return to Due South: season 2 episode 7 "Juliet is Bleeding"

Juliet is Bleeding
air date February 1, 1996

( Scene 1 )

Maybe this bartender didn't hear that Frank Zuko got the shit kicked out of him by a cop a few months ago? Vecchio promised he wouldn't tell, but Charlie didn't.

( Scene 2 )

Gardino's meal: Stracciatella is an Italian egg drop soup. Calamari is squid. Mostaccioli are ridgeless penne, that is, quill-shaped pasta. Primavera is a light cream sauce with fresh vegetables and is not genuinely Italian. (Puttanesca, which Vecchio recommends, is a tomato-based sauce with olives, anchovies, chilis, capers, and garlic, which is enough strong flavors that I don't know how you can taste any of it.) Alas, they didn't give Kash enough food to talk about while he ran ahead to the door and the camera stayed with the conversation about money, so he had to talk about pan-fried veal smothered in onions at the end of one line and the beginning of the next several moments later. Maybe he's just really excited about that veal. Anyway, chocolate tartufo is a constructed ice cream dessert with a molten center.

Vecchio's raise is $2,080 over the whole year, which assuming he's paid fortnightly is an extra eighty bucks in each paycheck. Before taxes. It's very nice that he wants to take his friends out to celebrate his big promotion, especially that he wants to do this rather than expecting them to take him out to celebrate his big promotion, but even at 1996 Chicago prices, come on, bro. And $35,580 wasn't big money even then. When I left my first job in Washington, D.C., I was making something around 35k. Sure, that was 2002, but I was a kid three years out of college, not a professional with ten years' experience who had to get promoted twice to get to that pay band. (My husband says he was making 42k as a new college grad in 1994, but he does admit that he felt at the time like that was a ton of money.) Current detective salaries in the Chicago PD apparently average between 100 and 125 (thousand), according to Glassdoor. Didn't I have an inflation calculator in an earlier episode somewhere? I can't find it right now, but according to this one, $100,000 in 2022 is worth $58,961 in 1996, which feels a lot more reasonable to me.

Oh! I found it; in "The Promise" I used this inflation calculator, which says that $35,580 in 1996 works out to $67,186 in 2022—not the kind of money where you can take four guys to a super fancy restaurant downtown, if you ask me. It also says $100,000 in 2022 would have been $52,957 in 1996, which is in the same ballpark as the figure in the previous paragraph.

( Scene 3 )

Has Zuko forgotten that Vecchio kicked the shit out of him a couple of months ago? Maybe not, because the deal was about Joey Paducci, not about Ray Vecchio. So this is shitty, the restaurant getting taken over for a private party when Vecchio already had a reservation. I assume Vecchio made his reservation first; Pat wouldn't tell Zuko he couldn't book the whole place because he already had reservations, but for sure he'd have told Vecchio he couldn't take a reservation because the whole place was booked for a private party. In that case Vecchio would likely have made his reservation either elsewhere or for a different day—though it's not outside the realm of possibility that if he'd made his reservation for a different day, Zuko would have found out when that was and booked it out from under him with another private party, just to show him who's actually in charge.

Credits roll.

Paul Gross
David Marciano
Beau Starr
Daniel Kash
Tony Craig
Catherine Bruhier

(plus Lincoln the dog)

Lee Purcell, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jim Bracchitta, Hannes Jaenicke, Sherry Miller, Louis DiBianco

That Lee Purcell must have been a big deal in the 90s, huh? She outbilled Rodney A. Grant (Eric) in "Mask" and Ken Pogue (Gerrard) in "Bird in the Hand," although both those men played characters more important to those episodes than hers (I mean, I haven't really heard of any of them, but Grant was the third lead in both Dances with Wolves in 1990 and a 1994–95 "Hawkeye" TV series with Lynda Carter that I had never before heard of but which I assume was developed to capitalize on the success of 1992's The Last of the Mohicans; Pogue had been jobbing steadily since the mid-60s and was a series regular on Adderly, a late-night spy-adventure thing in the 80s [with which I am also unfamiliar, but hey, series regular]; Purcell also has a steady string of credits going back to 1969, but the biggest line before due South on her IMDb resume is playing four different characters in five episodes of Murder, She Wrote—so I conclude she also had, of the three of them, the best agent). (I mean, to the extent IMDb is reliable. Lee Purcell's IMDb resume also says "Victoria's Secret part 1 (uncredited)," and I'm here to tell you the reason she wasn't credited in that episode is that she didn't appear in that episode. So.)

