Up on the Roof

[maggiethecat]

(For Housemouse, who still has things to say about this amazing episode -- as I hope others do!)

It starts with a dream . . .



. . . but this time we know it’s a dream. The bleached palette, the slightly drugged tempo, Jim and Christie gazing adoringly into each other’s eyes. Then the shift to nightmare. “We really need you out there, Jimmy.” He goes. Of course he goes – that’s what he does. That’s who he is. Terry Jansen’s there, again, crouched and sweating, and the diner door opens to the silhouette of the shooter and, again, again, the bullet scores across Jim’s temple and he’s jerked from sleep, panicked and disoriented. How many times, and in how many ways, has this scene played out in his dreams? Each dream brings a little death: the first kills the confident sighted cop; the second the easygoing, charismatic lover. And this time, touching on an issue central to the show, Jim walks through the door to face the shooter unarmed. Not the greatest way to start the day. Perhaps the worst possible way to start this particular day . . . .

For me, “Up on the Roof” is as pivotal as “Seoul Man” or “Under the Gun.” I keep coming back to it. While "Seoul Man" is instrumental in resolving a number of crucial issues -- Galloway pronounces Jim fit for duty and releases him from therapy, Jim and Marty begin to resolve their complex rivalry -- "Up on the Roof" is where Jim finally comes to terms with Terry Jansen, and the moment of cowardice that cost him so much. And it’s all so subtly played, the anger simmering under the surface held in check for much of the episode, a tautly scripted journey to the final confrontation by the river.

And of course it’s funny. The exchanges between Jim and Marty are genuinely humorous, for once not characterized by acrimony. “You asleep, Dunbar?” “Just thinking about what to get you for Christmas.” “How about a catapult?” Karen breaks in with, “What are you guys, twelve?” (Well, yeah, sometimes.) And my favorite: “You bowl?” says Marty. “Put those bumpers in the gutter and I’m a killer.” “What about pool, Jim? You play pool?” Slight grin. “Probably not as well as I used to, Marty.” (This is meticulous writing. “Not as well as I used to” is bitter – it’s that one word, probably, that spins the laugh.)

There is much to savor: Glen Semple, Terry’s ham-fisted partner, the antithesis of a “natural” who raises his voice when introduced to Jim. “Glen,” he tells him, “I’m blind, not deaf.” “Out takin’ your dog for a walk . . . Not for nothin’ . . . I’m just sayin’ . . . chillin’ on the futon,” and the delicious exchange with Sellway about black-on-black crime. Watch Fisk’s face whenever Semple speaks – he can’t quite believe what he’s hearing.

About Terry’s partnership with Glen. I have always wondered: Was everyone dead on the street but Terry by the time Jim was wounded? Did anyone else see Terry cowering against the side of that building? Recently in New York a cop was shot three times in the chest (he was wearing a Kevlar vest and lived), while his partner ran from the scene -- he’s been suspended and is “under investigation.” Was there a hidden reason the department teamed Terry with a wheezing old gasbag? Terry does tell Jim that no one else would partner with Semple, but he’s not exactly the soul of honesty. Cops gossip. Maybe, just maybe, Terry’s with Glen because no one wanted to partner up with *him.* Maybe there was something in the wind, an unspoken sense of uneasiness.

Although Jim tells Fisk that working with Terry on the double homicide their respective squads are teaming up on won’t be a problem, his face turns mask-rigid whenever Terry’s around. “Terry was with you when that thing at the bank went down, right?” Marty asks. “Why the bad blood?” “That was a bad day. For everyone,” Jim answers stiffly. He’s not giving it up, not even to Karen, except for one oblique remark about how Terry maybe didn’t “step up” as much as he could have. The groundwork has been laid.



Did anyone else think of the old Carole King/James Taylor song, “Up on the Roof?” I have to think the creators did – enough of them are Baby Boomers to know it:

When this old roof starts a getting me down,
and people are just too much for me to face,
I’ll climb way up to the top of the stairs,
and all my cares just drift right into space . . .

Nice bit of irony, that. No peace on this roof. Nothing on this Rivington Street roof but gunshots and secrets. They’re after the Oliver brothers, Titus and DeShaun, wanted for questioning in a gang-related double homicide. Terry chases Titus up the stairs and onto the roof and two shots are fired, one of them hitting him in the shoulder. Like Jim, we only hear the shots, a sequence he keeps replaying in his head. First Terry’s Browning, then Oliver’s .022. But Terry claims Titus shot first, and Jim keeps gnawing away at it until Terry says, in the hospital, “Jimmy, this is the third time you’ve asked me this.” He backs off . . . but he knows.

