return to Due South: season 1 episode 16 "The Blue Line"
The Blue Line
air date March 8, 1995
Scene 1
Fraser and Vecchio are in the replacement Riviera.
FRASER: You really should be setting an example, Ray. I mean, you stand for the rule of law, and — there! You just did it again!
VECCHIO: Did what?
FRASER: You know perfectly well what.
VECCHIO: No, I don't.
FRASER: You just made a turn without indicating.
VECCHIO: I wouldn't do that.
FRASER: You just did.
VECCHIO: You're seeing things.
FRASER: I'm not seeing things, Ray. You made a left hand turn at that intersection and you didn't even — there! You just did it again!
VECCHIO: [with a tiny smile] Did what?
FRASER: Perhaps I'm reading too much into matters, but it would appear that you're doing this on purpose.
VECCHIO: Ah, it really annoys you, doesn't it?
FRASER: I just don't think it's very safe. [Diefenbaker rumbles.]
VECCHIO: Hey, hey, hey, hey, you're slobbering all over the upholstery. I just got this car. [Diefenbaker rumbles again.] What are you, safety dog?
FRASER: It's not your driving habits, Ray. Look, look. [He points to a man going into a liquor store.]
VECCHIO: What is it? A crime going down? Dispatch, this is Detective Vecchio — [Diefenbaker barks.]
FRASER: Mark Smithbauer.
VECCHIO: You want me to report a hockey player?
FRASER: Well, he's a very big fan. [Diefenbaker rumbles.]
VECCHIO: Yeah, well, what does he want? His autograph?
FRASER: It'll just take a little while. [to Diefenbaker, who is rumbling] You stay here, I'll get it for you. [to Vecchio] He'd only embarrass himself.
VECCHIO: You gotta be kidding me. [into the radio] Just a radio check, Dispatch. [He gets out of the car with Fraser. Diefenbaker barks.] I'm guessing you two don't meet a lot of celebrities.
FRASER: Well, we were inspected by the Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner of the RCMP once.
VECCHIO: Oh, that must have been pretty special.
FRASER: Mm-hm.
VECCHIO: Now, I meet celebrities every day, and you can't make a big deal of it.
FRASER: Really? Like who?
VECCHIO: Ah, plenty of celebrities. Big celebrities. Lou Ferrigno, for one. Point is, they're people just like you and me, only they're a lot richer, nastier, and more obnoxious. Hey, not Lou, he's a prince, but the others. [They go into the store, passing a black sedan parked in front of a fire hydrant outside.]
FRASER: Well, people like to talk about famous people, Ray, and it's not always good.
VECCHIO: Well, it's not always wrong.
FRASER: I'll just be a minute.
VECCHIO: Fine. Don't make a big deal of it.
Vecchio pretends to look at magazines; Fraser goes to meet Smithbauer. A man with a mask and a gun rushes in.
ROBBER: Everybody down! On the floor! On the floor. [People scream and get down. Vecchio looks over his shoulder and slowly starts to reach for his gun. Fraser approaches the robber slowly.]
FRASER: This isn't worth it, son. Before you continue, I suggest you consider the consequences. [The robber turns and runs from the store.] There, you see, Ray? Sometimes if you just —
Vecchio tackles him; it turns out practically everyone in the store is armed, and they are all shooting at the fleeing robber. They shoot the windows clean out. The robber gets in the illegally parked black sedan and drives away. Vecchio goes outside to get the plate number. Fraser goes to help Smithbauer up.
FRASER: Hey, Mark, it's okay, you can — [Smithbauer hits him in the face with a bottle and runs. Vecchio comes in and sees Fraser on the floor and Smithbauer going out the back.]
VECCHIO: What a jerk. Man, now I'm going to run him down and bust him.
FRASER: No.
VECCHIO: Why? Because he's a hockey star?
FRASER: No. Because he was my best friend.
I read a thread some time in the past few months on Twitter about what a jerk Lou Ferrigno is, but I can't find it now. Which is a bummer: It was very funny. [Many months later: I found it: Twitter user
ursulav on January 26, 2022: "Okay, you’ve all heard my trampled Neil Gaiman at the nacho bar story, so let me tell you my weirdass Lou Ferrigno story. Right, so I was at a con. A terrible doomed con. A con which was held in an abandoned department store in a small town in North Carolina, organized by a local comic shop that was…ah…peculiar. Somehow or other, the con organizers had convinced Lou Ferrigno, the former Incredible Hulk, to come out, and believed this would be a big draw. Also the guy who played Captain Marvel on Shazam! in the Seventies, and a couple other even more obscure actors. And the local webcomics collective I was in had all gotten free tables, we were young and hungry, etc. Three days in an abandoned Belks will definitely warp your sense of reality. As no one showed up, we eventually started wandering around the back rooms. Very weird. Many old display cases. I liberated some of them in the name of the People’s Republic of Webcomistan. But all that is neither here nor there. I was sitting directly across from Ferrigno. I did not speak to him, nor he to me. He was charging twenty bucks for an autograph, and I did not particularly need one. As only two actual attendees showed up, the con organizer was begging staff to buy his autographs. See, he’d arranged a deal where if he made, say, 5K, then great, but if he did not make 5K, the con would make up the difference. This is how the organizer got him there. Obviously there was no way anybody was making five grand at this con, but the less that Ferrigno had at the end of the day, the more the con would pay him. So he starts, let us say, attempting to disguise his part of the take. And that is how I watched Captain Marvel catch the Incredible Hulk stuffing twenties into his socks. The comic shop went out of business, the con organizer was exceptionally bitter about how it ruined his life, and to this day, I have an autographed SHAZAM! photo pinned to my corkboard in my studio."]
Credits roll.
Paul Gross
David Marciano
Beau Starr
Daniel Kash
Tony Craig
Catherine Bruhier
(plus Lincoln the dog)
Rick Rossovich, Miguel Fernandes, Tracey Cook, Gordon Pinsent as Fraser Sr.
Yay! Bob's back!
Scene 2
Vecchio rolls through a stop sign.
FRASER: Ray, that was a stop sign.
VECCHIO: I stopped.
A doorman lets them into a very nice apartment building.
FRASER: Thank you. You know, he probably assumed that I was an accomplice.
VECCHIO: You're making a lot of excuses for this guy, Benny.
FRASER: No, I'm not! I'm just giving him the benefit of the doubt. There is a difference.
VECCHIO: What he doesn't need is more benefits. You know what a place like this costs? [Diefenbaker whimpers.] This guy must be pulling down seven figures for playing one of the stupidest sports ever invented. Every time I pick up the paper, he's whining about his knee, complaining about this, moaning about that.
FRASER: Hockey is a very demanding sport, Ray.
VECCHIO: Oh, gimme a break. I was just being polite calling it a sport. [They get on the elevator and press the button for the penthouse.] You know what hockey's like? Hockey is like figure skating with clubs. [Diefenbaker barks.] Hey, you want an autograph, shut your yap.
A, hockey is nothing like figure skating, with or without clubs; B, figure skating is also very physically demanding. I know who needs to shut his yap, and it isn't the dog.