( Scene 4 )

Fraser's "I don't know what you're talking about" meaning "Let's just agree never to speak of this again" is getting a workout lately, huh? But here's Zuko trying to bring Fraser into his circle. Feh. "So glad you could be here for my birthday" indeed. What a slimeball.

Michael, who gives Frank the present, was one of the guys in ski masks in scene 1. What's going on with him, hmm?

( Scene 5 )

Nice exposition! This is Irene, a divorced mother of at least two, who has moved back in with Frank, her brother, and who is (and maybe always has been) much friendlier with Vecchio than Frank is. She is uncomfortable with how much Frank and Ray hate each other. And look how they did that with so little dialogue! Nice work, writers, and nice work, Marciano and Moss. (Is this the woman who slipped through his fingers? Was what's-his-name "some goombah"? Answers, as usual, on a postcard.)

( Scene 6 )

Whoa, whoa, whoa, now, as I said, it was Michael and three other guys who busted up one of "our places" tonight. Witness my extremely raised eyebrow over here.

( Scene 7 )

So there's about 15 percent of this that is sympathetic to Frank Zuko, which is that he doesn't want his party ruined. Of course, he could have been a lot less of an asshole about his sister dancing with someone he doesn't like, but I'll give him credit for "no guns," sure.

( Scene 8 )

Trespassing is a bit of a reach, and Vecchio didn't go to the restaurant looking for a fight—but once Zuko was there he decided to pick one, didn't he. "I'm going to go shake his peaches."

( Scene 9 )

Holy shit.

( Scene 10 )

If it's true what cop shows always say about signatures, I don't know why people who make bombs don't deliberately do it differently every time. (Except the ones who, we're told, are taunting the police and sort of secretly hoping they'll be caught.) Also, the Cadero brothers had kids but slept in the same bedroom? Wha?

But who cares about any of that, because oh, Huey. This is good work from everyone in those four seconds that Huey is hysterical and everyone is taking care of him. I am misting up just transcribing and talking about it. Nice work, Craig.

( Scene 11 )

I . . . feel like Huey should be sitting this one out. Don't you?

( Scene 12 )

Whose hands, the bomb guy in the interview room? He couldn't have worn gloves?

( Scene 13 )

Assume those are Irene's kids? Because Zuko has a daughter whom we met in the previous episode and which is neither of those children? He could have more kids, I suppose, so we don't know for sure about these ones. ("Stay here," Zuko says to Irene, in Italian, which does not seem to be their native language, but sure.)

This right here is why when an officer is killed, their own department shouldn't be the one handling the investigation.

( Scene 14 )

Funerals are tough, aren't they? They did a decent job with this one, except for the flag-folding, which was hasty and sloppy as all hell. A couple of guys visible in the background behind the honor guard salute while they're firing and snap those salutes down when they shoulder their guns, which I thought was a nice touch and probably everyone in uniform should have done it.

I notice that Welsh and O'Neill have black and gold checks on their hats, while everyone else has black and white. They're the only command-level attendees at this thing, I guess?, or else the extras just took the costumes that were available to them. Elaine is in uniform like everyone else, though I assume (it's hard to see) she has no badge on which to put a black band. Should Fraser have worn the dress uniform, that is, the web belt and no crossbody-and-lanyard arrangement he wore in "Chicago Holiday?" Isn't a funeral a formal occasion? I guess it's not a formal social occasion, like, guests out of uniform would wear a sober dark suit or dress rather than black tie or a plunging neckline or what have you, so if that's what the "formal" get-up of the red uniform is for, then this is right. He does stand out against all that CPD blue in the snow, which, of course he does.

