Crosetti

One of my favorite TV series of all time is Homicide, the network predecessor of HBO's 'The Wire". There are a lot of great moments and scenes I find myself re-watching. One such moment is the final scene of episode 6 season 3, entitled "Crosetti".  Crosetti was a character written out of the series and they decided to explain it by having the character commit suicide. Among the issues that result from classifying his death as a suicide is the fact that the police department refuses to provide any of the traditional ceremonial trappings for the funeral, in particular, refusing to provide an honor guard. This refusal infuriates a particular detective Pembleton (whose character pretty much acts as the moral center for the series), and he consequently announces that he won't be attending the funeral.

The service is held, and the procession from the church to the cemetery is on foot, and goes past the police station, where Pembleton is seen standing in full uniform acting as the honor guard the department has refused to provide. There are brief shots of the responses reflected on various detectives' faces as what they see registers. Pembleton is then shown from multiple perspectives saluting the hearse as it passes ending with a close up on Pembleton's face.

I'm still not sure exactly why this resonates with me so much. A large part of it is about doing the right thing - and in this case, the right thing is about showing respect for someone for their life and how they lived it, and not letting the last thing they did be the overriding factor in how someone is remembered after they're gone. But I know there's more, and if I figure it out, I'll say more about it.

I guess it seems relevant to think about being reminded this week about almost being killed.