What? Howard made a (contextually appropriate) funny?
Mano a Mano: Bates doesn’t do much but helplessly look for Michael throughout the episode.
Target Practice: Hey, it’s Joe Coffey’s new section. Everyone cheer. Like Bates, he doesn’t do much, but he does — with calm and steely precision — gun down the guy in the cold open, thus pretty well proving he’s ready to get back on the job.
I’m Good For It: “Maybe she needs a little mouth-to-mouth?” J.D. offering his expert medical opinion on how to deal with the fainted Susan Downey.
What’s Up, Lover?: Neal is nothing more than J.D.’s arm candy this episode.
Not Now, Fay: “Remember that… little something extra I used to give you for your birthday?” The images, they are terrifying. Make them stop.
Central Booking: Robert Hirschfeld as Leo Schnitz, Barbara Babcock as Grace Gardner, and Tony Perez as Mike Perez are the regular recurring characters this episode. Some semi-regulars return as well. Gerry Black is back as Alf Chesley; it’s his first appearance since “Life, Death, Eternity” and his last until episode 30, “Zen and the Art of Law Enforcement”. Another long-absent recurring guest returns as well, as Trinidad Silva reprises his role as Jesus Martinez. Silva hasn’t been seen since the fourth episode of the series; he’ll be back in about seven weeks for “The World According to Freedom”. And Nick Savage turns up again as Belker’s favorite pickpocket. We’ll see him again in five episodes for “Chipped Beef”.
One other actor who previously appeared turns up here, but in a different role. Ron Joseph, who played Contreras in the pilot episode, appears here as Jorge. It’s his last visit to the Hill, and the same is true for Barbara Worthington, who returns after a previous appearance in “Life, Death, Eternity” in her role as the unnamed reporter at the Castillo apartment.
Making their lone appearances on the show were Doug Toby (Aardvark from Red Dawn) as Luis Castillo, Helen Rubio as Mrs. Castillo, Gloria Lynn Deyer in the last of her three career credits as “Screaming Woman” (the wife in the opening sequence), and veteran stuntman Charlie Picerni as “Suspect” (the lead depository, same).
A whole bunch of folks put in their first hour on the Hill this episode, returning later in the same or different guises. The most prominent was Martin Ferrero as one of the robbers. Ferrero appeared four more times as three separate characters; his next visit would be in season three’s “Little Boil Blue”. He’d later become known for playing Izzy Moreno on Miami Vice. Leonard Lightfoot appeared four times, all in this season. The first three, including this episode, he played Ellis; he’d return in that role for “Cranky Streets”.
Jinaki played “Black Woman”, more specifically the woman who couldn’t hear Bates and Coffey. She would return twice more in equally mundane roles, next in “The Other Side of Oneness” during season four. Martin Azarow also had three random appearances; he’s Doctor Sackheim here, and he’ll return in a different role in season three’s “The Belles of Saint Mary’s”. James Stazkiel, who played the other robber (never seen, only heard through the trunk of the car), would return early in season five for “Watt a Way to Go”, while Teddi Siddall, appearing as Susan Downey, would be back in another guise late in season four in “Lucky Ducks”.
Several actors figured prominently throughout the the opening arc of the season. Sandy McPeak, probably best known as Captain Braddock on the horrible television version of Blue Thunder, based on the only marginally bad movie, appears as Mac MacAllister in this and the following three episodes. McPeak would appear again in a different role in three connected episodes during season five. (By the way, that Blue Thunder series? It co-starred Dana Carvey. In 1984, years before Saturday Night Live.)
Appearing in this and the following two episodes is Nathan Cook, portraying Virgil Brooks. Cook had recently played Milton Reese on The White Shadow, and would later be a main cast member for all 115 episodes of the James Brolin drama Hotel. Cook passed away during the summer after Hotel was cancelled.
Also appearing in only the first three episodes of the season was Charles Guardino as Lambert; appearing uncredited in the first four was C.J. the Orangutan, who actually starred in a television show in 1983: the title character in Mr. Smith. C.J. played, well, an orangutan. Rather limited in his roles, I think.
And finally, appearing in these four episodes was a then-unknown gentleman by the name of Danny Glover, portraying Jesse John Hudson. This arc was the first step in Glover’s catapult toward stardom.
