Finnegan's Wake (Homicide: Life on the Street)

"Finnegan's Wake" is the 21st episode of the sixth season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It is the 98th overall episodes of the series, and originally aired on NBC in the United States on April 24, 1998.^[1]

The episode was directed by Steve Buscemi, who had previously appeared in the series as sociopathic gunman Gordon Pratt.^[2] "Finnegan's Wake" continues a storyline introduced in the very first episode of the series: Tim Bayliss's obsession with the Adena Watson case. Guest star Charles Durning was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series for his portrayal of Thomas Finnegan.^[3]

Plot summary

The detectives must reexamine evidence from the oldest unsolved murder on record in the city - the 1932 death of an eight-year-old girl named Clara Slone. Det. Tim Bayliss is the initial primary on the case, but its similarity to the Adena Watson case — Bayliss' first case as a primary detective, which still haunts him — motivates Lt. Al Giardello to reassign the case to Det. Paul Falsone, who is thrilled by the opportunity to close a case that is a part of Baltimore history. Falsone gets permission from Giardello to partner with Thomas Finnegan, a detective who was obsessed with the case until his retirement in 1974; Finnegan eagerly steps up to help Falsone solve the case. Finnegan initially charms the entire unit with his mixture of charisma, Irish tradition, and professionalism, although Finnegan's nostalgia for the days when Baltimore police were mostly Irish eventually offends Meldrick Lewis when Finnegan refers to black suspects with the racial slur "spooks." His derisive comments about Italians and women serving in the department rile Falsone and Laura Ballard as well. However, Finnegan also persuades a dive team to keep searching a particular area until they find a revolver that proves to be the murder weapon.

Falsone and Finnegan are declared heroes when they eventually close the case, and Falsone takes great pride in writing Slone's name on the Board in blue ink as a cold case that has been solved. The happy ending is bitter for both Bayliss (who is again haunted by memories and nightmares of the Adena Watson case) and Lewis (who is left disturbed by Finnegan's racism). Bayliss does, however, find some comfort in visiting Slone's younger sister with Finnegan in order to tell her that the case has been solved.

References