Then the bitter argument with Galloway.



“You were covering for your partner,” Galloway says on Jim’s declaration that he won’t pursue Terry’s staged shooting. And he loses it, incoherent with rage. “He’s not my partner. Terry, he, he, he blew it at the bank—“ Galloway jumps in with, “You mean the roof?” “Right, the roof .” A textbook Freudian slip, and for once the remarkable Galloway gets it wrong. How much do we wish that instead of correcting Jim he had said, “What do you mean, he blew it at the bank?” Did Galloway ever know that a large measure of Jim’s anger had to do with the fact that, while it was his actions, directly, that led to his being blinded, he was taking action because those around him either could not or *would* not? How important would it have been for Galloway to know this? I think very.

The scene at Terry’s house, when his anger boils up, briefly. “You’re not the Jimmy Dunbar I knew.” “Yeah, tell me about it.” “So that’s it, you still have a grudge on me from the bank.” It’s the easy answer, but it’s not the right answer. This is all about not letting Titus Oliver go down for a crime he didn’t commit. The bank was a moment of weakness – this is calculated and dishonest and amoral, and to Jim that’s even worse.

So it's back to the roof for the scene where Karen pulls the rag out of the tar bucket, and Dunbar feels the fabric and quietly says, "This is a handkerchief." The handkerchief Terry folded and used to catch powder burns. Jim opens it out, his fingers finding, one by one, four charred holes. “Oh, man,” Karen says, stunned. Proof.

And then, the powerful final meeting by the river.




The time-stopping moment when Jim pulls out the handkerchief and holds it up to Terry, and Terry’s reponse, “Don’t do this to me, Jimmy.” What a guy – still trying to shift blame with the evidence staring him in the face. The restraint with which Jim confronts Terry is revelatory: he has come to understand Terry in a way he never would have, had Terry not shot himself. This man is a guilt-ridden mess, to say the least. “That day at the bank, that wasn’t me,” Terry cries. But it was, and they both know it. And Jim could have just laid into him, brought him down, had him bounced off The Job with no pension, even brought up on charges, but he offers him a way out. He constructs the accidental discharge scenario as a way to save face and free Titus. Dunbar is a man of honor, and this is the honorable solution for everyone. So well written, so well directed, so well played.

We end as we began, with Jim and Christie. No dream, the reality. It’s the first time we’ve seen them together without tension, relaxed, almost at peace. Her baggage is stowed out of sight, and for once he’s letting her in. It’s lovely. The ending still turns me inside out, every time, Jim lying in her arms. “Are you really through with him?” she asks softly.

“All this time I’ve been so pissed off at him,” he murmurs. “Not just because he froze up at the bank, but because I thought he got off easy. But I think back to that day, and I wouldn’t trade places with that guy.” And then the last line, the killer: “I’d rather lose my sight than my courage.”



He’s starting to move on.

Strong. Subtle. Heartbreaking. Haunting.

Great episode.

[mlm828]

I steadfastly refuse to select a single favorite episode, but "Up on the Roof" is high on my list.

There is not much to add to maggie's wonderful summary, but there are a couple of things I've been thinking about.

In the scene between Terry and Jim at Terry's house, Terry accuses Jim of holding a grudge for his failure at the bank, when Terry knows he shot himself. Terry knows he failed at the bank, and he knows he shot himself, yet he's trying to make Jim the "bad guy" to shift the focus from his own failings and get Jim to back off. "Despicable" is the word that comes to mind.

In the amazing scene by the river, Jim pleads with Terry not to make things worse for both of them. He knows that if Terry does not take the way out that he is offering, the full story of what happened at the bank will come out, and both of them will be forced to re-live that day. Jim does not want to go that route; he wants to be "done" with it. But at the same time, there is a reminder -- perhaps even a veiled threat -- that that is what will happen if Terry does not go along with Jim's plan.

[maggiethecat]

You took me to a new level, mlm. Yeah, it's amazing, when you think about it -- revealing the entire story of Terry's "accidental" shooting would open up a very large can of worms. This is the way out for both of them . . . but is is really a way out? As Jim tells Christie at the end of the episode, when he says that Terry will be leaving the Job on a reduced pension, the real story won't remain a secret for long.

