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Mike Kellerman (Homicide: Life on the Street)

kevinburtonsmith

Homicide: Life on the Street TV developed for television by Paul Attanasio
Based on the non-fiction book by David Simon
Kellerman character created by Tom Fontana

“There’s more cheating in Baltimore than there is Kodak film.”
— Kellerman waxes philosophic

’tis the season… Falsone and Kellerman (right) talk it out.

One of the most unexpected P.I. dramas ever aired on television has to have been two episodes plopped in the midst of the final season of Homicide: A Life on the Street, NBC’s acclaimed cop drama.

The memorable two-parter dealt with the return and of fallen angel and disgraced former Baltimore murder cop MIKE KELLERMAN as, of all things, a private eye. And this wasn’t just a toss-off—No re-imagining, no alternate reality, no dream sequence—just the straight goods;  a full-bodied, no-holds-barred P.I. drama, folded right into an ongoing series. 

Long-time viewers may remember Kellerman as the once-promising rookie homicide cop with a chip on his shoulder who was pressured to resign from the force after his involvement in the sisth season’s fatal shooting of drug kingpin Luther Mahoney under questionable circumstances.

As that long story arc played out, Kellerman, still smarting from previous charges of corruption, slowly watched his personal and professional life fall apart, to the point that he resigns—as part of a deal he cooks up with his Lieutenant that sees that no charges will be brought against him, and two of his fellow officers also involved in in the Mahoney case will be fully cleared and able to keep their jobs. But only if Kellerman resigns. At the end of the sixth season, it seemed Kellerman was gone for good.

But, much to my surprise and delight, in the middle of the seventh season, in December 1998, Kellerman was suddenly back for a couple of episodes: a sad, brooding two-parter titled “Kellerman, P.I.”

He’s now just a bottom-feeding gumshoe, chasing errant spouses and not above a little window-peeping, if it pays the bills. Things are looking up, though, when he takes on as his client one of the teenage suspects in the nasty (but headline-grabbing) case of the murder of an unwanted newborn. For Kellerman, it’s a chance to do what he considers “real” police work again, without the weight of police rules and regulations. But his old co-workers, particularly his nemesis Detective Falsone, don’t exactly share Kellerman’s joy at him second-guessing one of his cases. Not that he’s looked upon with much favor from many of his former co-workers.

In a show already awash in the dark grit of urban decay, moral rot and personal damnation, this is primal stuff: fear, guilt, betrayal, hate, shame, loyalty, regret, and, surprisingly, redemption and even honour, are all trotted out, and Kellerman’s unexpected return to the show tore right into the guts of the show’s often dark and nasty heart. While in the background sharp-eyed viewers will notice the city is prepping for Christmas.

Despite the hoary old chestnut of an ex-cop turned private eye, Homicide managed something increasingly rare in network television’s typical approach to to private eyes. They worried about making Kellerman a real character first (not a watery assemblage of personal quirks, wacky eccentricities and a spiffy car) and a private eye second.

It was all handled so well, so potent and gripping, you just had to wonder if this was a dry run for something. A pilot for a possible spin-off, perhaps.

But it wasn’t. Kellerman’s character slipped back into the shadows, and a few months later, the TV show, never a ratings juggernaut, did so as well. The seventh season would also be its last.

Kellerman did, however make one final appearance, in Homicide: The Movie, a television movie that aired a year later. He’s still a private investigator, was one of the former members of the squad to gather when their former boss, Lt. Al Giardello, is shot down. He and Giardello’s son Mike, a former FBI agent, team up, and Kellerman uses his contacts to help track down some of Al Giardello’s old enemies in Baltimore’s Italian quarter. Our last glimpse of Kellerman is in the Waterfront, the Homicide squad’s watering hole, where he’s sharing a drink with ex-M.E. Julianna Cox, with whom he once had a relationship.

Still, I kept hoping we’d see him again…

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Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
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