"Homicide: Life on the Street" An Essay

Episode: "The Subway"

The subway.  Mass transit.  Millions of people use this mode of transportation each day.  It’s quite simple really.  You pay your fare, maneuver yourself through a maze of tunnels, people, and panhandlers, wait for your train, and let someone else do the driving for you.  It’s a simple mindless act, for a simple, mindless morning commute.  I used to work in NYC, and let me tell you, mass transit is the way to go.  It’s cheaper and less stressful, plus it affords you the opportunity of my favorite pastime: people watching.  You’ll see all sorts of characters on the subway.  Sometimes, you’ll see incredibly heinous acts...

When this episode of “Homicide: LOTS” opens up, it seems like a traditional story.  We see the average Baltimore morning, attention focused on the Inner Harbor and a couple saying goodbye for the day.  John Lange is a guy that we all know.  He’s brash and important, at least, he likes to think he is, his peers probably think he’s an asshole.  When you take the subway, you become accustom to the routine of waiting your turn, it’s an unspoken social rule.  Unless your John Lange.  You push your way through people and don’t look back.  After all, you don’t normally take mass transit, you drive, except on Friday’s, on Friday’s, you take mass transit because you “work the phones, talking wholesalers”.  Pretty average Friday, except for that time someone pushed you into an oncoming train, remember that?  Of course you do, because you’re still alive, for the next forty-five minutes or so.

Since I’ve never seen an episode of “Homicide: LOTS” prior to “The Subway”, I’m going to
assume that they follow the same formula that most prime-time dramas follow (and sitcoms for that matter): It’s a police drama and the title is “Homicide”, it’s a pretty safe bet that someone is going to die within the first five minutes (that is, if they aren’t already dead, also, this probably doesn’t happen in sitcoms, although, if it did, I’d certainly watch them).  The rest of the episode will then focus on detectives interviewing potential suspects, motives, conflict, and finally, resolution.  Unless it’s a multiple episode story arch, then add some more intense drama and call it a day.  

So generally speaking, if there’s a victim that requires a homicide detective, chances are, that one hundred percent of the time, that victim is dead.  John Lange didn’t die, so why call homicide?  This is what makes this story arch so incredible.  What if the deceased victim of a crime you’re investigating had a voice?  Would they be mad?  Sad?  Apologetic?  Remorseful?  Put yourself in the shoes of these officers.  Yes, they’re trained to deal with intense, deadly situations, but they’ve probably gotten used to the redundancies of police work.  This is obvious in the banter between the two other detectives searching for Sarah, Johns girlfriend, so the couple can have that one last goodbye.  Detective Pembleton and his partner, Detective Bayliss, are left to interview the victim and the suspect, with Pembleton going to the former.  He’s essentially speaking to a dead man.  How do you break the news to someone that they’re going to die?  Considering this is Baltimore, and you’re a homicide detective, you’ve experienced death, you’ve seen it, up close, daily.  You probably have a stack of unsolved cases in your office, but this time, you’ve got the chance to speak with a victim directly, this is unheard of in homicide work.  

Vincent D’Onofrio (John Lange) and Andre Braugher (Detective Pembleton) smack this out of the ball park.  D’Onofrio portrays his character like someone who doesn’t quite understand the gravity of the situation.  He’s incredibly hostile, and at one point compares himself to that of a death row inmate, he doesn’t even get a last meal.  He displays that he wasn’t an easy person to get along with, so this is his execution.  While at the same time, expresses shock when the firemen go through “a feat of engineering, for me”.  Again, he knows he’s a bit of a jerk, but surprised at whats being done at attempts to save him.  He continues taking out his frustrations on Pembleton the entire time, along with the EMS medic, all the while, he had no one to blame but himself, and the guy who pushed him, but seriously, situational awareness buddy, you’re asking for trouble when you’re too close to the tracks like that.  He’s going through the grieving process.  Pembleton doesn’t know what to do.  At a few points, he stands up and backs away, surprised by Lange’s hostility. 

He’s confronted with the fear of his own mortality. 

Eventually, Lange dies.  The climax leading up to his death is intense.  Every official on the scene is scrambling to prepare for this, Pembleton and Lange lock eyes and Lange says something about sugar maple trees and how they turn their leaves over when a storm is approaching to suck in the rain.  When you’re about to die, your mind goes haywire.  I like to think that this is a place your consciousness goes as a way to cope with impending doom.  You’ll hear stories from the battlefield about soldiers who were mortally wounded making jokes before dying.  It’s a coping mechanism.  No one wants to die, but it’s a sad fact that we all do.  If you had forty-five minutes to live, how would you act?  Angry?  Sad?  Apologetic?  Remorseful?

In the closing scene, Pembleton regurgitates the sugar maple fact to his partner as they’re
leaving the scene.  He says, “You learn something new everyday”.  I think he learned a lot more that day.  Then again, it’s just another day in the city.

Resuming The Job Search

I'm a student. My main priority right now is to graduate college. That's it. Not get married. Not to party. Not to please anyone else. Get that useless piece of paper. At this very moment though, my life right now, is summer vacation/work. Although, my financial situation has deterred any form of extracurricular activities , I find myself putzing around my apartment on most days.

My original plan last fall was to find some landscaping company, or something along those lines, around Spring and ask if they had any open "gofer" positions come summertime. Nothing wrong with that. You're outside, an honest days work.

