Greetings,
Okay, I think I have to do some explaining before I begin today. If you do a web search for an episode guide of The Commish, you will see that they refer to the three television movies I will be reviewing as Season 5. Also, on the complete series DVD collection, which I own, of course, it referred to them as such there as well. Basically, what they are trying to tell us is that an entire season of a show can legitimately consist of what is ultimately, and sans commercials, three 90-minute TV movies. That is just ridiculous. (Insert Sherlock joke here)
In all seriousness, when I first saw these, they aired in November through January, following the ending of The Commish Season Four. And, unless my memory is playing tricks on me, they were each billed as being a "Television Movie Event". So, you understand why I never labeled them as normal episodes in a normal season. I've always considered them TV movies that wrapped up what needed to be wrapped up for the series. Therefore, I will be reviewing them as said TV movies. Now let's get to the first one, In the Shadow of the Gallows.
I love the way that this thing begins. What we see is a lovely juxtaposition of scenes. On one hand, we are watching, though not too graphically, a man being executed. On the other hand, we see Tony and Rachel in the audience of an opera, wherein a death scene is taking place, and the music of which serves as a soundtrack for both scenes. It was shot very well, and it also reminded us what a cultured man Tony Scali is. He did love his classical music and whatnot.
Next, we see Tony at the precinct where the conflict of the story really begins. The man who was executed was named Webster MacKenzie, and Tony played a major role in his arrest and ultimate conviction. Unfortunately, another already jailed man, Robert Allardyce played by the legendary Dean Stockwell, decides to confess to the murders for which Mackenzie was executed ... the day after he was executed. Um...timing? This all seems a bit suspicious to me, as it does for Tony and Paulie, so they begin to investigate, to prove that justice was, indeed, served, and it was not an innocent man who was executed. Because they stand for truth and justice. Also, Tony is named in a $10,000,000 lawsuit that the family filed against the city. And he gets served on about the same day that this other confession is revealed. Wow! Look, I can appreciate that the family is upset, but...WOW! That was awfully fast. I'm sure it's not about the money, though. I'm sure of it.
So Tony goes upstate to visit Allardyce and figure out what the heck. The guy holds tight to this confession of his, but Tony just is not buying it. At all. Now Allardyce doesn't straight up say, at this point, that he lied, but he hints at it when he says that he will recant if Tony can prove that he didn't commit the murder he was in jail for in the first place. Well, that is...elaborate. Also, kind of clever, since Tony is very upset about the whole situation. Not about being sued, especially since he's covered by the city, but because this system of law to which he has dedicated his life and career may have failed him, with overwhelming consequences. And here he sits with another man who may be innocent and it prompts him to so what he can.
Tony and Paulie then travel off to figure out what is going on, and it leads them to some corrupt cops and Native Americans. What! Okay, corrupt cops are something that have been done and done again, sometimes well, sometimes not so well. It's fine here, but the Native American part? I should be personally offended by this for a couple of reasons, because I, in fact, have a bit of Native American blood in me. Not a ton, but it still counts. First of all, the Native Americans were referred to as 'Indians' quite a few times. I guess it couldn't be helped in some cases, since they were dealing with the BIA, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, an organization that has been around since 1824! So, yeah, Indians. Guess we'll just have to deal with it when it comes to this. Not that it's the only longtime organization wherein the title contains an inappropriate name for the people its representing. Anywho, the other thing that should offend me is just the fact that some of the bad guys are Native Americans. Not cool. How dare you come into our casinos and besmirch our legacy! Seriously, though, after I thought about it, I saw the method to the madness here. See, there's a character in this named Clyde Smoke. I know, right? It's like best name ever. Now if you know anything about Native American surnames, you know that there are some seriously cool ones out there, mostly nature-related. Or something like 'smoke'. If a guy of any other race had this name, you'd probably automatically tag him as the villain. But this is an expected name of a Native American, so it would go unnoticed. You see, it was a red herring. Or was it? Genius! Of course, it wasn't so shady with the corrupt cops. You could spot them right off the bat. And speaking of ethnic insensitivity, the police chief they encounter, when Tony and Paulie asked if there might be mob ties with the casinos, took it upon himself to make a "Why are you asking me about the mob? You're Italian. Why don't you just ask yourself and/or your immediate and/or extended family?" comment. First of all, if that gut thought he was being original with that, then he deserves to be in jail. Second, you assume someone is in the mob, and you think it's a good idea to say ... THAT!? Whatever! Moving on.
