THE CLOSER SEASON 5
This stars Kyra Sedgewick as a overly hard as nails
Deputy Chief of homicide!! This carries on the mood
from the first season with Kyra still very hard to like!!
But still the other cast members make this palatable!!
EPISODE # 1: PRODUCTS OF DISCOVERY(July 14, 2008):
The show starts as four bodies are found by a youngster!!
Two women and two kids! It appears to be an apparent
execution! All of them Hispanic! This becomes difficult
for the team to unravel, because as it turns out, the killer
went to the wrong address!!
A side story arc starting here and going through episode
13(The Life) is about Lt. Provenza's having a romance that
it seems doomed by everyone!! B+
EPISODE # 2: BLOOD MONEY(July 21, 2008):
Same old story: A man flies into an airport; limo driver picks
him up; man and driver disappear; a ransom for $1,190,476.19!!
Welp, if that don't sound like a number not just snatched out
of the air, you're probably on the right track!!
Side note: Kitty is having physical problems revolving around
her kidneys!! A
EPISODE # 3: RED TAPE(July 28, 2008):
This one's more about a railroad job on Gabriel for an alleged
shooting of an unarmed man! An Israeli newspaper seller
gets shot outside a bar that he and Taylor where in talking
and he had been drinking! He runs out to the street to find
a body and a man running who he orders to stop, which he
doesn't, but instead shoots at Gabriel!! He returns shots and
a man is found in the ally where the man had run!! This brings
in another very unlikable character in a investigator that's
looking into the apparent police shooting!!
This one becomes pretty obvious pretty quickly!!
This guest stars Mary McDonnell(Independence Day, Battlestar
Galactica[2004])!! A
EPISODE # 4: WALKING BACK THE CAT(Aug. 4, 2008):
Fritz asks Brenda to poke around looking for Austin Blair!!
No explanations, just do it on the down low! He's found in
a morgue, and the fight begins!!
Oh, and Brenda is carrying around the ashes of Kitty in her
purse trying to figure out what to do with them!!
Guest starring David Hewlett(Stargate: Atlantis, Stargate: SG1 &
1 episode of Stargate: Universe) & Rodney Rowland(Space:
Above And Beyond)! A-
EPISODE # 5: HALF LOAD(Aug. 11, 2008):
Black man found shot in the back of the head!! It appears to
be an execution! The guy was a parolee who lived in a church
where he was helping out! It also appears to be gang related!! A
EPISODE # 6: TAPPED OUT(Aug. 18, 2008):
A man gets killed in a parking garage!! A couple of the guys from
Major Crimes happens to be nearby, and go check it out! There
they run into another officer that introduces himself as Detective
Richard Tracy!! When the crew starts researching the case, the guy
killed is known as "Intrigue" and the guys are running into blockades
at every turn which makes them believe that Mr. Tracy is anything
but a detective!!!!
This is mostly humor!! A
EPISODE # 7: STRIKE THREE(Aug. 25, 2008):
Bringing back the asshole from Red Tape, the only person who
makes Brenda look like an angel!!!
Anyway, two police officers are killed and a "civilian" is too!
It turns out that he and his family are part of the Aryan clan
that, if you look up Aryan beliefs, hate cops, blacks, Hispanics,
basically anyone who isn't white!! And it looks like the cops
were lured into an ambush!! However, the good Captain Raydor
is making the investigation Hell for the team as she always assumes
that the police are in the wrong! B-
EPISODE # 8: ELYSIAN FIELDS(Sept. 1, 2008):
A suspected murderer who had gone free because they
couldn't prove a case(this was in the 90's) is found dead
present day! This brings back the detective that had worked
the old case as they're hoping that he might have some
insight to shed on this one!!
Guest starring Tom Skerritt(Top Gun, Wild Orchid II, Poison Ivy) A
EPISODE # 9: IDENTITY THEFT(Sept. 8, 2008):
This is quite good!! A man who confessed to a murder is
getting his day in court when things just don't look right to
Brenda and the DA! This starts the ball rolling for Brenda and
company to start a more in depth investigation, which was cut
short because of the confession!
All the evidence seems to point to the son of the man who
confessed, and Brenda pulls in her niece who her mom brought
to Brenda and Fritz to have her stay with them because she's been
unruly and hard for her parents, and Brenda's mom and dad, to
handle!!
