Kelly's Review:Rating: 4 out of 5 (5 being the best)
"Juliet is Bleeding" is the seventh Due South episode of the second season. One might wonder why I am choosing to review a lone episode of a television series, but quite simply, I felt the need to. My first instinct is to give this episode a 5 rating, but I can't, and therein lies the need to review this episode in itself.
Detective Ray Vecchio (Marciano) takes three of his friends out for a night on the town and ends up in an altercation with a shady childhood enemy, Frankie Zuko. Later that evening, one of Ray's friends dies in a set-up intended for Ray. The Chicago Police Department wants to fry Frankie for the death, but Fraser (Gross), one of Ray's friends and a Mountie, wonders if someone else might be trying to set Frankie up for a fall. Meanwhile, Ray renews his acquaintance with a childhood love. Unfortunately, she also happens to be Frankie's sister.
I cannot write this review without including major spoilers for this episode and for the rest of the series, especially the episodes "Bird in the Hand" and "Victoria's Secret," so if for some reason you are reading this without having seen these episodes and/or Due South but intend to, don't read any farther.
The first part of this episode is beautifully written and should have remained the focus of the entire episode. Although Frankie Zuko appeared once before in the first season, enough is shown here of the enmity between he and Ray that someone who missed that episode could figure it out in a hurry. It is quickly (re)established that Frankie has dealings on the wrong side of the law, that he and Ray have known each other since childhood, that they can't stand each other, and that the last time they ran into each other, Fraser had a painful altercation with some of Frankie's associates. Why, then, did the writers feel the need to introduce Irene Zuko?
All Irene served to accomplish in the above scene was to be caught in the middle of Ray and Frankie's enmity. The writers could have found another way to begin the fight without her being the catalyst. Events that followed from this fight would have transpired just the same with or without Irene Zuko.
Irene is more or less forgotten about in the minds of the viewers, though, after the next sequence of events. And that is how it should be. Just when you think the episode is as emotionally charged as its going to get from the fight and its aftermath, we come to the shocking death sequence.
This was well done. There is foreshadowing for this that one notices on a repeated viewing, but otherwise it comes out of nowhere and floors the first-time viewer. One may easily miss the bit with Ray counting out glasses earlier in the restaurant, but I think even the first-time viewer starts experiencing a slight bit of unease when the music changes for the darker even though Ray and Louis's banter is friendly and light-hearted. This scene is also the one time I feel Tony Craig (Huey) really gets to shine through as an actor. His reaction to Louis's death is heart-breaking and sounded so real.
This sort of delivery on behalf of the actors is the hallmark of the entire episode. It is nice that Craig, an actor who is usually more in the background and portrays a relatively level-headed character, gets a chance to show a greater range. We see not only his immediate reaction to his partner's murder, but also his ongoing grief and rage, also well executed.
We continue on through the funeral sequence and to the plot, which involves who blew up the Riv and killed Louis Gardino. I have to say I don't think any of the regulars were out of character where this was concerned. With all the set-up earlier of Frankie and Ray's relationship, it would only be logical for two emotionally-involved police officers to conclude Frankie was behind the murder, especially since the bomb was affixed to Ray's car. Fraser, on the other hand, is Fraser, and therefore isn't about to condemn anyone, no matter how much he personally might hate the individual, for a crime unless he can prove the person is guilty of it. And he quickly realizes that the evidence they do have does not point to Frankie, and that someone not involved with the police is making every effort to make it appear that Frankie is guilty.
Anyone who knows Fraser also knows that he can't be unaffected by Louis's death, and I'm glad we got to see that when he talked to Frankie's man, Charlie. This scene is somewhat similar to his dealings with Gerrard in "Bird in the Hand." He is not fond of Frankie at all, more or less admits to wanting to rip Frankie's head off, but also saying he does what he does because of the law and because he wants to see justice done for Louis. It's very key that Fraser actually wants to see justice done, whereas his friends, who are normally good cops, are only interested in revenge. Completely in character for a man who had the chance more than once to murder his father's killer and chose not to.
The writers spend over half of the episode continuing with this theme. I only wish they would have kept their focus on this element. Louis Gardino was a regular character on the series, and the first person killed on the show that was close with both the cast and the viewers. Louis could be a jerk at times, but the viewers still accepted him as one of the guys, and I think the episode would have been more satisfying if they had stayed centered around his death and its circumstances instead of trying to add an emotionally-charged romantic subplot as well.
