return to Due South: season 2 episode 5 "The Promise"
The Promise
air date January 11, 1996
Scene 1
Fraser is driving a car with itsy Canadian flags on its fenders. Inspector Thatcher is in the back seat.
THATCHER: If you'd picked me up on time when I told you —
FRASER: Uh, yes, sir, I was, uh —
THATCHER: — instead of driving in endless circles around the Justice Building —
FRASER: Well, there was a No Stopping —
THATCHER: — I would be fully dressed and ready for the theatre instead of half dressed and late.
FRASER: Uh, yes, sir, my apologies —
THATCHER: This is a consular vehicle with diplomatic plates. Nobody's going to haul you off to jail for double parking.
FRASER: Understood. Uh, here are your tickets.
THATCHER: Put them in here. [She is dealing with her earrings; she gives him her bag. In the front footwell, Diefenbaker grumbles.]
FRASER: Shh.
THATCHER: Do you always bring your wolf with you on assignments?
FRASER: Well, he's not feeling very well, so I, I didn't want to leave him alone. Um, if, if he's bothering you —
THATCHER: I don't dislike animals, Fraser. I've had pets. [She is dealing with her makeup.]
FRASER: Really?
THATCHER: Small ones. A dachshund.
FRASER: Ah.
THATCHER: He died. [Diefenbaker grumbles.] Just don't get hair on my seats. There it is.
FRASER: Uh, yes, I see it.
THATCHER: You need to stop.
FRASER: Well, that would appear to be prohibited.
THATCHER: Stop anyway.
FRASER: Certainly.
THATCHER: You're not stopping.
FRASER: No, sir, I'm not.
Thatcher gives an exasperated sigh as Fraser drives past the theatre.
If he was late picking her up for the theatre, she'd have been fully dressed and ready to go long before he got there, so he must have been late to pick her up from whatever she was doing before she had to start getting ready, right? Whatever it was at the Justice Building.
Inspector Thatcher obviously has no prior knowledge of the danger of allowing Fraser to drive a car. (Or of the things people will arrest people for in this town. Milk Duds!)
Scene 2
People are milling around in front of the theatre, so Thatcher can't be that late. A guy is panhandling.
PANHANDLER: Spare change? Spare change? Spare change? Nickels, dimes, quarters? Spare change? Anybody got any spare change? Spare change? You got any spare change? Nickels, dimes, quarters? Could you help me out? Spare change? Spare change?
A guy with a backwards American flag tattooed on his neck goes past the panhandler, across the street, and into an alley. A woman is sitting in the driver's seat of a car looking at a digital address book. The guy with the neck tattoo gets in the passenger side.
WOMAN: Where's Elliot?
FLAG TATTOO GUY: Nice car.
WOMAN: It was a gift. Where's Elliot?
FLAG TATTOO GUY: He decided not to come. I think he's unhappy with you.
WOMAN: Sorry to hear that.
FLAG TATTOO GUY: So is the senator. See, he really enjoyed your services, but you were paid once, and he sees no reason to pay you again.
WOMAN: All right. If he would rather leave this to his press agent.
FLAG TATTOO GUY: I think we can come to some kind of accommodation.
WOMAN: I'm so glad.
The car windows roll up.
No idea who either of these people are, of course, except that neither of them is Elliot and the guy with the flag tattoo apparently works for a senator.
On the subject of the flag being backwards: So according to the U.S. Flag Code, which is a law there are no penalties for violating (it's all "should," no "shall"), the blue canton should always be on the upper (don't fly the thing upside down except to show distress or danger) left side to an observer. Obviously a flag on a pole can often be observed from 360 degrees around, so by "left" we mean on the hoist side. (Apparently, although I can't put my finger on it just now, there's guidance or regulation or something about flag patches on uniform sleeves that the blue canton should always be facing the wearer's front, as if they were running forward and the flag were flying behind them. Do I remember looking this up or asking about it or at least hearing about it when we were all watching Stargate: Atlantis? Because they all had flag patches on their sleeves, didn't they, and McKay's maple leaf and Beckett's St. Andrew's cross (side note: not a Union Jack, you go, Carson Beckett) have vertical symmetry, but Sheppard and Weir and everybody's stars and stripes don't, and neither does Zelenka's Czech flag. Only no, now that I'm looking at it, they all had their flag patches on their left sleeves only, which nicely avoids that issue, because in that case the hoist side of the flag faces both the wearer's front and the observer's left. I must have looked it up when I was more regularly encountering uniformed service members, who wear a flag patch on their right arm, with the blue canton facing their front—which is the observer's right.) ANYWAY. The man with the flag tattoo on his neck has the tattoo on the left side of his neck, and there's a flagpole as part of the tattoo, and the flag is correctly shown with the canton on the hoist side, but it's "flying" as though the wind were coming from behind him. So I don't know, maybe because the pole is there it's all copacetic and the thing isn't backwards at all. To me, though, it looks odd.
Scene 3
Fraser is still driving around looking for a place to let Thatcher out of the car.
THATCHER: There's a parking space right there.
FRASER: Sorry. Handicapped.
THATCHER: Oh. What about that one?
FRASER: Taxi stand.
THATCHER: There's an alley right there.
FRASER: Yes, there is. [He does not drive down the alley.]
THATCHER: Fraser!
FRASER: It's a fire lane, sir.
She does another exasperated sigh. The panhandler is still at it in front of the theatre.
PANHANDLER: Anybody got any spare change? Spare change?
A young man is walking through the crowd. He sees a well-dressed woman not watching where she's going. A girl is behind her. The young man squares his shoulders and bumps squarely into the well-dressed woman.
WELL-DRESSED WOMAN: Oh!
YOUNG MAN: Excuse me. I'm so sorry.
While the young man is apologizing to the well-dressed woman, the girl lifts her wallet out of her purse. The girl turns on her heel and joins the young man walking down the alley. She drops the well-dressed woman's wallet into a bag he's carrying.
YOUNG MAN: Two more.
GIRL: I already did three.
YOUNG MAN: Two more.
GIRL: Sid!
YOUNG MAN (SID): [He stops in front of another young person and holds his bag open; the young person tosses something in.] That's it? [The young person adds something else.] Better. Two more. What are you, deaf? [They all, including another young man smoking a cigarette, duck out of sight as headlights come down the alley.] Come on.
The headlights belong to Thatcher's car.
THATCHER: That's a parking space.
FRASER: Yes, but you will notice the feral —
THATCHER: Constable.
FRASER: Parking. [He stops the car and gets out to open her door.] I'll wait.
THATCHER: [pinning a brooch on her dress] I'll take a cab.
FRASER: Yes, but it — it might rain.
THATCHER: Suit yourself.
She's off to the theatre. Fraser is about to go back to the car when a valet manager or something barrels up yelling at him.
VALET MANAGER: What's the matter, you can't see the diagonal striped lines?
FRASER: Oh —
VALET MANAGER: What, I have to call the tow truck?
FRASER: No, no. I'm sorry. I'll, I'll move it.
VALET MANAGER: Be quick about it.
FRASER: Sorry. [He starts the car and pulls out.]
VALET MANAGER: Yeah, keep it moving.
Fraser drives away past the car where the woman was waiting for Elliot. The man with the flag tattoo on his neck gets out of the passenger seat; the woman is dead in the driver's seat. The man steps away from the car and shoves a garrote down a sewer grate.
I frankly don't see why Fraser couldn't have just slowed down enough for Thatcher to hop out of the car and go on her way. Why'd they have to come to a complete stop and have him open the door like a chauffeur if she's so fussed about being late? Anyway, he appears to have parallel parked in a head-in parking situation that may belong to this blue-jacketed dude and his valets anyway. But the blue-jacketed dude isn't concerned with the throttling that has apparently taken place at the other end of the alley.
Scene 4
The girl who has already picked three pockets is at a pretzel stand grabbing extra sugar cubes. She moves away down the sidewalk, chewing one like candy, and sees the man with the flag tattoo on his neck putting the digital assistant in his jacket pocket. She lines up her trajectory and bumps into him as they pass each other.
GIRL: Oof! Sorry, sir. Sorry. [He looks annoyed at her as he continues on his way. She taps the digital assistant against her palm.] Whoo. One down.
THATCHER: [dodges between taxis onto the sidewalk, then stops] Ugh! My bag. Fraser! [She turns and hurries back to the alley, where the girl steps right out in front of her.] Watch where you're going! [The girl runs off. Thatcher immediately realizes her brooch is gone.] Hey! Hey! Somebody stop that little thief! She stole my brooch! Thief!
SOMEBODY ELSE NEARBY: Stop that kid! Hey! Stop! Hey!
The man with the flag tattoo on his neck pats his pocket and realizes the girl got him too. He runs toward the alley; Fraser almost hits him with the car. Fraser jumps out of the car when he sees everyone running.
PANHANDLER: Pickpockets are everywhere.
FRASER: [nods to the car] Would you mind?
