Hill Street Blues (TV Series) Invasion of the Third World Body Snatchers (1982) User Reviews

Satisfying closer for the second season

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 13 September 2010]

Belker (a pleasingly scruffy Bruce Weitz) poses as a bum to catch a slasher. Davenport (fine work by Veronica Hamel) defends Donald Lilly (a sound performance by Thomas Carter), a young man who's been wrongfully accused of rape. The van containing the corpse of Renko's father is stolen. Washington (Taurean Blacque, cool as ever) asks Furillo (the always splendid Daniel J. Travanti) to give LaRue (well played by Kiel Martin) his old job back. This episode neatly mines an amusing line in inspired offbeat humor: Hunter (James B. Sikking, the master of deadpan) discusses surviving a nuclear holocaust, Renko (Charles Haid in excellent form) has a hilarious scene at a funeral home in which he tries to pick out an appropriate and affordable casket for his dad, and Belker inadvertently eats a cooked cat. Moreover, there's some nice verbal sparring between Bates (Betty Thomas) and Coffey (affable Ed Marinaro) and an exciting car chase involving the stolen van and several police cars. But it's the fierce loyalty and firm camaraderie amongst the people on the Hill that makes this episode so touching and effective: Washington goes to bat for LaRue, Renko confesses to Hill (Michael Warren) that his pop was a mean and unloving man, and Goldblume (an engaging portrayal by Joe Spano) has a lovely conversation with Fay (the sweetly neurotic Barbara Bosson) in a singles bar. Gail Strickland has a juicy guest role as formidable lawyer Gail Kennedy. A worthy wrap-up for the second season.

"Oh, Lordy, they've stolen my daddy!"

[Hey_Sweden · 9/10 · 25 March 2022]

This wonderful closer to the second season sees Joyces' passion for her job re-ignited when she meets Donald Lilly (Thomas Carter, 'The White Shadow'); a young man accused of rape. After they converse, it does seem to be pretty unlikely that Donald could commit such a crime. In fact, Joyce puts her vacation plans with Frank on hold since this case quickly becomes important to her. Neal gives Frank a heartfelt appeal to give J. D. another chance, opining that maybe because Frank & J. D. had an addiction in common, that Frank was being particularly hard on him. Belker goes undercover as a bum to nab the mad killer who's been targeting homeless people. Finally, in a bizarre turn of events, the van containing the body of Renkos' dead father is stolen.

The incident involving John Renko is one of those things that wouldn't be funny if it happened to you, but kudos to the cast, writers, and director Gregory Hoblit for being able to find the humor in such a crazy twist. (Especially considering where the body ends up.). In the end, Renko is finally able to have an honest laugh with Bobby over his old man. Charles Haid is superb, as is Veronica Hamel as Joyce is able to find some faith in her fellow man again after wallowing in cynicism for a while. Guest star Thomas Carter, an actor-turned-director (whose directing credits include nine episodes of this series), is earnest and endearing as the unfairly accused Donald. James B. Sikking is again highly amusing as Hunter is his typical clueless self (especially when he lets slip the fate of John Renko). One amusing bit of business involves Belker making friends with a derelict named Farley (Michael C. Gwynne), and finding out that the meat that Farley has just been cooking is NOT chicken. Barbara Bosson & Joe Spano give the conclusion some real heart as Fay and Henry run into each other at one of those singles joints, and quietly leave, knowing that that scene isn't really for them.

All in all, a nice conclusion to an excellent second season.

Nine out of 10.

Better Endings

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 13 July 2021]

This is the concluding episode of Season 2. Some good stuff. A young man is accused of rape but it just isn't likely. Renko's father disappears from the van in which his body is being carried and Andy is ballistic. One of the best scenes has to do with Belker amongst the homeless on skid row.