What a dynamite hour of TV: grave, sad, sadly realistic. I thought last night’s Closer was pretty excellent. The crimes were skin-crawling. Brenda was at her most soulful and scarily relentless. The villain was hateful — yet also pathetic, because you could see exactly how he became the piggy-eyed teenaged monster that he was. And Commander Taylor got to show some valor and passion, not qualities I usually associate with the man.
This episode grabbed me from the very start, as Brenda did her usual intense heron-like examination of the golden-haired victim, lying angelically upon her girlhood bed. The music clued me in that Brenda was identifying intensely. I liked how she chewed out Commander Taylor for "slow-walking" the rape case that preceded the girl’s death, and I liked how he took it.
Did I dream it or was the scene in the examining room even weirder and darker than usual? Did they really say the girl had a "fissure," then roll her over so everyone could have a look? I think I know what they were implying, but that was very creepy and in the cool light of morning I honestly can’t believe it actually happened.
(Abrupt and brief change of subject: Some of you have speculated that Detective Daniels might be pregnant and I was certain you were right, given the size of the billowing gown she wore during the examination. But later glimpses of her in a tightly cinched belt and pencil skirt suggest otherwise.)
Enter Daniel Baldwin, another great big Baldwin ham who can use his eyebrows almost as well as his handsome older brother Alec. (Remember Daniel in Homicide? Oh, I miss that show!) He seems genetically engineered for the role of the alpha male meathead cop, busting out of his khaki jacket and shouting at everyone in sight, including his twitching son. "You’re every bit the bitch I heard you were," he tells Brenda.
You have no idea, dude.
More Closer after the jump…
I had a slight problem with the son. Was he supposed to beattractive? He wasn’t. Not in a conventional way, and not in a bad boyway, and I didn’t totally believe that girls were "throwing themselves"at this sullen moral midget. Has it been that long since I was in highschool? Well, yes, but I don’t think teenaged girls have changed allthat much. I would accept that his boasts of popularity were intendedto be delusional, if they hadn’t been borne out by his standing in thatstomach-turning "cherry picking" game.
By the way, I loved the plump prep-school director talking snootilyabout her "academy" and the "conduct" of the students." It’s alwaysdelightful to watch rich kids behave shamefully, and "cherry picking"ranks high on my list of depraved adolescent projects.
Brenda’s conversation with pudgy, bespectacled Ally Mitchell was,for me, the poignant highlight of the show, as Ally remembered herhumiliation: "They’re never going to believe I had to rape someone thatlooks like you…." You could see Brenda struggling, her cop’s impulseto nail a vicious rapist at odds with her empathy for a wounded younggirl who just wants it all to go away. It makes you wonder what Brendawas like in high school. I’m thinking pretty, but extremely nerdy. Sheprobably wore the same thick black glasses, except back then theydidn’t look chic.
In any case, I really wanted to see both father and son brought downhard. And Brenda pulled it off with style and ingenuity, finishing withthat wicked cherry-picking/prison allusion.
So what WAS Brenda like in high school? And did you notice she didn’t snack at all? Do we miss that?
Comments (1-26) of 26 Add your comment
That was one of the best hours of t.v. that I’ve seen in a long time!
I think this episode ranks right up there with last season’s “Ruby” — Brenda was very good in not rubbing Taylor’s face “in it” and for coming to her to help get a confession that he knew she could get.
I loved the “light bulb” moment after Fritz watched the late girl’s statement to arrest them all and the consequent arrests from all the “good” little boys from the academy.
Not for nothing, but I don’t care how much money you pay for school, if the parents are going to bail the kids out, they will never learn anything.
The power of the episode was lessened a bit by having the villain look like a teenage Andy Richter.
Last night’s episode was great. I felt so bad for that poor girl, Ally, and could tell Brenda was torn between empathizing with her and getting her on board to nail that sleazebag of a rapist and his dad. In regards to the teenage rapist: yes, Jennifer, I think he was supposed to be attractive. And, um, no, he definitely wasn’t. I loved how Brenda got the confession at the end, almost as much as I loved her crack about the cherry-picking club in prison. Take that, privileged rich kid d-bag!
loved it – excellent case, script and acting. really loved pope’s confusion at almost every step of the way. and brenda saying the coroner hadn’t made a determination yet – only because she asked him not too. awesome episode all around.
I kept thinking this morning about what would happen in real life when the case went to trail and how the father given his ties could still keep his son from serving the full deserved sentence. All it takes is one lousy,good ole boy judge to make that happen.I did love the cherry picking/jail reference myself too. The coroner office visit was indeed way darker than usual. This episode kept me guessing how it would end, rape/murder or rape/suicide and that’s a rare case for me. I kept thinking where is this leading and because I usually can figure it out way before hand that makes this episode one of the best hours in television and the show deserving of every emmy nomination it gets and then some.
