PaleyArchive ColorBars TopBanner2

HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET: BONES OF CONTENTION (TV)

Summary

One in this dramatic police series about a department of reflective homicide detectives in Baltimore, Maryland. In this episode, Munch and Lewis inspect a skeleton found at a construction site, learning that it is that of a woman wearing expensive shoes. Falsone asks Ballard about her family and invites her over to dinner at his mother's house, though Gharty cautions them not to "flaunt" their affair. Sheppard returns after being injured and losing her gun in the line of duty, and she is upset when Gee temporarily puts her on desk duty. Dr. Griscom explains to Munch and Lewis that the woman died from blows to the head between six and twenty years ago, adding that she had had at least one child. Sheppard talks to Stivers, vividly recalling the night that she and Lewis were hurt, angry to have encouraged the stereotype that female cops pull their guns too quickly because of their physical size. Munch and Lewis learn that the victim was wearing shoes of a 1985 model, but are annoyed to learn from Higby that missing persons from '85 and before are listed on cards, not computer files. They then learn from forensics that the victim was near a large amount of stolen cash, suggesting that she was a bank robber.

Gee calls Falsone aside and tells him to end things with Ballard or switch to another shift. Giardello tells Munch and Lewis that their victim may be one of three white female bank robbers, one of whom was never caught. Sheppard offers to accompany Falsone on a call, but he declines, not wanting to get in further trouble. He tells Ballard that they have been "busted" as a couple, and they regretfully decide to break up for the sake of their jobs. Munch and Lewis narrow the suspects down to a Carrie Mae Reeves, who disappeared after a 1987 bank job with three other men from which the money was never recovered. They talk to her mother, Carla, who gives them a DNA sample and explains that Carrie Mae was wild and often disappeared, eventually leaving her baby daughter Tina in her care. She adds that one of the other bank robbers, Bobby, came looking for Carrie Mae after she vanished, but the detectives note that he died in prison. They next question Tina, Carrie Mae's grown-up art student daughter, who explains how her mother suddenly stopped calling and asks them to keep her informed. They question the second man, Angelo Mancini, who claims that Carrie Mae was his girlfriend and angered the others when she took off with all of the stolen money, though he swears that he was not there.

Munch and Lewis invite Giardello to come along to the prison in Virginia to interview the final robber, Sykes, who is already serving several life sentences, and Sykes matter-of-factly admits to the robbery and states that Bobby killed Carrie Mae after she stole from them, offering several accurate details. Elsewhere, Falsone and Ballard continue flirting, and Sheppard assigns more cases, annoyed at being "a secretary with a gun." The detective chase down Mancini and arrest him for the robbery, claiming that Sykes pinned it all on him. He too vows that the late Bobby was the sole killer, but they finally trick him into admitting that all three of them were present at her death. Giardello tells them to charge both Mancini and Sykes for the murder, sending Sykes to a maximum-security prison. Munch and Lewis debate telling Tina the unfortunate truth about her mother, realizing that Tina's upscale home was likely paid for by Carrie Mae's stolen money but deciding not to intervene. Falsone and Ballard continue their relationship, enjoying the need for secrecy, and Lewis welcomes Sheppard back with a "souvenir": his bullet-marked hat from that fateful night. Commercials deleted.

Details

  • NETWORK: NBC
  • DATE: January 15, 1999 10:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:44:30
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: B:55824
  • GENRE: Drama, police/detective
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/detective
  • SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1993-1999
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Barry Levinson … Executive Producer
  • Tom Fontana … Executive Producer
  • Jim Finnerty … Executive Producer
  • Julie Martin … Co-Executive Producer
  • James Yoshimura … Co-Executive Producer, Writer
  • Eric Overmeyer … Supervising Producer, Writer
  • David Simon … Producer, Based on the book by
  • Anya Epstein … Consulting Producer
  • Gail Mutrux … Consulting Producer
  • Brad Anderson … Director
  • Paul Attanasio … Created by
  • Douglas J. Cuomo … Music by
  • Lynn F. Kowal … Theme Music by
  • Richard Belzer … Cast, Detective John Munch
  • Giancarlo Esposito … Cast, Agent Mike Giardello
  • Peter Gerety … Cast, Detective Stuart Gharty
  • Clark Johnson … Cast, Detective Meldrick Lewis
  • Yaphet Kotto … Cast, Lieutenant Al Giardello
  • Toni Lewis … Cast, Detective Terri Stivers
  • Michael Michele … Cast, Detective Rene Sheppard
  • Kyle Secor … Cast, Detective Tim Bayliss
  • Jon Seda … Cast, Detective Paul Falsone
  • Callie Thorne … Cast, Detective Laura Ballard
  • Austin Pendleton … Cast, Dr. George Griscom
  • Skip Sudduth … Cast, Angelo Marcini
  • Rocco Sisto … Cast, Raphael Sykes
  • Harlee McBride … Cast, Dr. Alyssa Dyer
  • Ellen McElduff … Cast, Billie Lou Hatfield
  • Zeljko Ivanek … Cast, ASA Ed Danvers
  • Denise Diggs … Cast, Lynda Lusko
  • Kara Jackson … Cast, Tina Reeves
  • Beau James … Cast, Detective Higby
  • Richard Lanham … Cast, Himself
  • Megan Morgan … Cast, Carla Reeves