We got such an overwhelming response to last week’s John Leguizamo post, a premature retrospective on his career, that we’ve decided to shed some light on his latest performance. (You may call it pandering; those of us in the biz call it following up.) Last night was the debut of an eight part mini-series on testosterone heavy Spike TV called “The Kill Point,” starring Leguizamo as the leader of a bunch Army veterans who go from being bank robbers to hostage takers after the cops surround them in downtown Pittsburgh. (That’s right: fair Pittsburgh is where we lay our scene.) To his credit, Leguizamo in the role of ‘Mr. Wolf’ is the only thing that held our attention for the 45 minutes we could stomach of the hour and 45 minute premiere; in fact, the compassion his character exudes for both his hostages and subordinates is enough to stretch that whole lawbreaker-with-a-heart-of-gold thing to a snug fit. And then he goes and takes his shirt off.

The last scene of the show we could handle before moving on involves a face-to-face plea Leguizamo makes to the police force and the curious onlookers / legion of media gathered outside the bank. Going on and on about how much he’s loved, served, and then been neglected by his country, Leguizamo strips down to his boxers to reveal old shrapnel wounds all over his body and make himself “an easy target” for the po-po aiming high-powered rifles his way. (The man has grown a bit doughy over the years, and the fake scar tissue only served to highlight this fact.) Like something out of a script even Michael Bay rejected, he rants about how he didn’t shed blood to ensure the freedom of America only to have that freedom revoked in jail. Even though he subsequently makes over-the-top demands (i.e., flack jackets for all the infantry in Iraq, automatic pensions for veterans, a timetable for withdrawal) without going over the top himself, Leguizamo’s emotional complexity makes it hard for us to consider his character the oversimplified martyr the script calls for—despite cheers from the bystanders that say otherwise.

At this point, the only incentive to continue watching Chi Chi Rodríguez from “To Wong Foo…” man up for “The Kill Point” is those Spike TV promos they run at the beginning and end of every commercial break. What can we say? Boobies and bare-knuckle boxing rocks our world.

Earlier, John Leguizamo: A Premature Retrospective On His Career