The Hat
Directed By: Peter Medak
Story By: Henry Bromell, Tom Fontana, and Trish Soodik
Teleplay By: Anya Epstein
Kellerman and Lewis go on a road trip to escort Rose Halligan (Lily Tomlin), a woman accused of killing her husband, from a small town in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned. Things also don't go like the rest of the Homicide squad when they expect Giardello to be promoted to captain after Russert was demoted, only to find out to their horror Gaffney has been promoted to the position. Munch gets angry at Brodie when the videotape he shot of a crime scene doesn't back up Munch's story.
This episode contains examples of:
- Back Story: Kellerman admits to Lewis his ex-wife was cheating on him, and he thought about killing her, but decided not to.
- Deadly Euphemism: When Kellerman and Lewis finally track down Rose after she escaped from them, she's at the house of Greta (the woman her dead husband Arthur was having an affair with), and she tells them "I returned her hat". Inside, they find Greta lying on the floor, dead, with a knife on the ground by her.
- Drives Like Crazy: In her Establishing Character Moment, Rose is singing along to opera while driving the car over the speed limit, running through a red light, and eventually crashing into a fire hydrant. Kellerman wonders if she's any worse than Lewis.
- Head-Tiltingly Kinky: When Munch looks through Brodie's "office" (actually a locker room) to find the videotape he needs, he instead finds a porn video. Howard is disgusted, but Munch is turned on, and tilts his head.
- MacGuffin Title: The hat Greta was wearing, which Arthur had given to her, was how Rose figured out Arthur was having an affair with her, even before she walked in on them.
- Motor Mouth: Rose. She tells Kellerman and Lewis the Harrisburg police wouldn't let her talk, and as soon as Lewis allows her to speak, he finds out why.
- Mythology Gag: When Kellerman and Lewis go to pick up Rose, a female police officer tells them Rose can only go with another female officer, which is when Lewis introduces Kellerman as "Michelle". When the officer retorts to Kellerman, "You're not a woman", he responds, "I used to be." In David Simon's book, the Expy of Bayliss says that line after the Expy of Munch called him, "Phyllis" in order to escort a female prisoner.
- Off on a Technicality: Munch tells Brodie if he doesn't bury the tape, the defendant will be found not guilty because of a technicality. He proves to be right.
- Tempting Fate: Everyone in the Homicide Unit is sure Giardello is going to get promoted to captain (only Giardello is cautious), so of course, it doesn't happen.
