Goldblume (an excellent Joe Spano) becomes fascinated with high class call girl Whitney Barnes (superbly played by Kay Lenz), who after she's arrested for killing a client finds herself in a bind when it's discovered that there are videotapes of her having sex with various well connected people. Leo (a heartbreaking turn by Robert Hirschfeld) gets takes hostage by the Rodriguez brothers and then gets accused of stealing police property. Belker (a bang-up performance by Bruce Weitz) has trouble handling the death of Esterhaus.
Furillo (the always terrific Daniel J. Travanti) reading Esterhaus's last letter out loud to the Hill precinct registers as an especially poignant scene. Moreover, the moment when the usually tough and impenetrable Belker breaks down and cries is simply devastating. This episode acquires additional substantial dramatic mileage from Coffey (sturdy work from Ed Marinaro) struggling to deal with the fact that his girlfriend Sandy (a moving Linda Hamilton) was raped. It's also nice to see Chief Daniels (Jon Cypher in peak wormy form) in a disadvantageous position for once after he reveals to Furillo that he was one of Barnes's clients. Of course, Lenz's sharp and sexy portrayal of the enticing Barnes rates as a total joy to watch. And this episode warrants extra praise for following through with her storyline to a logical grim conclusion by having Barnes killed at the very end in order to ensure her silence.
Furillo (the always terrific Daniel J. Travanti) reading Esterhaus's last letter out loud to the Hill precinct registers as an especially poignant scene. Moreover, the moment when the usually tough and impenetrable Belker breaks down and cries is simply devastating. This episode acquires additional substantial dramatic mileage from Coffey (sturdy work from Ed Marinaro) struggling to deal with the fact that his girlfriend Sandy (a moving Linda Hamilton) was raped. It's also nice to see Chief Daniels (Jon Cypher in peak wormy form) in a disadvantageous position for once after he reveals to Furillo that he was one of Barnes's clients. Of course, Lenz's sharp and sexy portrayal of the enticing Barnes rates as a total joy to watch. And this episode warrants extra praise for following through with her storyline to a logical grim conclusion by having Barnes killed at the very end in order to ensure her silence.
