User Reviews

Renko gets into very hot water when he asks an intern to lie about a perp arriving D. O. A. At a hospital. Belker and Goldblume take part in an undercover investigation involving the exploitation of homeless people for insurance scams. Furillo and Fuchs become pawns in a game of dirty politics as the Chief doesn't want anything hurting his mayoral campaign. So The Chief wants the particulars of the murder of dirty cop Mizell swept under the rug. But the main thrust of the episode is the sad case of a Vietnam veteran, suffering from advanced P. T. S. D., who takes hostages in a bar.

An especially superb roster of guest stars - Larry Riley ("A Soldiers' Story"), C. C. H. Pounder ("Baghdad Cafe"), Rae Allen ("A League of Their Own"), John Hancock ("The Bonfire of the Vanities"), Martin Ferrero ("Jurassic Park"), and Cotter Smith ("X2"), along with other recurring actors Jon Cypher, George Wyner, and Jeffrey Tambor, gives weight to this particularly riveting episode. The title derives from a comic, small subplot about Hill developing a problem with his derriere. The story thread with the veteran, Vernon Tucker (played by Riley), is the most poignant because you just feel so bad for this character; he's never been right in the head since the war. (What is sobering is learning that Riley died in real life at a very young age 10 years later.) Furillo gets the chance to be righteously angry (with both Fuchs, whom he considers a friend, and Renko, whom he accuses of being a lazy cop), and as usual Furillo is a force to be reckoned with when he's truly ticked off at someone.

It is nice to see Fuchs (Vincent Lucchesi) and Chesley (Gerry Black) brought more to the forefront in this script. Chesley even gets to go into the field. And they're both excellent, as usual.

'Little Boil Blue' has a typically poignant final scene for this series, between Bates and Coffey, and Ed Marinaro does some of his finest acting to date here.

Eight out of 10.

Much of the episode is about dirty politics where Fuchs and Furillo are pawns in a game between Daniels and his possible mayoral opponent. Belker is the object in a scam to feign injury and collect from drivers of fancy cars. Fay's writing career gets some bumps. Renko's butt is in a sling because of his usual stupidity (Frank calls him a lazy cop) when he tries to get a doctor to close a case without evidence. But the main focus is a hostage situation where a Vietnam vet is suffering from advanced PTSD. Good work all around as Coffey has to deal with the consequences.