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A note before we begin: yeah, yeah, I know William Petersen was the guy in Manhunter before he was the guy in CSI, but this is the CSI portion of Mighty Big TV, so I really don't care that William Petersen's playing someone named Will Graham: Gil he is now, and so Gil he shall be throughout the recap. If you don't like it, mentally substitute "Will" for "Gil"; it's all homonymic anyway.
And now, on with the recap.
The movie opens with the insistent buzz of Jan Hammer's finest, i.e. the ability to hold two fingers on a synthesizer keyboard for five minutes straight. As the chord -- which would be ominous if it didn't sound so cheesy -- continues its pernicious thrum, a flashlight beams across the staircase of a family home. The light is cool and blue and oh-so-eighties. It focuses on a man and a woman asleep in bed -- dear God, but the synthesizer has robbed me of the ability to think straight -- and then the woman finally sits up.
Cue the glowing green title: Manhunter. At least we didn't open with a shot of Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Castillo and Crockett are perched on a piece of driftwood, talking about -- oh. My bad. That's Dennis Farina as Jack Crawford, and our boy Gil, sporting a savage tan, truly eye-popping purple short-shorts, and a cutoff sweatshirt. And -- because this is a Michael Mann production set in the 1980s, and as we all know, Michael Mann went on to make Miami Vice, like, immediately after wrapping this movie -- Gil is also wearing stubble. I'm guessing he was the trial run for the feasibility of that unshaven look. Anyway, the two are having a conversation where Crawford is obviously trying to persuade Gil to do something, and Gil's all moodily saying, "I'm not falling all over myself to talk about it much anywhere, Jack." Suffice it to say that no, I do not know what "it" is yet. Oh, wait -- Crawford's filling in the Brass role. There must be something in the job description for middle-management types in law enforcement: "Will provide expository dialogue." Anyway, Crawford says, "The first one in Birmingham was in the newspapers a month ago. The second one in Atlanta was all over TV." Gil has no response for that. Crawford says angrily, "You ever think about giving me a call?" "No," Gil sulks. "Why not?" Crawford continues, with no small hint of asperity in his voice. "I quit, remember?" Gil snits.