PANHANDLER: No, no problem, I'll drive around and meet you.
The girl runs past posters for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and The Phantom of the Opera. Thatcher is running too. The girl passes a side alley. Sid jumps out, knocks Thatcher off her stride, and follows the girl; the man with the flag tattoo on his neck catches Thatcher before she falls, just as Fraser runs by.
THATCHER: Oh, Fraser, thank God.
FRASER: Be right back.
THATCHER: Fraser!
Sid and the girl and the other couple of kids run down the street and down some stairs. The man with the flag tattoo on his neck runs down the street and looks down an alley. Fraser reaches the same alley a moment later and sees the man with the flag tattoo on his neck running down it. Sid and his gang come back up their stairs and bang through a gate into another alley. Fraser hears the banging and goes in that direction. The gang are climbing up a fire escape. Fraser bangs through the gate. The gang arrive at a rooftop and stand up a makeshift ladder. Fraser climbs the fire escape. The gang climb the ladder to another rooftop.
SID: Go, go! Go on!
They all reach the next rooftop, and Sid knocks the makeshift ladder back down. Fraser reaches the rooftop. Sid and the girl are running along a different passageway now. Fraser stands up the makeshift ladder. The gang duck down a stairwell and go over another ladder off the edge of another rooftop. Fraser runs down the passageway to the stairwell. Sid lands and calls to the girl.
SID: Come on, come on. [She lets go and drops into his arms.] Gotcha. Go!
They are back at ground level and run off. Fraser sees them go and jumps onto a parked van and then to the ground rather than using the ladder. He chases them down the alley, but when he turns a corner, he can't see where they can have gone. The man with the flag tattoo on his neck arrives a moment later.
FRASER: I'm sorry. They're obviously much more familiar with the territory than — [The man with the flag tattoo on his neck turns and runs away.] — sir? [Fraser follows him out of the alley.] Sir?
Fraser doesn't know where the gang or the man with the flag tattoo on his neck have got to. All he can hear is a dog barking.
The girl looks particularly Dickensian, doesn't she? The cap and scarf really contribute to the look. And is she wearing fingerless gloves?
Credits roll.
Paul Gross
David Marciano
Beau Starr
Daniel Kash
Tony Craig
Catherine Bruhier
(plus Lincoln the dog)
Camilla Scott, Amy Stewart, Shawn Mathieson, Sherry Miller, Todd William Schroeder, Diane Douglass, Julian Richings, Warren Sulatycky
Scene 5
A young woman is talking to Detectives Huey and Gardino in an interview room.
YOUNG WOMAN: I waited in the lobby for twenty minutes, and then I took my seat. I assumed Ms. Barclay had been delayed on business. It wasn't uncommon.
HUEY: Were you aware of any particular appointments Ms. Barclay had scheduled last evening?
YOUNG WOMAN: No. I wasn't privy to that kind of information.
HUEY: But you did work for her.
YOUNG WOMAN: We were associates.
HUEY: And she provided you with clientele.
LAWYER: They were associates. I think that's sufficient.
GARDINO: Well, then, as associates —
Vecchio, Welsh, and the gold-badge commander Welsh got smiley at a couple weeks ago are watching this interview through the window. Fraser comes up behind Vecchio.
FRASER: Demantoids.
VECCHIO: What?
FRASER: Demantoids. They're a, a green gemstone. A variety of andradite commonly known as green garnets.
VECCHIO: Lieutenant, is this an interrogation or a first date? I mean, I realize she has a set of — great eyes, but —
WELSH: Do you mind?
FRASER: Apparently the inspector's brooch was a gift and has some particular significance that makes it irreplaceable, so I was hoping you would —
VECCHIO: The book. Ask about the book. Or would that be a relevant question?
GOLD BADGE: [to Welsh] Doesn't he have his own case load?
WELSH: [to Vecchio] Shut up.
VECCHIO: Sir, you don't understand —
WELSH AND GOLD BADGE: Shut up!
FRASER: It's a very attractive brooch —
VECCHIO: [to Fraser] Shut up.
In the interrogation room, the conversation continues.
LAWYER: — very frank and open with her responses, Detective.
GARDINO: We understand Ms. Barclay had a book with names, addresses, and private phone numbers.
YOUNG WOMAN: Most people have an address book.
HUEY: This book is rather exclusive. A lot of names of clients who are somewhat publicity shy.
GARDINO: Especially if it's the wrong kind of publicity.
YOUNG WOMAN: I'm afraid I wouldn't know about that.
GARDINO: We're not asking you to implicate —
Everyone is still observing.
VECCHIO: Come on. Look, Lieutenant, she knows all about the book. She used to be one of Sunny's girls. Most of the guys she spends her evenings with are all over People magazine.
GOLD BADGE: Welsh, does your detective not have a leash?
VECCHIO: Look, Lieutenant, you gotta give me this case. I spent six years in Vice. I know how to handle this sort of thing.
GOLD BADGE: Oh, you're not going near this case, Vecchio! God only knows what names are in that address book.
WELSH: This requires very special handling.
GOLD BADGE: Not your kind of special handling.
VECCHIO: Oh, and what's that supposed to mean?
FRASER: I think, Ray, what the, ah, commander was suggesting is that your methods tend to be a little — how would you put it? Ah —
VECCHIO: In your face?
GOLD BADGE (COMMANDER): Exactly.
WELSH: Commander, have you met —
COMMANDER: The Mountie. Sherry O'Neill. [She shakes his hand.]
FRASER: Benton Fraser. Pleased to meet you.
The young woman in the interview room knows she's not under arrest and that means she's free to go at any time.
YOUNG WOMAN: I'm afraid I have a pressing appointment. If you need any more information, my attorney will give you his card.
Vecchio is big mad about not getting assigned to this case.
VECCHIO: Ohh. I see where this is going. Yeah, why don't we give this to the Duck Boys. They're perfect for the assignment. They don't ruffle anybody's feathers.
The young woman is about to leave the interview room.
GARDINO: Hey. Are those Chanel pumps?
YOUNG WOMAN: Yes.
HUEY: Stunning.
O'Neill and Welsh are still watching.
COMMANDER (O'NEILL): They'll do fine.
Everyone is coming around the corner back toward the squad room.
VECCHIO: Yeah, so this was my mistake, huh? Instead of being out there solving crimes, I should have been attending charm school.
O'NEILL: Does he always whine like this?
FRASER: Well, I wouldn't use the word whine, but he does have an — occasionally — a nasal quality —
WELSH: Yes, he does.
VECCHIO: Is that a sexist remark? Do I detect a little reverse discrimination?
There are reporters in the hallway as the commander is headed up the stairs.
REPORTER: Commander O'Neill, do you have a suspect in the Barclay murder?
O'NEILL: No statements.
Reporters continue to call out questions as uniformed officers hustle them out of the building. Welsh beckons to Fraser.
WELSH: Constable, do you happen to have an insignificant but time-consuming case in your back pocket?
FRASER: As a matter of fact, sir, yes. There's — there's the matter of a street urchin —
WELSH: Oh, perfect. Perfect. Take Vecchio with you.
FRASER: Thank you, Lieutenant.
Fraser heads out.
YOU DO NOT "DETECT A LITTLE REVERSE DISCRIMINATION," VECCHIO, BECAUSE THERE IS NO SUCH THING. (This point is usually made with respect to racism, but you will also not convince me that "reverse sexism" exists in any predominantly male organization like a fucking police department, so Vecchio can shut up.)
Ugh, what the hell else happens in this scene besides Vecchio being a giant man-baby. Okay so—Commander O'Neill is recurring now? Why shouldn't everyone get a new lady boss all at the same time, eh?, I guess. Anyway, the woman who was killed in the teaser was apparently what is often called a madam, that is, a trafficker, and her digital address book probably contained a solid amount of blackmail material, which is what the man with the flag tattoo on his neck—who works for a senator—killed her for. (How we long for the days when lists were kept on the insides of matchbooks, innit.) It's not untrue that Vecchio's methods are sometimes a little (I would have said) brusque, but Huey and Gardino's methods have so far as far as we've seen been a little (I would have said) ineffective, so I think I might not have been as quick as Welsh and O'Neill to insist that Vecchio have nothing to do with this one.
Item: Vecchio has been on the force almost ten years by now, six of them in Vice. This division is apparently Violent Crimes. Also, in June 1986—nine and a half years ago—he was a beat cop. So how long did he walk a beat, when did he make detective, was Vice his first division, and when did he move to Violent Crimes? Was it . . . was it recently enough that that's why he doesn't have another detective as his partner? On top of how they have (let's stipulate) better manners, do Huey and Gardino have seniority?
Anyway, here's what Uncle Wiki has to say about demantoids.
Scene 6
It is slushy outside. Sid and the girl are in Celia's Fine Reusables. The girl is playing with a light-up music box while Sid tries to unload their loot.
CELIA: Naugahyde.
SID: That's leather. Smell it.
