This episode is a great example of the new and improved City Homicide. Everything that didn't work for me in seasons 1 & 2 was corrected from the very start of season 3 beginning with two new cast members who immediately "updated" the show with their character types and excellent acting. Nadia Townsend bursts onto the scene as a sassy, know-it-all detective who can hold her own on the street. Our introduction to her is brilliant and immediately we can tell that the series has been given a major face-lift. She's just the breath of fresh air the show needed and when John Adam joins the team. a few episodes later, the new line-up is complete. He is more accomplished and mature than the other detectives and they both bring a more modern feel to the department. Nadine and Aaron are missing from most of the early episodes, enabling the "new" team to set the tone and with improved production values too, bring the show up to a solid 9 out of 10. The scripts have always been good but now with consistently slicker, better acting many episodes are even a solid 10. They still use the "reality" tv camera style for most of the show but it's been toned down and done far more professionally. I still have a problem with the transitional montages of quick cuts but they have been tightened up and reduced and are often of more relevant objects so are far less objectionable. The inclusion of loud, obnoxious songs that don't add to the action or storyline have been tempered with relevance. The nicest treat was when Jennifer Mapplethorpe (Nadine Garner) finally returned from her "course" her acting had radically improved and her vacuous "stare" softened and toned down with a smile or some obvious hint of a thought behind it. Her role and Pedersen's are greatly reduced in season 3 and the show improved because of it. The new combinations and pairings are far more dramatic and exciting. Shane Bourne, David Field and Noni Hazelhurst still steer the ship with excellence.
