Is it just me or has The Closer not been up to snuff since it started airing last month? Unfortunately, what made the show so great seems to have vanished in the three episodes so far. The Closer stars Kyra Sedgwick as Chief Brenda Johnson for “sensitive cases” in the LAPD. At least that’s how it started. But the original premise is mostly gone.
The Closer was one of the best female cop shows on TV back when it was really good. Brenda Lee Johnson was a little bit quirky, and pink-clothed, but not so much that it obscured it toughness. Now, she seems like she’s all girly stuff and not enough tough. Is it just me, though?
The Closer tends to have two kinds of episodes. When it isn’t one of the most frightening things you’ve seen on TV, it’s quirky. Lately, they’ve all been too quirky for my taste. So much so that I’m not even all that excited about this new season. I know, cry me a river, right? Who cares when the world is falling apart.
Anyway, back to my incessant whining. They’re focusing more on Brenda’s relationship with Fritz (John Tenny’s) new wife, which is fine, life goes on, their cat just died, Brenda’s a human being, not just a closing maniac – but enough is enough.
It seemed like it was going this way last season, with Brenda’s parents showing up too often. It isn’t that one doesn’t want them around, or that the quirky storylines aren’t entertaining, they are. It’s that one misses Brenda’s going for the throat and having her life threatened by danger at every turn. Isn’t that what makes the show so good?
The direction of the show is slightly worrying. Even more worrying – my own thirst for violence. I’ve become someone who isn’t satisfied unless there are bloody bodies everywhere, serial killers on the loose, child murderers being gunned down by brave and motivated police detectives. I’ve become so blinded by my own desire for this that I’ve not left any room for small town quirk.
The problem with The Closer, and my own twisted psychosis, is that it is one of the only new shows on TV. Mad Men is coming in July, True Blood lost me long ago, I like Hung … a lot, probably too much … but that’s just more quirk, isn’t it? I suppose I could just suck it up and watch the Holly Hunter one. I’m sure that would be more exciting. But isn’t there an angel in that one or something? And doesn’t she throw herself into all sorts of icky situations? I know, I know. I can’t have everything. I will have to, sooner or later, just unplug from television entirely, and walk away from my favorite girl cops. Either that or wait it out until Law and Order: SVU comes back.
The Closer’s final episode of Season Five airs on July 20. Much of the earlier episodes can be seen online at http://www.tnt.tv/dramavision/.