CELIA: Naugahyde. Fifty bucks for the lot.
SID: Fifty? It's quality stuff. It's worth twice that much. [The girl is looking at jewelry and watches.]
CELIA: Well, take it or leave it.
SID: What about this? Some kind of computer. It's got to be worth at least a hundred bucks.
CELIA: Korean party favor. I got ten of 'em.
SID: Show her the brooch. [Celia looks interested. Brooch?] Show her.
GIRL: Well, I thought maybe I could keep this one.
SID: No, we need the money.
GIRL: Well, it's mine.
SID: No, nothing's yours. Not until I say.
CELIA: Maybe you ought to listen to your sister.
SID: Somebody ask you?
CELIA: Look at you, Sidney. Look at your hands. Hard to pinch quality stuff, I would say, with those size mitts. Gotta remember where your bread's buttered.
SID: You want the pin or not?
CELIA: [looks at the girl, does her a solid] Can't move it. Take it somewhere else.
SID: Thanks. [to the girl] Come on. Matinee's getting out. [Celia smiles at the girl before they go. The girl smiles back and follows her brother.] Who does the business in this family, huh? Who?
GIRL (SISTER): It's just a stupid piece of jewelry. I don't ask you for much. I don't ask you for clothes or money or anything. Not that you'd give it to me if I did.
SID: You'll get your jewelry when we can afford it.
SISTER: I want it. [She gets in the back of their van.]
SID: Look, fine, you can starve to death. [He is about to get in the driver's seat of the van but goes around and pulls something out from under the wiper blades first. The sister is in the back. She puts the pin in a bag and looks for a minute at a picture of a little kid and a woman at the beach. She puts the picture down, trying not to cry. Sid crumples up whatever was on his windshield and throws it away.] Yeah, right. [A car drives up and honks twice.]
MAN DRIVING THE CAR: How you doing, Sid?
SID: I don't have time for you today, Carley.
MAN DRIVING THE CAR (CARLEY): Well, you better, otherwise I may have to invite you and your sister down to the office for an interview. Now, that would be an official interview. Cost us both time and money.
SID: Come over here. [He steps out of traffic; Carley pulls over to the curb.] Look, I gave you five hundred bucks last week.
CARLEY: That was last week.
SID: Well, I don't have it.
CARLEY: Can you get it?
SID: No.
CARLEY: Look, otherwise I do have an obligation to turn your sister to a foster home.
SID: My sister's staying with me.
CARLEY: Not if you can't afford it. Stay out of trouble, now.
SID: Yeah, whatever. [He gets in the van.] Andie! Today!
As he starts the engine, his sister (Andie) comes up to the passenger seat. They drive away past a coffee shop in which the man with the flag tattoo on his neck is asking about her, because he knows she has the digital address book.
FLAG TATTOO GUY: Brown hair, about this tall. Her mother's worried sick about her. This is a number I can be reached at. [He hands the waitress a phone number and a $20 bill.]
WAITRESS: We get a lot of runaways in here. I'll ask around.
FLAG TATTOO GUY: Thank you.
He leaves the coffee shop.
(Naugahyde again!) So Sid is over 18, apparently, while Andie, his sister, is younger. I assume the picture she's looking at is her and their mom, which makes me very sad. And it seems Sid is paying off the social worker to keep Andie out of foster care, which . . . is about how sympathetic we've found most public servants in this show who weren't Fraser or his immediate associates?
Meanwhile, the senator's employee is lying about why he's looking for Andie. We already knew he was a bad guy, because he killed Sunny Barclay; but now that she's gone, why is it so important to get the digital address book back?
Scene 7
Fraser, Vecchio, and Diefenbaker get out of the Riviera at the theatre.
VECCHIO: There's no way we're gonna find these kids. They're street smart. They live underground. We might as well be looking for a pennant-winning Cubs team.
FRASER: I promised the inspector, Ray. [They head along the alley. Diefenbaker gets back in the car.]
VECCHIO: You promised her? The same woman who's been trying to get you fired for weeks? Does the word sap mean anything to you, Benny?
FRASER: Of course it does, Ray. It's from the Latin sapire.
VECCHIO: It is?
FRASER: Don't be a sap, Ray. [They turn and come back.]
VECCHIO: You don't really know Latin.
FRASER: Bene scire latinas literas difficilimum est.
VECCHIO: Ah, you're making that up.
They are back at the car; Diefenbaker looks very pitiful in the driver's seat.
FRASER: You're babying yourself. You know that. Now, it's only going to make the situation worse. [Diefenbaker whines.]
VECCHIO: Ah, leave him alone. He's sick.
FRASER: Ray, he is my wolf. I believe I know what's best for him.
VECCHIO: How would you know what's best for him? You haven't been sick a day in your life.
FRASER: I most certainly have.
VECCHIO: With what?
FRASER: Various childhood illnesses.
VECCHIO: Such as?
FRASER: The usual.
VECCHIO: Could you be a little more specific?
FRASER: Pinkeye. Both of them. Swelled up like watermelons.
VECCHIO: Pinkeye.
FRASER: [to Diefenbaker] All right. Suit yourself.
VECCHIO: Yeah. My heart's bleeding for you. You know, I hear that pinkeye can be fatal.
FRASER: In the North? Most definitely.
They walk off to continue investigating.
Fraser's Latin pronunciation is not what I'd personally call convincing, but thanks to
ellen_fremedon I can tell you that it probably means something like "Reading Latin letters (that is, literature) well is the hardest thing." ("Sap" is not from the Latin sapire but from Old English sæp and earlier Germanic sapf meaning "sap" as in "juice". Unless its slang usage to mean a gullible or foolish person is a completely different sap, which I suppose is possible.)
Does Vecchio not know that Thatcher has eased up on Fraser a bit after "Witness"? I mean it's still not obvious why she was trying to get rid of Fraser in the first place, as I said; it's not unheard of for an employee and a manager not to be a great fit, but we haven't seen either of them make much of an effort to adapt, have we? Anyway, Fraser was exiled to Chicago, wasn't he ("I'm not all that well liked up there, sir. . . . Pretty much all of Canada, sir.")? So you'd think he'd be eager to return, although who'd want to do it with what would probably be a(nother) blemish on his record, fair enough. I think the Fraser-doesn't-want-to-leave-Chicago angle would be a lot more interesting now if they'd spent a little more elbow grease on a Fraser-wants-to-go-home-to-Canada angle in season 1.
Meanwhile, the famously drought-plagued Cubs won the pennant (that is, the league championship; they went to the World Series) in 2016, and then they beat Cleveland, so in fact my prediction that any Cleveland/Chicago World Series (best of seven, so it takes four wins to finish) would result in the world actually ending after three games because neither of those teams could possibly win for the rest of human history was proven technically wrong—although their both winning their respective pennants in the same year did apparently usher in the Darkest Timeline in which we are currently living, so maybe what we need is another Cleveland/Chicago World Series with Cleveland winning to get out again? (Either that or we need them both to finish dead last in their respective leagues in the same year, but that happens all the time, doesn't it?)
Scene 8
Fraser and Vecchio are investigating the alley.
FRASER: You know, first impressions can be misleading, Ray.
VECCHIO: No, you just have to find the good in everyone, even if you have to manufacture it.
Fraser picks up a paper bag.
FRASER: Look at this.
VECCHIO: [shakes out a bunch of sugar cubes] Ah. Somebody has a sweet tooth.
FRASER: Mmm.
VECCHIO: Did I ever tell you how much I hate it when you go hmm?
FRASER: Mmm. [He shifts a bunch more trash and finds a grate.] Underground. [He starts lifting it.]
VECCHIO: Oh, no, no. I am not going underground.
FRASER: I'll be right back. [He jumps in.]
VECCHIO: Fraser! Fraser! Oh, why do I always let him do this to me? All right. All right, I'm coming. But remember, this is Chicago. If we crawl into this thing, we may never come out. [He jumps —] Ohh! [— he lands. He speaks from underground.] Fraser, where are you?
FRASER (UNDERGROUND): I'm here, Ray. Just follow my voice.
VECCHIO (UNDERGROUND): You see the kids?
FRASER (UNDERGROUND): No.
VECCHIO (UNDERGROUND): The brooch?
FRASER (UNDERGROUND): No.
VECCHIO (UNDERGROUND): Exactly, so let's just turn around.
FRASER (UNDERGROUND): Ray.
VECCHIO (UNDERGROUND): This is a swill pit. You brought me into a swill pit.
FRASER (UNDERGROUND): No, it's not a swill pit, Ray. First of all, swill entails a more pungent odor, and a pit is generally a circular indentation with only one entrance from the top. This, however, fits the definition of a tunnel. A long, straight —
VECCHIO (UNDERGROUND): [clunk] Ow!
FRASER (UNDERGROUND): — correction, a long, meandering tunnel.
VECCHIO (UNDERGROUND): All right, call it what you want. But all I see is dirt and mold and — oh my God. Oh my God, oh, you're not gonna — oh, don't put that in your —
FRASER (UNDERGROUND): I'm just smelling it, Ray.
