 In addition to stylistic touches , the episode established several narrative motifs that stayed with Homicide : Life on the Street throughout the duration of the series . Among them was the white board where detectives kept the names of their open cases in red and their closed cases in black . The names of NBC employees and friends of the Homicide crew were used on the white board . The episode was noted for its deliberate lack of gunplay and car chases in favor of dialogue and story . Levinson and Fontana also allowed humor to be incorporated into the show , particularly through the interactions between the detectives ; Levinson said of the first episode , " We have to inform the audience , but at the same time you want to do it with a sense of humor so you don 't seem too pretentious , in a way . " Several long @-@ standing character traits were established in " Gone for Goode " , including Kay Howard 's extraordinary streak of solved cases and the antagonism between Felton and Pembleton , which is demonstrated when the two argue loudly after being assigned to a case together . The animosity between Felton and Pembleton is based on the real @-@ life Detective Donald Kincaid , who was the inspiration behind Felton , and the strong dislike Kincaid had for Harry Edgerton , as chronicled in Homicide : A Year on the Killing Streets . Howard 's perfect streak is based on a similar ( although shorter ) lucky streak experienced by the real @-@ life Detective Rich Garvey , who is also featured in David Simon 's book . 
