Review: The Closer, Season 7, Ep. 2 "Repeat Offender"

Air Date: Monday, July 18, 2011, 9/8c

★★★★★

Review: The Closer, Season 7, Ep. 2 "Repeat Offender" 1

Brenda and Lt. Flynn looking dapper in their uniforms

It sucks to be a guest star. I did not see Chief Delk’s (Courtney B. Vance) time with the team being cut so short. Although, it does lead to Chief Pope (J.K. Simmons) remaining, well… Chief. It kind of makes me wonder why all the hubbub last season with Brenda (Kyra Sedgwick) potentially becoming Chief? What a waste of such a good actor, too. I was really looking forward to seeing more of Vance on the show. He’s phenomenal in any role he undertakes and I enjoyed being pissed at him during his time with The Closer. As an aside, seeing everyone in their blue uniforms was a nice touch. They all clean up well.

Don’t you hate when things come back to bite you in the rear? It would seem Brenda and the Major Crimes Division no longer have anything to worry about with the case Delk brought back to the surface in “Unknown Trouble.” Or do they? I’m really enjoying Mary McDonnell’s role as Captain Raydor and her interactions with Brenda. They finally became friends last season and it’s apparent they aren’t any longer as Captain Raydor continues investigating the events that lead up to the lawsuit against the police department. Needless to say, Brenda isn’t happy about it but she isn’t aware of all the facts surrounding Captain Raydor’s presence. This leads me to believe her relationship with Chief Pope is no longer what it used to be. He’s not in her corner, he’s doing things she doesn’t realize, and he’s taking his new position as Interim Chief very seriously.

Brenda’s harsh. I hadn’t realized that before. In this week’s case, a young co-ed is found dead while house sitting. Of course, the suspect is usually be the last person to see her alive and in this case, happens to be her professor/assumed lover, Alex Banks (James D’arcy ) and Brenda doesn’t hold back. It could be a case of her temper flaring due to Captain Raydor hanging around, but I know Brenda always gets results, no matter the method she employs. I only hope letting her temper get the best of her and taking out her frustration on others doesn’t become a habit. She can’t afford any more slip-ups considering the team is already skirting the fallout from the hovering lawsuit.

Review: The Closer, Season 7, Ep. 2 "Repeat Offender" 2

Capt. Raydor finds herself between a rock and a hard place

The best part of watching a police procedural is seeing the workings of a police investigation. You know, the sneaky things officers do when suspects aren’t watching… It’s amazing that people in waiting rooms don’t realize they are being monitored. I have to give credit to D’Arcy though. He is very convincing as a murder suspect and cheating husband.

Funny lines:

Provenza to Flynn: “The king is dead.”

Flynn: “Yeah, long live the Pope.”

Pope to Brenda: “I saw myself on TV, in the uniform.” *motioning to his stomach* “Why did you not tell me I’d gotten so…?”

Brenda: “Sorry. You’re fat. Now, are you happy?”

Provenza, after Taylor’s mutterings about being passed over for Chief: “I should have brought my own car.”

Observations:

Why in the world did Provenza (G. W. Bailey) make Sgt. Gabriel (Corey Reynolds) hop into the garbage dumpster (other than for general hilarity)? Couldn’t they find another officer to do that? Poor guy.

Commander Taylor (Robert Gossett) is definitely getting the short end of the stick. If Delk hadn’t suddenly died, he’d be on his way to Chief. I’d love to know what changes he would have made.

I could feel Lt. Tao’s (Michael Paul Chan) pain as he tried to get through to a human operator at the computer company he called. “English… Representative… Representative!” It’s nice to see I’m not the only person who hates those automated operators.

I did not see the outcome of this one at all. A teenage burglary gang? Rich kids really have nothing to do with their time, do they? I have to admit, I enjoyed the episode even more because there was nothing predictable about it. The writers should be commended for a job well done. At least they didn’t wait until their final season to do groundbreaking work. The Closer has always been top notch entertainment and it doesn’t seem this show will be slowing down even as it slides home toward its ending.

Tune in to The Closer, Mondays at 9/8c on TNT. For more on the show, visit http://www.tnt.tv/series/closer/.

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Writer, mother, realist, cloud lover, daydreamer, dessert enthusiast, sweet tea addict, perfectionist, and lover of life and Christ, but not in that order. http://www.fanfiction.net/~vikingloverelle