J. H. Brodie

J.H. Brodie
J.H. Brodie
First appearance	November 3, 1995 (4x03, "Autofocus") (Recurring) September 20, 1996 (5x01, Hostage (1)) (Regular)
Last appearance	May 16, 1997 (5x22, Strangers and Other Partners) (HLOTS) February 13, 2000 Homicide: The Movie
Created by	Tom Fontana
Portrayed by	Max Perlich
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Crime Scene Recorder (formerly)

J.H. Brodie is a fictional character in the television series Homicide: Life on the Street. He appeared in a recurring role in the show's fourth season and was a regular in the show's fifth season, after becoming an official crime scene recorder.

Brodie first appeared as a trainee cameraman for a local news station, often intruding on crime scenes or getting in the way of investigating police in order to get the most dramatic shots possible. However, his career was cut short when he discovered that he had recorded evidence from a crime scene and chose to hand the tape over to Lt. Al Giardello and Captain Megan Russert to help solve a time-critical crime rather than wait for it to be shown on the evening news.

Recognizing that he had sacrificed his job in the pursuit of justice, Gee and Megan offered him a role as a crime scene recorder, a job that he took up with some gusto - although he continued to film for his own entertainment, eventually constructing a documentary about the homicide squad that was revealed in the episode "The Documentary".

Being young, shy and prone to getting caught underfoot, Brodie found himself struggling to gain respect in the office, something that bothered him throughout his time at the station. However, he would occasionally surprise the detectives by chipping in with some observation that they had missed. At one point, he correctly deduced that Det. Frank Pembleton had stopped taking his stroke medication (which he realized because his own mother had suffered a stroke). Caught off-guard, Pembleton noted that he had underestimated Brodie. "Most people do," the cameraman replied. In Season 5, he insisted that Det. John Munch not write off a shooting death as a suicide, believing that an arrogant graduate school classmate of his had to have been involved. Munch and Sgt. Kay Howard investigated and began to share Brodie's suspicions, and he fabricated some video evidence that helped the detectives trick the classmate into exposing himself as a murderer.

Brodie left the squad between the fifth and sixth seasons; after his documentary won an Emmy, he moved to Los Angeles to develop his career. He next appeared in Homicide: The Movie, the TV movie that capped off the series, when he returned to Baltimore to visit Gee, who had been shot. His role in the film was small, and he spent most of his time off-camera, recording an operation. However, he had a pivotal scene at the very end of the film, when he informed the squad that Gee had died while in the hospital.

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