Take the end of this episode. Ray and Huey are staking out Frankie's, waiting to hear Frankie say something incriminating. All of a sudden, Ray and Huey hear an altercation between Frankie and Irene, ending in brother and sister slapping each other. Frankie has not said anything incriminating. All he has done is be a jerk to his sister.
The story has already established that Ray and Huey have an emotional stake in this because of Louis's death. Therefore I thought the true tragedy of this sequence is that Ray is still emotionally involved, but now his motivation is Irene and not Louis.
Before Ray charges into the house, Fraser, who happens to be walking by, stops him and they have a heated exchange in Frankie's front lawn. Fraser is beseeching Ray to use his head and think about what he's doing. The basis for Fraser's arguments is Ray's hatred of Frankie and his desire to take Frankie down for Louis's murder. It's unfortunate, therefore, that Ray at this moment is not charging into the house for this reason, but solely because of Irene. Yet his rebuttals to Fraser would seem to indicate that Ray is doing this because of his desire to take Frankie down for Louis's murder. Their argument and Ray's motivation do not add up, and in this episode, if in any, it should. Another reason why Irene Zuko should not have been in this episode.
On the other hand, I admit I did like Ray and Irene together. I thought Marciano and Moss had great screen chemistry. It is unfortunate that these two actors couldn't have a romantic storyline in a different episode. I honestly think it would have worked better if she had been introduced in a different episode. My two suggestions are to either have made her a completely different person or bring back Frankie at a different date and focus more on the Ray/Irene/Frankie dynamic.
Even with all of that said, the problems I have with introducing the Ray/Irene relationship at this juncture are easily overlooked at the end. The shootout and the aftermath are, again, realistically portrayed, and I admire the writers and the actors for this.
How many times during a shootout does it seem to go on for quite awhile or the key points of it carried out rather slowly so the viewer knows what goes on during every nuance of the battle? Instead, this final confrontation was over in less than thirty seconds, as I imagine a lot of these sorts of things really are. It actually takes longer for the observer to figure out just what happened than it does for the actual battle to take place.
On that theme, we come to Irene Zuko's wounding. Again, how often do we see people shot on TV and in the movies? How many times do we just shrug our shoulders and say, "Oh, well, so-and-so was shot, she'll be ok," or "So-and-so was shot, oh, well, that's too bad," and don't really care beyond that? Especially when it's a minor character or a one-time guest star?
This shooting, again, blew that perception out of the water. When we first see Irene in the aftermath and see the blood on her blouse, my first thought was of the "She got shot, it's not a big deal, she'll be ok" variety. She does not appear that badly wounded, and she is not a regular, so it's easy not to think too much on this. Marciano's reaction to this, though, brought home how realistic this could be. He could not have done any better in this scene. I get shivers running down my spine just thinking of his voice rising uncontrollably in volume and pitch in this scene. It made it harder to write this shooting off as just another shooting. However, I can't help wishing again that this whole subplot hadn't been tacked on to this particular episode.
As one could guess from reading this, the wedging in of the Ray/Irene subplot was a major factor in keeping this episode from getting a 5. There are a few other things, though, that stood out to me that also contributed to the given rating.
First major nitpick: WHY are Ray and Huey working this case?! These are the last two guys that should be working this case. I understand that Lt. Welsh can understand their feelings, and the personal side of him would want these two guys to be involved in seeing justice done for their friend. We even have precedent for this in "Victoria's Secret" when Welsh, Huey, and Louis were trying to prove Fraser and Ray innocent. But there is a key difference. In "Victoria's Secret," Huey, Louis, and Welsh were striving to see justice done. Welsh let Ray keep his gun in that episode after suspending him because he knew Ray should not be suspended, Ray would unofficially work the case anyway, someone close to Fraser had shown no compunction for killing, and Welsh knew Ray would ultimately do everything he could to protect Fraser.
But in this case, Ray and Huey had no desire to see justice done. All they wanted was revenge. They saw a friend killed before their eyes, they got it into their heads that Frankie Zuko was responsible, they already hated him even before this incident, and all they wanted to see was Frankie's head on a platter. It is painfully obvious. Welsh had to have seen how incapable Huey was of working this case when Huey started flipping out in the bullpen about the way the unnamed cop was handling the evidence. This is when Welsh should have pulled Huey off of the case. As for Ray, forgetting that Louis was also his friend and he's hated Frankie since they were both children, did everyone forget that Welsh had just suspended Ray not half an hour before Louis died? Welsh took leave of his senses here.