VECCHIO (UNDERGROUND): Oh, like there isn't enough to smell in here, you have to dredge something up from the sledge?
FRASER (UNDERGROUND): A carrot.
VECCHIO (UNDERGROUND): What?
FRASER (UNDERGROUND): It's a carrot.
VECCHIO (UNDERGROUND): All right, great, it's a carrot. Just drop it.
FRASER (UNDERGROUND): Hmm, it's fresh, too.
VECCHIO (UNDERGROUND): You ate it?
FRASER (UNDERGROUND): Ray, calm down. I'm sure there's nothing in here that's any less sanitary than — ooh. Stay away from that, Ray.
VECCHIO (UNDERGROUND): Out. That's it. Out! Now! Out! [They emerge into daylight through a manhole cover in the middle of a street.] Do you know how many suits of mine you've ruined? Twenty-four perfectly good — [Taxis coming in both directions beep their horns as Fraser helps Vecchio out of the manhole.] — Holy cow! Come on, man, let's get out of here. [He runs to the sidewalk. Fraser replaces the manhole cover and then joins him.] What is it with you? Does dirt not stick to you? Were you Scotchgarded at birth?
FRASER: Hanky?
Andie walks by. Fraser, who is pristine, and Vecchio, who is filthy, don't see her, nor she them. She speaks to a girl who is buying a pretzel with mustard. The two girls head away from the pretzel stand, and the girl with the pretzel carefully walks smack into a man in a leather jacket, mustard-side first.
MAN IN A LEATHER JACKET: Hey! Hey, look what you did.
ANDIE: Oh my God —
GIRL WITH PRETZEL: I'm, I'm sorry — [Andie slips the man's wallet out of his pocket and turns to keep walking.]
MAN IN A LEATHER JACKET: This is genuine leather.
FLAG TATTOO GUY: [is right there to catch Andie before she can walk off] Police. She's a pickpocket.
He tosses the guy his wallet back and hauls Andie away.
Scene 9
Fraser and Vecchio hear Andie scream. They run to follow the sound. The man with the flag tattoo on his neck is hauling her into an alley.
FLAG TATTOO GUY: Where is it? Where is it?
ANDIE: [crying] Please, what, I don't know —
FLAG TATTOO GUY: You stole something from me, and I want it back. [He brandishes a garrote. Andie ducks away from him. He starts to chase her as Fraser and Vecchio come in at the end of the alley.]
FRASER: Stop right there! [The man with the flag tattoo on his neck runs the other way.] You take him. [Vecchio follows the man with the flag tattoo on his neck. Fraser runs out the end of the alley and around the corner. Andie is running along a different alley. Vecchio is chasing the man with the flag tattoo on his neck. Andie is running back to the grate Fraser found earlier. She shifts the garbage and lifts the grate and screams when Fraser comes straight up out of it. He takes her arm.] I'm sorry. I'm going to have to ask you to come with me.
If the guy with the neck tattoo wants his shit back, why would he kill the person who stole it? He doesn't just show her that garrote; he's getting ready to go at her with it. Not the way to recover your possessions, my dude.
Scene 10
Sid and Andie are sitting in the squad room at the 27th precinct. Fraser and Vecchio are at Vecchio's desk. Huey and Gardino come through. Someone shows Thatcher in.
SOMEONE: Right over there, ma'am. [Points to Vecchio's desk; Thatcher nods to thank her and heads over. Fraser rises as she approaches.]
THATCHER: You have my brooch?
FRASER: Well, uh — no, sir.
THATCHER: I see. You brought me down here in the middle of my busy schedule, and you don't have my brooch.
FRASER: The police would like you to help identify a suspect who might have stolen it.
THATCHER: But they don't have my brooch either.
VECCHIO: No.
THATCHER: I thought I made it clear that you're not here to clean up America. This is their problem.
VECCHIO: Well, thank you, I appreciate you pointing that out.
THATCHER: I'm not interested in retribution. I'm interested in results. Even a rudimentary understanding of dealing with criminals would indicate you have a better chance of locating the whereabouts of my brooch with the suspect free to be followed. Or am I mistaken, Constable?
FRASER: Uh, no, sir, you're quite right.
THATCHER: Well, then, get going.
FRASER: Yes, sir. [Thatcher strides out purposefully.]
VECCHIO: Oh, yeah, I'd crawl through a sewer for her any day.
A cop in uniform brings in a box of books and drops it on Huey's desk.
UNIFORMED COP: Cleaned out her apartment. Got every book we could find. Fiction and nonfiction.
HUEY: We're looking for an appointment book with names and numbers of possible suspects, not a good read, officer. [Sid hears this and is interested.]
GARDINO: How long have you been out of the academy? This is useless.
VECCHIO: Cut the kid loose.
FRASER: Ray, the man who assaulted her is the same man she stole from.
VECCHIO: Look, you spend your day picking other people's pockets, you're going to tick somebody off.
FRASER: Well, that's hardly comfort to a fourteen-year-old, now, is it?
VECCHIO: Well, what do you care so much about this kid for? [Fraser looks uncomfortable.] All right. Please tell me this doesn't involve sub-zero temperatures or Inuit legends.
FRASER: No, it does not.
VECCHIO: Ah, of course it does. It always does.
FRASER: Ray, all right. Listen. When I was little, my grandparents took me on vacation to Aklavik.
VECCHIO: What, for a little sun and sand?
FRASER: Oh, hardly. It's a thriving urban center. Anyway, one day I — I wandered off alone when they were window shopping. There I was, all alone in a big city. The point is, Ray, that I became hungry. Very hungry. And I knew no one. I, I had no money. I — I was desperate.
VECCHIO: So you ate a polar bear.
FRASER: Well, don't be ridiculous, Ray. I boiled my shoes. My, my oxfords. My left oxford, to be exact. Boy, did my grandmother ever tan my hide over that one.
VECCHIO: Oh, that's a good one. So what's the point?
FRASER: The point is, Ray, being young and alone is frightening. Without proper guidance, we, we'll do things that are out of character.
VECCHIO: Look, they're petty thieves, you know? They, ah, rob and assault people for nickels and dimes.
FRASER: Ray, will you at least just let me talk to her for a second?
VECCHIO: Okay, okay. But you promise to leave me alone?
FRASER: I promise.
VECCHIO: Okay, go ahead.
FRASER: Thank you. [He approaches Andie.] Excuse me. May I talk to you? [Andie and Sid have been about to leave with their lawyer or advocate, but they sit down again.] The man who accosted you —
SID: [to advocate] Who is this guy?
FRASER: Benton Fraser, Royal Canadian Mounted Police. [to Andie] He was the same man who chased you last night, was he not?
ADVOCATE: Excuse me, are you here in some official capacity?
FRASER: My superior officer has lost something. A brooch.
SID: We don't have to listen to him, right?
FRASER: Your sister has been accosted twice by the same man in the last twenty-four hours.
SID: She's fine.
FRASER: Not if we hadn't been there.
SID: Look, I'm telling you, I can take care of her.
FRASER: I think you probably can, under normal circumstances.
SID: Like I said, ah, do we have to talk to him?
ADVOCATE: No, you don't.
SID: Bye. [He and Andie and the advocate get up to leave.]
FRASER: Excuse me. You forgot your sugar cubes.
ANDIE: Thanks.
They go. The uniform takes the book box off Huey's desk.
Is the advocate who's with them Carley, the social worker Sid's been paying off?
Fraser's soft spot for suffering or unhappy or neglected or endangered children and youth (Willie Lambert, Lucy Pike, Mario Gamez, Lenny Milano, Christina Nichols, Jamie Webber-Whatsit, Del Porter, Walter Sparks [an adult who was an unhappy child], Ian McDonald [likewise], Miss Madison) comes into even more focus. And of course the more we know about his own childhood, the more sense that makes. By now we know his mother died when he was six; he loved his father very much, but his father was never around much before or after his mother died; he lived with his grandparents, who moved him around a fair amount. He had friends, at least as a young teenager, but he was also bullied and spent a lot of time alone as a child. When he was injured (and presumably when he was ill) he may have had adequate care from a treatment standpoint (we have no especial reason to think otherwise) but not the kind of sympathy a child deserves. How does Vecchio know all of this and still ask why Fraser cares so much about Andie? (Maybe Vecchio doesn't know the stuff about Fraser's parents or about how his grandmother cared for him when he was sick or hurt. Fraser may have kept that kind of stuff between himself and his father's ghost. But he knows the rest; we've seen them talk about it.)
Also, here's the first concrete inkling of what Thatcher's problem with Fraser even is: He's acting too much as if he were an officer of the Chicago Police Department rather than a liaison to that department and other stateside law enforcement agencies. Which, fair enough. And "I thought I made it clear" tells us that they have had this conversation, presumably in a performance evaluation setting, probably when he returned from his convalescence and after she'd reviewed his personnel files. So I'm easing up a bit on being annoyed with her.