I think, on reflection, that Jim genuinely pities Terry for being a weak man, and that's one reason why he does offer him a solution. As traumatic as blindness has been -- and continues to be -- to him, far worse for any man would be the stigma of cowardice. Perhaps Jim knows that while he will eventually come to terms with being blind, there's no way on Earth Terry will be able to live with what he's done, both at the bank and up on that roof. So I see compassion in Dunbar's actions, a lot of compassion. And yes, knowing if Terry goes off the Job and takes this "way out," neither of them will have to face, again and in public -- either through their peers knowing or an Internal Affairs investigation -- the true story of what happened at the bank. They can both be done with it -- Jim in a truthful and healing way, Terry in what is probably denial. In the end, Terry is just the kind of guy who's more comfortable blaming others for his troubles. And, as Jim tells Christie, "He gets to hate me now, and that's what he wants."

Which man is the more "whole?" Definitely Dunbar.

[mlm828]

Well said, maggie! We're basically on the same page here. Just a few additional thoughts. . .

I do think Jim's resolution of the situation is a way out for both of them. Yes, people talk, and the whole story will be ""known." But this will not involve Jim, or force him to relive the day at the bank. He wants it to be "done" and "over" and this way, it can be. On the other hand, if Terry doesn't agree to go along with the "accidental discharge" story, the fact that Terry shot himself and the reasons for it will become part of an official investigation, which will require Jim to continue to relive the events at the bank and make it more difficult for him to move on.

By the way, there is no way, in my opinion, that Jim will let it go if Terry doesn't take him up on his offer. He has clearly decided that allowing Titus to be prosecuted for shooting Terry is not "who he is." I am certain that he would not have dropped the matter, in spite of the painful consequences for him personally, if Terry had not gone along with the "accidental discharge" story.

As for Jim's having compassion for Terry, I agree with your comments. Jim will find a way to live with the consequences of his actions, while Terry must resort to denial and blaming others for his failure.

[maggiethecat]

Oh, couldn't we talk about this amazing episode forever? Well, yeah.

There's something else to consider in the mix: Karen knows. She knows every detail, since she's the only one besides Jim and Terry to have seen the handkerchief Terry used to "catch powder burns." She's been with Jim every step of that long day -- even though she wasn't convinced he didn't have a personal motivation, she did support him -- and she's there at the denouement (sp?), watching their body language through the car window when they meet at the river. She's no Chatty Cathy, but would she ever say something, given the right circumstamnces? Maybe.

I never really thought about whether Jim would have pursued the matter if Terry hadn't "fessed up." But I agree that he would have taken it that one step further because the fate of Titus Oliver -- an innocent man -- was at stake. And he does lay it out very clearly for Terry that his going to Fisk is the only way he'll destroy the evidence, the handkerchief. Terry's between the proverbial rock and a hard place, but I'll bet you a dollar he thinks Jim put him there. He put himself there, of course, but no way will he ever come to terms with that one fact.

In the end, Jim may be blind but Terry's the one you pity. He's never going to be whole, or free. If the show had run out for a few more seasons, I could easily see Terry "eating his gun." Never Dunbar. But Terry? Oh, yeah.

[housemouse]

First, unbelievable write up Maggie. It was a beautiful description of my very favorite episode. You truly did do it justice. Now, some moments that really struck me.

Jim touching his hands on each of the pews as he leaves the church.

In the session with Galloway: Galloway gets up and moves while Jim is speaking, when Galloway begins to speak Jim whips his head around, stunned that he has been talking to thin air. Jim is discussing the matter with Galloway, as he is speaking he lifts his toes ever so slightly off the ground one at a time. Very, very subtle but I shiver every time I see it.

Jim's voice cracking as he is talking to Terry "... and I don't know how you can expect anything more from me." Desperate, beautiful. I never looked at it from mlm's perspective, but he seems to be done with the initial shooting and not wanting it to be dredged up as much as he is with this situation. Excellent perspective.

The glaring look Karen gives Marty as he asks Marty about bowling and pool. Then she asks him herself as they leave the jail.

Of course, the last scene. Beautiful and perfect in every way. They are relaxed and intimate (good call maggie), and just enjoying each other. Jim is totally vulnerable for the first time ever and it is wonderful.

[mlm828]

maggiethecat said:

Oh, couldn't we talk about this amazing episode forever? Well, yeah.

There's something else to consider in the mix: Karen knows. She knows every detail, since she's the only one besides Jim and Terry to have seen the handkerchief Terry used to "catch powder burns." She's been with Jim every step of that long day -- even though she wasn't convinced he didn't have a personal motivation, she did support him -- and she's there at the denouement (sp?), watching their body language through the car window when they meet at the river. She's no Chatty Cathy, but would she ever say something, given the right circumstances? Maybe.

