Hill Street Station
[2] The episode also presents the precinct's captain by demonstrating the wide variety of forces that challenge him continually, including superiors, gangs, an ex-wife, defense counsel and strongminded men.
His precinct responds to a hostage situation at a local liquor store that becomes difficult when it evolves into a media circus, complicated by an aggressive SWAT team leader, Howard Hunter (James B. Sikking), who encounters nervous young gang members.
His secret lover, public defender Joyce Davenport (Veronica Hamel), appears to be his nemesis as she hounds him about a client who is the lost victim of police bureaucracy.
LaRue (Kiel Martin) attempts to woo Davenport using less and less ethical means, eventually calling her back to the precinct to pick up her lost client even though he was never found.
When officers Hill (Michael Warren) and Renko (Charles Haid) respond to a domestic situation, their police car is stolen, and they are shot after walking into a rundown building while trying to find a phone to call in the theft.
[5] That season NBC was attempting to gain ground on the other two major networks (CBS and ABC) after having moved to "within striking distance" the prior year according to Brandon Tartikoff.
[10] The Boston Globe's Jack Thomas described the show's debut as the "newest effort to dramatize the danger and frustration of police work" and as being set in the Midwest.
[3] Schwartz wrote in August 1980 that "...the pilot episode manages to stuff nearly every imaginable aspect of low life into its first hour: prostitution, panhandling, pickpocketing, hostage taking, drug addiction and, finally, the murder of two policemen.
"[10] William Beamon of The Evening Independent noted that the opening episode introduces the audience to a vast array of characters masterfully intertwined in the storyline in a way that gives the series a "powerful start".
[2] Jicha notes that the attack upon the police depicts the uncertainty of the daily life in law enforcement, but that the introduction of Belker's persona shows the writers are a bit out of touch with reality.
[3] The Boston Globe's Henry III wrote that "The redeeming virtue is a visual style reminiscent of documentaries – hand-held camera, saturated color, deliberately ragged editing.