One could argue that Welsh himself was emotionally involved with this case. "Victoria's Secret" established that there is precedent for Welsh becoming emotionally involved with his subordinates, therefore his feelings for his three detectives might have hindered his judgment at first. I thought for sure, though, that when he called Ray and Huey into his office after Frankie was set free that he was going to pull them off the case. Instead, we see them staking out Frankie's. Maybe Welsh thought they would be all right sitting in a van, but I still say he should've had someone else in charge of this investigation whose head was a little clearer.
Second major nitpick: Commander O'Neill. This woman only has two lines of dialogue in this episode, yet she manages to come across as a complete moron. And this woman is Welsh's superior? The first thing out of her mouth in the aftermath of the explosion is, "If it was a bomb, and they haven't even collected up the pieces yet –" Uh, did she even take a look at the car? Listen to the accounts of the eyewitnesses? Anyone who watches the news and sees reports on the Mideast could tell you that a bomb destroyed Ray's car.
Let's analyze what they had before anyone found bomb remnants. The car was fine until Louis unlocked it and opened the door. The key was nowhere near the ignition. Something was obviously set to explode when the driver's side door was opened. It was also obviously not some random spark (say from a cigarette, which could be ruled out since no one was smoking) because the car didn't just start on fire, but exploded in the space of two seconds, exploded with enough force to take out windows across the block. Within seconds, the entire car, front and back, was engulfed with flames, not just one part of it, and not just the gas tank. All of this evidence, to me, indicates a bomb. Finding the pieces is just confirmation of this. And yet this woman questions whether it was even a bomb?
Last major nitpick: This episode contains one of the biggest bloopers of the entire series, to my knowledge. Partway through the episode, we see an establishing shot of the 27th Precinct building. A cop car is charging down the street, lights flashing, siren blaring. A few cars, most of them police cars, are parked along the curb in front of the building. And, very noticeably, we see a green 1971 Buick Riviera parked directly in front of the Precinct building. Very interesting, considering a car of that exact same make, model, and color just blew up in that very same location not too long before. Couldn't they have used a different establishing shot? Considering the episode's content, this shot was in rather poor taste.
These three nitpicks, along with my thoughts on the placement of the Ray/Irene subplot, force me to downgrade this episode. I wanted to give it a 5, really I did, but these things forced me to grade this episode harsher than I would have liked to. It is truly unfortunate that I cannot do this, since Tony Craig's and David Marciano's performances merit a 5 rating.
Contact Kelly
Laurie's Review:Juliet Is Bleeding is a very compelling episode and the perfect companion piece to The Deal. There are several scenes that shook me up the first time I saw them and they still have the power to chill me, particularly the moment when the Riv blows up and we know that Louis has become a tragic victim and the funeral, with the hauntingly beautiful Full Circle. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. This is one of the most powerful and dramatic stories of any season and it's masterfully done.
I'm not going to say anything about police procedure since that's not what I focus on when I watch this ep. It's always been about Ben and Ray's friendship, and how that friendship is again put to the test, one it's in danger of failing. Everything is shattered in this episode: lives, partnerships, friendship. No happy ending and no easy answers for picking up the pieces. We know Ben and Ray repair the damage to their friendship but we don't know how. Maybe it's not a conscious effort - it just happens, like so many other things that befall them.
Charlie steals the spotlight from Frankie and I find myself actually liking him in some ways. He has become human, almost as though he's realized that it's time to retire from a life of crime, possibly one which he hasn't actively participated in for some time. He's a breed apart from Frankie and Michael Sorrento. He has more class and isn't nearly as ruthless.
I can't help feeling bad for Ben. I hate seeing him treated so cruelly, and it starts early on, when Ray angrily tells him to "saddle up" and the way he later shouts "Do you follow me?!" Ben has to blink back tears. He really doesn't like these types of encounters with his best friends (it reminds me of "Mountie on the Bounty" when he and Ray have their falling out). He doesn't deserve this, whether the others think he betrayed them or not. He perseveres and when he leaves the station amidst hostile glares, it's with his dignity intact. I know Ray is angry and upset and Ben is an easy and safe target but it's still unjustified and misplaced. I love Ray so don't anyone put out a hit on me, but I must say he's a real jerk in several scenes.
I don't care for the scene in Irene's bedroom, the romantic equivalent of a car chase, music and all. It does nothing for me and it adds very little to the story. I can't remember the last time I didn't skip this part. It's too maudlin for my tastes. In fact, I don't much care for any of the Ray/Irene scenes. I didn't sense any chemistry between them, and maybe there wasn't supposed to be any. They haven't seen each other since they were teenagers, I assume, and maybe they weren't meant to recapture what they had when they were in high school. And Ray climbing the trellis - give me a break! If ever there was a convincing argument for Ray having been drinking prior to his visit with Irene, this is it.
