February 13, 2007: Flipped
Cop: "You listen to rap music, right?"
Logan: "Regularly."
So, I wasn't really looking forward to this episode - another rap-murder case when we've seen way too many of these Tupac/Biggie slayings. And yet, I have to admit, I really enjoyed it probably because the rap murder was only the "inciting incident" (pardon the high-school English term) for a complex case.
The real heart of this episode was deep-undercover detective Williams, played with surprising depth by rapper
Sticky Fingaz - that's right, I said Sticky Fingaz. It's a subject that's been dealt with sporadically (the excellent drug-cops drama
Rush comes to mind), but not so much from the hip-hop underworld angle. It wasn't hard to see why Williams became torn between protecting his family and carrying out his duty as a police officer - and why he crossed the line in the end.
Though he finally turned in his badge, I'd actually like to see a little more of this Williams character. Conflicted cops are always more interesting than the self-righteous, crusading ones - and he sure knew how to push Logan's buttons. After
The Noth put Sticky through that window, it's a real toss-up as to who needs anger-management classes more: Logan or
Special Victims Unit's resident hothead, Elliot Stabler.
Of course, as usual, good old Captain Danny barely batted an eyelash at all this. I mean, one of your guys just put a fellow officer through a window; can you at least
try to look a little perturbed,
Bogosian ?
And while
Julianne Nicholson still doesn't thrill me overall (and that Howdy Doody dig was dead on), I actually felt some heat from her this time around, particularly when she snuck up behind the G-Man when he had Logan in his sights. Wheeler, with a gun to the cop-killer's head: "G-Man, you shoot another cop, this time, there won't be a trial." Nice, Wheeler.
Another element that made this episode work for me was the decision to cast real rappers (including hip-hop scene vet
Fab Five Freddy as the slain Fulla T) in the key roles, when producers could just as easily have hired actors to
pretend to be rappers. I'm not the biggest fan of the genre (though I have been known to blast a little
Nas when the mood strikes me), but I think the hip-hop authenticity is what made this episode succeed where others may have failed. All around, nice work.
Next Week:
Tom Arnold as a psycho preacher? Gee, that won't be offensive on several levels....
