different from The Sopranos' as one might think. The idea that cops and robbers are two distinctively different entities that share nothing in common is surprisingly false. The two shows are remarkably similar in nature. Set against the gritty and volatile backdrop of New York City, NYPD Blue powerfully portrays realistic characters devoting themselves to the purist of justice while struggling to maintain an ever-elusive sense of humanity. In spite of the dangers of the streets, the chaos of the squad room and the fragility of their own private lives, members of the 15th Precinct share a strong commitment to the job and each other. Dark in nature the language is just as gritty and violent as the before mentioned program. Words and their meanings are oriented with the criminal underworld in mind. Creating a unique and individual style of language all its own. Skel: A low life; a junkie, Perp: Perpetrator, criminal (also Mope or Mutt) Rat Squad: Internal Affairs Bureau, House: Station house, collar: An arrest, DOA: any dead person, murdered or other, the job: The New York Police Department, closer: A police interrogator who specializes in finishing an interrogation and getting a confession, PPA: Police Administration Assistant, Catch/Caught: to have a case assigned, the system: the legal system. These are many examples of what could be considered as transactional language or short bits of information.The episode for which I examined was, "Everyone Plays the Mule." Like many of the shows episodes there is a common thread that is present. Detectives investigate the death of a woman who was thrown out of a van under the wheels of a bus. The contents of her body were removed before she was pushed under the bus, because one of the hazards of her occupation as a drug mule killed her. Her boyfriend's complaint of the stomach flu make it seem as though he might know more than what he has led on. Eventually the content of his stomac...