Scene 3
The detectives are talking to Smithbauer in a very fancy apartment.
GARDINO: So we have a masked male of indeterminate height and weight carrying a big gun. Shouldn't be that hard to crack this one.
SMITHBAUER: The guy was trying to kill me.
HUEY: Mm, so you said.
SMITHBAUER: I was two blocks from a police station. Are you people so incompetent you can't even police two blocks?
GARDINO: The man called us incompetent, Huey.
HUEY: Yes, he did, Louis.
SMITHBAUER: You want to know a fact? Every time I take a slap shot I put more money into this economy than you will earn in your lifetimes, okay? You think the city can afford to let something happen to me? What I think is you want to make sure this doesn't happen again.
A WOMAN WHO HAS JUST COME IN: Excuse me.
GARDINO: Who the hell are you?
A WOMAN WHO HAS JUST COME IN: Ah, Dawn Charet, I'm media relations for Mr. Smithbauer. This will just take a second. [to Mark] Shut your mouth.
SMITHBAUER: Someone's trying to kill me and they send these two morons?
A WOMAN WHO HAS JUST COME IN (DAWN): I don't care if they're Chip and Dale, you let me talk to them. That is my job, unless of course you want to completely ruin your career.
VECCHIO: I didn't know you were covering liquor store jobs now, Louie. I thought that would be beneath you.
GARDINO: Lot of things are beneath me, Vecchio. Talking to you is right at the bottom.
HUEY: The man called in attempted murder.
VECCHIO: The man has a serious ego problem.
GARDINO: No one tried to kill this guy?
DAWN: Mr. Smithbauer stopped an armed robbery, that's all. He appreciates your concern but doesn't want this to turn into a media circus.
FRASER: Excuse me.
GARDINO: He appreciates our concern, but does he also appreciate wasting our time?
FRASER: [to Smithbauer] Hi.
SMITHBAUER: What happened?
FRASER: Oh, you mean, uh — well, you hit me with a bottle.
SMITHBAUER: I hit a cop?
FRASER: Oh, actually I'm not a police officer in this —
SMITHBAUER: You're not a cop? That's my problem here. I got no security.
VECCHIO: Yeah, and I bet he doesn't have many friends either.
FRASER: I'm a friend of Detective Vecchio's.
SMITHBAUER: Yeah, right, okay, fine, uh, whatever you need. [He signs a photo with a sharpie.] Who's it to?
FRASER: Uh . . . Diefenbaker. [Smithbauer finishes signing the picture and fucks off. Diefenbaker grumbles.]
Diefenbaker trots off the elevator with his signed picture in his mouth. Fraser and Vecchio follow him.
VECCHIO: Nothing like old friends, huh, Fraser? Good to know that no matter how many years apart you can still get an eight by ten glossy out of him.
FRASER: Well it's been a long time, Ray, and there's no reason to assume he'd remember me.
VECCHIO: Ah, more excuses.
FRASER: He's my friend, Ray.
On Murder, She Wrote, by now we'd know this guy was going to be the murder victim. There's one person sitting in an armchair that we haven't yet seen him be an asshole to, but I bet he has done while we weren't looking.
Scene 4
Welsh is looking at a newspaper in his office. There is a front-page story about Smithbauer heroically stopping the armed robbery.
VECCHIO: After further consideration, I've changed my mind, sir. I do not believe it was a robbery.
WELSH: Liquor store, mask, gun. You think we're jumping to conclusions, do you? [At Vecchio's desk, Fraser points to his own tunic and holds up both hands, then starts looking in a file.]
VECCHIO: Uh, yes, sir, I do. I, uh, the gunman sir, he was wearing a cashmere jacket, and he was driving a black Cadillac. These are kind of expensive things for a two-bit hood, would you not say so, sir?
WELSH: Detective, I'm surprised you haven't picked up on that little-known fact about thieves. They usually don't pay for things.
VECCHIO: Yeah, that's exactly what I said to him, sir.
WELSH: Who?
VECCHIO: Uh, nobody, sir.
WELSH: This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the Mountie, would it? I mean, I think we're perfectly capable of finding enough crime in Chicago without his help. Wouldn't you agree?
VECCHIO: Uh, yes, sir. I totally agree. The Mountie has nothing to do with this, sir. [Fraser ostentatiously opens and closes the file cabinet.] Apparently something was open, sir.
WELSH: Would that be anything in particular? [Fraser holds up a piece of paper on which he has written "the REGISTER".]
VECCHIO: Ah, yes, sir — [Welsh is right behind him where he's looking through the blinds at Fraser.] — it was the, uh, the cash register, sir. He, uh, apparently it was, it was open, sir. He, he made no attempt to go for it, which means, you know, uh, how could he, you know, have, ah, been there to, you know —
WELSH: That would be the register with all the well-armed people around it.
VECCHIO: Yeah, that would be the one, sir.
WELSH: Detective, I think we need to have a discussion.
VECCHIO: Oh, uh, I thought we were, sir.
WELSH: In private. [He closes the blinds.]
I thought the two-hands thing was a signal for "stall him for ten minutes," but then Fraser didn't do ten minutes' worth of snooping; instead he's just feeding Vecchio lines to feed Welsh, like Cyrano de Bergerac.
Scene 5
Fraser and Diefenbaker are outside a community ice rink.
FRASER: Excuse me. Could you tell us where we might find Mark Smithbauer?
GUY: You see a Winnebago around here that looks larger than most single-family dwellings?
The guy gets a hockey bag out of the trunk of his car and leads Fraser and Diefenbaker over to the giant Winnebago. Smithbauer is inside leaning on a hockey stick in the kitchen. It slips.
SMITHBAUER: Henderson, didn't you test these sticks? [The guy, Henderson, drops the bag and leaves again.]
FRASER: I'm afraid they can't offer you police protection.
SMITHBAUER: So what's the deal? They sent a Mountie to guard a national treasure?
FRASER: I'm sorry, no.
SMITHBAUER: Like that somehow surprises me. [He doesn't know why Fraser hasn't left yet.] Anything else?
FRASER: You don't remember me, do you?
SMITHBAUER: Diefenbaker, right?
FRASER: Uh, no, that's my wolf.
SMITHBAUER: Hey, look, I'm sorry, I meet a lot of people, eh? [He starts putting on all his pads and gear.]
FRASER: I understand.
SMITHBAUER: So where'd we meet?
FRASER: Inuvik.
SMITHBAUER: Ah, you gotta be wrong. I haven't been there since — I don't know how old I was.
FRASER: Thirteen. We used to play hockey on the pond behind your dad's barn.
SMITHBAUER: No kidding, huh?
FRASER: Mm. Every day after school. And you'd never let anybody leave. As a matter of fact, when it got dark, you'd pull out your dad's tractor and you'd turn on the lights, and we'd stay there till — till somebody's folks showed up, made us go home and do our homework. Usually it was my grandmother.
SMITHBAUER: You'd think I'd remember something like that, eh? [He has put on a white Away jersey.]
FRASER: Well, you've traveled a long way since then. Oh, uh, I owe you five dollars.
SMITHBAUER: What?
