"APOCALYPSE NASH" Going Presidential October 24, 1998

by
Gordon Hom

In the last episode, time was tight with the episode occurring in a 14 hour time span (14 hours till a death sentence was carried out). Now we find that some time has past, possibly several months. Nash has been promoted to Captain, and dirty political deeds are afoot. Nash and Joe are set-up for murder in their investigation of the corrupt Narcotics Recovery Unit (NRU). The corruption has spread to the Management Control Division (MCD) with Lieutenant Isley being the culprit.

We go from a clear-cut cop in the premiere (a pure Nash arresting that Bad Girl); to a compromised cop (a poor Nash forced into being a gay private detective); to a vigilante cop (Nash avenging Michelle's death); then back to sympathetic cop (an honorable Nash saves a man from Death Row). In "Apocalypse Nash" there's a wonderful complexity to the old Good Guys versus Bad Guys because now some of the Good Guys are Bad Guys. It still doesn't have the moral ambiguity of MIAMI VICE, but with the introduction of a formal internal affairs division (the NASH BRIDGES version is called Management Control) in the form of Caitlin Cross, this episode introduces a kind of complexity and rich police storyline worthy of VICE.

Internal affairs divisions are among the most hated and least popular line of work in any police department. The mere existence of an internal affairs division is an admission that there are cops that are less than heroic. When they appear in cop shows, it introduces an element of subversion into the hero mythology. It puts a real kink into the machinery, so its going to be interesting to see how the Caitlin Cross character plays out. She is already pegged a hated and unpopular character as Joe makes the reference to Ken Starr, of whom Caitlin professes to admire. Caitlin believes that Nash, like President Clinton, should be drummed out of office, as Caitlin makes that clear to Nash.

A lot happens in this episode and it's told in a complex and fascinating way via witness testimony and flashbacks. This episode also uses events built up from previous episodes starting with the season premiere. Nash is in a bad way this season, first being financially stripped, then facing his dad's medical bills and Cassidy's tuition bills, and now falsely accused of murder. The surfacing of Rick Bettina once again hits at the crest of an ill wind. Rick's irritating habits drives Nash nuts, more so when they're locked in a cell with nowhere to run as Rick sleeps in the nude, and does bison-like yells during his morning exercises. Poor hilarious Nash seems to be in a permanent state of annoyance.

For more, see synopsis for Episode 59

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