Homicide: Life On The Street

"See No Evil" is the second episode of the second season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street, and the eleventh overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on January 13, 1994. In the episode, Felton's friend kills his father in an assisted suicide, and Felton tries to convince Lewis to look the other way. In a subplot, Pembleton investigates what appears to be the police shooting of an unarmed suspect. The episode was directed by Chris Menaul and written by series creator Paul Attanasio. Wilford Brimley made a guest appearance as Harry Prentice, an ill and bed-ridden man who convinces his son to help him kill himself. Attanasio deliberately wrote the script so it would be morally questionable whether police handling of both the suicide and the police shooting were done in an ethically correct way. Pembleton's investigation was based on a real-life investigation into a suspicious shooting featured in David Simon's non-fiction book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, on which the Homicide series was based. Detectives from the Baltimore Police Department wrote a letter of formal protest to executive producer Barry Levinson over the negative portrayal of police in the episode. According to Nielsen Media Research, "See No Evil" was seen by 12.53 million household viewers. Although a drop from the previous episode "Bop Gun", it was nevertheless considered a strong rating for Homicide, which NBC was still considering whether to renew. The episode received generally positive reviews.