Third Watch Series on DVD: Last Will and Testament (Episode 113)

Third Watch's ability to seamlessly integrate heart stopping action with tear jerking drama is clearly demonstrated in episode 113 "Last Will and Testament". The episode revolves around the simple interpersonal drama of Capitan Finney's squad and a team of paramedics. The ease of Third Watch has in controlling the flow of events from one scene to the next makes it appear as if the lives of all these people were only separated by a thin paper wall.

It begins with a man consulting a spiritualist. He wants to contact his dead wife. He finds that while the oracle claims to speak for the dead woman, he has bigger problems, he cannot breathe. Carlos Nieto (Anthony Ruivivar) is the lead paramedic dispatched to the scene. After saving the breathless man, Carlos finds himself enraged at the oracle for pretending to speak for the dead. The oracle curses Carlos. He doesn't believe in curses.

Carlos begins to have terrible luck. Everything that can go wrong does. Across town Sully (Skipp Sudduth) gets a call from China town about a gunfight. As the police respond to the potential battle, Officer Ty Davis (Coby Bell) is just happy he has received his new partner's approval to operate the squad car. As the police arrive in China town they find a Chinese wedding is in progress and there is no gunfight to be found. At that moment a motorcycle passes, a submachine gun rings out, and the bride is cut to ribbons. The police give the gunman chase as Carlos's ambulance arrives to save the dying woman, as the paramedics begin to work, Ty Davis (happy to be driving the squad car) runs over Carlos.

It is that unique way of telling a story that puts Third Watch in a class of its own, the simple way that a series of seemingly unconnected events were linked together to build a tapestry of action and drama. Only Third Watch has stories that link large story arcs with micro-plots that run through and around individual episodes to form a river of entertainment. The episode "Last will and Testament" can be found in the Third Watch Series on DVD which has been released. Buy it because it's one series that you should have in your collection.