 The episode opens with Crosetti and Lewis looking for clues in a dark alley . Levinson and Attanasio specifically wanted a dialogue @-@ driven prologue scene that did not immediately clarify the fact that the two men were detectives or what they were looking for . The dialogue and staging of the scene were imitated in the final scene of the last Homicide episode , " Forgive Us Our Trespasses " , which aired on May 21 , 1999 . In that final scene , Detective Rene Sheppard ( played by Michael Michele ) says to Lewis , " Life is a mystery , just accept it " , a line spoken by Crosetti in the first episode . Lewis also said , " That 's what 's wrong with this job . It ain 't got nothin ' to do do with life " , a line also spoken by Crosetti in the first episode . Early scenes in " Gone for Goode " also involved Giardello introducing rookie detective Bayliss to the homicide unit . Attanasio sought to use Bayliss ' orientation as a way of introducing exposition and background about the show to the viewer as well . 
