East New York Season 1 Episode 20 Review: A Humbling Blues
Jack Ori
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No! Not Ingrid!
I knew there had to be a reason Quinlan and Bentley kept running into Lorenzo and his young daughter. The encounters seemed random, but nothing on East New York is ever meaningless.
We found out what was happening during the final moments of East New York Season 1 Episode 20 when Ingrid got hit by a stray bullet during a shooting. The little girl will probably be all right, but now the shooter's on the run -- and it appears he's Thora's nephew. What a lead-in to the season finale!
Brandy's instincts were correct unless there's a last-minute twist, and Tyson's not the shooter.
I wasn't sure that confronting Thora about Tyson was a good idea. Brandy's worked hard to gain Thora's trust after a rocky start, and coming at her hard about her nephew's record could have undone all the progress made over the year.
Thora might have known her nephew was bad news from the get-go. She made a point of introducing him to her neighbors, Officers Quinlan and Bentley.
It was almost an unspoken warning: be good because the cops are watching.
If you consider that introduction, Thora's final conversation with Quinlan about her nephew made sense.
She knew he had a record and wanted to encourage him to stay on the straight and narrow. But she didn't think he was messing around with Orlando and putting the whole complex in danger.
In a way, the rule against ex-cons living in public housing seemed unfair and counterproductive. How are people supposed to reboot their lives and stay on the right path if they can't even get housing?
But the shootout demonstrated the purpose of the rule. The idea was that people like Tyson represented a security risk -- they may have ties to gang members or other unsavory types and bring violence and drugs to the projects.
That's unfair to formerly incarcerated people who are serious about making a better future for themselves, but it's understandable why this rule exists.
Of course, ANY tenant who hasn't been vetted can pose the same risk, so Thora allowing her nephew to stay with her without getting permission from the housing authority was problematic whether or not he had a criminal record.
Thora's reactions as Quinlan and Bentley search for Tyson will be interesting. Will she stand by her nephew even though he brought Orlando and associated gun violence to the projects?
Hopefully, Ingrid and Lorenzo will be all right. Quinlan may get pressure from both sides -- Lorenzo wanting the shooter caught yesterday and Thora wanting her nephew left alone.
Elsewhere, the investigation into Rusty's death went more smoothly than I expected.
Donna: I can't believe this is happening again.
Sandeford: What's happening again?
Donna: A few years ago, someone was killing homeless people on Pennsylvania Avenue. It took the cops forever to respond.
Regina promised Donna that Rusty's death would be taken seriously. But crimes against the homeless are often low-priority because these people have little money, power, or resources.
Regina wouldn't accept her officers treating homeless people as expendable. Still, Sharpe might have had a problem with it if he thought his constituents would object to the police putting more resources into the death of a homeless man than into more wealthy residents' issues.
Fortunately, this case didn't become a political issue, so that the team could put the pieces together relatively quickly.
Nursing shortage or not, it was unbelievable that Alex Garcia was able to keep getting work in hospitals when he had a history of stealing opioids and other heavily controlled substances! I'd think that history would make him a liability to any medical facility.
It led to two tragic deaths. He'd better get a hefty sentence for killing Terrance and Rusty!
The saddest thing was that Rusty's mother never had a chance to develop a relationship with her adult son and didn't realize how much love the homeless community had for him.
Although people often think of those lacking homes as transients, they often develop their communities and families out on the streets.
People need to join forces to protect and help each other. Homeless communities often have their own culture and rules (such as Donna explaining that it was considered inappropriate to ask anyone about medical issues.)
Rusty's mother seemed touched by the outpouring of love and grief after Rusty's murder. Still, it was a damn shame that her son's mental illness and her difficulty understanding how to relate to him led to them not having much of a relationship.
Meanwhile, Yenko's experiment with assigning newbies to Sandeford and Bentley flopped dismally.
For the record, I'm with Sandeford -- Homicide: Life on the Streets is one of the best cop shows ever made. But I'm surprised he didn't mention NYPD Blue as a nod to Jimmy Smits!
Sandeford's new partner was too squeamish for homicide work, but Bentley's crossed the line. Where does a cop who's been on the beat for two days get off telling his training officer who to date?
This silly story provided some much-needed comic relief, but sheesh!
Finally, Regina's decision to dump Sean felt like a load of BS.
Did Sean lie, or did he struggle with telling Regina about a part of his past and not do it until she forced the issue?
I was glad she asked him who Caroline was instead of jumping to conclusions for the entire hour. Her reaction when he answered the question was out of proportion.
Her reason for breaking up with him merely solidified my belief that this is about her anger toward her father for lying to her about where he was on her sixteenth birthday. Like Mo, Sean led a double life while undercover, and at first, it seemed like he'd gotten a target of the investigation pregnant.
That had to have reminded Regina of the situation with her dad.
Plus, her decision made no sense. Sean can be there for his daughter AND date Regina. It doesn't have to be an either-or, especially since he doesn't live with his daughter.
Your turn, East New York fanatics! Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know your thoughts!
Don't forget you can watch East New York online while waiting for the season finale to air.
East New York airs on CBS on Sundays at 9 PM EST / PST.
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.