It's hard to say how little Fraser was when his grandparents took him to Aklavik on vacation, but by 1961, the year he was born, Inuvik was established as the new regional administrative center because Aklavik was flood-prone and bounded by riverbanks so it couldn't expand. Its population was "more than 1,500" before that, but when Fraser was a child—if his mother died in 1967 and he moved with his grandparents to Alert in 1969, let's assume this vacation visit to Aklavik was between those dates—the population of Inuvik, where he'd have been living at the time, was north (ha!) of 2,000 and Aklavik would have fallen below 1,000 and stayed there. "Thriving urban center" indeed.
But okay, so seven-year-old Benton Fraser was lost in the "big city" and alone and hungry, so rather than ask for help (either help getting something to eat or help finding his grandparents; possibly at this point in his life he'd internalized that he was some sort of burden and thought he should be more self-sufficient, which is a terrible thing for a seven-year-old kid to think, but look at his inputs, I'd believe it), he . . . boiled and ate a leather shoe? How'd he do that? Where did he get a pot of boiling water? Couldn't he have tried eating the thing without boiling it first? Once leather has been tanned, is there anything left you can boil (or chew and suck) out of it that will have any calories? And not be poisonous? I mean I guess trying to eat your shoe is a more resourceful approach than sitting down and crying, which is what most seven-year-olds would do in that situation. Anyway, also, a grandmother who tanned his hide for ruining his shoes in that circumstance is not a grandmother who would have any type of softening effect on him, lead him to talking about feelings and emotions, any of that.
Scene 11
Andie follows Sid across the street outside the police station.
ANDIE: Sid?
SID: What? [Andie doesn't say anything more.] What?
ANDIE: Nothing. Nothing. [She gets in the van on the passenger side. He gets in the back and takes the digital address book out of a box.]
SID: This what you stole from that guy?
ANDIE: Yeah, I guess so.
SID: Must be worth something.
ANDIE: No, it's just junk, you heard Celia.
SID: No, it's worth something. Maybe even a thousand.
ANDIE: Well, then, give it to the cop. You heard the Mountie — the, the guy's trying to kill me.
SID: Yeah, since when has a pig ever been straight with us?
ANDIE: Don't we have enough saved up already? Can't we just jet?
SID: No, we need more.
ANDIE: [imitating his voice] We always need more.
SID: Look, we're going, okay? Don't I always do what I say? You want to go back to the foster home? I'm taking care of you.
ANDIE: Yeah. [She gets out of the van.]
SID: Andie? Andie! [She keeps walking away.] Meet me back at Celia's, you hear me?
He closes her van door as she walks off.
Sid doesn't trust the police, which isn't a huge surprise, but he believes what he overhears about the value of this digital object more than what Celia, whom he generally does trust, told him to his face. Kid's not the savviest person in the world, is he, which is also not a huge surprise, because although he and Andie have apparently been on their own for a while (how long?) he's probably only 18 or 19 and went through the same trauma she did to set them out on their own in the first place—he's not ready to be his sister's guardian, is he? Not even really ready to take care of himself.
Scene 12
Andie is feeding a carrot to a carriage horse.
ANDIE: Listen, buster, if you eat all your carrots, I've got sugar cubes for dessert for you.
FRASER: [appearing from nowhere] It's a very good choice. Plenty of carotene.
ANDIE: What's that?
FRASER: It's a red or yellow crystalline pigment, found in carrots, among other things. The body converts it into vitamin A. [He smiles at her.] It's the orange stuff.
ANDIE: Huh.
FRASER: Have you ever ridden in one of these things?
ANDIE: Sid says it's a waste of money.
FRASER: Sid's not paying. [He goes to speak to the carriage driver.] Excuse me. May I? [He hands the guy some cash.] I've had some experience.
DRIVER: Go ahead. But she only moves for me.
FRASER: Really? [He climbs up into the carriage and reaches down to give Andie a hand up as well.] There, come on up. Diefenbaker. [Diefenbaker hops into the back of the carriage with the driver.]
ANDIE: It's a wolf, huh?
FRASER: Yes. His name is Diefenbaker.
ANDIE: Looks pretty sick.
FRASER: Oh, it's just a plea for your sympathy, I assure you.
He makes kissy noises at the horse, and the carriage sets off. Later, they are rolling through a park.
FRASER: So it's just you and your brother, then?
ANDIE: No, we've got family. They've got a big ranch with lots of horses. Um, we're just, you know, hanging out, making a few bucks until we can hook up with them again. You ever been to Wyoming?
FRASER: As a matter of fact, I have. I arrested a man in Wyoming.
ANDIE: Well, then you know where we're going. I'm gonna have my own horse when I'm there.
FRASER: Mm-hmm.
ANDIE: I'm gonna ride it every day.
FRASER: Mm-hmm.
ANDIE: That's why Sid's got us working so hard. He's just trying to get us there.
FRASER: Well, I imagine you'll be leaving quite soon.
ANDIE: Yeah. Pretty soon, I guess.
FRASER: When? A week? A month?
ANDIE: I don't know.
FRASER: It's a big trip. You must have been planning it for a long time. You must talk about it a lot.
ANDIE: Yeah, we talk about it. Well, I, I talk about it.
FRASER: How long?
ANDIE: What?
FRASER: How long have you been planning the trip?
ANDIE: A few months, maybe. More like a year, actually.
FRASER: Ah.
ANDIE: Look, we're going, okay? Sid always does what he says. Always. It's just that — we gotta go together, like we promised.
FRASER: Okay. Here, you want to try this? [He offers her the reins.] Just hold it nice and loose. There you go. That's it.
He watches her driving the carriage. She smiles.
Fraser does have some experience of driving a horse-drawn vehicle, as well as with horses in general. He also has some experience of moving a long way away, in addition to being a lonely kid. I like how he's not trying too hard to draw Andie on this matter, just sitting quietly with her and being calm and supportive. Making general conversation and letting her lead herself to the realization that Sid isn't coming through on this one. Doing it with a literal horse in the scene, and letting her try driving, somehow feels like a nice touch rather than being hit over the head with the metaphor. (I suppose if he'd offered her something to drink that would have been the point where I demanded to be given a break.)
Scene 13
Vecchio is walking through the squad room while Huey and Gardino interview people at their desks. He swipes a file as he goes by.
HUEY: Personally I prefer Myrtle Beach to Martha's Vineyard. You?
GARDINO: Tell me, is that blouse from The Gap?
Vecchio takes his file into the men's room.
Scene 14
Fraser and Andie are returning the carriage to where they began.
ANDIE: So, what do you want?
FRASER: Excuse me?
ANDIE: Well, Sid says people only do stuff for you when they want something, so what is it?
FRASER: Well, you know, the world's a big place. Sid's only seen a little part of it. [He pulls up the horse.] Whoa.
ANDIE: Do you think that guy's going to come after me again?
FRASER: I think that's very likely.
ANDIE: He kept saying something about a book or something.
FRASER: Is that what you stole from him?
ANDIE: I didn't say anything about stealing anything.
FRASER: No, that's right, you didn't. You want to go around again?
ANDIE: Well, it's kinda raining.
FRASER: [looks up] Oh. Yeah. I'll help you down.
He hops down and comes around to hand her down off the carriage.
I suppose she might have been more convincing if she'd said "I didn't steal anything," is that it?
Scene 15
Fraser is in the gents' at the 27th precinct talking to Vecchio.
FRASER: The killer has a specific tattoo on the side of his neck. She says she pickpocketed something from him the night of the murder.
VECCHIO: Yeah, so?
FRASER: Well, she said she took some kind of device. I think they call it an electronic organizer.
VECCHIO: The book. Sunny's address book.
FRASER: Perhaps. There's something more, Ray. She said he tried to use a wire on her. I think it was a garroting wire.
VECCHIO: Well, guess who was killed the same way?
He shows Fraser the file.
Okay so I can buy that Fraser concluded the book was what Andie had stolen from the man with the flag tattoo on his neck even though she protests that she didn't say anything about stealing anything, the same way he concluded that Del Porter identified the thief without intending to do so—only the details that what she took was an electronic device and that he came at her with a garroting wire, those she'd have had to tell him explicitly. So when did she decide to go ahead and tell him these things? (I'm going to allow "killer" because the guy was ready to kill her, because the whole point of this scene is connecting the guy who came after Andie with the murder of Sunny Barclay—they don't know he's Sunny's killer yet.)
Scene 16
Sid is looking at a newspaper. The headline reads "SUNNY BARCLAY DEAD - 'Madam to the Stars Murdered'" over a picture of an officer examining the car in the alley with an inset of Sunny's face in the top right corner. Sid folds up the paper and walks over to the crime scene. He has the digital address book in his hands; he walks away again, leaving the newspaper on the ground.
That's a very mood-set-y moment that doesn't do much story work, I feel.
