I think Johnson shows us that Lewis loses something after what happens in early season 3, and while Lewis can't quite get that same joie de vivre back—at the beginning of season 1, he proposes starting a mail-order adult diaper business as a second career, or flooding Memorial Stadium and turning it into a giant aquatic theme park; the other detectives in the unit treat his proposals with a certain gravity despite the joke factor, and little moments like that help make early Homicide such a joy—but in his partnership with Kellerman, Lewis slides into a new role. He's the older partner, the sometime voice of experience, even when Kellerman scoffs at him, and Lewis sometimes rags him back.
Clark Johnson has chemistry with everyone, and Lewis has memorable moments with people who aren't partnered with him as well. In the season 2 opener, "See No Evil," Lewis has a crisis of conscience that includes a shoving match with fellow detective Beau Felton across the men's room. Lewis isn't the featured character in "See No Evil"—he enters the story halfway through—but he steals the show in pivotal scenes. In that episode and in general, despite Lewis's tendency toward resisting emotional intimacy, Clark Johnson's marvelous facial expressions and body language show us something captivating about what's going on under the surface.
Understated but complex emotions! Dry wit and wisecracking banter! Partners who have conflicted and intense relationships with each other; who also grow into each other at the same time! Who sometimes just go and have a barbecue on Kellerman's boat! I'm finally getting to quote Terry Pratchett's description of Watch Captain Sam Vimes, from Men at Arms:
Vimes wanted to say that he liked traipsing around dark wet streets, but it would be no use. He didn't like it much. It was just what he'd always done. He thought about his badge in the same way he thought about his nose. He didn't love it or hate it. It was just his badge.
In many ways, that's the Homicide spirit, and Meldrick Lewis, in a nutshell. (And for a moment there I had a happy vision of Clark Johnson circa 1994 playing Sam Vimes in a screen adaptation...)
Some Lewis quotes through season 4, episode 18 ("Scene of the Crime"):
LEWIS: Refresh my memory. Was the name Abraham Lincoln up on the Board today?
LEWIS: Baltimore, home of the misdemeanor homicide.
LEWIS: Don't open your mouth. MUNCH: Me? Open my mouth? LEWIS: No, no. Promise me. I gotta hear it from you. Say, "I'll be good." MUNCH: I promise I'll be good. LEWIS: Oh, and there's one other thing. Don't wear that tie with the little Buddhas on it. It's ugly. MUNCH: And what's wrong with that tie? LEWIS: I wouldn't give directions to a guy wearing a tie like that. MUNCH: Well, guess what? That just happens to be my lucky tie. I love that tie. Felicia gave me that tie. LEWIS: Well, there you go. I rest my case.
LEWIS: You're a writer and you had to ask me for a pen?
LEWIS: Lemme tell you one thing, all right? You gotta do everything I say. KELLERMAN: Well, there's nothing I won't do... but some things are gonna cost you extra.
KELLERMAN: You know, he shouldn't leave a department vehicle running like that. LEWIS: Yeah, could get stolen. KELLERMAN: Lieutenant said take the first car in. LEWIS: We shouldn't. KELLERMAN: You're right. LEWIS [as they pull away in the car]: Grand theft auto, baby. PEMBLETON [running after it]: You sons of bitches!
LEWIS: Iced tea keeps me in a summertime frame of mind.
AL-HADJ [referring to KELLERMAN]: How can you work with him? LEWIS: What? Who, him? AL-HADJ: He hates us. Why do his bidding? LEWIS: Nah, he hates you. And most of the time, he does my bidding.
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timeasmymeasure
rant for the win! (part 2 and final!)
Date: 2009-03-13 04:40 pm (UTC)Clark Johnson has chemistry with everyone, and Lewis has memorable moments with people who aren't partnered with him as well. In the season 2 opener, "See No Evil," Lewis has a crisis of conscience that includes a shoving match with fellow detective Beau Felton across the men's room. Lewis isn't the featured character in "See No Evil"—he enters the story halfway through—but he steals the show in pivotal scenes. In that episode and in general, despite Lewis's tendency toward resisting emotional intimacy, Clark Johnson's marvelous facial expressions and body language show us something captivating about what's going on under the surface.
Understated but complex emotions! Dry wit and wisecracking banter! Partners who have conflicted and intense relationships with each other; who also grow into each other at the same time! Who sometimes just go and have a barbecue on Kellerman's boat! I'm finally getting to quote Terry Pratchett's description of Watch Captain Sam Vimes, from Men at Arms:In many ways, that's the Homicide spirit, and Meldrick Lewis, in a nutshell. (And for a moment there I had a happy vision of Clark Johnson circa 1994 playing Sam Vimes in a screen adaptation...)
Some Lewis quotes through season 4, episode 18 ("Scene of the Crime"):
LEWIS: Refresh my memory. Was the name Abraham Lincoln up on the Board today?
LEWIS: Baltimore, home of the misdemeanor homicide.
LEWIS: Don't open your mouth.
MUNCH: Me? Open my mouth?
LEWIS: No, no. Promise me. I gotta hear it from you. Say, "I'll be good."
MUNCH: I promise I'll be good.
LEWIS: Oh, and there's one other thing. Don't wear that tie with the little Buddhas on it. It's ugly.
MUNCH: And what's wrong with that tie?
LEWIS: I wouldn't give directions to a guy wearing a tie like that.
MUNCH: Well, guess what? That just happens to be my lucky tie. I love that tie. Felicia gave me that tie.
LEWIS: Well, there you go. I rest my case.
LEWIS: You're a writer and you had to ask me for a pen?
LEWIS: Lemme tell you one thing, all right? You gotta do everything I say.
KELLERMAN: Well, there's nothing I won't do... but some things are gonna cost you extra.
KELLERMAN: You know, he shouldn't leave a department vehicle running like that.
LEWIS: Yeah, could get stolen.
KELLERMAN: Lieutenant said take the first car in.
LEWIS: We shouldn't.
KELLERMAN: You're right.
LEWIS [as they pull away in the car]: Grand theft auto, baby.
PEMBLETON [running after it]: You sons of bitches!
LEWIS: Iced tea keeps me in a summertime frame of mind.
AL-HADJ [referring to KELLERMAN]: How can you work with him?
LEWIS: What? Who, him?
AL-HADJ: He hates us. Why do his bidding?
LEWIS: Nah, he hates you. And most of the time, he does my bidding.