Warner Home Entertainment
Release Date: July 1st, 2008
MSRP: $39.99
Four discs with fifteen episodes
Stars: Kyra Sedgwick, J.K. Simmons, Corey Reynolds, Robert Gossett, G.W. Bailey
Kyra Sedgwick is Brenda Johnson, a police officer brought to L.A., from Atlanta, to head up a special homicide task force called Priority Homicide. This unit has been created after some rather high profile screw-ups. Johnson is brought in because A) She is an outsider and thus not tainted by the aforementioned mistakes and B) she has a rep as a “closer” and that is exactly what they need, a game day player that delivers the goods when the game is on the line.
Her presence naturally upsets many already in the department, so we have the classic “outsider” struggling to break through the initial prejudices and prove her worth and thus gain acceptable. An old and clichéd scenario, but one that The Closer plays well so it works just fine.
Virtually all of my previous encounters with the work of Miz Sedgwick has been in supporting roles. After getting some serious face time here, I am a fan.
Looking at the 2008 Emmy nominations, I was stuck by the number of strong roles for women in crime dramas. The Closer deserves major kudos because it was one of the shows on the front of this trend.
By the third season, Brenda has established herself as the real deal, but on the show, like in the real world, financial restrictions are causing budget cuts. So Brenda and crew are supposed to catch the bad guys, but must do so using fewer hours and resources. Anyone think the criminals got the memo to scale back? It doesn’t appear so.
The show seems to shine the most when it presents situations with moral ambiguity. So many cop shows simply present the good guys and the bad guys, with a clear contrast between them, while The Closer often makes things a little fuzzy.
And while Kyra does make the show, credit must also go to her supporting cast. I have been a fan of J.K. Simmons (Spiderman, HBO’s Oz ) since watching him on Oz. On that show, he was insanely scary as the brutal leader of the white supremacists in a maximum security prison. Here, he offers up a level of humanity, and even humor, which shocked the hell out of me.
The Closer has managed to maintain a high standard of quality over three seasons. Anyone that enjoys smart strong characters and quality storylines will enjoy season three of The Closer.
Order season 3 of The CLOSER from Amazon.
Jeremy Lynch
For more reviews from myself, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.