Scene 17
Fraser and Vecchio are in a tattoo shop. Fraser is wearing the brown uniform.
FRASER: It was a, a small tattoo. The Stars and Stripes, located approximately four centimeters below the left ear. I remember it quite distinctly. And judging from the sharpness of the color, our man either avoided the sun or the tattoo was relatively new. Now, if we can just match up the style of the tattoo to the artisan —
VECCHIO: Fraser, a tattoo is a tattoo. It doesn't take a Michelangelo to doodle Old Glory on somebody's neck.
FRASER: Oh, on the contrary, Ray, a tattoo is a very individual thing. You don't hand it over to just anybody. You have to have faith in the — in the vision and the integrity of the artist.
VECCHIO: The artist?
FRASER: Yes.
VECCHIO: You call this art?
FRASER: Well, very much so. And you know something? It's exactly that kind of assumption that, that has contributed to the commercialization of this ancient from in recent years. [to a guy getting a tattoo, about his existing chest piece] Excuse me. These subtle shadings — are they Zulu influenced or Tanganyikan?
TATTOOIST: [calling to another room] Boyd. [A big dude, presumably Boyd, comes out of the back.]
FRASER: Ah.
Boyd folds his arms and looks threatening. Music cue: "Goodbye Train" by Big Sugar. Fraser and Vecchio go on a tour of tattoo parlors.
Well, I walked, walked my baby
I said I walked her down to the train
Fraser comes out of a shop and is telling Vecchio about it; the door closes firmly behind him. They walk on.
I said, "Baby, please walk slow
Fraser is invited to leave another tattoo shop; the guy there closes the door in his face.
You know I hate to see you go"
Vecchio is outside looking at the window; Fraser is thrown out of yet another shop.
And I walked my baby down to the train
Finally, someone is talking to them. Three long-haired much-tattooed guys are sitting in the window waiting their turn. The song continues under the dialogue.
I know I'll never see my girl again
Well, I tried to make her understand
You know, I tried to make her understand
I talked to my baby, tried to get her to understand
She left me at the station wavin' my hand
Calling goodbye train
Goodbye train
Goodbye train
Goodbye train
Well if I had, if I had you close to me . . .
ARTIST: Nuance. You don't get a lot of it in this business. That's why I remember him.
VECCHIO: Nuance?
ARTIST: [He is drawing something.] The man favored subtlety. At first I thought he was just another Cro-Magnon knockoff. I had him figured for the dancing Statue of Liberty. The flag at Iwo Jima. Jon Bon Jovi. [to Fraser] Are you sure you only want red and white?
FRASER: [with his left sleeve rolled up to the elbow] Uh, yes, just red and white, thank you.
ARTIST: Then he did something unexpected. It was like he ordered a bottle of nineteen-seventy Château-Margaux with his burrito.
FRASER: You mean the American flag on the back of his neck?
ARTIST: Yeah, postage stamp size. You have to appreciate it. Are you sure? I've got a very nice metallic puce.
FRASER: No, no, uh, red and white will be sufficient, thank you. And I believe you will find that the, the maple leaf actually has three points, unlike the oak, which you have — you have rendered quite, uh, quite accurately here. [The guy has drawn a Canadian flag in ballpoint on Fraser's forearm with, yes, a sort of oak leaf rather than a maple leaf.]
ARTIST: Problem?
FRASER: No. Carry on.
VECCHIO: Do you know where we might be able to find this guy with all the nuance?
ARTIST: Uh, no, he just paid cash and then he left.
VECCHIO: Did he talk about his work? Mention a favorite restaurant or anything?
ARTIST: Not the talkative type. He gave me this, though. [He hands Vecchio a pin.] As if I don't have enough of them. [It is a campaign pin with a waving flag in the same shape as the tattoo on the guy's neck, only not backwards.]
VECCHIO: Johnstone. Senator Johnstone. [The artist is about to begin work on Fraser with the buzzing needle.] Come on, let's go.
FRASER: Ah, well, perhaps next time. [He gets up and flees.]
VECCHIO: Well, that's very nice. Is that the Tanganyikan influence?
I've included the lyrics that are going on under the dialogue mainly for their VICTORIA LIVES value. The rest of the scene is vaguely amusing for its contradictions and defiance of expectations. The artist has an English accent, but a kind of south-London non-snooty one, so it's perhaps ironic that he's being such a snob—although experts in their field are often fairly impatient with those they perceive as poseurs, no matter their class. If this guy's a tattoo artist who, as the sign on the wall behind him says, "specializes in Americana," no wonder he'd be sick to the teeth of doing Statue of Liberty and flag at Iwo Jima tattoos. (Do people get Jon Bon Jovi tattoos? I guess it takes all kinds.) On the other hand, if he were an expert, he might know how to do a Canadian flag without the wrong leaf on it. Meanwhile, apparently 1970 wasn't a terrific year for Château-Margaux (but not as bad as 1968 and 1969, so there's that). Today, Wine Searcher says it goes for an average price of $469, which this inflation calculator says would have been about $241 in 1995—when, besides that, there might have been a lot more 1970 vintages still available. Probably wouldn't go with burritos at any time, but what do I know?
Meanwhile, Tanganyika is the former name of the mainland part of what is now Tanzania (briefly known as the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar) in East Africa. The Zulu are an ethnic group in Southern Africa. I assume the indigenous peoples of different areas have different types of art and artistry, but I don't find a ton about tattooing in either society. But Fraser should not have treated customers at the tattoo shop like exhibits in a zoo; he was probably trying to establish that he didn't think of them as any type of freaks, but asking a much-tattooed white guy "hey, what part of Africa is your tattoo inspired by?" is clearly the wrong way to go about it. I'm feeling an early echo of Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, PhD, here in the way Fraser knows a fair amount about a lot of subjects but not a ton about how to relate to real live people. (Now I want to get all my law enforcement–adjacent anthropologist-and-similar types in a room and see what happens. Fraser, Blair Sandburg, Bones Brennan, who else? Daniel Jackson? A linguist working with the military—close enough. Other participants in this big magic crossover welcome; submit your suggestions any time.)
In general, though, I think Fraser is right about tattoos and Vecchio is wrong. (And for completeness, of course here's what he means by Michelangelo.)
(I guess he maybe earned back his permission to wear the brown uniform when he got back in Thatcher's good graces at the end of "Witness"?)
Scene 18
Andie is playing cat's cradle and generally unravelling something and playing with its yarn in the back of the van. Sid is in the front, reading.
ANDIE: Okay, so, Sid, when are we going to leave?
SID: Leave me alone.
ANDIE: Sid, when?
SID: I — [waves his hand] — a month or two. Look at this. It's movie actors and football players. They've got lots of money.
ANDIE: So what?
SID: Some of their names are in this computer. Man. I knew it was worth something. I knew it.
ANDIE: Okay. How much do we have saved?
SID: Look, you don't worry about that. That's my business. You dip, I do the rest. [She rolls her eyes and gets down a box.] What the hell are you doing?
ANDIE: Looking at our money.
SID: Give me that. Give it!
ANDIE: Look, that money is mine too. I must've lifted at least five hundred bucks last week. Now where is it?
SID: It's all been spent, all right. [She is angry and gets out of the van.] Andie! [He follows her.] Don't you walk away from me.
ANDIE: You spent our money, Sid.
SID: Look, I put food in your mouth and a roof over your head.
ANDIE: You said it was all right to steal from other people.
SID: Look, you know how much it costs me to keep you out of that foster home?
ANDIE: You said it was all so we could go to Wyoming.
SID: There's nothing in Wyoming! It's just some stupid idea you got into your head.
ANDIE: What are you talking about? Momma said we had a family out there. She said so!
SID: Momma lied! [Andie slaps his face.]
ANDIE: And you said you would take me there. You lied!
She runs off across the street. He is mad; he heads back to the van.
Oh, no. Is the ranch in Wyoming completely made up? What happened to these kids' parents?
Scene 19
Vecchio and Fraser are in an elevator on their way up to a campaign office.
VECCHIO: Celebrities are no different than the next guy, Fraser. The only mistake you can make is treating them like they are.
FRASER: Still, Ray, there is the matter of etiquette.
VECCHIO: Are you saying that I don't have any etiquette?
FRASER: Etiquette is a loose codification of the rules of conduct in polite society, and I believe that precludes accusing a United States Senator of murder, conspiracy, and moral deviance.
VECCHIO: Fraser, this is America, we do that all the time. [to a staffer] Excuse me, Senator Johnstone, please. [She points him in a direction.]
CAMPAIGN MANAGER: We have dozens of campaign workers. We don't demand a psychiatric history before allowing them to stuff envelopes. [to a staffer] This one.
VECCHIO: The woman he killed was Sunny Barclay. Maybe you've seen some of the press coverage?
CAMPAIGN MANAGER: [to the staffer] But ditch the slogan. [to Vecchio] This way, Detective. [She walks him back to a quieter office space. Fraser is out in the pen looking around.] That's quite an accusation.