You are so right, maggie -- Karen knows. Even if Jim only told her that Terry didn't step up as much as he could have, she has a pretty good idea that Terry failed to do something at the bank, and that failure resulted in Jim's being shot. By the end of the episode, she also knows Terry shot himself, and she has a pretty good idea of the reason. This means she also has a pretty good idea of how difficult and painful it was for Jim to deal with the situation, and how difficult and painful if would be for him if the whole story ever came out. For all of these reasons, I do not think she would say anything unless there was a very good reason.

Here's another wrinkle: how much of the story have Russo, Selway, and Fisk deduced or guessed? Russo immediately picked up on the "bad blood" between Jim and Terry, and he knows full well that Jim's response to his question about it ("That was a bad day") is no answer. When Terry comes to the squad to speak to Fisk, Karen confirms Jim's statement about the "accidental discharge." Marty gives Karen a look and gestures or points toward her. I am still uncertain how to interpret that look and gesture. Any ideas?

[housemouse]

mlm828 said:

Here's another wrinkle: how much of the story have Russo, Selway, and Fisk deduced or guessed? Russo immediately picked up on the "bad blood" between Jim and Terry, and he knows full well that Jim's response to his question about it ("That was a bad day") is no answer. When Terry comes to the squad to speak to Fisk, Karen confirms Jim's statement about the "accidental discharge." Marty gives Karen a look and gestures or points toward her. I am still uncertain how to interpret that look and gesture. Any ideas?

I have always seen it as kind of a "see I told you he wasn't really one of us" thing. Marty likes to think he would never do that to a fellow cop, no matter the circumstances. He sees this as his proof that Jim is just not one of the team. That might be a streatch, but that has been my perception.

[maggiethecat]

housemouse said:

mlm828 said:

Here's another wrinkle: how much of the story have Russo, Selway, and Fisk deduced or guessed? Russo immediately picked up on the "bad blood" between Jim and Terry, and he knows full well that Jim's response to his question about it ("That was a bad day") is no answer. When Terry comes to the squad to speak to Fisk, Karen confirms Jim's statement about the "accidental discharge." Marty gives Karen a look and gestures or points toward her. I am still uncertain how to interpret that look and gesture. Any ideas?

I have always seen it as kind of a "see I told you he wasn't really one of us" thing. Marty likes to think he would never do that to a fellow cop, no matter the circumstances. He sees this as his proof that Jim is just not one of the team. That might be a streatch, but that has been my perception.

There's so much good stuff in the last few posts to respond to -- and I will (well, you all know I could talk about this ep forever) -- but this one really jumped out at me. What *did* that look mean?

I've never been sure either, so I just ran that scene again.

*Marty would never do that, not to a fellow cop.* Hmm. Not back his partner in a lie and then force him to come forward? That's a fairly layered and subtle interpretation, and I don't think Marty could have gotten all that, in two seconds, from Jim's simple statement that "Titus's gun went off accidentally." So I'm not sure that's it.

I'm not even sure that Marty's implying that Dunbar's not one of the gang. (Jeez, all this from one look!) How about -- since this was directed at Karen -- "See? Told you hinky stuff happens around this guy. There's even something weird with his old partner." Like Dunbar was some sort of Typhoid Mary.

That works for me since Marty has already told Karen that when Jim "washes out" she'll get no credit for partnering with him. He has thought from the get-go that being paired with Jim was going to drag her down. So for the two of them to be involved in a case that ends badly for another cop -- where the resolution is radically different from the way the case originally played out -- would just reinforce his feelings.

Or Marty's expression could simply mean, "Karen, you're siding with this guy *again?* I thought I told you to cut that out."

All that from a two-second look!

So I'm going with that one. Marty implying, "Hey, honey, I told you this guy was trouble."

[housemouse]

maggiethecat said:

*Marty would never do that, not to a fellow cop.* Hmm. Not back his partner in a lie and then force him to come forward? That's a fairly layered and subtle interpretation, and I don't think Marty could have gotten all that, in two seconds, from Jim's simple statement that "Titus's gun went off accidentally." So I'm not sure that's it.

I'm not even sure that Marty's implying that Dunbar's not one of the gang. (Jeez, all this from one look!) How about -- since this was directed at Karen -- "See? Told you hinky stuff happens around this guy. There's even something weird with his old partner." Like Dunbar was some sort of Typhoid Mary.

All that from a two-second look!

So I'm going with that one. Marty implying, "Hey, honey, I told you this guy was trouble."

In my mind, one thing is for certain, the look and gesture definitely were meant to convey "I told you so." What exactly he is saying I told you so about is up for discussion. I do like the "hinky stuff" thing. Hmmm...

[mlm828]

I, too, thought the look and gesture were saying, "I told you so." I've just never been able to figure out what previous statement Marty is referring to.

