Episode Report Card Deborah: A | 1 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Nor Yet Canst Thou Kill Me, Yo
By Deborah | Season 1 | Episode 7 | Aired on 11.06.2003
Outside the police station, Will gives a statement to a crowd of cops and reporters: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Arcadia Police Department has determined there may have been serious police misconduct in the case of Raymond Hartzel. I don't like saying that. I'm a police officer. I was on the line for many years. I wanted my guys to be cleared of any wrongdoing. As police officers, we always have the option for physical force." The camera cuts to the administration office at the high school, where Helen and the other staff members, including Price, are watching the press conference on TV. Will continues, "But it should be considered a last resort. First we should exhaust our other options. We should listen, and pay attention to detail." Helen gives Price a sly, sidelong glance that he doesn't see. Will: "In this case, we failed. We will be bringing charges against Officers Koczara and Eicher."
We cut to the newspaper office, where all the staff members are watching the broadcast, as Will concludes his statement with an apology to the victim, his family and the public. Everyone except Kevin and Rebecca goes back to work as Dave turns off the TV saying, "Okay, we'll see if it happens." Rebecca: "He just said they're indicting the guys." Dave: "Yeah, so a white jury can exonerate them." Rebecca says that's not up to the chief of police. Kevin sits between them, listening. Dave sneers, "Since when do you defend the cops?" Rebecca: "I'm just saying, maybe he's trying to do things differently. I mean, that's why they brought him here. Maybe --" Dave: "Maybe you're just hot for his son." Frink: "Maybe you're just hot for his son." Kevin didn't see that coming, and kinda scrunches his eyebrows. Dave takes off, leaving Rebecca standing there with her mouth hanging open. She turns to look at Kevin, who says, "Now that's a man, picking on the guy in a wheelchair." Rebecca says he didn't tell Dave who his father was. Geez, it's not a big leap. It's not like their last name is Smith. Kevin looks skeptical anyway. She adds, "He's a reporter, Kevin. He finds things out." Kevin starts to wheel away, saying, "Okay. Well, what about that last part?" Rebecca tries to play that off, and she fidgets with her necklace as she says that was just Dave editorializing. Kevin says, "I had to ask because, you know, I'm the fact-checker." He wheels off. Rebecca loves Ke-vin! Rebecca loves Ke-vin!
Joan and Rocky are walking through a cemetery. Joan says, "When you said a fun place, I thought more like laser tag." Rocky says he comes here often: "It's informational." He points out the tombstone of a girl who was born April 6, 1929 and died April 4, 1930. He asks her to notice how often people die around their birthdays. That seems to be true; I know I've read a couple of studies that showed that a significant percentage of terminally ill patients managed to hold on until just after a holiday of importance to them -- could be Christmas, Thanksgiving, Yom Kippur, Chinese New Year, whatever -- and would then die shortly thereafter. I wonder how Jason Ritter felt about this script, since I suspect it was one of the ones that came after his father's sudden death in September, six days before John Ritter would have had his birthday. They keep walking, and Joan tells him she understands his condition now: "What's happening to you." Rocky replies, "It's happening to you, too. It's just happening to me sooner." They sit down, and he asks, "You're leaving now, right?" She says she'll still visit him, but she doesn't like hanging out in graveyards. Rocky's puzzled: "Well, why?" Joan admits that death scares her. Rocky informs her, "Death doesn't hurt. You just go away. It doesn't matter that you don't get to see your mom and stuff anymore, because you don't know that." Okay, I've mostly managed to hold it together so far, but it's getting harder. He doesn't sound quite as confident about all this as he usually does. Joan decides to take a chance on Rocky: "Would it make you feel better to know that there's somebody out there watching for us and caring for us and that that person or thing or whatever, will still be caring about us after we leave?" Rocky says he doesn't believe in God. Joan wonders, "What if I promised? I mean, crossed-my-heart promised?" Rocky looks politely skeptical. Joan says, "I've seen him." Rocky: "You've had a near-death experience?" He almost sounds hopeful. Joan says no, and stumbles over explaining how she knows God exists, and finally sighs, saying, "It's complicated. But the point is, God is there. And if he's there, there's a plan, and if there's a plan, then...everything is gonna be okay, I think." Rocky nods, and says, "Yeah...that'd be cool."