Frank Pembleton
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Detective Frank Pembleton is a fictional homicide detective on the television drama series Homicide: Life on the Street portrayed by Emmy Award winning actor Andre Braugher. He is a primary character of the show through the first six seasons. He is based off of Baltimore Police Department Detective Harry Edgerton who like Pembleton was an eccentric New York bred African American detective in the BPD homicide unit featured in David Simon's Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets novel.
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[edit] Early life
Pembleton was born into a Catholic family in New York City. It was implied that he had siblings, but they never appear on the show. He was educated first in a Catholic elementary school and then in a Jesuit high school, a reference to Braugher attending a Jesuit school, St. Ignatius College Prep, in Chicago. Frank later said that "the Jesuits taught me how to think," which comes up on the show from time to time. He knows Latin and Greek and is well versed in Catholic theology. He met his future wife, Mary, on the Great Lawn in Central Park shortly after graduating from the Police Academy when he was 24. He claims that he knew as soon as he met her that she was "the one." They married sometime afterwards.
Frank and Mary moved to Baltimore because Frank wanted to be a detective and felt there was no room for advancement in the NYPD. According to Frank, the move caused a permanent rift between him and his in-laws, since he had moved "their little girl" so far from home. He loved working in Baltimore, however, and Mary got a job as a lobbyist (making more money than him) and often took trips to Washington, D.C.
[edit] Pembleton the detective
[edit] Frank's attitude
Pembleton became a detective at a fairly young age (compared to some of the other detectives), being in the Homicide unit by his early 30s. Frank was completely devoted to his job--he often called it a calling and vigorously pursued justice. Nothing infuriated him like seeing justice go unserved (i.e. a murder getting off was unbearable for him). The world was black and white for Frank, and he was almost never swayed by mitigating circumstances. He mentions in an early season episode that he speaks for the dead, because there is no one else to speak for them.
Pembleton is a notably unwavering and dedicated detective, disinterested in the background of the deceased victim with regards to how he approached the investigation into their deaths (he would, for example, investigate the death of a drug dealer with as much dedication to finding the killer as he would a priest). In this vein, he notably disagreed with fellow detective Beau Felton (with whom he had a long-standing enmity) as to the semantic difference between the words 'murder' and 'killing' - whereas Felton believed that a 'murder' was the wrongful death of a person who 'mattered' (in the specific instance, an elderly woman) and that a killing was the death of someone who didn't (such as a drug dealer), Pembleton believed that all lives mattered and that all wrongful deaths were 'murders'. He was also uncompromising in the investigation of a doctor who wrongfully caused the death of a gangbanger who routinely beat up his girlfriend and committed robbery and fraud owing to his similarity to a hoodlum who mugged her husband; whereas his partner wanted to let her go, Frank replied simply that "a man is dead".
Pembleton's fiery attitude and his ruthless pursuit of justice frequently put him at odds with his fellow detectives (many of whom he considered amateurish) and his lieutenant, Al Giardello. This was notably apparent in the episode 'Black and Blue', involving the investigation into a police-related shooting of a young man. As it became apparent that a uniformed police officer was the most likely suspect, Giardello - a firm believer in the brotherhood of police officers - pressured Frank to find a civilian culprit.
[edit] Pembleton and Bayliss
When Detective Tim Bayliss was assigned to the homicide unit, Lieutenant Giardello partnered him with Pembleton, much to Frank's chagrin. Pembleton had no patience for a rookie, but Tim eventually managed to win his respect. For most of the series, the two would be partners, though Frank never allowed Tim to get close to him. Their relationship was strained more than once, but they always eventually came back to working together, always being an effective team.
The first major "breakup" occurred when Pembleton was investigating the shooting of a foreign exchange student accidentally shot by Tim's cousin, Jim, whom Tim was as close as a brother to. Pembleton was convinced that Jim, if only in the few seconds before the shot was fired, was motivated by racism (the victim was Turkish and Jim's brother had been killed in the Gulf War) and vigorously pursued the case, not cutting any slack just because of Tim's relationship.
They split again midway through season 5, after Tim reveals that he was sexually abused by his uncle as a child. They get back together after Mary asks Tim to do it and Frank manages to swallow his pride.
[edit] Pembleton's family
Frank and Mary, once settled in their careers, decided to have a family. They were forced to see a variety of fertility specialists before Mary was able to become pregnant. They had two children, a daughter Olivia and later a son named Frank, Jr.
Frank was the only detective on the show to maintain a marriage--every other one either never got married, had their spouse die, or (more often) got divorced. Frank and Mary's did go through some rough times, owing to Frank's incredible drive for work. Even after marriage counselling, Mary felt that he had become too detached from his family. She was also bothered when he lost his faith, especially when he denied Olivia a baptism for many months. Mary left Frank for a couple of months while pregnant with Frank, Jr. but eventually came back to Frank. Nothing made her happier than when he eventually quit.
[edit] Loss of faith
In the first two seasons, Pembleton remains actively Catholic, but his job has turned him very cynical. Following a high profile string of serial killings where Frank was the primary, he lost his faith. It's debatable if he ever got it back, though there are occasionally times when it appears he has. In his last episode on the show, Frank is shown praying out loud.
[edit] The stroke
In the fourth season finale, Frank suffers a stroke while interogating a suspect. When he returns to duty, his speech and memory have been noticeably impaired. He is assigned desk duty until he can pass his firearms exam, and is frustrated when others (like Tim) baby him. Unfortunately, his medication impairs his focusing (and sexual relations with his wife), so he takes the dangerous risk of flushing his medication. He still has trouble with the exam, failing it at least once but eventually passing and returning to active duty. He eventually makes a full recovery from the stroke.
It is somewhat ironic that so much hinged on the firearms exam, since Frank later confirms that he never had to shoot anyone. The closest he came was drawing down on a few suspects.