Louis Gardino's funeral is the best one I've ever seen on screen. It's not just because of Full Circle. The somber mood is captured without music, the funeral is held on a cold day, we see teary eyes and red noses, and Mrs. Gardino looks like a real mom. What a treat seeing Ray in dress uniform.
Favorite moments:The walk to the restaurant and the conversation, especially Ben telling Ray that Dief has been looking forward to the occasion and hasn't eaten all day. I love the way Dief follows the conversation and whines at appropriate times.
Ben suggesting that they skip coffee and go bowling. Bowling? Can anyone picture that? Louis, maybe, but not the others. He was joking, right?
The chaotic scene in Welsh's office when he's trying to find out what happened at Scarpetta's, Ray being reprimanded and losing his shield, and Ben standing there alone, asking, "What about me, Sir?"
I love the way Charlie rolls his eyes and shakes his head when Michael tells him to get the car, and the way he hops through the snow.
Ben and Charlie playing dominoes, Charlie sarcastically referring to "Frankie boy," Charlie slipping Dief treats and asking him if he wants to go to Florida with him. Compare how comfortable Dief is around Charlie to his reaction to Sorrento. He trusts, even likes, Charlie, with or without a treat, but he growls at Sorrento.
The final scene is very poignant, with Ben leading Ray away from the waiting mob and just allowing him to talk. Ben doesn't have to say a word and I'm glad he doesn't. The moment belongs to Ray. I've read quite a few aftermath stories in which Ray is very angry with Ben and stays that way for a long time. Some of these stories are very good (and I recommend one at the end of my review) but I think Ray's anger was short-lived, it didn't take long for him to realize that Ben didn't betray him or anyone else and that he stood by him throughout the ordeal. They're fine by the next episode, One Good Man.
Nitpicks:I guess my main nitpick is the bedroom scene with Ray and Irene. It feels fake and it's unconvincing, not to mention totally boring.
I know some fans take issue with the police investigation and consider this ep to be fairly flawed as a result, but it's not a problem for me.
Duesies:Ben to Dief: I'm just having the soup.
Frank: Ah, Fraser? Right?
Ben: Yes.
Frank: I'm glad you can be here tonight. It looks like the scars have healed pretty nicely.
Ben: I beg your pardon?
Frank: I mean, I'm sorry. Sometimes the boys can get a little carried away. Blood on the tracks.
Ben: I have no idea what you're talking about.
Frank: All right, come here. I want you to meet some people. Hey, Jimmy, come over here, I want you to meet somebody. My boyhood friend, Jimmy Roast Beef, Constable Fraser.
Jimmy: How you doin'? Good to meet you.
Ben: Likewise, Mr. Roast Beef. Is that your given name?
Jimmy: Yeah, sure.Welsh: Enough, enough. Enough! Constable?
Ben: Mr. Zuko's sister was involved, Leftenant.
Ray: Oh great.
Ben: But Mr. Sorrento did start the altercation.
Ray: What did I say?
Ben: Although Detective Vecchio did provide am--
Ray: Didn't I tell you to shut up?
Ben: Yes, you did, Ray.
Welsh: Mr. Sorrento charges that Detective Vecchio punched him in the face, causing serious bodily harm.
Ray: It was a love tap.
Ben: That's not entirely true.
Ray: Okay, so I belted him, but he pushed me first.
Ben: Well, that much is true.
Welsh: Thank you.Charlie, referring to Frank: He ain't like his father.
Ben: Very few of us are.Ben: The police didn't plant the detonator caps in your back yard. Whoever cut this wire did.
Frank: Who?
Ben: I can't imagine, can you?
Frank: Yes, I can, the Dorio Brothers.
Ben: Are they on your list?
Frank: Not that one.
Ben: Well, then, you have a problem. Perhaps it is somebody closer to you. Someone who is on the list.
Frank: Who? Charlie?
Ben: No, his arches have fallen.
Dief Moment:Slipping into the restaurant during the fight and helping himself to all the goodies.
Recommended Fanfic:Out of the Shadows by Angela Rivieccio.
Grade: A.
