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The Naked City portrays the police investigation that follows the murder of a young model. A veteran cop is placed in charge of the case and he sets about, with the help of other beat cops and detectives, finding the girl's killer. If you like a good murder show/podcast, this is the granddaddy of them all. [more inside]
posted by Stanczyk on Mar 3, 2024 - 3 comments

One night in November 1976, after his car breaks down on a road outside Dallas, Randall Dale Adams accepts a ride from teenager David Harris. Harris is driving a stolen vehicle and, later that night, when Dallas police officer Robert Wood pulls the car over to check its headlights, he is shot and killed. A jury believes Adams is the killer, but Errol Morris' classic documentary explores the role of Harris' perjured testimony, misleading witness accounts and police misconduct in the verdict. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Oct 20, 2022 - 3 comments

Once two overzealous cops get suspended from the force, they must delve into the criminal underworld to get their proper compensation.
posted by nicolas léonard sadi carnot on Sep 2, 2019 - 5 comments

This episode deals with two separate murders of young children in Cleveland. It’s not an easy listen. [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Oct 4, 2018 - 4 comments

An F.B.I. agent must go undercover in the Miss United States beauty pageant to prevent a known terrorist from bombing the event. There's a lot of falling down in high heels. [more inside]
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs on Sep 20, 2018 - 6 comments

There was never one Los Angeles, California. There were always two. [more inside]
posted by Cash4Lead on Jun 28, 2016 - 7 comments

To many observers, the story of the crime of the century is a story that began the night Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were brutally murdered outside her Brentwood condominium. But as the first episode of "O.J.: Made in America" lays bare, to truly grasp the significance of what happened not just that night, but the epic chronicle to follow, one has to travel back to points in time long before that. [more inside]
posted by Cash4Lead on Jun 23, 2016 - 5 comments

In 1979 a peaceful protest by Communist workers in Greensboro NC turned into a massacre by the Klan. The police were nowhere to be found. This episode examines the incident and the investigation of who was ultimately to blame. [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on May 23, 2016 - 0 comments

Case files... We're gonna hafta be lookin' at these records with fresh eyes, alright? Like we're totally green. Marty and Rust use every last resource to chase down Marty's hunch about the green-eared spaghetti monster. Green eyes, green ears, green paint, and then the Yellow King in Carcosa. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Nov 4, 2014 - 7 comments

Rust convinces Marty that he has a debt, and the two begin to work together on the investigation again after a decade. Aside from one brief jaunt back to recount Rust's interview of Johnny Joanie, the story mostly moves forward in the present time as they follow up on the missing persons reports (not) filed about Marie Fontenot. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Oct 28, 2014 - 6 comments

After a setback, the Detail scrambles to make the most of a bad situation. For once, interdepartmental communication (or lack thereof) helps the case instead of hindering it. For once, good policing is rewarded with rock solid evidence and suspects in custody. For once, all the police seem to get what they want—closed cases, busted unions, scrambling crime lords. But for all that finally went right for the Detail, the world continues to turn, criminals adapt, and the scope of what they're fighting to bring to justice just keeps scaling up.
posted by carsonb on Sep 21, 2014 - 6 comments

As much as they'd like to continue investigating the sprawling criminal activities of the (still largely unknown) Greek, The Detail's hand is forced and with the help of the FBI they break down all the doors they know, gathering evidence and suspects. Valchek finally gets to participate in a very special perp walk. Sobotka eventually visits Ziggy, after a stop at the union hall and a quick trip downtown. Lieutenant Daniels and Omar Little dash off to deliver very personal messages to Landsman and Mouzone, respectively. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Sep 14, 2014 - 9 comments

Ziggy continues to wreak havoc but this time his unchecked impulsiveness takes him over the line and into a lot of trouble. Trouble that spreads and pools and spatters on everyone. – Valchek is pissed and brings in the Feds to assist the Detail. The Feds assist the Detail, and Valchek is pissed. – Just as Stringer's off-brand plan goes into effect, Brother Mouzone arrives to enforce the status quo and so Bodie and crew begin to understand the nature of the new arrangements. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Sep 11, 2014 - 4 comments

