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I'm not sure if anyone on the forum is or was a murder investigator but there are several current or former policemen, who may comment on how realistic this set-up is.
I never realised how much there is to this until I started noting it down. It's the thousand-faced hero - this is the archetype of the detective we implicity expect before going into a crime story.
* Antihero characteristics: Detective is dour, abrasive, disillusioned etc.
* Divorced/troubled marriage/alienated children etc.
* Alcoholic
* Chain-smokes (getting less common now)
* Heavy coffee drinker
* Dishevelled, tired, loose tie, bags under eyes etc.
* Cheap, drab, outdated and ill-fitting clothes
* Often eating on the run: sandwiches, takeaways etc.
* To some extent the food and presentation can be linked to them always being called out at 3am, paged to leave their child's music performance to attend a crimescene etc.
* If the wife is still around this is a persistent bone of contention for them and she is probably at least hinting at leaving. Maybe has an affair brewing etc.
* Operate on or over the edge of the law and propriety, both in their work and private lives.
* Know who the killer is but not enough evidence to make it stick? Plant one of the victim's bracelets in the suspect's car.
* Doesn't pay bills and gets phone cut off, gets car towed for parking in forbidden area etc.
* Boss respects the protagonist's abilities professionally, and in rare moments when they are alone will drop his stern facade and congratulate/thank him (relieving tension), but in general is exasperated at his disrespect of rules and obnoxious demeanour. Tardiness, being behind on/ignoring paperwork, neglecting mundane investigations, missing meetings etc. The boss probably also knows that a stern and abrupt manner is the best way to keep such an investigator at least relatively in line. Boss defends the protagonist fiercely against the top brass, at some cost to himself.
* Protagonist is a loose cannon, but gets results. In the same way unpleasant temperament, biting etc. are tolerated in racehorses if they are fast, where they would not be tolerated in less valuable steeds, the protagonist is (barely) tolerated by his superiors because he gets results where few could.
* Generally admired by subordinates, but acknowledged as a bad influence. Where they are cantakerous with superiors and difficult with peers (except their particular buddy), they are likeable with subordinates.
* Buddy quite often gets hurt, captured or killed and they go above and beyond to help/avenge them.
* Have a bravery medal for some crazy incident in the police or military in the past, but it's buried under a pile of bric-brac in a corner of a room and they avoid talking about it.
* Short-tempered, most often when less brilliant colleagues can't keep up with their problem-solving. Shout, bang their hands down on the desk, have to be restrained from attacking suspects etc.
* Really care about the victims, often due to some incident in their past allowing them to identify with them.
* Office and often house are untidy
* We the viewers often share the protagonists' colleagues' perspective, of wondering whether he is crazy for a while because his brilliance and unconventionality are leaving us behind. Tension created and eventually resolved when we see what he was getting at.
* Difficult behaviour means his career is well behind schedule in terms of promotion. Has been passed over, demoted or shunted off to a backwater due to insufficient deference to less-talented superiors. Or less commonly, costly mistakes.
Possibly particular to or accentuated in the '90s grimy/creepy genre I'm most interested in:
* Filmed either at night or twilight
* Gloomy, grey/pale palette
* Cloud, rain, snow
* Detectives wear trenchcoats, leather jackets, sunglasses and generally dark and subdued hues. 'Columbine Aesthetic'
* Dark cars
* Disturbing supernatural elements
* Sense of dread that the antagonist is too powerful for the detective(s) and the Quest is doomed
* Troubled family background of the protagonists, common to the wider genre, is escalated to one or more tragic deaths in the family
* Action moves through the marginal urban outlands: dirty back alleys with rubbish piled up, homeless people, steam rising, deserted industrial zones, low-rent tenements, cults, sewers etc.
This last one puts the setting in a nutshell really. The whole set-up is dismal and marginal. Like Strider in Bree in LOTR, in a somewhat different context.
I never realised how much there is to this until I started noting it down. It's the thousand-faced hero - this is the archetype of the detective we implicity expect before going into a crime story.
* Antihero characteristics: Detective is dour, abrasive, disillusioned etc.
* Divorced/troubled marriage/alienated children etc.
* Alcoholic
* Chain-smokes (getting less common now)
* Heavy coffee drinker
* Dishevelled, tired, loose tie, bags under eyes etc.
* Cheap, drab, outdated and ill-fitting clothes
* Often eating on the run: sandwiches, takeaways etc.
* To some extent the food and presentation can be linked to them always being called out at 3am, paged to leave their child's music performance to attend a crimescene etc.
* If the wife is still around this is a persistent bone of contention for them and she is probably at least hinting at leaving. Maybe has an affair brewing etc.
* Operate on or over the edge of the law and propriety, both in their work and private lives.
* Know who the killer is but not enough evidence to make it stick? Plant one of the victim's bracelets in the suspect's car.
* Doesn't pay bills and gets phone cut off, gets car towed for parking in forbidden area etc.
* Boss respects the protagonist's abilities professionally, and in rare moments when they are alone will drop his stern facade and congratulate/thank him (relieving tension), but in general is exasperated at his disrespect of rules and obnoxious demeanour. Tardiness, being behind on/ignoring paperwork, neglecting mundane investigations, missing meetings etc. The boss probably also knows that a stern and abrupt manner is the best way to keep such an investigator at least relatively in line. Boss defends the protagonist fiercely against the top brass, at some cost to himself.
* Protagonist is a loose cannon, but gets results. In the same way unpleasant temperament, biting etc. are tolerated in racehorses if they are fast, where they would not be tolerated in less valuable steeds, the protagonist is (barely) tolerated by his superiors because he gets results where few could.
* Generally admired by subordinates, but acknowledged as a bad influence. Where they are cantakerous with superiors and difficult with peers (except their particular buddy), they are likeable with subordinates.
* Buddy quite often gets hurt, captured or killed and they go above and beyond to help/avenge them.
* Have a bravery medal for some crazy incident in the police or military in the past, but it's buried under a pile of bric-brac in a corner of a room and they avoid talking about it.
* Short-tempered, most often when less brilliant colleagues can't keep up with their problem-solving. Shout, bang their hands down on the desk, have to be restrained from attacking suspects etc.
* Really care about the victims, often due to some incident in their past allowing them to identify with them.
* Office and often house are untidy
* We the viewers often share the protagonists' colleagues' perspective, of wondering whether he is crazy for a while because his brilliance and unconventionality are leaving us behind. Tension created and eventually resolved when we see what he was getting at.
* Difficult behaviour means his career is well behind schedule in terms of promotion. Has been passed over, demoted or shunted off to a backwater due to insufficient deference to less-talented superiors. Or less commonly, costly mistakes.
Possibly particular to or accentuated in the '90s grimy/creepy genre I'm most interested in:
* Filmed either at night or twilight
* Gloomy, grey/pale palette
* Cloud, rain, snow
* Detectives wear trenchcoats, leather jackets, sunglasses and generally dark and subdued hues. 'Columbine Aesthetic'
* Dark cars
* Disturbing supernatural elements
* Sense of dread that the antagonist is too powerful for the detective(s) and the Quest is doomed
* Troubled family background of the protagonists, common to the wider genre, is escalated to one or more tragic deaths in the family
* Action moves through the marginal urban outlands: dirty back alleys with rubbish piled up, homeless people, steam rising, deserted industrial zones, low-rent tenements, cults, sewers etc.
This last one puts the setting in a nutshell really. The whole set-up is dismal and marginal. Like Strider in Bree in LOTR, in a somewhat different context.
Anyway a lot of these tropes are present in Sherlock Holmes, written and set in 1887 - 1927 I believe. This was the oldest example I could come up with.
