Night of the Dead Living
Directed By: Michael Lehmann
Story By: Tom Fontana and Frank Pugliese
Teleplay By: Frank Pugliese
The homicide squad works the night shift on the hottest night of the year. When the night proves to be unusually quiet, the detectives are left to brood over their personal problems and deal with the lack of air conditioning, an abandoned baby left in the station's basement, and a renegade Santa running amok in the building.
List of tropes applying to this episode:
- Bad Santa: The only real criminal activity is a guy dressed in a Santa suit who threatens to jump off a building and then shoots his wife… with a water gun. He's arrested, but he somehow manages to escape from his restraints and hides in the ceiling of the homicide squadroom, at least until it collapses under his weight.
- Bottle Episode: The episode takes place entirely in the homicide squadroom, apart from the final scene, which is on the roof.
- Breather Episode: Set in between "Ghost of a Chance" and "Son of a Gun", "Night of the Dead Living" is a surprisingly heartwarming look at the detectives' personal lives and personalities.
- Butt-Monkey: Bayliss gets ribbed by the rest of the squadroom when he impulsively orders someone named James Hill brought to the station when his fingerprints are found on the library book Adena Watson was carrying, and Hill turns out to be a young boy. He also has to deal with Pembleton relentlessly criticizing everything he does.
- Cuteness Proximity: The entire squad fawns over the baby and bands together to take care of him.
- The Ditherer: Bolander repeatedly rationalizes not calling Blythe to ask her out on a date with various worst-case scenarios, until he finally works up the courage to call her at the end of the episode.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Bayliss complains to Giardello about Pembleton. Gee instantly recognizes he's just sore about being humiliated, and tells him he has to earn the squad's respect.
- Friend to All Children: The entire squad, but especially Bolander, prove to be this once they find the baby.
- Heroic BSoD: Howard, after learning her sister found out she may have breast cancer on the same day her husband revealed he was having an affair.
- Hidden Depths: The episode is all about revealing the detectives' Hidden Depths. Bayliss is just as arrogant as Pembleton, Howard is afraid she'll develop breast cancer (which is a hereditary condition in her family), Bolander is deeply insecure and a Friend to All Children, Crosetti is overprotective, and Munch has a hidden compassionate side.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
- After learning that Howard's sister may have breast cancer, Felton offers to cover for her so she can go be with her sister.
- Munch is the one who lights the candle, which he does in memory of the dead.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Deconstructed. Pembleton is offering Bayliss genuinely helpful advice, and he's right that Bayliss is ignoring it in spite of the fact that Pembleton is more experienced, but he ignores the fact that the reason Bayliss won't listen to him is because Pembleton has been behaving like a colossal jackass to Bayliss and has repeatedly tried to undermine his authority in the Adena Watson case.
- Nice Girl: Loretta comforts Howard while she's in the middle of a Heroic BSoD.
- Nice Guy: Thormann lights the candle after Lewis and Felton blow it out because he knew it was important to Munch.
- Riddle for the Ages: Lewis and Felton spend the entire episode trying to figure out who lights a candle nearby the board, and blow it out repeatedly to see who re-lights it. After failing to catch the culprit in the act, they decide that it's better left a mystery. However, the ending reveals that it was actually Munch.
- Shout-Out: The episode title is a reference to Night of the Living Dead (1968).
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: "Santa" hides in the homicide squadroom's ceiling after escaping custody, only for the ceiling to collapse under his weight and him to fall straight into the middle of the squadroom.
- Tall Poppy Syndrome: Played for Laughs. Giardello gets increasingly jealous of how Pembleton is able to stay cool despite how hot the squadroom is, and repeatedly demands he take off his tie because of it.