FRASER: When we were thirteen, we made a bet. Who would get his face on a rookie card first. I've been wanting to give this to you for a long time. [He hands him a vintage Canadian fiver.]
SMITHBAUER: You know, that's the only dream I ever had, eh? When my rookie card came out, I went and I bought a dozen. Yeah. First and last ones I ever had.
FRASER: They're worth a lot of money now.
SMITHBAUER: They were when I sold them. [He picks up his gloves and helmet.] Hey, listen, uh, you want to do some moonlighting?
FRASER: I'm sorry?
SMITHBAUER: I need a bodyguard. Maybe you can use the extra money. Twenty-five bucks an hour?
FRASER: Oh, I'm sorry, I, I, I —
SMITHBAUER: Make it thirty.
He leaves the trailer. Fraser puts his hat on and follows after a moment.
They do a decent job beginning to rehabilitate this guy's reputation in this short scene—from "national treasure" (barf) to "the only dream I ever had" is a pretty long way, but Fraser gets you halfway there with the remember-when-we-were-kids stuff and Slider here sells it with his reactions. (I don't care for his enunciation; I'd have assumed he was an athlete who got the gig because he could more or less bumble through the dialogue, but in fact he's a real actor who just kind of mumbles and that's his thing, I guess.) (He is not Canadian, and his use of "eh" does not sound natural to me. 🤷♀️) Anyway, here's a hint that Smithbauer has had some money trouble, because he sold his own rookie cards. But then he basically conscripts Fraser into working for him.
Having moved to Alert from Inuvik when he was eight, and thence to Tuktoyaktuk, Fraser and his grandparents apparently moved from Tuktoyaktuk back to Inuvik before he was 13.
Scene 6
Smithbauer goes out onto the community rink.
SMITHBAUER: Hey, who wants to play some hockey, eh? [The assembled kids cheer.]
GUY (HENDERSON): So, he wants you to be his bodyguard, huh?
FRASER: I believe so, yes.
HENDERSON: Take the money. He loves to spend it.
FRASER: He also seems very generous with his time. It must be a real thrill for these kids.
HENDERSON: I'm sure it's just a happy coincidence that every major newspaper in the city is here covering his altruism.
HOCKEY KID: We're a man short.
SMITHBAUER: Hey, get Barney a pair of skates there.
FRASER: Oh, no, no, I, actually, I haven't played hockey since I —
Smithbauer skates away, and Henderson leads Fraser to the Winnebago.
Another suggestion that Smithbauer has money problems. (Does he call Fraser "Barney" as a reference to deputy sheriff Barney Fife of Mayberry, NC?)
Scene 7
Fraser comes onto the rink kitted out in Smithbauer's spare gear, including a red Home jersey. Diefenbaker barks. Fraser and Smithbauer face off; Fraser drops the puck; and they're off. Music cue: "Hockey Night in Canada." Smithbauer scores a goal. Everyone cheers. Smithbauer waves to the cameras. Fraser has the puck; Smithbauer blocks him aggressively and he goes down hard. Diefenbaker barks.
FRASER: It's all right, Dief.
Fraser steals the puck and takes a shot; the goalie blocks it, but a kid on Fraser's team gets the rebound and scores.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Dawn, do you think you can make him come a little closer?
DAWN: Mark! Stay in front, Mark!
Smithbauer nods and keeps the puck. He is swarmed. A kid in a blue sweatshirt is wide open, but Smithbauer does a lot of fancy skating and never passes to him.
BLUE SWEATSHIRT: I'm open! Mark! Mark! Over here! I'm open! Over here, Mark! I'm open! Pass the puck! Over here! Mark, I'm open!
A kid on Fraser's team shoulder-checks the kid in the blue sweatshirt.
ANOTHER PHOTOGRAPHER: Thanks, Mark!
DAWN: That's it, Mark. [Smithbauer is leaving the ice.]
BLUE SWEATSHIRT: Hey, Mark, where are you going?
SMITHBAUER: Game's over, kids.
FRASER: You had quite a game going, Mark. Seems a shame to cut it short.
SMITHBAUER: They can play without me.
FRASER: But they're here because of you.
SMITHBAUER: Thousands of kids play hockey in this city. These ones have had their thrill. See Dawn. She'll make sure you get paid.
Aaand he's back to being a jerk.
Looks like both actors did a lot of their own skating, though I'm sure the checking and falling was left to stunt guys.
Scene 8
Fraser is in Dawn's office looking at Smithbauer's mail. He turns over a note that says "Dear Mark, My name is Sam. I am seven years old. How old are you? My mom says I am special. I think you are special too. I love you. Yours truly, Sam. XO" Aww. Behind it is a crayon drawing of Smithbauer in his red gear.
DAWN: And that's just from today. So you're a friend of Mark's, huh?
FRASER: Yes, ma'am.
DAWN: You know, it simply doesn't make any sense for someone to want to hurt Mark. I mean, he's a hero, one of the few this country has left, and I work too damn hard and get paid too damn well to make sure he stays that way. Have you ever done any product endorsements?
FRASER: Not that I'm aware of, no.
DAWN: [She looks critically at Fraser.] Has anyone ever told you that you have phenomenal bone structure?
FRASER: Yes, a starving Inuit. Ms. Charet, if nobody intends to hurt Mark, then I'm quite probably wasting my time.
DAWN: Well, it's his money to waste.
FRASER: Oh, I have no intention of taking his money.
DAWN: [Still examining his face.] You don't have a bad side. Sign with me, and I'll make you a very rich man.
FRASER: Ma'am, if there is someone out there who means to harm Mark, then as you say, we may lose a hero, and I don't think we can afford that.
DAWN: You're serious.
FRASER: Yes.
DAWN: [goes to a filing cabinet] I don't want any police involvement.
FRASER: If there has been a threat to Mark, then the authorities should be alerted.
DAWN: No. [She pulls out a file.] If I give you this, it goes no further. News of one nutcase can cost a guy like Mark a fortune in endorsements. Those are my terms, Constable.
FRASER: All right.
She gives him the file. On the top is a typed note: "YOU HURT MY KID. YOU HURT THE SPORT. NOW IT'S YOUR TURN TO HURT."
DAWN: I figured it was just some kook. Nothing dangerous, right?
The second page says "I WAS THERE. I SAW IT. YOU CAN'T HIDE."
FRASER: Thank you, ma'am.
DAWN: Uh, one more thing. My card. I really could do wonderful things with you.
Fraser is not uncomfortable with this woman's attention to him as much as he is unimpressed. Maybe because her attention is plausibly professional rather than entirely social. Like, he's still not interested, but he has something else to focus on, so he's not a complete stammering wreck.
Scene 9
Fraser has brought the file to the 27th precinct.
FRASER: Well, yes, officially it is off the record, but I thought you'd be concerned.
VECCHIO: I never get unofficially concerned.
FRASER: Well, what I was hoping is that your forensics people could check the letters out —
VECCHIO: What's the matter, haven't you tasted everything yet?
FRASER: Ray, the writer of this letter keeps referring to something that hurt the sport.
VECCHIO: Yeah, look, I got a ton of work. Forensics has got a ton of work. Go do something else.