Well, mid-October I had an unfortunate injury. Tore the achilles. At 30 years old, this was something I never planned on happening (who plans injuries?).

- When I was in my teens, I tore ligaments in my knee that has been a consistent issue.
- Prior to that, I dislocated my pinky finger in a fight at school.
- In 2009, I had bilateral hip surgeries.
- 3 herniated discs in my spine. Probably related to the hip surgeries.
- Arthritis in my left ankle (the same ankle I tore the achilles).
- Sleep disorders.

The last 4 issues are directly related to my military service. Uncle Sam takes care of me, sometimes. I can't really complain, there are others out there that have had less-than-fortunate experiences with the Veterans Affairs, but I've had my issues with them. No one said it would be easy. Anyway...

I'm mobile. Fully capable of working. Looking to find employment in an industry I like, I scour the internet for job postings and post my pleas on social networking sites. Fortunately, a friend was looking for a Production Assistant on an upcoming reality web-series that would later be broadcasted on a network. He knew I loved the industry, had some understanding of the industry (all theory of course), and that I'm reliable (read: would actually show up on time).

Considering it was my only option, minus delivering food and torturing my car, I jumped on board (Note: I wasn't about to turn away my opportunity to work, nor a chance to work on-set).

- It was a small crew, like 5-6 people. I was the lowest man on the totem poll. I knew my place and didn't speak unless spoken too. Being the new PA, it was like being a Private in the Army all over again (something I know extremely well).

- Reading TAPA's blog and others like it sorta prepared me for the "on-set experience". I kept my expectations low and was nice to everyone.

- The "Talent", just like all people, are hit or miss. Some are prima donnas. Some are humble. My job with them was to make sure they had what they "needed" and assist everyone on the crew... decaf,  grande chai latte, not too hot, soy milk, with a straw.  Get coffee, pfft, too easy. Get coffee multiple times, too easy. Move this. Move that. Sit here. Watch this. Don't let anyone come through here.

- People don't like being addressed as "Sir" or "Ma'am".

- Your day rate is for 12 hours. The equation is 8hrs+4hrsOT=day rate. Anything after that is double time and golden time.

- Read your deal memo. Otherwise you might not get those things.

- I'm lucky I got paid at all, considering I had ZERO set experience.

- Be prepared to work long hours, but only actually work for a few of those hours.
Hurry up and wait. Just like the Army!

- Eat now, taste it later.

- HYDRATE!
The last two days of shooting were a scorcher in NYC and I nearly passed out.

- Know your lingo. The rest of the crew doesn't have the time to explain what something is. Even though it's not a bad thing to ask questions (this shows an genuine interest in a field, people love talking about themselves), but you should have a common understanding of what something is: a bag of dirt/sand, C Stands, big babies, etc.

- Pack the vehicle in accordance to gear importance. If the camera has to be unloaded quickly, it doesn't help if it's packed first, with 20 road cases stacked on top of it.

- Save receipts.

- Always make sure you have gaffers tape.

- Some people aren't what they seem to be. Some suit saw that I was wearing a Bouncing Souls t-shirt and we went on to have a discussion about the "scene" and all the bands we've seen.

- Even if you're absolutely sure you know how to do something, don't say anything. It's probably someone else's job and that's not why you're there.

- Be eager to assist, but not over eager. Just like in the Army, when you volunteer to do something, the next thing you know, you're digging trenches on the grenade range. That being said, you're never "above anything".

That pretty much sums it up. I'm sure there are other things, however I can't recall much. We did so much in such a short timespan that everything's a blur.


So what's next? Back to scouring the internet for some jobs. I made a few contacts on those shoots, so hopefully I can email them asking if they need any assistants or whatever. It's a long shot since I'm still green, but it never hurts to ask. Hell, I might even do something for free, just to get experience. We drove past a couple of big shoots in NYC. Part of me is tempted to walk up to the sets and ask for the PM to see if I can get hired on the spot. Doubtful though, I've read that it's a No No to do that.

Regardless, school starts up again in the fall. I'm eager to get back into the swing of things. I just have to decide what to actually declare as my major, haha. Talking to those on the crew, everyone either majored or minored in Filmmaking. But they also said that it wasn't necessary. Just work. No one has ever asked to see their transcripts or their degree. Production below the line is all blue collar. A trade just like carpentry or plumbing or electrical.

I know what you might be thinking, "Just major in Film, you seem to enjoy it, and that's what you want to do with your life, so study that". The problem with that is it's expensive and Uncle Sam doesn't cover a lot of those costs. The big two film schools are NYU and USC. No one gives a shit if you went West Milford University and studied under some schmuck who worked on a Demi Moore movie in 1994.

When you're first starting out, they only want a reliable body.
- If you're on time, you're late.
- When you're at work, work.

I told myself that once I started down this path, I'd study something else, something to fall back on and pursue my "dream". The problem with that is nothing else appeals to me.

- I'm terrible at mathematics.
- The business world is too uptight.
- I don't understand the IT industry.
- When I worked in kitchens, I never ate.
- Kids piss me off.
- I don't want to work in any sort of Law Enforcement or Civil Service industry.

In 5 years, I'll be an alcoholic selling used Toyotas, haha!

But at least I'll have my degree.