Very powerful episode! I would absolutely hate to be in High School again. Interesting twist for me was that Brenda really knew all along there was no murder but trying to figure out how to get the boy to confess. When the dad was yelling at her in questioning and her face looked like she was upset, I knew heat was about to come out. But the way she handled the girl at her crime scene was touching as was the last shot of her hugging the girl and closing the blinds. Excellent show!
I honestly thought she was gonna nail the father for the murder, because she separated the father and son and continued talking with the father. And the father’s bad alibi for the son could just as well have been a bad alibi for himself.
I preferred the show’s ending – using the meathead’s bad alibi to separate him from his son, and then go after the son. Murder never really made sense.
Amazing episode! The script kept you guessing and the actors were pitch perfect. Loved when Brenda nailed Daniel Baldwin. This show (along with The Office) has the best supporting cast in all of television.
And how about when she talked to that kid as his lawyer. The play on words was pretty ingenious…..”the state pays my way”
This was definitely the best episode all season! I loved every second of it, from the eerie and intense opening, to the sad yet triumphant ending. The cherry-picking/prison allusion was the icing on cake and the most vicious I’ve ever seen Brenda, from what I can remember! I also think it was one of the first times we got to see her maternal side. This case seemed to affect he deeper than any others in memory, and she seemed to always be on the verge of losing control. I never thought any other actress could master the Mariska Hargitay “I’m-a-female-cop-so-I-can’t-cry-but-as-soon-as-I-get-a-free-second-I’m-breaking-down” expression, but Kyra nailed it in a way that was very gut-wrenching and conveyed so much without a single word. I loved this episode!
LOVED IT! Love Monday night tv….from Closer to Grace…whew!!!
A great episode for watching the haughty and arrogant go down HARD!!!! The whole concept of this show is just wicked good!!!
I love this Mini TV Watch! Keep them coming! Did anyone spot LJ from Prison Break as the kid who ratted out the rapist?
Last night was one of the best if not the best and I haven’t missed one since Brenda came into my living room via HDTV. It’s hard to imagine the shows getting any better, but they keep on coming.
Commander Taylor, in my opinion solidified his character last night.
Fritz out did himself with that sly suggestion to Brenda to pull in the teenagers who supposedly witnessed the rape. They make the perfect team, actually two teams, legal team, lover team. I had tears in my eyes during the last scene.
Best episode so far, definitely one of the best The Closer has ever done. I love how Brenda’s team will question her at the right times, but still backs her up 100% even if they don’t understand what she’s doing (specifically during that last interrogation scene).
Thanks for the Homicide shout out — it was an amazing show, and I highly recommend that if you love The Closer, Homicide is worth a look.
OK, so maybe Daniels isn’t pregnant, but something is definitely up.
Perfect episode. Near perfect recap. Thanks for making not one but two weight judgements and perpetuating a Hollywood stereotype.
One of the better eps they’ve done, and nice to see Daniel Baldwin working again. Judging from his appearance on Celeb Rehab, the role wasn’t much of a stretch.
Brenda really seemed to ID with the victim. Made me think she had something happen to her too.
Does anyone else think that Daniel Baldwin’s character could be back later in the season in a more sociopathic incarnation. His son’s hatred for women didn’t fall far from the tree.
wow! that episode was amazing. I recorded and just watched it. (kudos to the recapper btw. you did a great job!) as for the kid not being as good looking as he should’ve been, I still bought it. I’ve seen kids who aren’t the handsomest but through some means, like money, attitude or in his case, power, that itself could be very attractive.
The Closer just gets better and better with every episode. If Kyra doesn’t win the Emmy (and she’s up gainst some tough competition), there’s something very wrong.
I agree with the reviewer, that episode was riveting from start to finish. Great writing, editing and acting through and through. No need for amusing sidebars from the cast on this one and it’s refreshing to see a show that doesn’t feel it has to stay with the normal “formula” of cop shows. The way Sedgwick dealt with the Baldwin character was stunning. It’s all in the eyes, folks…
I agree this was as good as TV gets!! Absolutely perfect episode from start to finish. I love that were getting to know more about peripheral characters!! The morgue scene was dark, but I love that we got to a glimpse into the real human side of Dr. Morales. Made me want to know ever more about him. Kyra hit it out of the park and Taylor was fantastic. I would love to see more of him and Brenda working together and the conflict between them. Best TV of the Summer!!
she is totally bad ass! i just kept repeating, “She can’t do that! That’s against the law! Do it Brenda! Get ‘em!” lol
One of their best episodes yet. A great hour of TV. Hope the writing continues to be this riveting.
I love the way Commander Taylor’s character is growing in complexity – he’s gone from seeming like nothing but a slimy pol to a real (and occasionally sympathetic and helpful)human being, without ever violating the character.