Melanie's Review:When I was working on my list of episode titles inspired by film titles, I was surprised to come across a reference to the film Romeo is Bleeding--described by Amazon.com as a black comedy about a cop who gets embroiled with the mob. Romeo is Bleeding was released in 1996. Juliet is Bleeding was broadcast on Feb. 1, 1996. Coincidence? You be the judge.
Of course, the obvious symbolism for the episode title is MacBeth. ;-) Like the Shakespeare play, this episode begins with a rivaly, a party, a dance and a brawl. A blow intended for our hero kills his friend instead. Revenge ensues. In the end, the outcome runs closer to the R&J-inspired West Side Story, as one grieving lover nobly resolves to end the feud.
But enough about that. ;-)
I happen to like the Ray/Irene relationship, although I feel it falls far short of true love. There is adequate backstory (from The Deal) to make the idea of a childhood infatuation between these two plausible--we know that Ray and Frankie went to the same school and that they live in the same neighborhood.
I don't think that either Ray or Irene were falling in love. Their first encounter, at the party, was an awkward reunion punctuated by a thinly-veiled attempt to make Frankie crazy. I got the impression that Ray had been pleased that Irene had managed to escape from her father's (and later, her brother's) orbit; now he is dismayed to think that she would willingly bring her children back to that house.
When he climbed the trellis to her bedroom, it was to confirm that she was on the "right" side of the emerging battle; he was shocked and dismayed to learn that she was still aligned with her brother. In the end, I think his motivation was less to love her than to rescue her--and of course, to deny Frankie the satisfaction of keeping her within the "family."
The pacing in this episode is amazing, never turning down the stress or wandering away on a tangent. Gardino's sudden death was a very satisfying surprise, and the investigation that follows struck one emotional chord after another: Ray and Jack giving in to their rage, contrasted with Fraser's detatched, rational pursuit of justice. There's no Super-Mountie here, no stunts or superior senses or mysterious expertise--in fact, I was please to see that Fraser actually asked a bomb expert about the bomb-maker's signature.
DuesiesRay: You see this? [holds up his badge to a passing waiter] This comes with a gun. Now do we get dessert?
Fraser: Perhaps we should just skip coffee altogether and go bowling.
Ray: Ah what the heck, I'm going to go shake his peaches.
Zuko: How about a song for my birthday?
Fraser: Shake his peaches?
Louis: Yeah the part where we break chairs over their heads.Fraser: Ah Ray--would you order me pigs in a blanket, too?
Ray: You don't even know what they are.
Fraser: They sound yummy.Ray: Who the hell do you think died out here huh? So you got a wire that should be melted but it's not. You got an absence of finger stains, you got Zuko without an alibi when he should have one. All right maybe someone planted those detonators and maybe they didn't. All I know is we've got a dead cop, a friend and we got the guy who did it. Do you follow me?
Charlie: You want to help Frank Zuko?
Fraser: No, I have no interest in seeing Mr. Zuko anywhere other than in prison.
Charlie: So how can I help you, Constable?
(I know that's not what he meant, but. . . .)Charlie: What a piece of work. You've got Zuko in the ringer and you don't want to pull the handle--and you call yourself a cop.
Fraser: What I would like for Mr. Zuko and what the law dictates are two different things, and right now that difference is the only thing that's keeping him alive.
Charlie: You're renewing my faith.Ray: You know, that vine's dead. You should have someone cut it down.
Irene: I know--my father tried twice, but it grew back.Ray: Oh wow, yeah, I remember these! I always liked these. You're the only girl I ever knew who slept in a tent.
Irene: And that was information you shouldn't have had.
Ray: Well I never told a soul.
Irene: Yeah right... outside of the basketball team maybe.
Ray: I swear, I never told anyone.
(I bet Frankie told the basketball team!)Fraser: I have a present for you from Mr. Zuko.
Michael: I already have one.
Fraser: Yes, well, he thinks yours may be damaged. You know, these really shouldn't be used for cutting wire.
Runner-Up Nitpick of the WeekMy brother noted that the folded flag given to Louis' mother at the funeral was not folded tightly enough. He says that a properly folded US flag should not show any of the red or white stripes.
Nitpick of the Week
Who can say? Irene might have survived if Ray hadn't picked her up and carried her down the stairs.
Snack to enjoy while watching Juliet is BleedingCalamari, stracciatella, mustacelli primavera, espresso and two or three chocolate tartufos--on the other hand, I'll just have the soup.
GradingI'm not even going to break this one down. A+ all the way!
If you want to sound off, or if you'd like to add a review to the site, let me know!
Back to The Mask
Forward to One Good Man
Back to the Episode List