Australian Television: City Homicide, Episode 4.3 "Flight Risk"

City Homicide
Season Four, Episode Three, Flight Risk
Original Air Date:  July 21, 2010

The team is called in to investigate when a woman is found raped and murdered in her home.  An earlier rape leads the detectives to a suspect, a successful businessman who is scheduled to leave Australia for Kuwait in one day forcing the team to work against time to solve the case.  One of their own is placed in danger in the course of the investigation.  Meanwhile, Bernice Waverley is given a promotion. 

Tasma Walton (Senior Sergeant Claudia Leigh) was brilliant in this show.  She has played a role in a dozen or so previous episodes of City Homicide but never to this extent.  Usually, she serves in an advisory capacity but on this case, she was upfront and tough.  Very tough.  Without her, the detectives wouldn't have been able to put the case to bed.  I didn't care much for S.S. Leigh when she made her first appearance on the show but the more I see her, the more I like the character.  It was great to see Leigh have such a large part in this case.  I hope we get to see her out front in future episodes as well.

Martin Sacks was perfect as the cold and calculating Daniel Worthington.  He was chillingly calm as S.S. Leigh was questioning him, trying to push him into a confession.  The harder she pushed the more determined he seemed to stay in complete control of his emotions.  He refused to give her the upper hand even though you knew he was seething.

One of my favorite things about this show is how the detectives all work together to solve the crimes.  You don't have just one or two going out on their own and working through the case until they get it solved.  It's a team effort and this particular case was most definitely a team effort.  I think having someone who isn't a regular part of the Homicide squad take the stage helps keep things fresh.  They bring a different perspective in and it only serves to spice things up a bit.

I'm wondering if Bernice Waverley's promotion means we won't be seeing her as often as we did when she had Stanley Wolfe's job while he was away.  I certainly hope not.  I like Bernice.  She's a tough cookie.

I enjoyed this episode quite a bit.  How could you not when watching Tasma Walton and Martin Sacks engaged in a psychological battle where one refuses to relent to the other?  Excellent acting!