FRASER: I understand, Ray. [He gets up and walks away, then comes back and sits down again.]
VECCHIO: What?
FRASER: These kind of letters are usually solo efforts, but this writer keeps saying "we saw."
VECCHIO: Look, everybody in Chicago sees every move this guy makes, all right? Half of his life's been televised.
FRASER: That's it. Thank you, Ray. [He goes.]
VECCHIO: Hey, Benny!
Fraser has left the file behind. Vecchio is frustrated.
Okay, did Fraser not just finish promising Dawn he wouldn't involve the police? I know he's made promises he shouldn't have made before because he should have known he wasn't going to be able to keep them, but this sure looks to me like he deliberately went ahead and did the opposite of what he promised her he would do. Which is new.
Scene 10
Fraser and Diefenbaker are watching hockey with a megafan.
PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER: Chicago playing a physical game so far, that's Smithbauer up —
MEGAFAN: Lucky for you I kept all these games, huh?
MEGAFAN'S WIFE: [brings in a big bowl of popcorn] Yeah. Real lucky.
Fraser and the megafan both reach for the popcorn without looking away from the screen. The wife opens the door.
VECCHIO: Excuse me, ma'am. I got a note that the Mountie — hey, Benny.
MEGAFAN: Come on in, Detective.
VECCHIO: Hey, how you doing?
MEGAFAN: Shh.
VECCHIO: Well, twelve straight hours of hockey seems like a bit much even for you, Fraser.
MEGAFAN: Fourteen.
VECCHIO: Yeah, while you guys've been wasting your time here, I've been down at the forensics lab wasting mine.
FRASER: No prints?
VECCHIO: Too many. Dozen or so postal workers and four or five people down at Smithbauer's PR office.
MEGAFAN: Shoot, you jerk!
VECCHIO: The guy can't hear you. The game was played over two weeks ago.
MEGAFAN: Your friend know nothing about hockey? [Fraser shakes his head but doesn't look away from the screen.]
PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER: Smithbauer has it again, through the goal crease — oh, and he —
MEGAFAN: Aw jeez, he should have shot.
PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER: He loses possession back of the net, and New York able to take the puck and clear it —
Time passes. Fraser and the megafan are still watching. Vecchio has dozed off.
PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER: Two minutes to go in regulation. This game's tied up at two. Smithbauer, right wing side, over the blue line, what's up! [Smithbauer's stick is broken. He is frustrated.] Well, that puck goes nowhere. New York able to clear it out to center. [Smithbauer is getting into it with an angry fan. The crowd is booing.] Oh, Mark, there's no place for those kind of childish antics in this game.
Fraser gets up and grabs his jacket. He wakes Vecchio and takes the tape out of the VCR. He puts another one in for the megafan to watch and puts the one they just finished in a case to take with him.
PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER: Cleared out to the blue line, and —
VECCHIO: So we solved the case?
FRASER: Maybe. Thank you, Mr. Brewer.
Fraser and Vecchio leave. Diefenbaker stays with the megafan (Mr. Brewer), who is still fixated on the TV.
PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER: Schaffer into the blue line and inside the zone. Schaffer in on Goldbach and scores!
Has anyone wandered in who is too young to remember what a VCR was?
Scene 11
Fraser and Vecchio are walking down the stairwell in Fraser's building.
VECCHIO: Sixteen thousand fans screaming in unified hatred against one man and you think you heard what one of them said?
FRASER: No, I think I saw what one of them said.
VECCHIO: Like that's easier.
FRASER: I suppose not.
VECCHIO: All right, we'll take the tape down to the lab. Those tech nerds can do unbelievable things. You point to the seat, and they'll cut out every other voice in the arena. [He realizes Fraser isn't with him anymore.] Fraser!
FRASER: Up here, Ray.
Vecchio heads back upstairs.
So apparently Mr. and Mrs. Brewer live in Fraser's building. That's probably why it's okay for Diefenbaker to stay and watch more hockey? I'm glad he's getting to have positive relationships with his neighbors instead of their just slamming doors in his face all the time.
Scene 12
Fraser and Vecchio are watching the hockey tape in another person's apartment.
VECCHIO: I thought you read lips.
FRASER: Oh, not like she can. [The neighbor they are sitting with is looking at the TV through opera glasses.] Grace loves the opera, but she can't afford to sit close.
PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER: Two minutes to go in regulation . . .
VECCHIO: Yeah, but she's deaf.
FRASER: Well, that doesn't mean she can't enjoy good music.
PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER: What's up! Well, that puck goes nowhere.
VECCHIO: Really? Oh, I thought it did.
PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER: . . . clear out to center. Oh, Mark, there's no place for those kind of childish antics in this game.
GRACE: Looks like "You hurt Mike" somebody. It's tough to make out. [Fraser rewinds the tape.]
PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER: . . . childish antics in this game.
GRACE: No, no, it's "You hurt my kid."
FRASER: [stops the tape, waits for Grace to face him] Thank you.
VECCHIO: [leans forward, shouts in Grace's face] Yes, thank you very much.
He leaves. Grace signs something to Fraser.
FRASER: No. Not once you get to know him.
I do not sign and can't even accurately describe the signs Grace uses, but anyone who can is positively encouraged to come in and tell us what her question was.
Scene 13
Fraser and Vecchio are on the sidewalk.
VECCHIO: So great, we got our man. Now all we gotta do is ID him. I'm gonna take this video down to the lab, and they're gonna — Fraser! [Fraser is not with him. He's halfway across the street.]
FRASER: This way.
Vecchio follows him to a video store. They are showing the tape to the clerk there.
FRASER: That's it. [The clerk pauses the tape.]
CLERK: Blowup. Nineteen-sixty-six. Antonioni.
VECCHIO: [comes up to the counter with a tape] Oh, I love that movie. Travolta, right?
CLERK: [unimpressed] No, that was Blow Out. [to Fraser] Blowup is this great movie about a photographer who accidentally takes a picture of a murder. But he's not exactly sure of what he has, right? So he blows up the photo to figure out what's going on. It's a great movie. I have no idea what the Yardbirds are doing in it, though.
FRASER: Would you be able to do that for us?
CLERK: Sure, yeah, but it's not going to do any good. Excuse me for a second. [to another customer] Sir, you, uh, don't want to rent this film. The director didn't even get a cut. [back to Fraser] Now, ah, Antonioni was working with film. You guys are stuck with tape. Seven hundred and twenty pixels across, and if you have fifty people to the screen, that's fourteen pixels per face, which means you're looking at like two pixels per nose, and no matter how much I blow up the image, each nose is going to look like, uh, two little dots. It's going to be pretty hard to distinguish between two noses if they look like, uh, two little dots.
FRASER: All I need to know is how far his seat is from the aisle.
CLERK: Mm, that I can do.
He starts printing them blow-ups of their screenshots.
This is like the only cop show that has ever admitted that you can't just "enhance" your way to clearer images from surveillance video (for example). (Blowup; Blow Out.)
Scene 14
Fraser and Vecchio are in the car. Fraser is looking at the printouts; Vecchio is on the radio.
