A Call For Help (Third Watch)

Infobox Television episode
Title=A call for help
Series=Third Watch


Caption=
Season=5
Episode=12
Airdate=December 19, 2003
Production=176760
Writer=Edward Allen Bernero
Director=Edward Allen Bernero
Guests=Warren Blosjo
Adam Sietz
Prev=The Spirit
Next=Black and Blue

"A call for help" is the 99th episode of the television series "Third Watch" and the 11th episode of the 5th season.

Plot Summary

After an anonymous call, Bosco and Monroe investigate and find a bleeding man in an alleyway. The man changes his story numerous times and they decide to investigate, but before, they find a blood trail, from which they deduce the man killed someone, and his wounds are because the victim tried to defend himself.

Plot Details

The 55 Squad receive a phone call of a man saying that somebody is screaming for help in an alley in Amherst, but prefers not to reveal his name, and the phone call remains anonymous. After getting to the neighbourhood, Sasha and Bosco find the place to be completely deserted, and a blond man standing beside a car. After they ask him to turn around, they discover that his hand is hurt, but he refuses to receive medical care, claiming that he got into a fight with a "some guy" over a girl he saw in the park and was pushed into a fence and cut himself. He insists on going home so his mom (whom he claims is a nurse) can stitch him up. Bosco tries to stall him while Sasha calls for an ambulance and asks the man (who identifies himself as Thomas, but prefers to be called Tommy) where he cut himself. Tommy keeps taking Bosco to different fences (3 in total), which Bosco can clearly see have not been disturbed, Bosco is becoming more and more suspicious. The ambulance arrives with Doc and Kim. Doc tells Tommy he is suffering from nerve damage and should really get checked out, but Tommy keeps refusing, referring to his "Nurse" mother who can stitch him up. All the while Bosco keeps asking him questions because he had a hunch something was wrong. At some point Bosco finds a credit card with a womans name it. Tommy says it's his girlfriends but Bosco doesn't buy it. At this point, Bosco searches for evidence in Thomas's car, and finds 7 different credit cards, belonging to different women. While Bosco is coming back from Tommy's car, he discovers a blood trail and chains Thomas to the ambulance, which makes both Kim and Doc go ballistic (at this point Tommy starts to ask for his car keys). Bosco searches Tommy and finds two knives on him. Doc loses his temper (this is the first episode that we REALLY see a change in Doc). Sully and Davis were patrolling in the area, helping canvass. Doc is asked to do an evaluation of the blood trail and states that the person injured is dead, or has little time to live, as he/she has lost a lot of blood. While Bosco is asking Thomas questions, Maritza arrives, and along with Sasha, they try to find a body. They find a little storehouse, but it has a lock on it, and after returning from a search Sasha discovers that there is a tennis shoe on the floor, they call the Fire Department to get some bolt cutters. Suddenly, a cell phone that Thomas had starts ringing, and Bosco answers. The call is from a woman, (it never mentions who she is), and Bosco tells her Tommy is under arrest (as he assumed it was Tommy's phone), but the woman says she is looking for Tommy's friend who owns the phone. At this point Bosco finds out that Tommy lives in the complex with his grandfather.(Thomas had previously said that he had come to visit his friend). Bosco hangs up and goes to confront Thomas. The only thing Sasha and Bosco had found curious about him is that he didn't seem at all disturbed when being chained, but showed extreme nervousness when Bosco took his car keys. Bosco realizes that the key for the storehouse is on Thomas's car keys. After opening the door, a disfigured cadaver appears. Thomas is forced by Bosco to see the body after he claims that he attacked him in self defense and sticks to that story. Bosco explains how it's impossible due to the type of wounds and puts him in the RMP. The anonymous caller is never identified, but when you put Sully's history together with the episode it appears the Grandfather may have been the one who called and that's why he didn't want to be identified. Sully during the episode explains to Davis that this was his first "beat". It becomes clear Tommy is the son of a woman whom was killed 20 years earlier and Sully had been the person who delivered the news the Tommy's Grandfather all those years ago.

Trivia

* This episode is in fact the 100th, but credited as the 99th in all episode guides.
* This episode is based on a true story, as the usual credits “Previously on...” are changed for “While the following story is inspired by actual events, it has been fictionalized, characters, scenes and events have been created, and names and locations have been changed”.
* This episode was filmed in 10 minute loops without cuts.

Quotes

*Kim: I knew I should’ve stayed home today.

*Maritza: I’m gonna put you and Monroe in for a commendation on this.
*Bosco: No you’re not.
*Maritza: If you guys hadn’t caught this guy who knows if this guy would’ve been caught.
*Bosco: Look I don’t wanna remember this job OK?
*Maritza: Well you should, it’s a good police work.

ee also

*List of Third Watch episodes

External links

* http://www.tv.com/third-watch/a-call-for-help/episode/281763/summary.html?tag=ep_list;ep_title;10 at tv.com