No yelling and screaming on Brenda's part, which is a refreshing
change!! Just don't get used to it!! A
EPISODE # 10: SMELLS LIKE MURDER(Sept. 15, 2008):
Major crimes gets a delivery of five boxes, of which only four were
ordered!! The extra box is c.o.d., and not only that, quite odorous!!
Seems like someone didn't like someone, killed them, then stored
the body in a box in a storage facility! The rent ran out, the owner
of the storage facility then mailed it to the Major Crimes office!!
Side story, the niece(Charlene, or Charley) gets a "care package"
from her friend back home!! Brenda comes home early, eats
a few brownies that she found in Charley's room, and all Hell
hits the fan!! A
EPISODE # 11: MATERNAL INSTINCTS(Jan. 26, 2009):
There's a shooting at a school and Brenda and Charley just happen to
be driving past there!! Brenda stops and checks out what's going on
and tells Charley to wait in the car, which she doesn't! This gets Brenda
very mad and she starts treating Charley very badly! Charley, on the
other hand, gets involved in the whole mess by going to the hospital
with a boy that's been shot! The whole thing gets very emotional!! A
EPISODE # 12: WAIVERS OF EXTRADITION(Feb. 2, 2009):
A woman is killed by a pool! Immediate suspect is the husband!
However after dismissing him after a man who fits the description
that the husband gave(ninja) is corroborated by a 911 call, Brenda
and crew get a call from a detective from Texas who lets them
know that there have been a total of 16 such murders from Texas
to L.A.!!
Side story revolves around Charley again: Brenda's dad is there to
take her back to Georgia with him, and Brenda and Fritz have to
make a decision on whether or not to let her stay with them instead!
Barry Corbin returns as Brenda's father! A
EPISODE # 13: THE LIFE(Feb. 9, 2009):
Fritz surprises Brenda with a kitten, which she immediately shies
away from!!
Now for the main story: A young boy gets shot in an abandoned
house! The boy appears to be a gang wannabe. The boys brother
is in prison and runs one of the gangs, and his father doesn't seem
concerned at all about his son's death, just the money he can get for
a funeral!! And the whole team is afraid that this could be the start
of a bigger problem; a gang war!!
And one more sub-plot: Provenza's May/December romance appears
to be on the outs!! A
EPISODE # 14: MAKE OVER(Feb. 16, 2009):
An old case of Provenza's and his old partner is going to trial and
the tox tests have been thrown out because of improprieties by the
lab!! So Provenza calls up his old buddy to come and testify!! Only
one problem, he is now a she!!!
The old partner is played by Beau Bridges(One of the many Bridges
actors, Stargate SG-1 & Atlantis, The Fabulous Baker Boys)! A-
EPISODE # 15: DEAD MAN'S HAND(Feb. 23, 2009):
An officer who's under the harder than nails Detective Rayder has
been noticed with some bruising that she says she got in "a fall"!!
Rayder doesn't believe her, and asks Brenda and company to do
some research on the whole subject, quietly!! Things escalate
and the husband shoots at an officer who return fire and kills him! A
SPECIAL FEATURES:
DISC 1:
POLICE FILES:
Deleted scenes from the episodes:
Products Of Discovery;
Blood Money!
DISC 3:
POLICE FILES:
Deleted Scenes:
Identity Theft:
Smells Like Death:
Waivers Of Extradition.
DISC 4:
SEEN AT THE CRIME:
A quick synopsis of the locations and how they were
chosen for each of the episodes of this season!!!
GAG REEL
From a reviewer at IMDb.com:
This show caught my attention on Netflix because Kyra
Sedgwick is so peculiar in the first season I had to see it
through. Watching her eat her ding dong in episode 1
= the same in season 1's finale, and in conjunction with
her character showing what I consider some dynamic
acting ability in becoming Brenda the flake who may
border on genius in her job lacks in the personal
relations department tremendously.
After 3 seasons though I think it is a good show that
I'm assuming will grow since it ran for as many seasons
as it did. I will likely update this review when I've seen
the whole series as who knows where it might land. If
each season simply plods along where we are I will
downgrade my rating as there is plenty of room for
growth. But how they achieve it will determine that
and I have to experience it to rate it.
So far I think the show is good and has moments of
showing potential for better but will just have to hope
to enjoy the ride as I watch the rest of the seasons
(hopefully!). But if your pondering watching it, do
so, it is what having Amazon Prime worth the money
(getting to watch the prime video movies and shows
for a price competitive with Netflix but higher quality
and more dependable). - scott_weishaar