UNUSUALS, THE: PILOT {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)

Summary

The first in this darkly comedic series about a group of New York City police detectives and the bizarre cases they pursue.

In this episode, undercover vice Detective Casey Shraeger is abruptly reassigned to Homicide after the murder of Detective Burt Kowalski, admittedly "a bully and a drunk." Kowalski's partner Jason Walsh is shaken by the news and takes new partner Shraeger along to visit the widow, who admits that she was aware of her husband's flaws but loved him all the same. They next visit Vera, one of Kowalski's various girlfriends, sternly ordering her to spare the family's feelings and skip the funeral. Oddball Detective Eddie Alvarez begs to be lead on the Kowalski case, while elsewhere a serial cat killer is pursued by Detective Eric Delahoy, who is hiding the fact of his brain tumor, and partner Leo Banks, who is overly fearful of his own safety. Alvarez announces that Kowalski's killing was a random encounter, though Walsh is certain that it was personal. During a pursuit of the suspected cat killer, Banks is shocked when Delahoy jumps onto the subway tracks and nearly allows the train to kill him.

Detective Alison Beaumont fills Shraeger in on the eccentric members of the Second Precinct, and Shraeger, revealed to have grown up in great wealth and privilege, fields phone calls from her oblivious mother Estelle. Delahoy and Banks conduct a non-traditional "lie detector test" on the cat suspect, Harold Snape; when Walsh finds that Kowalski had a secret storage locker, he sends Alvarez off on a wild goose chase as he investigates with Shraeger. The locker, set ablaze just after Kowalski's death, is revealed to contain strange files on all of the Homicide squad's detectives. Shraeger learns that Walsh was once a professional baseball star. Banks questions Delahoy about his seemingly suicidal behavior, revealing that he believes himself to be cursed to die at his current age of 42. Shraeger, summoned to her father's birthday party, is annoyed by her parents' disdain for her career as a "civil servant" and quickly departs the event.

Walsh asks pious colleague Henry Cole about an old case, and Cole confesses that he used to be a lowlife criminal named Navan Granger before reforming himself through religion. Sergeant Harvey Brown tells Shraeger that he knows of her prep-school past and desires her help in "cleaning up" the Second; Delahoy and Banks finally secure a confession from Snape with the help of some four-legged friends. Alvarez continues pursuing Walsh's fictitious leads as Walsh and Shraeger learn that Kowalski had an unexpected kindly side and acted as a "big brother" to various underprivileged kids around the city. Cole finally tracks down Leon Wu, a criminal who sought revenge on Kowalski for his brother's death and for his own arrest. The detectives rush to arrest him, though Banks is overcome with panic and Delahoy seems to miraculously survive a shotgun blast from Wu before Shraeger kills the criminal. Cole plants Kowalski's badge and gun on Wu, implying that he is covering for the real killer, and the detectives later question Delahoy about his bizarre survival as Walsh toasts to Kowalski's memory. He explains that Kowalski's badge, handed down from several other past detectives, will now be retired, having "killed" its last owner. Brown then subtly instructs Shraeger to find out Walsh's "secrets," leaving her conflicted. Includes commercials and promos.

Details

NETWORK: ABC
DATE: April 8, 2009 10:00 PM
RUNNING TIME: 0:56:39
COLOR/B&W: Color
CATALOG ID: 108831
GENRE: Comedy, police/private detective
SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy, police/private detective; Drama, police/detective; New York City
SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2009
COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - "Fast & Furious" motion picture
- TV - Commercials - "Observe and Report" motion picture
- TV - Commercials - "State of Play" motion picture
- TV - Commercials - Almay Pure Blends cosmetics
- TV - Commercials - Boys Town National Hotline
- TV - Commercials - Burger King restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Cadillac automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Claritin Liqui-Gels allergy medication
- TV - Commercials - DTVAnswers.com website
- TV - Commercials - Discover credit cards
- TV - Commercials - Ford automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine
- TV - Commercials - Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Puff Eye Roller cosmetics
- TV - Commercials - Habitat for Humanity organization
- TV - Commercials - Kohl's stores
- TV - Commercials - Lexus automobiles
- TV - Commercials - MiraLax laxative
- TV - Commercials - Revlon Custom Creations cosmetics
- TV - Commercials - Scotts Turf Builder weed control
- TV - Commercials - Sprint wireless network
- TV - Commercials - Verizon Wireless services
- TV - Commercials - Vesicare bladder medication
- TV - PSA - ABC A Better Community volunteering
- TV - Promos - "20/20"
- TV - Promos - "Castle"
- TV - Promos - "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"
- TV - Promos - "In the Motherhood"
- TV - Promos - "Samantha Who?"
- TV - Promos - "The Unusuals" upcoming episode

CREDITS

Stephen Hopkins … Executive Producer, Director
Noah Hawley … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer, Theme Music by
Merrill Karpf … Co-Executive Producer
Michael Stricks … Producer
Kate Garwood … Producer
Karen L. Thorson … Co-Producer
Guin McPherson … Associate Producer
Jeff Russo … Music by
Amber Tamblyn … Cast, Detective Casey Shraeger
Jeremy Renner … Cast, Detective Jason Walsh
Harold Perrineau … Cast, Detective Leo Banks
Joshua Close … Cast, Detective Henry Cole
Monique Gabriela Cumen … Cast, Detective Allison Beaumont
Kai Lennox … Cast, Detective Eddie Alvarez
Terry Kinney … Cast, Sergeant Harvey Brown
Adam Goldberg … Cast, Detective Eric Delahoy
Joanna Gleason … Cast, Estelle Shraeger
Chris Sarandon … Cast, Walter Shraeger
Kat Foster … Cast, Nicole Brandt
Chloe Cmarada … Cast, Vera Moran
Laura Odeh … Cast, Hannah Kowalski
Brent Popolizio … Cast, Harold Snape
Jermaine Crawford … Cast, Malcolm Nix
Victoria Dillard … Cast, Dora Nix
Stephen Park … Cast, Councilman Tony Harbor
Brett Berg … Cast, Hot Dog Man
Molly Noe … Cast, Reporter
Waris Ahluwalia … Cast, Customer
John Scurti … Cast, Vice Detective
Adam Ferrara … Cast, Vice Detective #2
Angela Grovey … Cast, Hooker #1
Melanie Aguirre … Cast, Hooker #2
Marisa Vural … Cast, Voice of Dispatch