So Tony and Paulie head off and have to meet with the head of the BIA, and it is none other than Maria Bello. Because who better to run the Bureau of Indian Affairs than a white, blonde woman. Oh, there I go again. Actually, I think this was the first time I ever saw Maria Bello, and a stint on The Commish should be a great way to start, in my opinion. Or so I thought. More on that in a moment. Anyway, she plays Betsy Nolan, and she tries to help out with their investigation. So, the thee of them go off and gumshoe, and there is actually quite a bit of action in this. We see Tony horseback riding, badly, which is great. But there is truly nothing better than that scene wherein he and Paulie have to jump from the roof of one building to another. And they totally pull it off!! I'm not kidding about this at all! Things begin to awry, though. Paulie gets beaten up by thugs, and Betsy takes him back to her place to "nurse him back to health". We all know what that means, don't we? Yeah, at this point, my crush on Paulie was still there, so I wasn't much of a fan of Ms. Bello for awhile. Because I hold grudges against actors for the actions of their characters, a lot. She should be pleased to know that I have since forgiven her for this faux pas. Now whether or not I forgive her for being in Grown Ups is a complete other issue.
Now, as it turns out, it was some FBI guys chasing Tony on the horse. Sorry, I must stop and chuckle as I remember that scene. Okay, they have also been investigating the cops and the casinos, but because of stealing money crimes and whatnot. Still, they all manage to work together to catch the bad guys. When I say bad 'guys' though, I say it loosely, because, as it happens, Betsy was more involved with the shadiness than she was letting on. A lot more. Because she didn't let on at all. No, seriously, I give her credit for being able to pull the wool over the eyes of two seasoned cops, and for quite a while. But you can only fool The Commish and his minions for so long before you are discovered. And she is discovered, though I kind of despise her motivation behind what she did. It's bit... YA, if you will. After that, all the guilty people are in jail, and all the innocents are let out. Hooray!
Okay, though I do call this a movie, I do have to admit that they did something which they often did on normal episodes, which is have some B and C plots. One of those dealt with Tony's son, David, who was about fifteen at the time, dating a slightly older girl. Actually, she was eighteen. Dating a fifteen year old. And Rachel, David's mother, who did not approve in the first place, catches them as they nearly seal the deal. If you know what I mean. And this raises a question - Why isn't this person in jail? I'm not kidding. She is technically an adult trying to get it on with a minor. Wrong, and also stupid, because the minor happens to be the son of the police commissioner. Whatever! But it does show, yet again, that no matter what insanity is going on in one's work life, family life still goes on at home, and it must be dealt with. Another subplot, one a bit less disturbing, is that the precinct is being observed by a psychiatrist or psychologist, I don't know, who is evaluating the officers. Both I and Commissioner Scali appreciate the fact that this must be done to keep everyone safe and sane, but, holy crap, this chick was awful. Look, lady, when you distract a cop from doing his job, you are not helping anyone. But she gets some amusing comeuppance in the end, so good times.
So that was In the Shadow of the Gallows, the first of The Commish movies. I really liked it. Sure, it felt a bit episode-y, but what do you expect from a TV movie spawned from a TV show? It was still good and did what The Commish did best, mixing the action and drama with some funny, and showing off some great storytelling and acting performances. It's all I ever ask for, and as usual with this series, it was delivered.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