VECCHIO: Well, who's accusing? I'd just like a word with the senator.
CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Sounds to me like you want to start a smear campaign.
VECCHIO: Look, I got a dead madam, a missing address book, and a guy running around with a garroting wire who's a walking advertisement for Elliot Johnstone. I think that warrants a conversation with the man.
CAMPAIGN MANAGER: You believe the senator, a well-known advocate of family values, knew Miss Barclay?
VECCHIO: It wouldn't be the first time a politician preached one thing and practiced another.
CAMPAIGN MANAGER: You have proof of this?
VECCHIO: Look, all I'm asking for is five minutes of the man's time. Now, you can keep stonewalling me, and I'm going to start to get suspicious. Like maybe the senator did know Sunny Barclay. Maybe they exchanged phone numbers. And maybe that phone number found its way into her little black book.
CAMPAIGN MANAGER: So you are accusing him.
VECCHIO: All I'm saying is it's possible.
CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Well, it's not.
VECCHIO: Oh, and you know this for sure? You know where he is and who he's with every minute of every day and every night?
CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Yes. I do.
VECCHIO: And I thought you were his campaign manager.
CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I am. I'm also his wife. [She picks up the phone in her left hand; her wedding ring is prominent.] What district did you say you're with?
Vecchio looks alarmed back out at Fraser. Fraser raises his eyebrows and comes over.
Listen, lady, you think politicians are more honest with their wives than they are with campaign managers they're not married to? In Illinois? She can't be new, because this guy is a sitting senator running for re-election, but she's apparently pretty naive. I'm with Vecchio here (who has made almost the same point about celebrities before, glad to see that consistency).
Scene 20
Sid is at Celia's, on the phone, looking at the slip where the man with the flag tattoo on his neck gave it to the waitress in scene 6.
SID: A waitress gave me your number. I have what you're looking for.
FLAG TATTOO GUY (JOHNSTONE STAFFER): Yeah?
SID: A book with names in it. Want to hear some?
JOHNSTONE STAFFER: Be smart, kid. Take the book back to the alley where you stole it from me. I'll meet you there.
SID: I want a reward. Ten thousand. If you don't pay, I take the book to the cops.
JOHNSTONE STAFFER: The girl. She's your sister, isn't she? [He's in his car watching Andie eating in a diner.]
SID: What?
JOHNSTONE STAFFER: I thought so. She looks a lot like you.
SID: M— my sister?
JOHNSTONE STAFFER: The alley. One hour. Bring the book.
SID: What about my sister?
JOHNSTONE STAFFER: Oh, don't worry. I'll keep a close eye on her.
He hangs up the phone. Andie gets up from her table. Sid bolts from Celia's. Andie goes outside; in the doorway, she gets Thatcher's brooch out of her pocket and pins it on the inside of her jacket. Sid is running. Andie is walking down the street, looking at the brooch. Sid is running and looking for her. He asks someone if they've seen her; they point. He keeps running. Andie is walking, looking at the brooch, not watching where she's going. Sid is running through traffic. Andie is walking. The Johnstone staffer grabs her and puts his hand over her mouth.
JOHNSTONE STAFFER: Sweetheart, you're not looking. [She is struggling and trying to shout.] Shh, shh, it's okay. It's okay, it's okay. Shh. [He hustles her across the street. She is still struggling and vocalizing.] Listen, I told you I don't want you on the streets anymore, all right? [Sid reaches a sidewalk and keeps looking for Andie. The Johnstone staffer hustles her into his car.] Get in the car. Get in the car.
ANDIE: [sees Sid coming] Sid!
Sid does not hear her and doesn't see her in the car as it drives off, but he does find the brooch where she dropped it when the Johnstone staffer grabbed her. He picks it up and looks around, distressed.
Not idly do the leaves of Lórien fall . . .
Yeah, no, I don't think she dropped the thing on purpose to let him know where she'd been, but here we are. The flag-tattooed Johnstone staffer is keeping up his pretense that he knows Andie and is trying to bring her home so that people who see him grabbing a teenager and forcing her into his car will think it's reasonable of him to do this, which is clever of him but totally bites. Friends! If you see a weaker person struggling with a stronger person in public, do what you can safely do to see if the weaker person is okay! Make it your business! We live in a society!
Scene 21
Fraser and Vecchio are in Welsh's office being dressed down.
WELSH: Now, that takes real vision. Shaking down a United States senator.
VECCHIO: Honest to God, sir, all we did was ask Mrs. Johnstone a couple of questions. She completely overreacted.
WELSH: Oh, you think? You did accuse her husband of consorting with a world-famous prostitute.
VECCHIO: Suggested, sir, never accused.
WELSH: Well, that makes a big difference. [Commander O'Neill bursts in. Welsh starts to stand up.]
O'NEILL: Harding. What were you thinking?
WELSH: Excuse me?
O'NEILL: You let this idiot question a United States senator?
WELSH: Can't we talk about this in private?
O'NEILL: I don't have time for that. I have to report to the mayor's office and explain to them why your detective lost his mind.
VECCHIO: Sir, we have compelling evidence tying one of the senator's men to the murder of Sunny Barclay.
O'NEILL: Oh, really? And what would that compelling evidence be?
VECCHIO: Well, that would be a, uh — you see, sir, it's sort of a small, uh —
FRASER: It's a tattoo, sir.
VECCHIO: That's what it is, sir.
O'NEILL: Johnstone has a tattoo?
FRASER: Uh, no, an employee. His bodyguard, I believe.
VECCHIO: The guy with the tattoo murdered Sunny Barclay and stole her organizer, and we have a witness.
O'NEILL: Someone saw this guy kill Sunny?
VECCHIO: Well, not exactly. Our witness stole the organizer from the killer.
FRASER: A young pickpocket, sir.
O'NEILL: Oh! A credible witness.
FRASER: Well, she was later threatened by the tattooed man with the same type of weapon.
O'NEILL: So you proceeded to grill the senator's wife on the word of a thief.
FRASER: Well, not just the thief, sir. We also spoke with the tattoo artist, and he gave us this. [He hands Welsh the campaign pin.]
WELSH: Fraser, there are thousands of these things all over the city. I have one myself.
FRASER: I believe, sir, that you will find that all those other pins are labeled "Johnstone ninety-six." This one was labeled from his earlier campaign in nineteen-ninety, indicating that whoever wore it had to have a particular attachment to the senator to have kept it and be wearing it six years later.
O'NEILL: Your pickpocket. Can she ID the guy?
FRASER: Yes . . .
O'NEILL: She's here ready to make a statement?
VECCHIO: Well, she's not on the premises, sir.
O'NEILL: You have her stashed somewhere?
VECCHIO: Well, we don't actually have her in our actual possession.
WELSH: But you know where to find her.
FRASER: Oh, no, sir, we don't have the slightest idea.
O'NEILL: Oh, you are a piece of work, Vecchio. And you wonder why your career is going nowhere. Nope. You are so incompetent you couldn't get to nowhere if I drew you a map. [A uniformed cop comes to the office door.]
COP: Detective Vecchio?
O'NEILL: I'm not through with him.
COP: Uh, Commander, the kid says it's urgent.
VECCHIO: Uh, what kid?
O'NEILL: Would you mind not interrupting me?
WELSH: Commander, this is still my unit. These are my detectives. Now, if Detective Vecchio needs to be disciplined, I'll do it.
VECCHIO: What does he want?
COP: Something about an address book?
VECCHIO: Well! Would you excuse us, please?
Vecchio and Fraser leave Welsh's office to talk to Sid in the bullpen.
Okay, for funsies, I'm looking at a 1996 org chart of the Chicago Police Department and comparing it to this slightly more detailed current one (dated January 30, 2020, which is close enough). (I've saved both of these on my hard drive, so if the links break, let me know and I'll upload them to the same place as all the maps of Canada I've been spewing on this project.)
It looks like then, officers fell under Operations and detectives under Investigations, which makes sense based on what those words mean, but does seem like it could create some chain-of-command issues? Whereas now, on the more detailed chart, the detectives bureau is one branch under ops (which we'll come back to in a moment); counter-terrorism is another (not at the forefront of anyone's mind in the mid-90s, a more innocent time); and all the "areas," which appears to mean clusters of districts, are also under there independently. And each area has, in addition to between three and six districts, a couple of other teams and sections. Units are headed by sergeants; sections are headed by lieutenants; divisions are headed by captains; districts are headed by commanders. And then it looks like each area also has an executive office commander and a detective commander, who are peers (the XO commander's direct reports are the district commanders, and the detective commander's direct reports are the heads of the other teams and sections and so on) and who report to the deputy chief of each area, who reports to the first deputy superintendent of operations. SO, conflating these two org charts into one, it appears that Vecchio and Huey and Gardino are in the Violent Crimes section in Area Something-or-other (whichever area houses the fictitious District 27, which, by the way, is also the number of the precinct in Law & Order, so maybe while the socio-anthro crowd is getting together wherever they're meeting, all the officers of these and whatever other 27th precincts or districts we can come up with can meet in some cop bar somewhere and compare notes). Lieutenant Welsh is the head of their section (and possibly assigning command of that level of operation to a captain in the pilot was simply an error?). It's not clear whether he reports to Commander O'Neill or is simply outranked by her; she's in uniform rather than in smart street clothes as he is, which makes me think she's maybe the district commander rather than the detective commander reporting directly to the area deputy chief? Let's go with that, and then we can wonder why she's the one who has to go explain what's going on in the investigation, specifically Vecchio speaking to the senator's campaign manager who happens also to be his wife, to the mayor rather than someone below her (who was actually involved) or above her (who was actually in the direct line of command to people actually involved) just because she's the commander of the district where the murder took place.
