End Game (Homicide: Life on the Street)
| "End Game" | |
|---|---|
| Homicide: Life on the Street episode | |
 Steve Buscemi portrayed Gordon Pratt, the man accused of shooting three detectives | |
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 14 |
| Directed by | Lee Bonner |
| Story by | James Yoshimura Henry Bromell |
| Teleplay by | Rogers Turrentine |
| Cinematography by | Jean de Segonzac |
| Production code | 315 |
| Original air date | February 10, 1995 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"End Game" is the 14th episode of the third season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC on February 10, 1995. The episode was written by Rogers Turrentine and directed by Lee Bonner. The episode continues a storyline about the shooting of Beau Felton, Kay Howard, and Stanley Bolander.
Plot summary
[edit]Barnfather gives the homicide unit hours to solve the case of the detective shootings before it is handed over to Violent Crimes. The investigation, still led by Pembleton, leads to a new prime suspect: Gordon Pratt, the resident of the apartment the detectives had mistakenly approached when trying to serve a warrant to Glen Holton. Pembleton, Bayliss and Mitch Drummond search Pratt's home, his parents' house and his workplace before tracking him down in a massage parlor. Meanwhile, Bolander, Felton and Howard are in various stages of recovery following their surgeries. Munch and Bolander's ex-wife stay with Bolander to keep him company; he seems fine after his first surgery but awakens after his second surgery with no memory of who Munch is.
The detectives alternate interrogating Pratt, who reveals himself to be a racist loner pretending to be a highly educated intellectual with a grudge against the concepts of government and society. Bayliss, however, finds Pratt's high school records and discovers that his intellectualism is a ruse. Hoping to rattle a confession out of him, Pembleton tricks Pratt into attempting to translate a passage from Plato, but unlike Pembleton, Pratt cannot read the original Greek, and his radical misinterpretation of Plato's words reveals that he is a fake. Unfortunately, this strategy backfires on Pembleton when an angered Pratt demands a lawyer. The attorney arranges Pratt's release, leading to rising tensions within the homicide unit and a physical altercation between Munch and Pembleton. In the episode's epilogue, Bayliss is called to a crime scene and discovers that Pratt has been shot; reporters question Bayliss whether a police officer seeking revenge for the shootings may have been responsible.
Cultural references
[edit]While searching through Pratt's apartment, the police discover a photograph which echoes Lee Harvey Oswald's infamous "backyard photos," with Pratt himself mimicking Oswald's pose.
References
[edit]1. Kalat, David P. (1998). Homicide: Life on the Street: The Unofficial Companion. Los Angeles, California: Renaissance Books. ISBN 1-58063-021-9.
2. Bonner, Lee. (2003). Homicide Life on the Street - Season 3 (episode "End Game"). [DVD]. A&E Home Video.