I was curious about who the kids were until I saw the women who were presumably their mothers; remember that Gardino had at least one sister. (He was also married three times, but I assume none of his ex-wives have come to his funeral.) The parents did okay, but for my money the winner of Best Performance by an Extra in the Role of Bereaved Parent is this brilliant fellow:


That's Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), of course; the first clip is when John Hannah as Matthew has just said "strange experimental cooking," which is why the lady in the foreground as Gareth's mother is smiling even in her grief; the second is while Hannah-as-Matthew is still reciting W.H. Auden's "Funeral Blues" and making everyone cry who wasn't already. Look at that dad there. He doesn't speak, so he's not named in the credits, and I can't find anything on Al Gore's internet to tell me who he was; but these two clips and another second and a half or so of him getting into a car and then sitting in the front row while John Hannah gets up to speak are the entirety of his performance, and if these 20 seconds of screen time don't say to you "My son is dead, I don't understand, I don't UNDERSTAND," I don't know what to tell you. That's the standard all parents-in-funeral-scenes are aiming for, if you ask me. Eat your heart out, Bernard Hill. (The Four Weddings dad always reminds me of Queen Mary in this picture from the funeral of King George VI:

That's a lady who had already buried two of her six children and was waiting to bury a third; I don't care what you're queen of, that's going to leave a mark.)

Anyway, I made that second Four Weddings clip the length I did so we could also see the pallbearers carrying the casket on their shoulders, which I happen to find a lot more moving than pallbearers hauling the thing by the handles, and so I'd get the segue into talking about this wrt Gardino's casket: Why isn't Huey in front? I know, I know, it's because Gross and Marciano are the two stars of the TV show, but for crying out loud, put the man's partner up in the lead pair, what the hell. . . . I don't actually imagine there's a prestige position among pallbearers; they're not the ones who are important here. You want to match them for height, especially if they're toting the casket on their shoulders, but otherwise, whatever. But come on. What other TV and movie funerals can I compare this to?

• Mrs. Landingham in The West Wing s2e22 "Two Cathedrals"—Sam and Toby in the front, a couple of randoms in the middle, Josh and Charlie in the back (and they carry the casket by the handles but up on their shoulders)
• Leo McGarry in The West Wing s7e18 "Requiem"—Bartlet and Josh in the front, Charlie and the DNC chairman whose name I don't care about^ in the middle, Santos and Leo's son-in-law whose name we don't know in the back (and they carry the casket by the handles but at hip level) (^because Rob Lowe was simply not available, and apparently they couldn't alter the shooting schedule to do that scene when he was available, or put in an extra with his haircut or whatever, so we have to assume he was sitting with Toby quietly in the back or something because otherwise we have to live in a world where Sam Seaborn was not at Leo McGarry's funeral, which is absolutely bullshit and obviously still makes me mad after all these years)
• Peggy Carter in Captain America: Civil War—Steve up front and five other dudes we barely or never see (and they carry the casket on their shoulders but brace it with their hands, which is still not as good as the shoulders-only in Four Weddings)
• I’m looking at the cover of Superman: Funeral for a Friend, and the pallbearers are Green Lantern and Batman in front; Aquaman and Flash in the middle; and Robin and Wonder Woman in the back (and they're carrying the casket by the side rails at hip level, which is probably reasonable when they're so varied in height; at first I thought they were rolling it on a cart and just each resting a hand on a side rail, which is how my brother and my cousins and I did our uncle's casket, but he was a very big dude and we are not superheroes, so I'm glad the JL carried Supes themselves)
• In my movies and TV shows in Plex and I don't think I have many more where any of the leads are pallbearers. In Immortal Beloved (1994), Beethoven's funeral procession is the first thing, and his casket is carried by randoms, probably professionals. In The Two Towers (2002), Théodred is borne to his tomb by helmeted soldiers, and everyone we know is out where we can see their faces. Anyone got anything else?

I still think Huey is, after the actual family/in the police department, Gardino's chief mourner, and he should have been at the head of the casket with either Welsh or Vecchio. Fraser can go in the middle with the other one. Rant over.

End of watch, Detective Louis Gardino.

( Scene 15 )

That's right: Fraser just said if it were up to him rather than the law, he would want Frank Zuko dead. I expect that's why three lines later he said he, too, is not like his father.

( Scene 16 )

(This is a very 80s-pop-style girl-ballad song.) Now it seems Vecchio has A History with Irene. They're not just more friendly than he is with Frank as it seemed back in the bar of the restaurant, or making out on the dance floor. At first you think the signal he thought she'd remember would be a signal for her to sneak out with him, but apparently it was a signal to let him sneak in? Oh my.