VECCHIO: Elaine, section C, row twelve, seat seven. I need to know if it's owned by a season's ticket holder.
They are at an apartment door. Vecchio has his gun drawn. He knocks.
VECCHIO: [bellowing] Police!
There is no answer. Fraser gets behind Vecchio so Vecchio can brace against him to kick the door down.
KID: Let me see your badge. [Vecchio does not kick the door down. He holds his badge up to the peephole. The door opens.] Hello?
FRASER: Hello, son. Is your father home? [The kid shakes his head.]
VECCHIO: Do you know where he is?
KID: He said he had something for Mark.
That kid is too small to have seen that badge through that peephole.
Scene 15
A scrimmage is taking place at the ice arena. Someone is moving slowly through the stands. He is picking trash with a stick into a bag on a stick, but he is glaring at the ice. The Riviera pulls up outside the building with its light spinning on the dash.
VECCHIO: This building is designed for quality sightlines. Sixteen thousand perfect shots.
FRASER: You get the players out of the line of fire, I'll search the building. [They rush inside.]
Vecchio is ushering the players to the locker room. The janitor guy is now in the corridor.
VECCHIO: I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but you'll be back on the ice as soon as we get the necessary security measures in place.
SMITHBAUER: What's going on?
FRASER: I'll be right with you.
VECCHIO: He's all right.
FRASER: He's not upstairs, but a security door appears to have been tampered with.
The janitor guy is getting something out of a bag. Fraser looks at his list and realizes this guy doesn't belong here. The guy is walking toward Smithbauer. Fraser and Vecchio run after him. He sees them coming and runs down toward the ice. They chase him. He drops a broken stick on the floor by the tunnel and gets the door open. Fraser and Vecchio follow him onto the ice. All three of them run and slip; Fraser tackles the guy and all three of them go sliding.
VECCHIO: Not too smart using a stick to attack a player in full gear.
JANITOR: I wasn't attacking him!
VECCHIO: Yeah, and I'm not arresting you, either.
JANITOR: Look, I just wanted to put it in his face! He, he, he can't do that and get away with it.
VECCHIO: Do I look like I'm interested? You have the right to remain silent. Why don't you use it?
JANITOR: Where's the stick, man? See for yourself. I mean, it was scored, right where he broke it. In a straight line, man. Why do you think he threw it away?
Vecchio leads the guy off the ice. Fraser goes off another way and meets Smithbauer in the tunnel toward the locker room.
SMITHBAUER: So did you get the guy?
FRASER: Yes. The stick he attacked you with —
SMITHBAUER: It was right here. [There is no stick.]
TEAMMATE: Didn't see it.
SMITHBAUER: Maybe someone picked it up. I'll ask around, eh?
FRASER: His son was hit by a broken stick you threw at him.
SMITHBAUER: Really? Why didn't somebody say something?
FRASER: I think he tried. He also said you cut your own stick.
SMITHBAUER: Why the hell would I do that?
FRASER: I don't know.
SMITHBAUER: Hey, sticks break every day and in every way you can imagine, okay? I'm sorry about his kid, I would have sent him a jersey or something, but the guy's a wacko. He comes at me with a stick and I'm supposed to, like, take him seriously?
FRASER: Mark, I —
SMITHBAUER: Are you saying you believe this guy? Is that what you're saying, huh? Look, you're not being paid to care about nuts. You're suppose to be watching after me. Where the hell were you, anyway?
FRASER: I think you're laboring under a misapprehension. I'm not taking your money. I'm doing this as a friend.
SMITHBAUER: Friends I got plenty of, okay? I got people I shook hands with once and all of a sudden I'm their best buddy. I don't need any more friends, I need someone I can count on. I need a bodyguard! Now if you're gonna do this job, just do it and shut up, okay?
FRASER: I'm afraid I can't do that. [He starts to walk away.]
SMITHBAUER: Yeah, well, that's what I figured, pal.
FRASER: Well, if he's the man you're worried about, then you don't really need me, do you?
Smithbauer goes into the locker room. Fraser leaves. Later, outside the arena, Smithbauer hears a car start up just as he walks by. It speeds up to hit him, and at the last second he dives between two parked cars. The car chasing him, a black sedan, bounces off one of them and speeds away. Another car comes around a different corner and follows it. Smithbauer watches them both. He is scared.
Aren't most big-league athletes much more concerned when kids get hurt in the stands? I'm not going to link to stories of kids getting plonked by foul balls, but baseball players have been inconsolable over such things. Even if they don't care about injuring other people's children, it seems like most of your professional sportsball men know how their bread gets buttered; the kids are the fans they ought to care about the most. I think Smithbauer might just be an asshole.
Scene 16
Smithbauer is at the 27th precinct.
SMITHBAUER: You saw what happened with the car. How the hell do you explain that?
GARDINO: Oh, you want to report an accident? Well, that's downstairs. This is major crimes.
SMITHBAUER: He came right at me.
HUEY: Look, we arrested the guy with the stick. Guess what? He was in jail when this happened.
SMITHBAUER: Then it's obviously somebody else, isn't it?
GARDINO: Yeah, well, if we arrested everybody who hated you, we'd pretty much have to shut down this city.
SMITHBAUER: Yeah, well, it's your job to protect me.
GARDINO Well, we seem to have a difference of opinion. Now, watch this closely. Case open — [closes file] — case closed. Want to see it in slow motion?
SMITHBAUER: You know, if this was anyone else on the team, you'd be on them around the clock.
GARDINO: Ironic, isn't it?
Huey and Gardino sit back in their chairs. Smithbauer storms out of the interview room.
Well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of my own actions.
Scene 17
Diefenbaker is lying on the rug. Fraser is sitting up in bed reading his father's journal.
BOB FRASER (VO): Three days after the robbery, I had Mewett cornered near the base of Copper Canyon. Mewett wasn't a strong man, but he didn't have to be. He had a gun, and I had lost mine while falling fifty feet down the canyon wall. To be a free man, Mewett only had to do one thing: kill me. They say that every man has a price at which he'll do anything. I like to think it's the other way around. Every man has a line — a line he won't cross over, no matter what the cost. The only problem was, I didn't know exactly where Mewett's line was, and neither did he.
Diefenbaker barks. The door opens.
SMITHBAUER: Hello, Ben. [Fraser is surprised but doesn't get up. Smithbauer comes into the apartment.] You live like this? [Fraser looks at his apartment and back at Smithbauer. He still doesn't speak.] Um. Somebody's still after me.
FRASER: [sits up] You should go to the police.
SMITHBAUER: Yeah, I did. They aren't big fans of mine.
FRASER: You don't seem to engender friendship, do you?
SMITHBAUER: Well, in my experience, friends stay around only long enough to see you get what they think you deserve.
FRASER: Maybe so.
SMITHBAUER: I need your help.
FRASER: I really can't help you —
SMITHBAUER: Looks like I'm not the only one who's changed, eh?
FRASER: — unless you tell me the truth.
SMITHBAUER: I don't know what's going on, Ben. I really don't know. [Fraser sits quietly.] Okay, look. It was a couple weeks ago. I was approached by two men who wanted me to throw a game. They wouldn't take no for an answer. They've been after me ever since.
