‘NYPD Blue’ closes the case
after 12 arresting years

The show flirted with jumping the shark last season, when producers allowed the Job-like Sipowicz to finally experience contentment, thanks to an unlikely relationship with fellow detective Connie McDowell (Charlotte Ross). Sipowicz’s improbable — but not impossible — romance with younger, better-looking Connie could have flatlined on a dramatic level. But instead it worked, and the show found a new spark. In fact, Sipowicz was the one dragging his feet in the relationship, as if to say, “Yeah, I see the difference in our ages and sex appeal as much as the audience does. If I can get over it, so can they.”

And most of them did. If anything, the fact that Andy now had a relatively stable life with a wife, son, and two new babies cranked up the tension by upping the stakes. He now has something to live for: a bright future. (One disappointing note to this otherwise uplifting coda: Due to Ross’s departure last season and inability or refusal to reprise her role one last time, viewers will have to forgo a final shot of the new family as the series fades to black.)

“Blue” has found its stride once again. The show has been slowly but surely moving forward with each character’s storyline. Put-upon Medavoy finally retired. Clark shed his destructive ways and settled down. Sipowicz took and passed the sergeant’s exam.

There’s been Internet speculation on the dramatic ways the series could go out with one final shocker. But instead of the bombastic way many dramas sing their swan songs — blowing up sets, killing off characters — “Blue” is set to go out amid the clickety-clack of keyboards and muffled rings of telephones. It’s business as usual at the 15^th.

“NYPD Blue” is ending the only way it could end, the only way viewers who have stuck with the show over the years would be satisfied: with Sipowicz truly happy, in charge of the squad, and content with his life. It’s going out not with a bang, not with a whimper, but someplace in between.

With the explosive way it burst onto the scene, a quiet, dignified exit for this often-shocking show may be the biggest, most satisfying surprise of all.

Brian Bellmont is a writer living in Minneapolis.

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