Homicide: Life on the Street
Map of the Heart
TV Flash files “Map of the Heart” as hour 52 of 122 in the TV Flash guide — Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999) on NBC, season 4, episode 19, aired 1996-04-26, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E19: listed hour 52 of 122 in the Homicide: Life on the Street guide, hour 19 of 22 in season 4. It aired 1996-04-26 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Scene of the Crime” (S04E18). Next is “The Damage Done” (S04E20).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
The body of a 71-year-old world class swimmer is found in a pool where the ME says he was for 24 to 36 hours. A man claiming to be his biological son asks the detectives to test the corpse's blood for a DNA match. The ME discovers cancer in the corpse and massive amounts of steroids. Then a woman from the NSA demands Bayliss and Pembleton help her find her "friend," the purported son. The detectives are flabbergasted when someone comes in and confesses to speeding up the cancer effects with the steroids!!
Viewer FAQ
Where does Map of the Heart sit in the Homicide: Life on the Street guide?
S04E19 is listed hour 52 of 122 — hour 19 of 22 in season 4, season 4 episode 19.
When did Homicide: Life on the Street S04E19 air?
Map of the Heart aired 1996-04-26 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…
Open the Homicide: Life on the Street package · Season 4 hub
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