The Twenty Percent Solution (S07E03)
Airdate: 30 October 1998
Written by: David Simon
Directed by: Clark Johnson
Running Time: 44 minutes
By the time Homicide: Life on the Street reached its seventh and final season in 1998, fans had grown vocal in their belief that the show had strayed from its gritty, grounded portrayal of police work in Baltimore. Critics argued that the series had become overly reliant on melodrama and plot contrivances, losing the documentary-like authenticity that once set it apart. While these accusations were often met with defensive silence from the production team, David Simon, creator of the 1988 non-fiction book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (the show’s foundational text), offered a pointed rebuttal through The Twenty Percent Solution, an episode that balanced fictional invention with real-world inspiration. Though its plot veered into territory far removed from the mean streets of Baltimore, Simon’s script demonstrated a deliberate, if uneven, attempt to reconcile the show’s artistic ambitions with its roots in journalistic realism.
When Simon wrote The Twenty Percent Solution, he occupied a unique position in Baltimore’s literary landscape. While Tom Clancy, the godfather of techno-thrillers, remained the city’s most celebrated author—his The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games having cemented his status as a global phenomenon—Simon was emerging as a formidable rival in the realm of socially conscious storytelling. Clancy’s empire, however, faced turbulence during the episode’s development: his bitter divorce from first wife Wanda King became a tabloid sensation, with the couple’s legal battle over assets and intellectual property dominating headlines in The Baltimore Sun. Simon, a former reporter for that same newspaper, seized on the scandal as inspiration, transposing its elements into a fictionalised narrative that interrogated celebrity, power, and betrayal.
The episode opens with a mystery involving L. P. Everett (Richard Warner), a bestselling author of Cold War thrillers whose work has been adapted into blockbuster films. His glamorous wife, Darlene (Patti d’Arbanville), arrives at the homicide unit to report his disappearance, claiming he was murdered by his agent, Jake Benedek (Joe Urla). A cryptic video message left by Everett corroborates her story, but detectives Laura Ballard (Callie Thorne) and Stuart Gharty (Peter Gerety) are sceptical—no body has been found, and Darlene’s claims are undercut by the revelation that Everett may have fled the city with his mistress, Claudette Pinchot (Carla Bianchi). The detectives’ investigation deepens when they uncover signs of violence in Everett’s office and trace the culprit to Grenville Rawlins (Tom Atkins), a former CIA operative turned janitor, who murdered Everett over a plagiarism dispute. Though Assistant State’s Attorney Danvers (Željko Ivanek) lacks concrete evidence, the prosecution’s case takes a dramatic turn during the trial, when defence attorney Darrin Russom (Michael Willis) inadvertently undermines his client through hubris, leading the jury to convict Rawlins and Benedek. The episode concludes with the homicide unit celebrating a rare victory in a “redball” case, a stark contrast to their usual struggles.
Parallel to the Everett plot, Detectives John Munch (Richard Belzer) and Tim Bayliss (Kyle Secor) investigate the death of an 88-year-old woman who suffered a fatal heart attack after encountering a burglar in her home. Munch, already irked by the case’s disruption to his plans with girlfriend Billie Lou, argues that the death should be ruled accidental. Bayliss insists on pursuing it as homicide, prompting a tense debate over the ethics of over-investigation. The medical examiner, Dr. George Griscom (Austin Pendleton), refuses to confirm a cause of death, leaving the detectives in limbo. When the burglar—a repeat offender—is finally apprehended, he expresses genuine concern for the woman’s wellbeing, leading Munch and Bayliss to conclude the case without informing him of her death.
The episode also touches on the ongoing romantic tension between Detective Paul Falsone (Jon Seda) and Detective Ballard, with the former finally confronting the fact that the latter is infatuated with him.
At its core, The Twenty Percent Solution is a satirical commentary on the literary world, contrasting Simon’s gritty realism with the fantastical escapism of Clancy’s novels. While the plot suffers from minor missteps—such as anachronistic references to Cold War espionage (e.g., Mike Giardello’s role in exposing Aldrich Ames, a detail alien to those unfamiliar with the case) and a gratuitous catfight between Darlene and Claudette—the narrative remains engaging thanks to sharp dialogue and strong performances. Patti d’Arbanville, best known as the muse of Cat Stevens, delivers a standout turn as the glamorous Darlene, while Tom Atkins imbues Rawlins with a chilling mix of competence and menace. The courtroom climax, in which the defence’s overconfidence backfires spectacularly, ranks among the series’ most memorable sequences, blending procedural tension with darkly comic irony.
Though The Twenty Percent Solution never reaches the heights of Homicide’s earlier classics, it stands out as one of the final season’s brighter moments. Simon’s willingness to engage with critics and explore unconventional territory reflects the show’s enduring ambition, even as its later episodes faltered. The episode’s flaws—its tangential plot threads and occasional tonal whiplash—are outweighed by its wit, its nods to Baltimore’s cultural landscape, and its reminder that Homicide could still surprise audiences with its intellectual daring.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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