The first rule about writing a blog is that there are no rules about writing a blog, right? But the first rule about writing for television is that there are lots and lots of rules and television writers secretly love lots of rules even though we sometimes pretend to get all grumpy about them. Rules mean there are boundaries as to what you can't do and that makes it easier to sit down at the computer and know that you can't give Jennifer superpowers or make Duncan burst into a song and dance routine in order to solve the crime. Well, you could, but that would be a different show and not the one called City
Homicide.

So because we secretly love rules, when we started doing this blog and freaked out a little because there were no rules about how it was supposed to be, we made up some rules of our own. Number One was that this wouldn't just be a recap of the show. There are already people on the internet who do that sort of stuff. Number Two was that we would try to give a bit of insight into the processes behind creating a television drama. And Number Three was that we would highlight stuff that we thought needed highlighting because it's cool or interesting. Then we went back and started subdividing Number One into Part A, Part B, Part C etc because we really do love rules and by then it was 3pm and suddenly the first blog was a little overdue...

Why bring this up now? Well, because this episode is one where we broke some of those rules of television crime shows and that's what we want to discuss. (but don't go rushing back to your tape of the show to find the bit where Jennifer opens the lift doors using just the super-sonic power of her brain-waves - it ain't there).

Rule Number 1. It should always be tricky to work out whodunit. As soon as you meet Josh Braddock and Paul Gee you know they're baddies. They're slimy and arrogant and cold and in the end they're found out to be baddies too. So where's the mystery and intrigue? Well, this episode is less a whodunit and more of a how-do-we-prove-they-did-it? And why did they do it? And will they get away with it? Which is three questions, not one, and doesn't fit neatly into the TV guide.

Rule Number 2. Grieving relatives should always be sympathetic. Petra Milde just lost her husband. But she isn't collapsing and crying and she isn't powerlessly sitting back and waiting for the investigation to take its course. She's angry, she's powerful and she frustrates the investigation by with-holding information
and being snarky with Waverley. In fact, she's like the Anti-Waverley. That's why she has straight hair and no clipboard.

Rule Number 3. Our heroes should never forget their main objective. That moment in the office when Matt, Simon, Duncan and Jennifer realise they all forgot to let Melinda Cosgrove's parents know their daughter was dead. It's awful and it's
cringing and no matter how they try to make up for it throughout the rest of their dealings with the Cosgroves, there's no getting past that they stuffed up. More than that, they forgot that as Homicide detectives their primary focus is
to stand for the dead. And for the best part of a day no one stood for an innocent young woman who was killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Rule Number 4. The hot young cop should not get dumped by the hot older woman. We don't know if this is actually a rule, but we totally enjoyed breaking it.

COMING UP: Thought the whole ‘head-butting Zabor and then breaking up' was the train wreck we foreshadowed for Duncan and Claire? Think again. Next week in ‘Babylove', Claire's back and not in a good ‘let's kiss and make up' kind of way. There's a whole world of angst heading for Duncan over the next few weeks.
The Creative Team, CITY HOMICIDE