At just about 45 minutes into each episode, Brenda Leigh suddenly and brilliantly solves the case, the murderer being always the least likely suspect. The culprit is soon blurting out his, or rarely her confession, by then either stammering some pathetic self-justification to the Dep. Chief's stern and unforgiving gaze or simply reduced to tears.
Deputy Chief Johnson leads a team of hand-picked detectives at the Priority Homicide Squad yet not one of them is capable of solving a homicide. Brenda Lee does the detecting -- all of it. After all, she's the boss lady and on this show all men are doofuses -- the white ones, at least--capable at best of following her precise orders, at worst of charging out and arresting the obvious suspect (invariably innocent) or of making hormone-driven jackasses of themselves in predictable ways.
No surprise that often the biggest jerk of all is her middle-aged, bald headed boss. For some strange reason the creator of the show inserted a back story in which these two had a romantic relationship before Brenda came to the L.A.P.D. Perhaps this is to explain the odd reversal of roles. It is generally she who orders him around.
Nor are the criminals on this show very bright. Unlike real life, few ever exercise their right to remain silent. Fewer yet ask to speak to a lawyer, or if they have one they ignore his advise and talk themselves into a jail cell, which is the better part of the Dep. Chief's "genius" interrogation technique. Often, the suspect will ask **her** if he needs an attorney!
Different from light-hearted crime shows like "The Mentalist" on CBS or the cable-produced "Monk", "The Closer" often explicitly depicts violence and murder, or at least its aftermath. There is little humor here. Add to this the jerky hand-held camera that is often used (to lower production costs), and you get the entirely false impression that this is how real police operate.
Deputy Chief Johnson leads a team of hand-picked detectives at the Priority Homicide Squad yet not one of them is capable of solving a homicide. Brenda Lee does the detecting -- all of it. After all, she's the boss lady and on this show all men are doofuses -- the white ones, at least--capable at best of following her precise orders, at worst of charging out and arresting the obvious suspect (invariably innocent) or of making hormone-driven jackasses of themselves in predictable ways.
No surprise that often the biggest jerk of all is her middle-aged, bald headed boss. For some strange reason the creator of the show inserted a back story in which these two had a romantic relationship before Brenda came to the L.A.P.D. Perhaps this is to explain the odd reversal of roles. It is generally she who orders him around.
Nor are the criminals on this show very bright. Unlike real life, few ever exercise their right to remain silent. Fewer yet ask to speak to a lawyer, or if they have one they ignore his advise and talk themselves into a jail cell, which is the better part of the Dep. Chief's "genius" interrogation technique. Often, the suspect will ask **her** if he needs an attorney!
Different from light-hearted crime shows like "The Mentalist" on CBS or the cable-produced "Monk", "The Closer" often explicitly depicts violence and murder, or at least its aftermath. There is little humor here. Add to this the jerky hand-held camera that is often used (to lower production costs), and you get the entirely false impression that this is how real police operate.