Bodie's plan to increase sales backfires tragically. So String's gotta make some tough decisions, change tactics, take account for the inevitable crackdown. With Sobotka and The Greek spooked and ready to turn tail the Detail has to adapt as well. Their investigation feels on target despite a minor tantrum from Valcheck, and when the prostitution investigation goes international inside Freamon's assessment of McNulty's bad accent is spot on. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Sep 6, 2014 - 7 comments

Jimmy McNulty, Captain Chesapeake, has stopped bailing and started drinking again and so finds himself sinking quickly to the bottom. He's desperate to get on the detail where they've got every swinging dick setting up The Wire on Sobotka and The Greek, so Daniels puts what little flex he has on Rawls. Turns out McNulty's just the john they were looking for. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Aug 23, 2014 - 8 comments

Through the turmoil of low-end product and family troubles, the Barksdale Organization moves on though in different directions. East-side Joe makes Stringer a Proposition that's hard to refuse, but Avon is adamant. Lester and Bunk put Daniels in a tough spot, setting up their surveillance at the off-site office and pleading to join up their murder investigations with the case against Sobotka. Together with Greggs, Russell, and Prez they delve deeper into the smuggling process, getting a handle on how the operation works. The detail also continues to investigate the prostitution racket and make connections between the drugs and the docks. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Aug 20, 2014 - 8 comments

Perhaps there's no better description for Omar Little than "a rare pleasure," though anyone on the wrong end of his double-barrel sawed-off court testimony might disagree. Having wrapped up the last Bird of business from before, McNulty drops the search for Jane Doe's real name, retires to the boat, and makes another go of his marriage. "I'm done fucking myself up," he declares, and downs a beer. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Aug 18, 2014 - 7 comments

Detail work starts in earnest on Sobotka, and Freamon looks to make a connection between Valchek's 'too much money' accusation and his own 14 murder investigations. Dockworkers who worked on that ship get summoned to testify in front of a grand jury. Ziggy continues to spend his easy money recklessly, and Nick is forced to help him deal with the consequences. Omar Little finally comes in to testify against Bird. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Aug 17, 2014 - 7 comments

The full extent of Avon's hot shots plan is realized as the authorities look to shave years in exchange for easy answers. D'Angelo hears his cousin's music but refuses to dance. Burrell puts the hard sell on Daniels and keeps him around with the promise of a promotion, a permanent Detail AND the good police he needs to run it. McNulty continues to try to put a name on his 'floater,' and enlists Bubs in the search for Omar. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Aug 17, 2014 - 2 comments

D'Angelo's discovered heroin in the clink, and Avon sets a plan into motion that he hopes will discourage his cousin's habit as well as push back some against Proposition Joe's expanding territory. Zero progress is the report Prez gives his father-in-law Valchek when asked about how the new detail's case against Sobotka is coming along, and to boot the Southeastern's surveillance van goes on an unauthorized global tour courtesy of IBS chapters around the world. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Aug 16, 2014 - 3 comments

The shipping container full of dead women is shrugged off as accidental and everyone still breathing scrambles to cover their own ass and minimize the, well, collateral damage. Everyone except McNulty of course, who pokes his nose into Beadie's "investigation" and sniffs out 13—make that 14 murders. Daniels puts in notice and looks to pursue a career in lawyering. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Aug 15, 2014 - 5 comments

Having made their move on Avon Barksdale, The Baltimore Police Department's Drug Detail is decommissioned and its members have been scattered: McNulty's riding a boat in the bay, Daniels is hunkered down in Evidence, Greggs is on desk duty (still can't type!), Herc & Sergeant Carver are back on the beat though in separate divisions, and poor Prez is back in the Southeastern under his father-in-law's thumb. Freamon's with Bunk now, real police in Homicide. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Aug 13, 2014 - 11 comments

With Wallace in custody, McNulty and Daniels try to figure out what to do with him in the months before he testifies. Sydnor and Carver track down one of Barksdale's stash houses, and Prez shows off his 'gift for the paper trail.' [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Jul 12, 2014 - 9 comments