Fifteen years ago was 1981. Fraser was born in 1961, but I can accept a Vecchio who's a couple of years younger. Not too much younger, because Francesca is younger than he is and he's been bothering her for 30 years, but I can allow Vecchio to have been 18 when he was sneaking into Irene's room. Or, hell, he could have been 19 or 20 himself just so she was 18ish and—of course she hadn't yet left home, but one of them would have to have still been in high school for there to still have been a basketball team in their lives.

( Scene 17 )

( Scene 18 )

( Scene 19 )

I'm really impressed with Bracchitta in this scene; he does such a nice job showing Frank getting Fraser's point one micron at a time and then not wanting to understand what he's ultimately driving at.

( Scene 20 )

It really sounds like he says "work the rule," but "work to rule" would make much more sense.

( Scene 21 )

So does Fraser get that it was Michael who set the bomb from the way Zuko doesn't like where the conversation goes? Someone with a cigar cutter, but not Charlie? Someone loyal to him? Why not guess it could be Jimmy Roastbeef? How do Fraser and Zuko both get to Michael Sorrento from there? I looked back at the party scene, and back there Michael trimmed both his own and Zuko's cigars, so sure, we know Michael has Chekov's Cigar Cutter, but Zuko must have one as well, and apparently (based on Zuko's assumption) so does Charlie; does Jimmy not have one? His boyhood friend? (I mean, maybe he does, and maybe Fraser paid a similar call to Jimmy and Jimmy didn't react in this extremely guilty way. But why not show us that scene too?)

( Scene 22 )

Both Zuko and Vecchio are teetering back and forth over the point of sympathetic and not, aren't they? It sucks for Zuko that he's been framed, but why the hell does it matter to him whether his sister is at home or somewhere else? I mean, I know why, he says so himself, it's because if she splits he's humiliated, it's yet another bit of evidence that he doesn't have control of his family or his organization, but here's a grown adult who is not being allowed to leave her house, so fuck Frank Zuko. And Vecchio is right about Irene, but he's wrong about Frank, and Fraser is right about that, and ugh, it's so awful when everyone is miserable at the same time.

( Scene 23 )

I think Fraser had to tackle Sorrento, because I think Sorrento was fixing to shoot Zuko or Vecchio if not both. (Maybe Irene, too, for that matter.) Irene pushed Vecchio out of the way so Frank wouldn't shoot him, but also because she saw him drawing his gun and didn't want him to shoot Frank. The timing of this scene with the three guns firing is very, very good. But of course nobody had any intention of Irene stepping in front of Frank's bullet—not even Frank, who about 75 seconds ago said "I will kill you first, I'll kill you," because as soon as he realizes he's shot his own sister, it's clear he didn't mean it. (I was about to compare this beloved-caught-in-the-crossfire accidental shooting to the end of The Godfather Part III (1990), but it's not really fair to try. Michael Corleone was just going about his business, and the assassin shot Mary in an attempt to kill him; it's not really the same. Also, you know, the epic scale of a Godfather film against an episode of a TV drama. Still, I'll stack Vecchio's "OH MY GOD" against Pacino and Diane Keaton; Marciano is that good here. (Carrie-Anne Moss can kick Sofia Coppola's ass, but Sofia is doing great as a director now, so that's all right).)

( Scene 24 )

I think Zuko is going away for manslaughter even if not for murder, and if Huey wants to testify that he heard him threaten to kill Irene, I don't see why he needs Vecchio to do it, but it's right for Vecchio to protest that this was an accident, because it was and he promised Irene he was done feuding with Frank.

What about the kids?! Frank's wife will presumably still have custody of his daughter while he goes away, and probably his mother will help out. But if the kids in scene 13 were Irene's, I guess they'll probably go to their dad?

Once again the camera cuts to Fraser rather than staying on Vecchio after "close your eyes," and I was all set to be furious about it, but in this case, in the first raw wring of Vecchio's grief, I think it's okay for us to look away for a moment.

The title was a reference to "Romeo is Bleeding," a 1978 song by Tom Waits (that was also used for the title of a fairly unsuccessful 1993 film).

Cumulative body count: 20
Red uniform: Gardino's funeral and the rest of that day (talking to Charlie, canvassing the neighborhood, buying cigars)

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