Australian Television: City Homicide, Season 4, Episodes 1 & 2

City Homicide
Season Four, Episodes 4.1 & 4.2:  Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! & Good Cop/Bad Cop
Original Air Date:  July 14, 2010

Episode 4.1, Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!:  The detectives are called in when a drive by shooting aimed at one man claims the life of an innocent man out walking with his wife.  Terry Jarvis wants Simon back in service to assist with the case but his request isn't granted.  The investigation focuses on two opposing radical rights groups.  When two members of one of the groups is attacked, and one killed, the investigation takes a new turn as the body count rises.  Meanwhile, Simon faces a shrewd investigator in his misconduct case but is able to return to work when new evidence comes to light.  However, his problems return when an a previous suspect in an old case comes back to make a charge against him.  When the man turns up dead, Simon calls an old friend, Stanley Wolfe for help.

Episode 4.2, Good Cop/Bad Cop:  The investigation into Pullman's murder begins and Simon Joyner becomes the prime suspect.  Stanley Wolfe comes to see Simon and is at his apartment when Simon is taken in for questioning on the murder.  Stanley is given lead authority into the investigation with Simon.  As the investigation proceeds, the evidence stacks up against Simon.  Meanwhile, Buchanan's first unsolved case comes back into the forefront for him. 

(Please note that the following may contain spoilers.  While I try to keep these at an absolute minimum, some aspects of the show are so important that I can't not speak of them but, rest assured, I will step around them carefully.)

Australian Television: City Homicide, Season 4

Fans of the Australian crime drama City Homicide will be pleased to know that there finally is a date for the season four premiere.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 8:30 p.m. on Seven (AUS time).

Mark your calendars, City Homicide fans!!

The fourth season will kick off with a double episode.  A gorgeous trailer has been released and it looks like there is going to be a lot of action in the premiere!  I'm not looking forward to what will be happening with Simon because I adore him but it also appears that one of my favorite characters has returned:  Stanley Wolfe!

Check out this trailer and tell me you aren't dying to see what happens next!


(Trailer courtesy of www.tvauscast.com.)

Come on, July 14th!  That's going to be a very good week for me!

Australian Television: City Homicide, Season Three

Season three of City Homicide consisted of eighteen one-hour episodes that aired in 2009.  Episodes one and two, Money Shot and Meet and Greet, aired on the same night as the season three premiere. 

Episode 3.1 & 3.2:  The Money Shot & Meet and Greet
Original Air Date:  August 10, 2009
The Money Shot:  A photographer is murdered because of photographs in his possession that could implicate a crime boss in a murder.  The team must catch the killer while protecting the photographers widow and newborn baby, which Duncan helps to deliver.  Duncan Freeman returns to work strong, looking amazing and at the top of his game after the brutal bashing he took in season two.  Simon Joyner has problems dealing with what happened to Duncan.
Meet and Greet:  The Homicide Unit gets a new member:  Allie Kingston.  A man is brutally raped and murdered.  Evidence points to a local video dating service but as the team delves deeper into the case they see that the innocent victim might not be so innocent after all. 

Episode 3.3:  Chop Shop
Original Air Date:  August 17, 2009
A police constable and friend of Matt Ryan is killed in the line of duty.  As Matt struggles with the loss of his friend, the team becomes involved in the murder of a young Greek man that leads them to a wrecking yard that is already under investigation by Serious Crime for being a chop shop.  Could the two crimes be related somehow?

Australian Television: City Homicide, Season Two

Season two of City Homicide consisted of twenty-two one hour episodes that aired in the latter part of 2008 and early 2009. 

Episode 2.1:  Thicker Than Water
Original Air Date:  June 30, 2008
The detectives are called in to investigation the stabbing murder of a woman found in a dumpster.  At first, they suspect a random encounter gone bad, but when her ex-husband is later found stabbed the case takes on a new twist.  Meanwhile, Stanley Wolfe's marriage is in trouble.

Episode 2.2:  Somersaulting Dogs
Original Air Date:  July 7, 2008
A gifted teenager is found hanging in the bathroom of a high school, an apparent suicide.  But, the investigation points towards homicide over suicide and the detectives learn of something dark afoot at the school thanks to a hidden computer file.  Away from the office, Matt Ryan's colleagues and friends are eager to meet the new lady in his life, Emma, after she makes a surprise visit to see him at the office.

Australian Television: City Homicide, Season One

Season one of City Homicide consisted of fourteen (14) hour-long episodes that aired in the latter part of 2007.  The pilot to the series was in two parts, both of which aired on the same night.  Season one is available on DVD in Australia.

Episode, 1.1 & Episode 1.2:  In the Hands of Giants
Original Air Date:  August 27, 2007
After being called in to investigate the suicide of Natalie Pierce, the detectives of the Homicide Division discover that there is more to the investigation than just an open and closed suicide.  An encounter with a mysterious suspect who "looks like Clark Kent" leads the detectives to a string of house fires responsible for the deaths of several children.  The team must prevent more children from dying.  Meanwhile, Simon Joyner finds himself in a bit of a jam after losing his credentials during a tryst with the wife of a fellow police officer.

Episode 1.3:  Lie Down with Dogs
Original Air Date:  September 3, 2007
Homicide detectives are called in when the body of a well-known criminal, Michael Booth, is discovered in a crypt--a crypt that doesn't belong to Booth or his family.  The Homicide and Armed Robbery Squads both have an interest in the Booth family but for different reasons.  Matters get complicated when it is learned that Booth and his lawyer were involved in a long-term affair and had a son together.  A shooting involving Mapplethorpe and Joyner leaves them with questions.  Out of the office, Duncan learns something unpleasant about his fiance, Claire.

Australian Television: City Homicide, An Introduction

"No greater honour will ever be bestowed upon an officer than when they are entrusted with an investigation into the death of a Human Being."

So begins each episode of City Homicide.

City Homicide is an Australian dramatic television series created and written by John Banas and John Hugginson.  It deals with the cases and daily lives of a small group of homicide detectives and their superiors.  They manage to do their jobs while struggling not only with personal demons but with department politics.

In a scripted drama of this nature, it would be easy for the show to become exactly like every single other crime drama with just a different set of characters.  Murder is murder and detection is detection.  However, with good writing and interesting plot twists, a show can stand out amongst its peers.  City Homicide does that, in my opinion, and proves that not all crime dramas are created alike.