FRASER: The February twenty-sixth game?
SMITHBAUER: Yeah.
FRASER: I watched the tape. You know, you had a better shot when you were thirteen.
SMITHBAUER: Well, I'm thirty-four now, okay? I'm slowing down. My shot's starting to go. I've blown my knee out so many times I can hardly walk without a brace. Next time will probably be the last time.
FRASER: Some people might consider that to be strong motivation to take the money.
SMITHBAUER: Did you watch the end of the tape? You watch the last four seconds? I scored — I scored the winner unassisted. That's not too smart a thing to do if I'm trying to throw a game, is it?
FRASER: I think you should stay here tonight. [Diefenbaker whines.]
SMITHBAUER: Here?
Mid-30s is pretty old for a hockey player. It's not at all surprising that he's slowing down.
Scene 18
Fraser and Smithbauer are hanging around in Fraser's apartment. Fraser has given Smithbauer the bed; Fraser himself is on the bedroll on the floor.
FRASER: So how's your dad?
SMITHBAUER: Oh, he's great. I bought him a house up there at Sullivan Lake. I go home every Christmas unless I've got a game. [He looks at Diefenbaker.] Can you make him stop staring at me?
FRASER: No, I'm afraid that's impossible.
SMITHBAUER: Hey, I'm sorry about your father.
FRASER: You heard about that.
SMITHBAUER: Yeah. Yeah. You remember Henry Duckett?
FRASER: Yeah.
SMITHBAUER: He dropped by when I first got into town. He couldn't wait to talk about old times.
FRASER: I thought I heard he was in prison.
SMITHBAUER: Yeah. Real estate fraud. I was just one of a long list of friends. You know what I miss?
FRASER: What?
SMITHBAUER: Looking for a puck in a snowbank.
FRASER: You could drive it eight feet in.
SMITHBAUER: That was packing snow too.
FRASER: You know, I used to think you'd miss the net on purpose just to see how far you could drive it into the bank.
SMITHBAUER: You know, when you came by, I remembered you, you know that.
FRASER: I know.
SMITHBAUER: Yeah. [to Diefenbaker] You're too much. [He lies back. After a moment:] I can't sleep.
FRASER: What is it?
SMITHBAUER: It's seven p.m.
Sullivan Lake is about 350 miles north of Toronto, a few miles into Ontario from the border with Quebec. There's also a Silver Lake in Ontario maybe 60 miles southwest of Ottawa and a Sylvan Lake in Alberta about halfway between Calgary and Edmonton.
Which of these is the one Mumbles is actually talking about? (And to me, "home" is your parents' house, or at least your parents' town or city, if and maybe only if it is also where you grew up. Smithbauer was a young teenager in Inuvik, so unless they moved to S___ Lake when he was 14 or 15, I don't feel like visiting his dad in the house he bought for him there is "going home." But that might just be me.) Answers on a postcard.The sorry-about-your-dad bit is a nice moment. Mind you, it seems like someone who was Fraser's best friend 20 years ago might have dropped him a note when he heard his father had been murdered. I realize friends fall out of touch and it's hard to know what to say, but if Smithbauer heard about it, the opportunity to reach out was there. (On the other hand, the tone in which he says "Yeah. Real estate fraud" is pretty funny.)
Scene 19
Fraser and Smithbauer are back at the arena. Smithbauer is on the ice; Fraser is in the seats. Vecchio is on his way down to join Fraser.
SMITHBAUER: Hey come on, get on the ice. I found some extra skates, don't you want to play?
FRASER: No, thanks anyway. I'm still a little sore from the last time.
VECCHIO: [sits next to Fraser] Okay. Turk Broda, big-time bookie. Matches description, same with the car. But do you really believe his story?
FRASER: Of course.
VECCHIO: Nah, something's not right here, Fraser. Once Smithbauer told Broda that he wasn't going to take the money, Broda wouldn't have bet on the game. Either someone else is after him . . .
FRASER: Or?
VECCHIO: Or he took the money.
FRASER: No, you're wrong, Ray. I know this man.
VECCHIO: You knew this man. People change, Fraser.
FRASER: Not who they are.
VECCHIO: Lots of things change people. Success, the money, the city. When did you last see him?
FRASER: We were thirteen.
VECCHIO: Puberty changes people.
FRASER: You don't know this man, Ray. Hockey's all he ever wanted. He'd never cross that line.
VECCHIO: All right.
Vecchio leaves. Fraser watches Smithbauer practicing.
Iiiiii don't know, I feel like Vecchio's is the more solid logic here.
Scene 20
People are in a room with a lot of TV screens keeping track of a lot of sporting events. Vecchio comes in; someone meets him at the door.
VECCHIO: Where's Broda?
A VOICE FROM INSIDE THE ROOM: Unless you've got a warrant, Detective, which I sincerely doubt, I'd appreciate if you'd leave my establishment. You're scaring the patrons.
VECCHIO: Yeah, they look petrified. [The owner of the voice—Broda—nods. The guy at the door opens Vecchio's jacket. He starts to take his gun.] Forget it, Smiley.
A VOICE FROM INSIDE THE ROOM (BRODA): Let him keep it. He ain't gonna do anything stupid in here. [Vecchio comes over and sits at the table with him.] So talk.
VECCHIO: What happened? You get cleaned out already?
BRODA: Oh, no, no, I never gamble, Detective Vecchio. Now what can I do for you?
VECCHIO: Mark Smithbauer. Leave him alone.
BRODA: Why would I be interested in some hockey player?
VECCHIO: You're not going to force him to do anything.
BRODA: Look around here, Detective. You see anybody tied to their chair? Nobody makes anybody do business with me.
VECCHIO: You're telling me you're in business with Mark Smithbauer?
BRODA: Detective, people play poker in my establishments. I'm not greedy. Just take my share of the pots. Someone bets on the home team, hey, I lay off on the visitors. Why would I do anything else?
VECCHIO: Maybe you own the game.
BRODA: No, that's not a smart thing to do. Too many things can go wrong. I found out that people can be very unpredictable.
VECCHIO: Let me give you fair warning. The Mountie's watching Smithbauer. And I'm watching you.
BRODA: Oh, I see. Now you're scaring me too. [phone rings] Now, if you'll kindly excuse me, I have some business to attend to. [Vecchio leaves.] Hello.
HENDERSON: [on the phone] Yeah, they're coming out now.
BRODA: Thank you. [to one of his guys] You fix the car?
HENCHMAN: You bet.
BRODA: Okay.
He drinks his espresso.
Sure, there had to be a reason Henderson was even in this thing.
I'm not sure why Vecchio doesn't bring Broda in for taking a share of the pot, as we've learned that playing poker for real money is always illegal in Illinois, but I guess that's not the point right now?
Scene 21
Fraser and Smithbauer are leaving the arena.
SMIHBAUER: You remember that? Four miles through blizzards to the rink, four miles back home.
FRASER and SMITHBAUER: Uphill both ways.
SMITHBAUER: Let's walk, okay? [to Henderson in the car] Hey, we're going to walk, okay?
