One of the best The First 48 episodes have all the time been pretty apparent. Audiences will all the time point out the Memphis mass homicide from “Lester Road,” the two-hour Tulsa mysteries “Chain of Loss of life” and “Unspeakable,” or the creepy Atlanta episode “The Home on Madrona Road” that verges on being a real-life horror film. Over greater than 20 seasons and lots of of episodes, there are specific ones that merely have caught in followers’ consciousness. However there’s a more moderen episode that deserves to be in that dialog: Season 21’s “Cowl Story.”
“Cowl Story” is one other Tulsa Murder case that begins with the alleged suicide of a younger girl named Iesha Wallace. Her boyfriend, Jermico Willis, seems distraught as he claims Iesha shot herself. However then-Detective Chase Calhoun shortly is aware of one thing is unsuitable, and he unravels a way more disturbing actuality. What he finds—and the chess match that unfolds between Calhoun and Jermico—is genuinely tense and surprising on the extent of any scripted crime drama. It’s the most effective episodes within the present’s historical past for a way a lot spills out of it.
THE DETECTIVE’S JOURNEY
There’s little question that Tulsa Murder is the most effective unit ever to seem on The First 48, and so they’ve raised the usual for what viewers anticipate from regulation enforcement. One of many strengths of “Cowl Story” is that it highlights one of many crew’s most profitable members, Chase Calhoun. Calhoun initially appeared in Season 19’s “Monster” as a member of the Theft unit, then transferred to Murder as the primary alternative for fan-favorite Detective Ronnie Leatherman. He’s now a Lieutenant with the Tulsa Police Division, and this episode is one in all his greatest featured tales, as a result of he’s the right individual to take the problem head-on.
After Detective Jason White provides Calhoun a tour of the crime scene, it doesn’t take lengthy for Calhoun to sense that Iesha’s loss of life just isn’t suicide. Nobody will get to change into a murder detective with out good instincts—however Chase Calhoun is especially adept at reducing by means of the nonsense. Upon conversing with Iesha’s kin and discovering out that she was a mom of three who didn’t even personal a firearm, he, White, and Sergeant Dave Walker agree that foul play is probably going concerned. “One thing’s simply not proper,” Calhoun declares to digicam and the battle is on.
That’s not usually a descriptor for many First 48 episodes, however it’s for “Cowl Story.” It’s an instance of how tenacious but completely levelheaded Chase Calhoun is, which is without doubt one of the many explanation why he’s superior to this point within the division. He’s the calmest individual in Tulsa Murder wanting Ronnie Leatherman, but underneath that tranquility, he has nerves of metal. Watch any one in all his episodes and it’s apparent how devoted he’s to his work and the way he’s virtually an immovable object. This case is the most effective instance of that: every thing that Jermico Willis and his brother Terry attempt simply makes Calhoun push again even tougher. And he does it whereas nonetheless being as cool as the opposite facet of the pillow.
Of all of the detectives who’ve been on The First 48, Calhoun has one of the crucial fascinating profession trajectories to observe. A number of investigators in numerous cities have been promoted out of Murder and furthered their careers. But from his first look in “Monster,” serving to Leatherman on a brutal capturing case, it was clear that Chase was headed for larger and higher issues. His tenure in Murder was one the place he was all the time observing, studying and rising, and “Cowl Story” reveals the complete vary of not solely his abilities as an investigator, however who he’s as a human being. Each nice First 48 episode has a hero, and right here that’s completely Chase Calhoun.
UNCOVERING A MURDER
It’s an unlucky proven fact that many murder victims are killed by somebody that they know. There are numerous First 48 episodes that contain somebody being murdered by a present or former vital different. If that was all there was to “Cowl Story,” it will be entertaining however not a traditional. What elevates it’s the scheme that Jermico and his brother attempt to pull off, and the machinations they try and get away with afterward, solely to be met by Calhoun’s steely willpower.
The story Jermico tells is that Iesha was “enjoying” with the firearm and when he went to take it from her, the weapon discharged. Calhoun’s first interview with Jermico is so effectively thought out that it’s surgical. He asks all the essential, anticipated questions after which with out even altering his tone, begins poking on the logical inconsistencies within the narrative. He’s not afraid to disclose that he doesn’t imagine it—however he does it in such a manner that it’s simply a part of the dialogue. There’s no want for confrontation (one different motive The First 48 is extra entertaining than most scripted crime dramas). It’s actually sensible for Detective Mark Kennedy to play the “dangerous cop” who will get to ask that query, as a result of it units Calhoun up because the “good cop,” even when it’s simply one other instance of Tulsa’s well-established teamwork. The episode is structured in such a manner that audiences perceive extra of the technique that may come into play in a murder investigation, which is a blessing as a result of it looks like a real back-and-forth between sides.
A glance into Jermico’s legal historical past reveals that he’s threatened a number of girlfriends and used violence in opposition to a few of them. Now his newest girlfriend has ended up deceased. The extra Calhoun (and the viewers) learns, the extra disturbing the episode will get. The ever-reliable Corporal Joe Campbell reveals Calhoun crime scene pictures that show Iesha’s wound couldn’t have been self-inflicted. Telephone information present Jermico known as Terry earlier than he phoned 911. All of it involves a head a month later, when Calhoun and White interview one in all Jermico’s exes, who tells them that “Terry has been sending messages by means of folks to ship to me.”
That doesn’t cease her from sharing particulars of the abuse she suffered, and her worry of each Jermico and Terry, whom she says “will get what he desires.” Jason White calls the interview “disturbing,” and he’s completely proper; it’s each heartbreaking and likewise inspiring, as a result of the lady is keen to work previous that worry and change into one in all two witnesses for the police. Nevertheless, Calhoun relates within the very subsequent scene that each witnesses have been threatened outdoors the courthouse by a 3rd individual—whom he promptly has arrested. He doesn’t hesitate to push again, nor does he give any quarter within the interview that follows. And that is when The First 48 turns into a tense standoff between one stalwart detective and two audacious suspects. Audiences are actively rooting for Calhoun to not solely get justice for Iesha, however to place away these two actually dangerous guys. There’s an emotional undercurrent that emerges within the episode of shock, anger but in addition gratitude and aid that Calhoun will get the job carried out.
As horrible because the case is and as horrible as these suspects are, viewers can discover hope and satisfaction in the truth that there’s additionally folks like Chase Calhoun, who waded into that darkness and by no means batted an eye fixed. “Cowl Story” is a memorable episode for its numerous shocking twists that make it way more dramatic than a typical homicide investigation, and what number of layers there are inside it. It turns into one in all The First 48‘s greatest for the way it reveals each the worst of humanity and the most effective of it, too. The world wants extra heroes, and The First 48 has given audiences loads of them.
The First 48 airs Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. on A&E. Photograph Credit: Screenshots/Courtesy of A&E.