Television Review: Autofocus (Homicide: Life on the Street, S4X03, 1995)

Autofocus (S04E03)

Airdate: 3 November 1995

Written by: Bonnie Mark
Directed by: Alan Taylor

Running Time: 48 minutes

The third episode of Homicide: Life on the Street’s fourth season, Autofocus, deftly deals with the turbulence of a reshaped ensemble following the departure of seasoned detectives Bolander and Felton. In their absence, the series introduces an unconventional outsider, J.H. Brodie (played by Max Perlich), whose transient yet pivotal role underscores the evolving dynamics of the Homicide Unit. Beyond personnel shifts, the episode probes the encroachment of technological advancement into police work, framing these changes as both a disruptive force and an investigative boon. Through its layered narrative, Autofocus interrogates how modernity—embodied by nascent video technology and institutional upheaval—reconfigures the detectives’ professional landscape, even as the Unit clings to its gritty, analogue roots.

The episode’s cold opening immediately situates viewers in a liminal space between past and future. Detective Lewis (played by Clark Johnson) is shown grappling with a mechanical typewriter—an artefact of obsolescence—as the squad’s dilapidated headquarters is evacuated due to a suspected gas leak. This forced relocation to a repurposed bank building, with its sterile, corporate ambiance, amplifies the dissonance between the detectives’ visceral work and their alien surroundings. The setting becomes a metaphor for institutional flux: Giardello (played by Yaphet Kotto) bristles at logistical chaos, while Pembleton (played by Andre Braugher), already frayed by impending fatherhood, channels his frustration into disdain for the makeshift workspace. Meanwhile, Howard (played by Melissa Leo), newly promoted to sergeant, embodies the personal cost of progression; her elevated rank strains collegial bonds, illustrating the isolating weight of authority. These opening moments crystallise the episode’s preoccupation with displacement—both physical and hierarchical—as the Unit staggers into an uncertain era.

Central to the episode is Lewis’s tentative partnership with the green yet eager Kellerman (played by Reed Diamond), whose sartorial shift to suit-and-tie signals his uneasy assimilation into Homicide’s insular culture. Their inaugural case—the senseless shooting of an elderly woman at a bus stop—initially appears a procedural dead end, until Brodie, a Generation X videographer for a local news station, surfaces with potential footage of the suspects. Brodie’s reluctance to surrender the tape—a gamble that costs him his job—mirrors the detectives’ own wariness of external intrusions. Yet the video proves indispensable, unveiling a pair of narcissistic culprits who documented their crimes, their vanity eclipsing their caution. This narrative thread not only resolves the case but also positions Brodie as an inadvertent ally, his outsider status granting the Unit access to a new investigative lexicon. His subsequent pivot to freelance videography, tailing detectives for footage, injects an element of voyeurism into their world, further blurring the line between observer and participant.

Brodie’s introduction transcends mere plot device; he functions as a generational and cultural counterpoint to the Unit’s jaded veterans. Played with wiry charm by Perlich, Brodie’s grunge-era aesthetic and tech-savvy naïveté contrast sharply with the detectives’ world-weary pragmatism. His presence refracts the Unit’s work through a lens of youthful curiosity, offering audiences a surrogate for the uninitiated. Moreover, Brodie’s video camera—an emblem of 90s technological optimism—becomes a narrative lodestone, heralding a future where law enforcement increasingly relies on (and contends with) civilian-recorded evidence. The episode shrewdly avoids romanticising this shift; Brodie’s unemployment underscores the precarity of those operating at journalism’s margins, even as his footage delivers justice.

Autofocus presciently explores video technology’s duality: a tool for accountability and a vector for hubris. The suspects’ self-incriminating tapes prefigure the modern era of social media, where criminals often architect their own downfalls through digital narcissism. Yet the episode resists techno-utopianism; the detectives’ reliance on Brodie’s footage is tinged with scepticism, a recognition that technology supplements, but cannot supplant, human intuition.

In a deft subversion of procedural tropes, the episode features Ileanna Douglas and Fisher Stevens as a couple on a blind date, unwittingly embroiled in the crime scene. Their scenes, laced with awkward humour, initially suggest narrative significance—a classic misdirect. Yet their roles remain incidental, a wry commentary on the genre’s tendency to conflate star power with plot relevance. This diversion enriches the episode’s texture, offering levity without undermining its gravitas.

Bonnie Mark’s script, however, falters in its climax: the arrest of the primary suspect mid-wedding. While intended as ironic juxtaposition—the sacred union interrupted by justice—the scene’s staginess clashes with the series’ signature realism. Such contrivance feels imported from a more sensationalistic cop drama, clashing with Homicide’s vérité ethos. This misstep momentarily punctures the episode’s immersive authenticity, veering perilously close to cliché.

Autofocus ultimately succeeds as a meditation on transition—both technological and human. Its flaws, though notable, are overshadowed by nuanced character work and a forward-looking gaze. By integrating Brodie’s outsider perspective and wrestling with emergent technologies, the episode captures a Unit—and a genre—poised on the brink of change. In doing so, it honours Homicide’s legacy as a pioneer of the police procedural, even as it tentatively embraces the new.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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