HENDERSON: It's twenty below.
SMITHBAUER: Ah, he sounds like your grandmother, this guy, huh? [He jogs around the pillar, maybe kicking a puck.] Hey. Hey! [Fraser tosses him a stick.] What — huh? You don't have a chance, my friend. [Fraser slaps the puck past him.] Hey, hey!
Fraser tosses him the hockey bag and they start to walk home. Henderson is in the car rubbing his hands together. In another car, three guys make sure their guns are loaded and then pull out to follow them.
Scene 22
Fraser and Smithbauer are walking home, hockeying along. Fraser's hat gets knocked off and he puts it back on again. The Riviera slides around the corner and comes sliding at them. They run and dodge out of the way before Vecchio runs over them.
VECCHIO: Controlled skid. Want a ride? Hop in the back.
FRASER: Ah, no thanks, Ray. It's probably safer on foot.
VECCHIO: You got a minute? I need to discuss some business with you. [Fraser looks at Smithbauer.]
SMITHBAUER: Yeah, I'll be, ah, up ahead.
VECCHIO: Spoke to the Turk.
FRASER: Really?
VECCHIO: Look, he told me . . . [Fraser tilts his head; he knows what Vecchio is going to say.] I don't think I scared him off.
FRASER: Well, I appreciate the attempt. Although I do question the legality of it.
VECCHIO: Look, Fraser, remember what I told you what this city does to people.
FRASER: What is it, Ray?
VECCHIO: [sigh] Nah, it's nothing. Listen, I'm just gonna keep an eye on him, all right?
FRASER: Thanks.
VECCHIO: Hey, Benny. Be careful.
FRASER: I will.
Vecchio drives off. Fraser and Smithbauer carry on walking. A black sedan comes the other way; Vecchio recognizes it.
VECCHIO: Damn.
Vecchio does a 180 and slaps his light on his dashboard. The bad guys turn the corner and start shooting at Fraser and Smithbauer. Fraser hustles Smithbauer down an alley. Vecchio returns and parks across the alley. The bad guys shoot out his rear windshield and driver's side window. He gets out of the car, and all three of them—Vecchio, Fraser, and Smithbauer—take cover behind it. Vecchio pops up and returns fire. He gets the bad guys' windows. They shoot another of his windows and also hit body panels.
VECCHIO: Brand new paint job. Classic details. Do you have any idea what windows for a Buick Riviera cost?
FRASER: [swapping hats with Smithbauer] I thought you went home.
VECCHIO: Oh, you're welcome.
FRASER: [to Smithbauer] Give me your jersey.
SMITHBAUER: What's going on? [taking the jersey off]
FRASER: They'll assume that I'm you.
SMITHBAUER: What? [More gunfire; Fraser and Smithbauer are both putting on skates.] You can't outskate a car.
VECCHIO: Yeah, well, he sure as hell can't outskate a bullet.
SMITHBAUER: That bullet is my problem, okay?
FRASER: Your knee. You're not wearing your brace.
SMITHBAUER: Yeah, I just wear it for sympathy anyway.
FRASER: Well, forget it. I always was faster than you.
SMITHBAUER: At what?
FRASER: Lacing. [He puts on Smithbauer's baseball cap.]
VECCHIO: Okay, I'm going to stay here, 'cause I can't skate at all. Okay, I'll cover. Go, go, go, go!
Vecchio lays down cover fire. Fraser and Smithbauer skate out into the icy alley. Fraser, wearing Smithbauer's red jersey, knocks a guy down with his stick. Smithbauer, wearing Fraser's leather jacket, goes around the black car and checks two more guys.
SMITHBAUER: No place for that in the game.
They both skate away. The bad guys get in the car and follow them.
VECCHIO: [into the radio] Shots fired, Twenty-fifth and Wabash, officer needs assistance.
Vecchio follows the black car. The black car is spinning on the ice to keep following Fraser and Smithbauer.
SMITHBAUER: [to Fraser] Stay with me, big guy. [They keep skating.] If we were basketball players, we'd be dead.
VECCHIO: Officer in pursuit of black Cadillac in pursuit of two guys on ice skates. Why is that so hard to believe?
Vecchio's car slides on the ice. Smithbauer and Fraser are still skating. Smithbauer hits a manhole cover and goes down hard, groaning in pain. Fraser skates over to him.
FRASER: You all right?
SMITHBAUER: It's my knee. Ah. Oh, oh. [Fraser looks around. The car is coming. He starts trying to help Smithbauer up.] Go on, go on, get out of here. You can't outskate them carrying me. Go. Come on, go.
FRASER: You're right.
SMITHBAUER: [Wait, is Fraser going to leave him?] What?
Fraser skates. The car is coming. Fraser skates right up to the car and breaks the un–shot out driver's window with the butt of his hockey stick. He lures the car into following him. Smithbauer struggles to his feet and slap shots the puck through the window to hit the driver. The car swerves and crashes into two parked cars. Vecchio skids into the alley and spins out of the way. Two patrol cars slide in; the first one crashes into the Caddy and the second one crashes into the first one.
FRASER: [looking at the pileup] Oh, dear. [He skates over to Smithbauer.] Nice shot.
SMITHBAUER: Thanks.
Between the costume changes and the nighttime darkness, it is very hard for me to follow this scene. I'm sure that's by design, because this will be where the stunt skaters earned their money this week.
Scene 23
Fraser is in a video lab with techies looking at the infamous tape.
PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER: . . . over the blue line, what's up! Well, that puck goes nowhere. New York able to clear it out to center.
TECHIE: Do you want me to skip ahead to Mark's goal?
FRASER: No, thank you. Actually, could you, uh, back it up a little bit? [The techie rewinds a bit.] There.
PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER: New York looking to apply some pressure. Getting the puck in the Chicago zone. That's Kentner on the right wing. Looks for Scott in front of the net, but it rolls into the goal crease. That will be held by Chicago for a face-off. [Smithbauer is over by the sidelines, changing sticks. He makes sure he has the one he wants; Fraser hangs his head.] Coming up to left of their goal. Both teams have played very tight in this hockey game . . .
Scene 24
Fraser goes into his apartment. Diefenbaker is staring at Smithbauer.
FRASER: Evening, Diefenbaker.
SMITHBAUER: He's relentless, isn't he?
FRASER: Unfortunately, yes.
SMITHBAUER: I just came by to thank a friend.
FRASER: You're welcome. [a long pause] You took the money from Broda, didn't you? [He heads for the kitchen.]
SMITHBAUER: [following him] How can you say that? You saw the tape. I scored the winner. What are you talking about? [Fraser slams the refrigerator and glares at him. Smithbauer goes back into the living room. He vaguely pats Diefenbaker. Fraser follows him and leans on the kitchen wall. Smithbauer sits back down.] I needed the cash badly. I didn't think it mattered. I didn't think anything mattered anymore. And for fifty-nine minutes I did exactly what they wanted. And then the crowd started counting down the seconds, I was back on that pond, and nothing in life mattered more than those last nine seconds. It didn't seem to make much difference when I told them they could keep the money. You gonna turn me in?
