Zen and the Art of Murder
Encyclopedia
"Zen and the Art of Murder" is an episode of the seventh season
of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street
. It originally aired on NBC
on April 2, 1999. The episode was written by Lloyd Rose
and directed by Miguel Arteta. The episode is significant in the story arc of Laura Ballard
's romance with Paul Falsone
; fearful that their secret romance will be discovered, Falsone ends the relationship, a decision he immediately regrets when Laura starts dating M.E. George Griscom.
and Meldrick Lewis
find a well-respected Buddhist monk bludgeoned to death. Because Det. Tim Bayliss
has become active in Baltimore's Buddhist community, Lt. Al Giardello
orders him to join the investigation; as a result, Bayliss replaces Munch -- a move that frustrates Lewis, who rightfully points out that Bayliss, who knew and respected the victim, tends to lose professional perspective in cases which involve an emotional investment.
Bayliss and Lewis immediately clash in the investigation: Upon learning that the victim often worked with the homeless, Bayliss immediately intuits that a homeless person killed the monk, while Meldrick is convinced that the monk was murdered by one of the monks who lived with the victim, since they would have had greater access. Bayliss objects that Buddhists are, by their very nature, non-violent, but Meldrick dismisses this as bias. When a witness claims to have seen a mysterious black man lurking around the house, Meldrick is offended that Bayliss chooses to pursue the lead, which Meldrick sees as nothing but "some housewife's racist fantasy." This disagreement motivates Bayliss and Lewis to split up, each pursuing the investigation according to his theory.
While Meldrick continues to interview the victim's fellow monks, searching for a motive, Bayliss searches for Larry Moss, a homeless man who fits the eyewitness's description, and encounters him by chance on the street. Bayliss pursues Moss into an abandoned building, where Moss reveals his paranoid motivation for killing the monk: the monk had offered him a spoon at a soup kitchen, and Moss interpreted the casual act of kindness as an act of disrespect, since, in Moss's words, "I can get my own damn spoon!" Bayliss is forced to kill Moss when Moss starts shooting at him. Although everyone tells Bayliss that it was a "clean shoot," Bayliss is devastated by his actions.
In a parallel investigation, Det. Laura Ballard
and Det. Stuart Gharty
respond to a street shooting witnessed by the victim's mother, sister, and neighbor. The sister identifies the shooter as a local hood named "either Jacko or Jocko," but when Ballard and Gharty track Jacko down, the neighbor who witnessed the shooting mistakenly insists that Jacko is not the man who shot Williams.
Homicide: Life on the Street (season 7)
The seventh season of Homicide: Life on the Street aired in the United States on the NBC television network from 1998-09-25 to 1999-05-21 and contained 22 episodes....
of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
. It originally aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
on April 2, 1999. The episode was written by Lloyd Rose
Lloyd Rose
Lloyd Rose is an American writer most associated with her work on various Doctor Who spin-offs. She has also written for the American television series Homicide: Life on the Street and Kingpin...
and directed by Miguel Arteta. The episode is significant in the story arc of Laura Ballard
Laura Ballard
Laura Ballard is a fictional police detective of the Baltimore Police Department on Homicide: Life on the Street. She was played by Callie Thorne. Ballard was born on November 20, 1968 and first appeared in Season 6 after changing police departments from Seattle...
's romance with Paul Falsone
Paul Falsone
Paul Falsone is a fictional police detective of the Baltimore Police Department on Homicide: Life on the Street. He was played by Jon Seda. Born on January 6, 1969, Falsone was introduced as a long-time member of the Auto Squad at the end of Season 5, where his natural talents proved useful in...
; fearful that their secret romance will be discovered, Falsone ends the relationship, a decision he immediately regrets when Laura starts dating M.E. George Griscom.
Plot summary
A spoon is the only trace of evidence left over after John MunchJohn Munch
Sergeant John Munch is a fictional character played by actor Richard Belzer. Munch first appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street. Upon that series' cancellation, the character was transplanted to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the first spin-off of the Law & Order franchise...
and Meldrick Lewis
Meldrick Lewis
Meldrick Lewis is a fictional character on the television series Homicide: Life on the Street played by Clark Johnson. The character was in the series for its full run and had the very first and last lines of the series...
find a well-respected Buddhist monk bludgeoned to death. Because Det. Tim Bayliss
Tim Bayliss
Timothy Bayliss is a fictional detective on Homicide: Life on the Street. He was a primary character, and was played by Kyle Secor. He was loosely based on the real-life Det...
has become active in Baltimore's Buddhist community, Lt. Al Giardello
Al Giardello
Alphonse Michael Giardello, Sr. is a fictional character from the television drama Homicide: Life on the Street. The character was played by Yaphet Kotto...
orders him to join the investigation; as a result, Bayliss replaces Munch -- a move that frustrates Lewis, who rightfully points out that Bayliss, who knew and respected the victim, tends to lose professional perspective in cases which involve an emotional investment.
Bayliss and Lewis immediately clash in the investigation: Upon learning that the victim often worked with the homeless, Bayliss immediately intuits that a homeless person killed the monk, while Meldrick is convinced that the monk was murdered by one of the monks who lived with the victim, since they would have had greater access. Bayliss objects that Buddhists are, by their very nature, non-violent, but Meldrick dismisses this as bias. When a witness claims to have seen a mysterious black man lurking around the house, Meldrick is offended that Bayliss chooses to pursue the lead, which Meldrick sees as nothing but "some housewife's racist fantasy." This disagreement motivates Bayliss and Lewis to split up, each pursuing the investigation according to his theory.
While Meldrick continues to interview the victim's fellow monks, searching for a motive, Bayliss searches for Larry Moss, a homeless man who fits the eyewitness's description, and encounters him by chance on the street. Bayliss pursues Moss into an abandoned building, where Moss reveals his paranoid motivation for killing the monk: the monk had offered him a spoon at a soup kitchen, and Moss interpreted the casual act of kindness as an act of disrespect, since, in Moss's words, "I can get my own damn spoon!" Bayliss is forced to kill Moss when Moss starts shooting at him. Although everyone tells Bayliss that it was a "clean shoot," Bayliss is devastated by his actions.
In a parallel investigation, Det. Laura Ballard
Laura Ballard
Laura Ballard is a fictional police detective of the Baltimore Police Department on Homicide: Life on the Street. She was played by Callie Thorne. Ballard was born on November 20, 1968 and first appeared in Season 6 after changing police departments from Seattle...
and Det. Stuart Gharty
Stuart Gharty
Stuart Gharty is a fictional character played by Peter Gerety in the television series Homicide: Life on the Street.He is introduced in the season four one-shot episode "Scene of the Crime", as a cowardly patrolman who allows two drug dealers to murder each other rather than venture into a housing...
respond to a street shooting witnessed by the victim's mother, sister, and neighbor. The sister identifies the shooter as a local hood named "either Jacko or Jocko," but when Ballard and Gharty track Jacko down, the neighbor who witnessed the shooting mistakenly insists that Jacko is not the man who shot Williams.