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THE
CLOSER
THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP
Our rating: 3 out of 5
Because of: sex-related crimes, language, thematic elements
Rated:
Everyone
remembers Lt. Columbo with fondness. Whether he was chewing on the end
of one of those rotten cigars, or pestering the suspect with "just one
more question," he won his way into our hearts through his bumbling
intelligence. The Closer is a highly successful attempt to
recreate the same fondness for eccentric detectives in female form.
Brenda Johnson
(Kyra Sedgwick) is hardly the most popular woman in the building. An
outsider brought to LA at the insistence of Asst. Police Chief Will Pope
(J.K. Simmons) for the purpose of taking command of the Priority Murder
Squad, her reputation is one of being a "closer." Too many recent cases
have fallen apart due to police misconduct or incompetence, and her
burden is to seal as many murder cases as possible in an airtight
confession that the district attorney's office can use to sail to a
smooth conviction. Both hated by her newfound rival Captain Taylor
(Robert Gossett) and disliked by every single detective under her
command, the eccentric, stylish blonde deputy chief has her work cut out
for her, not only facing down a hostile work situation but solving a
series of difficult and often high-profile homicides.
Fitted
with a bad sense of direction that leads her to frequently become lost
in the LA foothills, and a fetish for sugar-laced treats, Brenda slowly
begins to win over her squad, made up of the youthful and ambitious Sgt.
Gabriel (Corey Reynolds), who ultimately becomes her driver and
all-around supporter despite a rough beginning, the coarse and often wry
humored Det. Provenza (G.W. Bailey), and the other individuals who look
to her for guidance as they solve their way through the enormous stack
of case files on her cluttered desk. Also into the mix comes an old
friend and flame in the form of FBI agent Fritz Howard (Jon Tenney),
whose relationship with her causes friction with Pope, who also once
carried a torch for Brenda.
While the
cases do provide a decent backdrop, it is primarily the characters that
rapidly win their way into your affections. Brenda makes attempts to
appear bumbling and is in numerous ways cleverly eccentric, but never so
much that it becomes clichd, or beyond the audience's ability to accept.
Two episodes with her, and you'll have formed a lifelong adoration as
you watch her fight donut cravings, come to accept the fact that she
actually does love cats despite numerous protests to the alternative,
and ultimately win over her entire squad -- just in time for a tooth and
nails battle over whether or not she will be allowed to remain in
command when old scars from the past return to haunt her work ethics.
The supporting characters are just as colorful. You come to like some of
them, and despise others, while ones you expected would never change
come around, and others prove themselves just as scummy as you
originally thought.
Because
this aired on cable television, it is allowed to get away with more
intense depictions of autopsies and language than its primetime national
television counterparts. Language is rarely an enormous issue, but
spattered throughout the fourteen episodes are various profanities,
occasional uses of the word b**ch, and the rare term "bulls**t." Bodies
are often displayed in gruesome fashion, found on the floor of
bathrooms, hanging from flag poles, and rotting in back gardens. The
pilot and finale contain a nude corpse lying facedown. Some of the
details of the crimes are disconcerting -- the first episode reveals a
lesbian sub-plot, "Batter Up" focuses on a homosexual couple in which
one partner was murdered (some intimate but not explicit male-male
professional photographs are displayed in evidence), and an aggressive
gay man makes passes and sexual remarks to the officer who arrested him
in "The Butler Did It." Other sexual references are present, along with
several crimes that focus on forced prostitution ("The Big Picture"),
pedophiles ("Flashpoint"), and statutory rape ("Good Housekeeping").
The most
horrific episode is "Fantasy Date," in which an intruder attempts to
rape Brenda, slamming her around the room and forcing her onto a bed
before she stops him with a gun to his chest. It is revealed that the
man believed she was a part of a sex game. Coworkers dig into her past
hoping to unearth dirty secrets, revealing that she was once suspended
for "sexual misconduct" (the allegations were false). Brenda has an
intimate relationship with Fritz, and is shown making out with him in
the front seat of his car in "You Are Here." There are some truly
standout performances from all involved (enough to garner a slew of Emmy
nominations) and equally impressive episodes ("Show Yourself" is
particularly good, following the crimes of a local sniper), but the
reality remains that it's Brenda who is the heart and soul of the
series. Fifteen minutes with her, and you'll love her.
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