All Through the House
Directed By: Peter Medak
Written By: Henry Bromell
It's Christmas time, and the Homicide unit is stuck working the night shift. While Russert decides to join Lewis in investigating the death of a drug addict who was set to testify against her pusher, and Bolander and Munch investigate the death of a man who dressed up as Santa Claus, Bayliss tries to get the rest of the squad, stuck at the office, into the Christmas spirit by asking them to play Hearts with him.
This episode contains examples of:
- An Aesop: After Giardello ends up cleaning Bayliss' clock in cards, he offers this piece of advice to him:Giardello: Let me give you a little advice for the future; never try to hustle a Sicilian.
- Aesop Amnesia: In-Universe - When Bayliss originally asks Pembleton to play cards with him, Pembleton begs off because, as he tells Bayliss, he lost money the last time he played cards, and realizing he's not any good at it, decided not to play cards again. However, just as Bayliss hoped, his innate curiosity (as well as Felton and Howard's curiosity) at what Bayliss and Giardello are doing in Giardello's office leads him to get involved in the card game, at which he loses again.
- Bait-and-Switch: We're meant to think Munch will eventually have to tell Fidel his father is dead. Instead, just as he's about to break the news, Bolander shows up with Fidel's real father. Turns out the murder victim was someone who stole the Santa suit.
- Berserk Button: Fidel gets very angry when his father gets accused of being The Alcoholic. Munch, in the Pet the Dog moment, backs up Fidel and says he isn't (even though Munch doesn't actually know Fidel's father).
- Blowing a Raspberry: When Bolander and Munch come back to find most of the squad playing cards in Giardello's office, Munch wonders how they can do that given what Munch has been through, at which point Pembleton blows a raspberry at him.
- Call-Back: When Bayliss asks Howard what she'd be doing if she wasn't stuck in Homicide for Christmas, she mentions she'd go see her family, and maybe an old boyfriend.
- Christmas Episode: Albeit a little more twisted than the usual example.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The woman whose death Lewis and Russert investigate was burnt to death when the murderer threw kerosene on her and set her on fire.
- The Grinch: Munch hates Christmas, although considering he's a homicide detective and, as he and Lewis point out, more people kill themselves around Christmas than any other time of year, it's somewhat justified.
- Hustling the Mark: G deliberately lets Bayliss try to hustle him, before winning all the money on the final game.
- Literary Allusion Title: The title of the episode comes from the first line of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas ("Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house...").
- Meaningful Name: The name of the dead man dressed as Santa Claus is Nicholas.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: When Bayliss approaches Giardello to play Hearts with him, Giardello pretends he's never heard of the game. As Munch explains to a shell-shocked Bayliss after the game is over, Giardello put one of his children through college with his winnings from games of hearts.
- Rage Breaking Point: When Lewis and Russert tell the mother (Nancy Marchand) of the murdered drug addict they've found her killer, the mother thanks them, but then looks at the Christmas tree, gets angry about the fact there are number of red decorations all in one place (which she had lectured the staff about earlier), she takes one of the decorations and throws in on the floor, breaking it.
- Twisted Christmas: A Christmas episode that includes a woman burned alive and a dead Santa. Subverted since the dead Santa turns out not to be the guy who they thought it was, but a criminal who was killed by another criminal.
