User Reviews

An angry Furillo (the always superb Daniel J. Travanti) testifies a second time before a grand jury for the Sullivan Commission on police corruption. Goldblume (nicely played by Joe Spano) goes undercover in drag to catch a purse snatcher. Bates (an excellent Betty Thomas) represents the Hill in a high stakes poker game against rival departments. The fabulous Dennis Dugan returns for the fourth and final time as the endearingly flaky Captain Freedom, who in an especially sidesplitting scene mistakes the ever-neurotic Fay (Barbara Bosson working her usual magic with a potentially irritating character) for the reincarnation of a fair princess. Moreover, another funny moment occurs when LaRue (Kiel Martin in inspired sleazy form) tries to hit on an attractive woman in a drug store only for the lady to turn out to be a compulsive shoplifter who was a hysterical breakdown when LaRue comes on to her. Bates and Coffey (the extremely likable Ed Marinaro) have a touching conversation in which they reveal their mutual affinity and protective feelings for each other. This episode also delivers a few exciting set pieces: a fight between Goldblume and a purse snatcher is both brutal and realistic (Goldblume beats the guy with a trash can lid!) while a shoot-out between the police and a gang of armed robbers makes nifty use of strenuous slow motion. However, it's the tragic abrupt death of Captain Freedom at the hands of said robbers which gives this episode its substantial devastating emotional impact: Freedom has a beautifully moving monologue about saving the city prior to expiring and the moment with Belker (outstanding work by Bruce Weitz) crying over his friend's untimely demise is simply heartbreaking. It's these moments of real humanity that made the show so special and poignant and lifted it well above the rut of your standard generic cop drama. One of the best and most powerful episodes from the second season.

Frank again takes the witness stand during the Sullivan Commissions' investigation into police corruption, and more than ever he's getting sick and tired of the whole thing. Yes, maybe what he's doing, keeping Officer Delgado (Jerome Thor) on the payroll despite the fact that the man is beyond hope, can be seen as a violation of rules. But this is really such a minor thing; all it shows is Franks' loyalty to his fellow law officers and a desire to do right by them.

Meanwhile, Henry dresses in drag to help catch criminals who are purse-snatching. After a serious brawl with a punk, Henry ends up bloody and beaten, but actually finds himself energized by the experience. Lucy represents Hill Street in a high-stakes poker game. And Dennis Dugan makes his final appearance as the beloved Captain Freedom when the Captain makes the fateful move of attempting to stop some armed robbers.

An example of an effective comedic touch is when J. D. approaches a young female customer at a drugstore, intending to come on to her, and receives a most amusing surprise. Also, Fay is angry when Frank Jr. Apparently finds an under-garment of Joyces' at Franks' place.

Here we see once again just what a commanding actor Daniel J. Travanti can be as Frank lets people such as lawyer Donald Peck (James O'Sullivan) know what he thinks of them, and is so infuriated with the slimy Chief Daniels (Jon Cypher) that he's ready to hand in his badge and gun. But Joyce (the always wonderful Veronica Hamel) typically has solid advice to give him during their various tender moments together.

The concluding moments contain some of the most upsetting moments in the series to date, as we bid a fond farewell to the deluded but endearing Captain Freedom. It's too bad that Dugan mostly left acting behind to concentrate on directing. Betty Thomas is also fantastic in this episode as Lucy appreciates Joe for standing by her.

This episode also features familiar character actors such as John Karlen, Scott Paulin, and Troy Evans. It's typically "arresting" entertainment.

Eight out of 10.

Dennis Dugan and Bruce Weitz become unlikely friends in a multi episode story arc that ends tragically in this episode. Captain Freedom has some of the best lines in these episodes.

Recently learned that four members of the Hill Street series went to Carnegie Mellon together, and ended up cast in the series-Steven Bochco, Barbara Bosson, Charles Haid, and the amazing Bruce Weitz, who makes this episode come alive for me. Weitz created one of the most unforgettable characters in television history, and I'm appreciating him more this time around-the series airs without commercial ads, on Amazon Prime. Reminds me that excellent scripts like this are all too rare today.

So sorry to see the endearing, 'dada duh dah! (*explosion*)' Captain Freedom meet his demise...the interaction between him and his buddy, Sgt. Belker (grrrrr! "You hairbag - you are under arrest!") at the end, is not to be missed.

On the other hand, after the gunfight @ the restaurant where the crew were staging their "sting" (and where the gunfight resulted in Freedom's (and the perps') death(s)), we follow a couple police cruisers with full lights/sirens and you can CLEARLY see the El...as many have speculated, this is obviously Chicago. Furthermore, if you stop the video *precisely* at 42:36, the lead cruiser drives by the old Chicago Fire Department building!!! Speculation confirmed!!