We know from "Seoul Man" that Marty's major gripe with Jim is that he's not a team player, but as far as I can recall, we haven't seen him say this to Karen.

Marty has told Karen Jim will wash out, but I don't see how the resolution of the situation with Terry (or what Marty knows of it) shows that Jim will wash out. Perhaps, as mouse has suggested, Marty could simply be reminding Karen that he warned her about siding with Jim.

[maggiethecat]

mlm828 said:

I, too, thought the look and gesture were saying, "I told you so." I've just never been able to figure out what previous statement Marty is referring to.

We know from "Seoul Man" that Marty's major gripe with Jim is that he's not a team player, but as far as I can recall, we haven't seen him say this to Karen.

Marty has told Karen Jim will wash out, but I don't see how the resolution of the situation with Terry (or what Marty knows of it) shows that Jim will wash out. Perhaps, as mouse has suggested, Marty could simply be reminding Karen that he warned her about siding with Jim.

Hmmm. Well, if you try to work out a timeline for this episode, Jim and Karen disappeared for most of the day -- first to Terry's house, then back to the roof, then to the river. Don't know what Marty and Tom were doing all that time . . . but they all come back together at the end of the day, and Terry walks in looking for Fisk. Followed by the news that the shooting was an "accidental discharge." So maybe this is another instance of Marty hating the fact that Karen and Jim play it too close to the vest, and don't work with the team. And, I think, Marty sees this as Jim being a bad influence on Karen, that he thinks she was more of a team player until partnered with Dunbar. We've already, I think, had the scene in a previous episode where Marty accuses Karen of being Jim's "bottom bitch," which is the antitheses is team spirit.

Or maybe it's just an "I told you so" look that means Dunbar is trouble, nothing goes smoothly when he's around, and Karen is going to wreck her chances partnering with him.

All this from one quick shot?

Jeez, I love this show!

[maggiethecat]

mlm828 said:

I, too, thought the look and gesture were saying, "I told you so." I've just never been able to figure out what previous statement Marty is referring to.

We know from "Seoul Man" that Marty's major gripe with Jim is that he's not a team player, but as far as I can recall, we haven't seen him say this to Karen.

Marty has told Karen Jim will wash out, but I don't see how the resolution of the situation with Terry (or what Marty knows of it) shows that Jim will wash out. Perhaps, as mouse has suggested, Marty could simply be reminding Karen that he warned her about siding with Jim.

Well said . . . and you brought up some great "talking points." Although Marty claims in the locker room confrontation at the end of "Seoul Man" that his major complaint is that Dunbar's no team player, I've never thought this was the entire story. Personally(!), I think that's just *part* of why Marty resents Jim and would love to see him gone, and there are other elements:

1. Jim's a senior man, with ten years experience on The Job, and that sets up rivalry right there. Jim knows more than Marty, and that just plain ticks him off.

2. The gun thing. "Tell me that gun on your hip is plastic and we got no beef." Wonder why Marty didn't even bring this up in the locker room, since it nags at him through the entire show?

3. Karen likes Jim -- that's obvious. They have attained, quickly, an easy rapport. An easier rapport than Marty ever had with Karen? Sexual jealousy? Something to think about.

4. Marty is somewhat insensitive, straightforward, uncomplicated emotionally, and an an old school "by the book" cop. Whatever Dunbar's qualifications, or value as a detective past or present, I'll bet you a dollar Russo just plain doesn't think a blind man should be a cop.

Let's talk!

[housemouse]

maggiethecat said:

Whatever Dunbar's qualifications, or value as a detective past or present, I'll bet you a dollar Russo just plain doesn't think a blind man should be a cop.

This sentence renders all of the Marty Mean Streak/Alpha Male talk pointless. It boils things down to one, very clear point, and is the best explanation for Marty's attitude toward Jim from day one. I

[maggiethecat]

housemouse said:

maggiethecat said:

Whatever Dunbar's qualifications, or value as a detective past or present, I'll bet you a dollar Russo just plain doesn't think a blind man should be a cop.

This sentence renders all of the Marty Mean Streak/Alpha Male talk pointless. It boils things down to one, very clear point, and is the best explanation for Marty's attitude toward Jim from day one. I

Oh my. You did it, Mouse. You mentioned the words "Marty" and "mean streak" in the same sentence! I am so LOL!

You know what else? If you like the notion that "Blind Justice" follows the rules of a Greek tragedy (I yammered on about this in my post on The Pilot), then Jim's the Protagonist and Marty's the Antagonist. And the function of the Antagonist it to be a hostile irritant, and to give Our Hero a hard time.

So there!