Meanwhile, Vecchio spent six years in Vice, which is over on the left under the Vice and Asset Forfeiture Division, not attached to any particular district. (Note that also in the criminal networks group is a CPD/FBI Violent Crimes Task Force, which in fictitious police departments I bet burns the living hell out of people working in the violent crimes sections of regular operations areas, and vice versa. I have no knowledge of how different people in different divisions get along in real-life police departments.)
It's not just Fraser calling everyone who outranks him "sir" irrespective of their gender now. I dig it, but I don't think it's realistic.
Scene 22
Vecchio and Fraser and Diefenbaker are in the Riviera with Sid.
SID: He said he'd be here. He's going to see us. He's going to know I went to the cops.
VECCHIO: Relax. He doesn't think you're that smart.
WELSH: All units report.
VECCHIO: Unit one's in place.
HUEY: [warming his hands at a hot dog cart] Unit two.
WELSH: Unit three. Unit three, are you there? Unit three?
GARDINO: [in costume as a wino] Unit three, check.
A sharpshooter hurries quietly up a fire escape. Welsh and O'Neill are sitting in a car.
WELSH: When the suspect appears, let him get in position. Don't overreact. Just wait for my command. [to O'Neill] That is, unless you —
O'NEILL: Your department.
WELSH: Thank you, sir.
HUEY: They're here.
The car rolls up. Sid is twitchy. The Johnstone staffer gets out on the driver's side. Huey is watching. Vecchio and Fraser and Sid are watching. The Johnstone staffer goes around the car and drags Andie out of the passenger seat. Sid wants to go help her.
VECCHIO: Stay cool.
The Johnstone staffer takes Andie between some buildings into a back alley.
ANDIE: [crying] Ow! Ow, ow, you're hurting me, stop it! Please let me go, please, please let me go. Ugh! Ow!
GARDINO: Moving this way.
ANDIE: Let me go! Ow, ow, OW!
JOHNSTONE STAFFER: Shut up!
He drags her back to a building. Gardino sees a light turn on inside. The door opens and a janitor is there taking the trash out. Everyone is surprised. Gardino thinks fast.
GARDINO: Hold it! Police! Hold it. [He draws his gun and moves toward Andie and the Johnstone staffer. Andie steps on the Johnstone staffer's foot, elbows him hard, and runs.] Hold it! Run! [Gardino reaches the Johnstone staffer, who knocks him down and follows Andie.] We're blown. He's on the fire escape.
Vecchio and Fraser jump out of the Riviera.
VECCHIO: [to Sid] Stay put.
The Johnstone staffer is barring the door he went through with a 2x4. Andie is running up the fire escape. Gardino can't get through the door. Sid can't stay in the car; he gets out, leaving Diefenbaker. The Johnstone staffer is running up the fire escape. Huey joins Gardino at the barred door.
HUEY: Where's the guy and the kid?
GARDINO: On the roof.
They run to get up to the roof a different way. Andie jumps from one rooftop to the next. The Johnstone staffer follows her. Huey and Gardino meet Fraser and Vecchio at the mouth of the alley.
GARDINO: They're on the roof!
Huey and Gardino carry on down the alley. Vecchio runs up a fire escape. Fraser looks around and goes a different way. Sid comes tearing in from the street and runs to the door, but as we know, it is barred. He starts climbing a nearby telephone pole. Andie is running on a rooftop. She stands up the makeshift ladder. The Johnstone staffer is coming after her. She is climbing. He catches her ankle. Vecchio has reached a rooftop. Huey has reached the same rooftop by a nearby route. Gardino is on a nearby rooftop.
HUEY: There's nothing.
GARDINO: Nothing!
All three are looking around. They hear Andie scream; they run. The Johnstone staffer is dragging her toward the ladder off the edge of the rooftop that Sid caught Andie at the bottom of in the teaser. Fraser appears, having climbed up that ladder.
JOHNSTONE STAFFER: Move it!
FRASER: I can't do that.
JOHNSTONE STAFFER: I'll kill her. Now, get out of the way.
FRASER: It won't do you any good.
Andie bites the Johnstone staffer's hand. She gets away, but he flails and sends her over the edge. Fraser catches her jacket. The Johnstone staffer roars and picks up a pipe. Sid comes running.
SID: Andie! [The Johnstone staffer is getting ready to swing. Sid tackles him and they both go off the side.] Andie!
ANDIE: [seeing him fall] No! Sid! Sid!
Sid has landed on top of the Johnstone staffer on the alley floor. Fraser is still holding onto Andie. He tries to haul her up to safety. Vecchio comes running. Fraser's grip on the ladder is slipping. Just as he loses his hold on it, Vecchio grabs his jacket and saves them both.
It's great that Vecchio caught Fraser, but what they need is someone on ground level to catch Andie, right? (Or not, because she should be able to grab the ladder from where she is, but never mind.) I'm a big fan of Huey and Gardino doing some more good police work; that was a nice break at the beginning of this scene, instead of the two of them (well, mostly Gardino) being incompetent schmucks almost all of the time.
Scene 23
Commander O'Neill is giving an interview.
O'NEILL: Well, actually, Sunny Barclay's address book was recovered, and her killer is in custody. I have nothing more to —
Paramedics are taking the Johnstone staffer by on a gurney.
HUEY: Just tell me how soon I can get him into court.
Sid is on another gurney.
SID: [to Andie] You okay?
ANDIE: I'm fine.
SID: I was thinking maybe we should get out of this place.
ANDIE: Sid, you just fell off a building. [He winks at her.]
FRASER: Thank you for the brooch.
SID: She never wanted to steal. I made her.
VECCHIO: Ah, not to worry. I got a friend down at the state's attorney's office.
FRASER: Good luck. [The paramedics load Sid into the ambulance; Andie gets in with him. Fraser and Vecchio walk the other way.] Your friend hates you, Ray.
VECCHIO: Ah, it's just a ploy.
FRASER: She would like to see you incarcerated.
VECCHIO: Anh, so she likes handcuffs.
So but okay—what is going to happen to Sid and Andie? Even if the state's attorney (who would probably be surprised to hear that Vecchio considers her a friend?) entirely excuses them from prosecution for all this theft, Andie is still only 14, and is Sid equipped to be her legal guardian? Apparently they don't have family out west, so that's a non-starter? She ought to be in, I don't know, school? Just because he's over 18 doesn't mean he doesn't also need some looking after? But we're just going to send them off with a "Good luck" and that's the end of it? Bit disappointed in Fraser here, who you'd think might at least offer Andie something like a job share with Willie Lambert looking after Diefenbaker?
Scene 24
Fraser is back at his desk at the Canadian consulate. There is a knock at his door and Thatcher enters; he stands up respectfully and bangs his knee into a drawer.
THATCHER: Sorry.
FRASER: No, I'm fine. Uh — [He clears his throat.] — I took the liberty of, of —
THATCHER: I found it on my desk this morning. [She is wearing the brooch on the lapel of her jacket. Fraser looks at it. She clears her throat and he hoists his eyes up to her face.]
FRASER: Ah. I hope it wasn't, um, damaged. I noticed the —
THATCHER: No, actually, um, it's been like that for years. [There is a long slightly uncomfortable pause.] Thank you for finding it. [He nods. She turns to go; she pauses and speaks with her back turned.] And don't ever go into my office again without permission. [over her shoulder] That's my first and last warning.
She leaves, shutting the door behind her. Fraser thinks for a moment and then heads back to his desk, banging his knee on the drawer again before he sits down.
The knee-banging is good, because physical comedy is never not funny. Inspector Thatcher is quite pretty in a heavily-made-up 90s kind of way. (The bold lip is fine, but I feel like she could use about three layers less of everything else, especially eyebrow pencil—a sign of the times, right?) One is pleased that she's apparently softening toward Fraser a little bit (thanking him for recovering her brooch) even as she's also holding a hard line (stop taking liberties!), which I think is an appropriate line to hold! Fraser! Don't go getting hung up on your boss, buddy. That kind of thing never goes well.
Cumulative body count: 17
Red uniform: Driving the car and in the first couple of investigations, but not once they start looking at/for tattoos