FRASER: Well, unless Broda testifies against himself then there's no evidence of a conspiracy, so, no.
Smithbauer sits there, miserable. Fraser looks out the window and drinks milk out of the carton.
So Fraser isn't going to turn him in only because there'd be no point—not because he absolves him in any way. Which is vaguely interesting; I think I'd have expected him to turn him in anyway.
Scene 25
Various journalists are leaving the arena. Guys with microphones, guys with cameras. A couple of reporters, one of whom is wearing a tie and one of whom is not, are talking about the press conference they apparently just came from.
NO TIE: Look, the guy had it all, and he flushed it all away. He deserves what he got.
TIE: A lifetime suspension? Are you kidding? This is a sport where you get a couple of games for trying to take a guy's head off.
NO TIE: Oh, jeez. Do you feel bad for the guy?
TIE: Nah, nah, nah, he's a jerk. [They go past where Vecchio and Fraser are waiting at a corner.]
VECCHIO: Let it go, Fraser. People like to talk about celebrities.
FRASER: They're not always wrong. [He starts to walk upstream, heading for the locker room. Smithbauer is there, zipping up his hockey bag.] Hello, Mark.
SMITHBAUER: Hi, Ben.
FRASER: I'm sorry it had to turn out this way.
SMITHBAUER: Yeah. This is the only way it could have turned out.
FRASER: I brought you something. [He hands him a stack of trading cards. The rookie card is on top. Fraser smiles.]
SMITHBAUER: [also smiling sadly] My entire career in cards. That must have set you back a few bucks, eh?
FRASER: Three dollars and fifty cents. Canadian. [smiles again] I got them as they came out. Seeing your face on them made me, ah — made me feel proud.
SMITHBAUER: [handing them back] I, I can't take these, eh.
FRASER: [waves him off] No, no. I'm still proud. Besides, I've got a whole 'nother set of them back at home.
SMITHBAUER: Yeah. [He pats Fraser on the shoulder.] Hey. [He points to something on Fraser's chest, and when Fraser looks, Smithbauer bops his nose. He laughs and claps his hand on the back of Fraser's neck.] Thanks. [He is leaving the locker room.]
FRASER: What are you going to do?
SMITHBAUER: I don't know.
Look, you can't fix games. It was right to ban Pete Rose from baseball, and it was right to ban Lance Armstrong from cycling, and it was right to ban Mark Smithbauer from hockey. I don't care if there are lesser penalties for injuring people on purpose. Cheating is different, and I'm glad Smithbauer turned himself in for it. A tiny sliver of redemption (of his character; he should still be excluded from hockey).
Smithbauer is wearing blue jeans and a leather jacket when he leaves the locker room. I think for the press conference where he must have just announced his wrongdoings, he should have been wearing, if not a suit, at least a coat and tie.
Scene 26
Smithbauer is hitting pucks into a snowbank. A kid is watching him.
NIGHTTIME HOCKEY KID: Hey, if I can find those pucks, can I keep half?
SMITHBAUER: You can't find 'em.
NIGHTTIME HOCKEY KID: Sure I can.
SMITHBAUER: No, you can't, 'cause I won't let you. I'm gonna find each and every one of 'em, and then you can have them all. [starts digging pucks out] There's one. Want me to autograph it for you?
NIGHTTIME HOCKEY KID: Are you somebody?
SMITHBAUER: [pause] Nah. You want to play a little?
NIGHTTIME HOCKEY KID: It's kind of dark, isn't it?
FRASER: Okay, Ray! [Smithbauer looks up. Vecchio turns on his headlights; Fraser hops onto the ice and skates over.] Did you know there are thirty-eight outdoor ponds in downtown Chicago?
SMITHBAUER: I was wondering what took you. Okay, Canadians against Americans, eh?
NIGHTTIME HOCKEY KID: You two Canadians?
SMITHBAUER: Yep.
NIGHTTIME HOCKEY KID: That's not fair.
FRASER: He's right. You can have him. [pointing] He's from the United States. [Vecchio steps onto the ice, scrabbles for two steps, and falls on his face.]
NIGHTTIME HOCKEY KID: Okay. But we get two goals.
SMITHBAUER: We'll give you three, eh?
The four of them play pond hockey by the light of the Riviera's headlamps.
BOB FRASER (VO): As I walked him out of the canyon, Mewett didn't have a thing to say. He almost seemed surprised that he hadn't shot me. It's funny. Some men don't know where their line is until they're committed to crossing it, and then it's usually too late.
The credits have a little play-out flourish and a dedication: "This program is dedicated to the brave hockey playing members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police," with a picture of the 1935–1936 RCMP hockey team, 13 guys in hockey gear and five in uniform. I wonder who they played against? And what happened to inspire this dedication. My best Google-driven guess is something to do with the 1994 Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver after the Canucks lost to the New York Rangers in game 7, but I could be missing something else, so as usual, those with more knowledge are welcome to come in and teach me.
I was really expecting Smithbauer's answer when the kid asked him "Are you somebody?" to be "Used to be," but actually "Nah" is a much better response.
I'm confident the episode title is a hockey reference rather than a police reference. In hockey, of course, the blue line (at either end of the rink) separates the offensive from the defensive zone. A player who crosses the blue line toward the opposing goal before the puck gets there is offside (no matter how many defenders are between that player and the goal, which is a difference from the offside rule in soccer that was very confusing to me for a long time). What with Bob Fraser's journal entries being all about knowing where lines are and not crossing them, I'm sure that's the reference here, and not the idea of the police as a "thin blue line" separating civilized society from anarchy (nor the 1988 documentary that introduced the phrase, itself a reference to the Thin Red Line—at least in part because while the police have kind of always had an us-and-them attitude (see Vecchio's remark "I'm beginning to understand why people hate cops" in "The Man Who Knew Too Little"), the real crybaby Thin Blue Line stuff didn't take off until they starting whining that Blue Lives Matter in response to the Black Lives Matter movement in 2014.
Cumulative body count: 10
Red uniform: At the station when Vecchio is tapdancing for Welsh; at Smithbauer's hockey event, and therefore at the PR agent's office; at Smithbauer's presser; playing pond hockey later that evening
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I don’t think so. I suggest “Why would you want that horse patty?” as the first example, although silly, and “I’m not that good a cop” as the first genuine moment of Oh hey, Vecchio’s actually kind of a hardass (or a badass) when he wants to be.
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I expect it's probably just explained by 20 years apart/Smithbauer's general jerkass attitude, but a whole thing has just unspooled itself in my head about his hearing a news report, including "survived by his son, RCMP Constable Benton Fraser," and thinking, huh, Ben's a Mountie now, no surprise there--that's too bad about his dad, I should send him a card-- Forestalled immediately by the fact that he has no idea where Ben is--but he could find out, couldn't he? Just ask Dawn to get him the info, she'd love that, famous hockey player offering condolences on the death of his old friend's father, a revered member of the RCMP-- And he stops, there, because that's not--that's not what he wants, to drag out those memories and make them part of a celebrity show. He lets the idea drop. It's been twenty years, after all, everything's changed. (He has. And if Ben's changed too...he doesn't really want to know.) Let the past lie.