Rap Sheet: The actual location of Hill Street has still never been canonically revealed, but there’s a very good clue right there in the first paragraph of roll call. The only way budgetary issues would be the reason to ban personal phone calls at the station is if local phone calls come with a charge. By 1981, virtually the entire United States was on flat-rate billing for local calls; the only Midwestern city which still had local toll service was Chicago.
There are no surprises with the crew this episode, as the main showrunners handled the story and Gregory Hoblit continued to inhabit the director’s chair. The same crew would helm the second episode; the latter half of the season-opening arc would be manned by the same writing crew with a new addition, while different directors oversaw the filming.
As we repeatedly mentioned during the final four episodes of season one, we have a new main cast member. Ed Marinaro was promoted to main billing beginning with this episode. This wouldn’t happen again until the start of season five.
The reason for the late opening of the season: the 1981 Writers Guild of America strike. The end result was that season two was only one episode longer than season one, which had been a mid-season replacement.
As this is the season opener, let’s talk seasonal Emmys. The show retained three of the main Emmys it won in season one: Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Travanti), and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Conrad). It was the final win for both Travanti and Conrad, though both would continue to be nominated. The 1981 winner for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Barbara Babcock, was not nominated.
Repeating their losing nominations from 1981 were Veronica Hamel for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and Barbara Bosson and Betty Thomas for Best Supporting Actress. Most amazing, however, were the Oustanding Supporting Actor nominations. Heading into the ceremony, one thing was absolutely certain: a Hill Street cast member would win the award. It went to Conrad, but Bruce Weitz, Taurean Blacque, Charles Haid, and Michael Warren were also nominated. It was the final nomination for Haid, who’d also gotten a nod for season one, and the only nominations for Blacque and Warren. Weitz, also nominated the previous year, would continue to be nominated every year except the final season, winning in season four.
The show received 13 other nominations for individual episodes in 1982, winning five; we’ll cover those when we get to them, which is another way of saying this episode didn’t receive any.
Verdict: The scene where we’re introduced to Hudson is nifty television. The scene starts in Furillo’s office with Hudson playing politician; it then cuts to a dingy basement where Virgil is giving Mick the real story. We bounce back and forth a couple of times, allowing Brooks to give a hard counterpoint to Hudson’s claims; for example, where Hudson talks about “free health care”, Brooks refers to “drugs”.
The key points this episode besides Hudson are Henry’s empathy, Phil’s frustration, and Frank’s ultimatum. The scene where Henry threatens young Luis is jarring. Not only is it not Henry’s usual demeanor at all, but in this case Henry suddenly 180s from gentle, kind Henry into angry, vengeful Henry. It’s a little scary, to be honest.
Phil, meanwhile, is just being run ragged by Grace. We also learn that for some reason, Phil is simply irresistible to women. Humble guy, that Phil. (He really is, which makes it all the more comical.) The interesting part of all this is that right now, this all seems like comic relief, but it’s actually a very serious problem — but that’s for next episode.
And then, the big bomb. Frank forces Joyce to break up with him. The dialogue, on its own, would give the impression that Frank is pushing Joyce without regard for her feelings; indeed, one line from Joyce is “Please don’t bully me, Frank.” The problem is this: it’s Frank who’s being bullied here. You can’t have a relationship where one party’s needs are simply being cast aside. Joyce wants Frank to remain in a relationship which lacks very important and very standard facets which he needs. By giving Joyce the option of meeting those needs or ending the relationship, he’s being the adult here. This isn’t some prurient nonsense like breaking up with a women because she won’t have a threesome. This is Frank forcing Joyce to choose between openly accepting him or refusing to do so.
That Joyce cannot do the former is not a criticism of Joyce; she has the integrity of her career to think about, and she also has fears which we’re not yet exploring. That Joyce reacts as if Frank is unreasonably forcing her into a decision on the matter, on the other hand, does warrant criticism.
Final score: 7. There aren’t any weak spots, but there also aren’t many particularly strong ones. The television magic of the Hudson scene is neat, and the emotional climaxes to the episode are above-average. But this one doesn’t pop.
Next Week: “Blood Money”, which is almost entirely about relationship drama.
