The Closer

An outstanding drama that dances on the edge of being a formula cop show and a soap opera. Brenda Lee Johnson is an outstanding interrogator with a background of being difficult to work with but achieving great results. However, her personal life is a mess. She is hired from Atlanta to head LAPD's Priority Crimes Unit for those high profile crimes that need a resolution and need it quickly. Tensions arise immediately. Her brusque style makes her own people want to transfer away, her boss is a former lover who dumped her and she manages to make many more enemies than friends. The crimes are formula enough that you can probably figure out whodunit before you get to the climax but it's the characters and relationships that sell the show and make it worth watching. Not only is Kyra Sedgwick giving the performance of her life in this series but she has a terrific supporting cast that gives the series heart. The ability of the writers to also give us some great comic lines keeps the show teetering at times from comedy to drama. The first season is already out on DVD. Watch it from the first episode to the last, in order, and you can see why this show has become the most watched show in basic cable history.

The crime aspect of this show is pretty good, but not extraordinary. This should NOT be the reason to watch the show. If you're looking for that, look somewhere else.

Watch the show for the charming character portrayed by Kyra Sedgewick, who looks like she's in over her head and a mess, but never really is. You won't like her much at first, then she'll start to grow on you and you can't wait for the next episodes. Watch it for the old Lt. Provenza, who you probably wouldn't mind punching in the face ... then episodes later, he's one of your favorite characters on the show. The characters is what makes this show good, and the crimes only further bring out their own .. uh .. character. The script dialog is also very witty. And the acting is very, very good.

If that's what you're looking for, then great. If you're looking for CSI, watch CSI. :)

The Closer is a show which has a fairly realistic portrayal of a working environment; there are relationship dynamics which have evolved over the several seasons and which explore the inter-personal connections made between co-workers as they solve cases. From the beginning episodes where Brenda's staff worked against her, sometimes with the expressed desire for her to fail, to the latest season where they appear to be firmly on her "side" there is an interesting dynamic in showing an intelligent and capable woman as authority-figure and the gradual and sometimes reluctant acceptance of her as the officers she works with see for themselves what she is bringing to the dept.

The show brings a lot of elements of the classic mysteries, and uses clever reveals and intelligence as well as past personal experiences and leaps of intuition in solving crimes. The actors who make up the main cast are all very talented and the writing allows us glimpses into the entire cast, though the show is clearly focused on Brenda. Each episode also allows the viewer to see some of the personal drama without being heavy-handed or too soap-opera, keeping a good balance between the police investigation and the people who are doing the investigation.

I find it interesting, however, that most of the people I know who do not like the show are male and love similar stories where a male in the central authority and does the exact same things that Brenda does to close a case. For someone who likes police drama, with realistic characters who are not always perfect, this is an excellent show to watch. The episodes are well paced, the story lines through the seasons are detailed and have a lot of personal touches for the characters

I am not a regular TV watcher, but when I saw 3 back-to-back episodes of The Closer while on vacation in Hawaii, I was utterly hooked!

There are not enough superlatives in the English language to convey how awesome Kyra Sedgwick is in this role. The writing is superb and I'm almost salivating as I eagerly await the DVD set of the second season. I thoroughly enjoyed the 4-disc DVD set of the entire first season and will usurp sole possession of TV remote on June 12, 2007 so that my hubby won't be able to interrupt my sweet fix of watching my new favorite TV star in this season's debut episode.

Here's to Kyra Sedgwick's Emmy for her stellar, spellbinding, hilarious, adorable portrayal of TV's newest heroine, Brenda Lee Johnson.

Sure, this could fall into the category with the other Law and Orders and CSI's but something about this show really stands out probably because its aired on TNT and you'd expect there to be some cheesy movie of the week quality about it. Like Law and Order the show puts more focus on the cases themselves rather than the personal lives of the characters, but The Closer opens the door a little more. Kyra is really what draws in people to this show, it's something about her character's charm despite the fact the character is from the often ridiculed south. The writers were also keen to make Brenda Johnson a real person, not some super-hero who always wins and always knows the every move of the bad guy; sometimes Brenda makes mistakes and pays for them and sometimes she is insecure about her looks or being freshly relocated to the big city of Los Angelos. The show just started this summer and I wish it the best of luck, I hope it can become as acclaimed as all the other crime dramas we've got on the airwaves today