JUAREZ {PILOT / TV MOVIE} (TV)
Summary
The pilot of an unproduced television series about a police detective operating out of El Paso, Texas.
Police detective Rosendo Juarez drives home to El Paso with his wife Marielena after attending a family reunion. He returns to his house and finds that it is in the process of being ransacked by a robber. He chases after the robber, who manages to get away. Marielena discovers that the robber has stolen her jewelry, given to her by her loved ones, and is quite upset. He reports to work and is assigned to investigate a murder. The only witnesses are a pair of young children, and Rosendo acts kindly to them to get them to cooperate. At first they give him no useful information, but they turn over a small stack of money and a note they found in the murder victim’s shoe. Juarez and Marielena discuss the robbery and he expresses frustration that he seems to have engendered pity from other members of the police department. The coroner concludes that the unnamed murder victim was shot ten times with an illegal firearm, and that he may have been attempting to cross the Mexican border into Texas. He also suspects that the young man was trapped inside a box or enclosure and broke out shortly before being killed.
Juarez matches the handwriting on the note found on the murder victim to Beatriz Camarota, a housekeeper for a local wealthy family. He questions her and she confirms that the note was written by her and sent to her family in Mazatlán, Mexico. Juarez deduces that the murder victim is her youngest son Domingo, and Beatriz is distraught about the news of his death. He brings her to the police station along with Cathy, her employer’s teenage daughter, for further questioning, and Beatriz identifies Domingo’s body. Juarez also hears about a truck abandoned in the desert outside town with seven men locked in the back, left to die. Later he meets with Aldo Diaz, a gangster contact of his, who is distantly related to the man who robbed Juarez’s house. He returns Marielena’s jewelry and the two of them talk; they are from the same neighborhood and were friends growing up, but went in divergent directions. Aldo hopes to one day resume their friendship, but Juarez has no interest.
He inquires his fellow officer, Sgt. Quintana, about the abandoned truck and found that two men escaped from it; one died and the other wandered off into the desert, suggesting that the latter was Domingo. Juarez inspects the truck in an impound lot and discovers that the physical evidence on Domingo’s body provide proof that he was in the truck. He is puzzled as to why Domingo did not call for help or go to see his mother before he was killed. That night, Juarez returns Marielena’s jewelry to her, although he is still upset that he has not found the robber himself. The next day he goes to see another contact of his, Sergio, after fighting his way past a belligerent bouncer. He does not know who drove the truck, but says he will inquire about it. Sergio also agrees to help Juarez track down the robber. Juarez then questions Cathy, who claims that Domingo was coming to see her and blames herself for his death. He then meets with his older brother Vicente and tells him that he suspects that Aldo was the one who arranged to have Domingo killed and that he knew about his relationship with Cathy. Vicente claims that the men being smuggled in the truck were not migrant workers but were actually assassins trying to infiltrate El Paso in order to kill Aldo. He claims that Aldo had them all killed before they could do so. He chides Vicente for his own criminal actions, but Vicente believes that Juarez is hopelessly naïve about the reality of the world.
Lieutenant Hardin, Juarez’s superior, is furious when he passes on Vicente’s information but refuses to identify his source. However, he reluctantly accepts Juarez’s information as a means of bringing in Aldo. Juarez elaborates and says that a Mexican crime syndicate is attempting to oust Aldo in order to set up operations in El Paso themselves. Juarez tries to convince Sergio to arrange a one-on-one confrontation between himself and Aldo, but Sergio refuses, believing that it would be far too risky. However, he does produce the name of the robber who stole from Marielena, who is working in Aldo’s employ. Juarez becomes extremely frustrated at his lack of tangible progress and seeming inability to bring in Aldo for his crimes. Juarez ambushes Aldo and holds him at gunpoint as he is exiting a church. He nearly shoots Aldo, but instead settles for arresting the robber and walking off; as he exits he reveals that his gun was unloaded. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: November 30, 1999
- RUNNING TIME: 0:57:55
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:12358
- GENRE: Drama, police/detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Hispanic Collection - Drama; Drama, police/detective; Texas
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1987
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV – Commercials – Almay cosmetics
- TV – Commercials – Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler
- TV – Commercials – Breyers ice cream
- TV – Commercials – Certs breath mints
- TV – Commercials – Colgate toothpaste
- TV – Commercials – Domino’s pizza
- TV – Commercials – Downy laundry detergent
- TV – Commercials – Ecotrin aspirin
- TV – Commercials – Ford automobiles
- TV – Commercials – Ivory dishwashing detergent
- TV – Commercials – Jhirmack hair products
- TV – Commercials – Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants
- TV – Commercials – Listerine mouthwash
- TV – Commercials – McDonald’s restaurants
- TV – Commercials – Trident chewing gum
- TV – Promos – “ABC’s Monday Night Baseball”
- TV – Promos – “Bride of Boogedy”
- TV – Promos – “Home”
- TV – Promos – “Indianapolis 500”
- TV – Promos – “Memorial Golf Tournament”
- TV – Promos – “Perfect Strangers”
- TV – Promos – “Sam Found Out: a Triple Play”
- TV – Promos – “Turk 182”
CREDITS
- Joe Reb Moffly … Executive Producer, Writer
- Sascha Schneider … Producer
- Scott Citron … Co-Producer
- Jeffrey Bloom (credited as Alan Smithee) … Director
- Udi Harpaz … Music by
- Benjamin Bratt … Cast, Sgt. Rosendo Juarez
- Ada Maris … Cast, Marielena Juarez
- Ramon Bieri … Cast, Lt. C.P. Hardin
- Ismael Carlo … Cast, Sgt. Quintana
- Charles Martinez … Cast, Bobby Castillo
- Michael Wren … Cast, Aldo Diaz
- Kristy Swanson … Cast, Cathy Dodge
- Santos Morales … Cast, Sergio
- Gregory Norman Cruz … Cast, Vicente Juarez
- Edith Diaz … Cast, Beatriz Camarota
- James H. Emery … Cast, Gil
- David Blackwood … Cast, Dr. Beech
- Begoña Plaza … Cast, Celia
- Randall Brady … Cast, Davis
- Daniel Haro … Cast, Hardy
- Jimmy Ortega … Cast, Luis
- Raymundo Quiñonez Jr. … Cast, Mundo
- Arturo L. Arias … Cast, Father
- Belem S. Contreras … Cast, Mother
- Luz G. Seguera … Cast, Grandmother
- Martin Miguel Campos … Cast, Intruder
- Robb Madrid … Cast, Parada
- Rif Hutton … Cast, Plainclothes Cop