photo: tnt
The Closer
Armed Response
Original Air Date: Aug 6, 2012
Will – Sr. Reviewer
will@thetwocentscorp.com
I kept telling myself that I would not cry during these last few episodes of The Closer. I have been successful so far but this episode not so much. I only cried a little at the end and I know for sure next week I will cry the whole time. I just can’t believe Brenda Leigh is leaving us. I will truly miss this show that has actually inspired me throughout the years.
Anyway, this episode starts off with a gruesome murder of a security guard who is a military hero. His name was Danny Chidez and he was responding to a report of a disturbance in an abandoned house. He was shot in the face and head. Immediately I notice that Brenda is not at the scene which is very unusual. We learn that she is in Atlanta dealing with the death of her mother. Provenza has been put in charge and he seems to be doing a good job until DDA Baldwin shows up.
Baldwin has been instructed to stay up to date with Major Crimes and she is all up in everyone’s business. Provenza isn’t having it and after some tense moments, he orders her to stand in the corner of the crime scene where she belongs. She came in ordering everyone around and I got the feeling that she was taking advantage of Brenda being in Atlanta. Since we are near the end of the series, these cases are not to complex which I like. I like that the show is focusing on wrapping everything up.
I don’t know if you guys were but I was not surprised when I saw Brenda come back so soon. She isn’t supposed to come back for another couple of weeks but she is back and she is working at full speed. When Brenda is going through personal issues, we see her throw herself into her work. That is exactly what I do. After some quick words with Provenza, Brenda takes the lead and tells Baldwin that she will let her know when they make an arrest in that sweet southern way.
We also see multiple intimate moments with different characters this week. We learn that even though Brenda is back in town, she is living in a hotel because she cannot go back to her house where she found her mother dead. She brings up the subject of moving to Fritz and the fact that she never gave her momma a minute to talk to her. Brenda will always regret not talking to her mother when she was asked to instead of going to work like she always does.
We also see a very intimate moment between Brenda and Pope. We officially learn that Commander Taylor will become the Assistant Chief. We also learn that Pope has pulled many strings to save Major Crimes and Brenda’s job. One of the conditions of keeping Major Crimes running is having Raydor and Baldwin shadow the team. This is not shock to Brenda which is not a surprise because she is doesn’t get into office politics. All she cares about is solving the murder and that is where her professional and personal relationships are strained.
This episode we also get to find out who the leak was! Throughout the episode, we see that Raydor is very nervous and finally she calls Gabriel into a meeting with Pope and Taylor and Brenda is devastated. We learn that Ann, Gabriel’s girlfriend has been paid by Goldman, the lawyer who sued Brenda and the LAPD, for information about Major Crimes. Most police officers discuss intimate details about the cases they are working on to their significant others. Gabriel is absolutely devastated and then turns extremely angry.
Back to the murder. The team finds out that a man and an underage girl were hanging out in this abandoned house. This girl is underage with a very protective father. Even though Brenda is going through a lot, she still gets those confessions! She finds out that the girl lied to her father by saying that the security guard tried to rape her but she got away. Her over protective father goes out with his gun and the daughter tells him where to find the guard. The father goes and shoots the guard and kills him. The daughter is also responsible for murder because she told him where to find Danny Chidez.
What we thought would be another blow to Brenda is that Gabriel decides to quit because the team resents him. Brenda just cannot lose somebody else that she cares about dearly so after some intimate talk about how they handled the Terrell Baylor situation and how it ruined there lives, Brenda convinces Gabriel to stay a little bit longer and ride it out. Wooo, even though it was an hour episode, it had years of emotions packed into it. I am sad that the show is ending but so glad that all of the loose ends are being tied up.
Time for my weekly poll of Captain Raydor! I absolutely adored her this week and I am so glad the she was gentle with Gabriel and I think she handled the leak as best as she could.
Favorite Moments:
-”I’m up, dressed and making time and a half.”-Provenza to Flynn when he asks if this is Major Crime’s case or not.
-”We found the guy on the street with his face blown away, so I’m comfortable calling it a murder, yes”-Provenza to DDA Baldwin when she asks him if he is sure this is a murder.
-”Now, put in for a transfer.”-Flynn to Gabriel when he accepts Gabriel’s apology.
-”It’s funny. Sometimes I feel like I listen more to what murderers have to say while ignorin’ the people I really care about.”-Brenda talking about how she always puts her work first.
-When Brenda comes back into her house for the first time since her momma died.
-When Brenda and Gabriel discuss the Terrell Baylor business.
So, what did you think!? What do you think about the leak? Leave me a comment, email me, or tweet me @TTCWill. Give me your two cents.
Well, I didn’t think anyone on the squad would be a direct leak, so having Gabriel’s girlfriend be it kinda makes sense… once we found out that she had graduated law school – Motive and opportunity.
I knew when we met her we’d found the leak. And I strongly suspected that Brenda’s Mom would be the person to die – but only during the show, not before. As for crying, I cried last week and this week. I, too, expect to cry next week.
I had a gut feeling that she was the leak but The Closer always has a trick up it’s sleeve.