All episodes Season 4 S04E17 1996-04-05 60 min 1990s NBC

Homicide: Life on the Street

Full Moon

TV Flash files “Full Moon” as hour 50 of 122 in the TV Flash guide — Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999) on NBC, season 4, episode 17, aired 1996-04-05, 60 min.

From the desk

How this hour is filed

This leaf is S04E17: listed hour 50 of 122 in the Homicide: Life on the Street guide, hour 17 of 22 in season 4. It aired 1996-04-05 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Requiem for Adena” (S04E16). Next is “Scene of the Crime” (S04E18).

Homicide: Life on the Street — Full Moon (S04E17)

Catalog log

Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.

The desk clerk at the New Moon Motel hears shots and calls 911. Lewis and Kellerman find the body of an ex-con wearing only one boot. The victim's classic motorcycle is missing, as is his handgun. As they interview motel residents, they find a family of illegal immigrants, a prostitute who swims in the nude, homemade drugs, wads of cash, illegal guns and uncover an unreported self-defense shooting. But what about the killer of Charlie Wells?

Viewer FAQ

Where does Full Moon sit in the Homicide: Life on the Street guide?

S04E17 is listed hour 50 of 122 — hour 17 of 22 in season 4, season 4 episode 17.

When did Homicide: Life on the Street S04E17 air?

Full Moon aired 1996-04-05 and is listed at 60 minutes.

What is it based on?

David Simon's nonfiction book about a year with Baltimore homicide detectives — reporting texture, not cop-show candy.

In the series

Why this series still plays

Baltimore detectives, handheld grit, and cases that refuse to tidy up for sweeps. Paul Attanasio developed David Simon's reporting into literary cop TV: Andre Braugher's Pembleton turning interrogation into theater, a red/black board, and moral ambiguity as house style. The missing link between Hill Street and The Wire — network crime that reads like a novel.

The useful first thing *Homicide: Life on the Street* does is refuse catharsis. Baltimore detectives work murders with handheld grit, a red/black name board, and moral ambiguity that will not tidy up for sweeps. Paul Attanasio developed David Simon's nonfiction *Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets* into NBC drama (1993–1999). Andre Braugher's Frank Pembleton turns interrogation rooms into theaters of intellect and rage. Yaphet Kotto, Kyle Secor, Richard Belzer, Clark Johnson, Melissa Leo: the unit as a city…

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Filed against

Also in season 4

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