It may seem to you that The Closer just returned two weeks ago … because it did. Despite that, through some insane scheduling shenanigans over at TNT, “Dead Man’s Hand” was, in fact, the season finale. The good news is that the oddly short run was very well done. The bad news is that we’ll now have to wait until next summer to see Brenda and the team tackle new cases. It was all made that much more curious when what looked to be the big cliffhanger for the season — will Brenda move to D.C. — was resolved in the episode. The most pressing question we’re left with is whether or not the rest of the team will get fancy GPS like Buzz has.
Getting to the case … the big story was the return of the department heavy that everyone loves to hate, Captain Raydor (Mary McDonnell). As much as viewers — and the team — might hate Raydor, she does make for a great recurring character. And this story actually put a nice twist on her relationship with Brenda, as she was asking for help, and looking for Brenda to do all of those things that have so vexed her in the past. It was fun to watch and, thankfully, didn’t go for the happy ending that the story hinted at. When the two of them met up to finish the case it really did feel like they were finally going to bury the hatchet. Where’s the fun in that? Fortunately, the writers get it, and their agreement that they just don’t like each other and it’s too much work to change that was perfect.
In addition to Mary McDonnell, the episode also brought Brooke Langton back to our TVs. That’s always a good thing, as I’ve been a fan since her little-seen series adaptation of The Net. Detective Moore made for quite the intriguing case, though not in the whodunit style. I was convinced that she was up to something right away. The real treat was in learning how the complicated caper all came together.
One of the big parts of that was Pope’s odd reaction. When he first started going off after the murder I was completely baffled. “Tread lightly” became “You weren’t aggressive” awfully quick, and it really seemed like Brenda was being thrown under the bus. The revelation that he knew about Fritz being offered the promotion, and his assumption that Brenda was leaving, went a long way to explaining his odd behavior.
And then there was Brenda and Fritz. I’m kind of iffy on that part of the episode, for the simple fact that it feels like ground we’ve already covered. So much of the courtship, and engagement, was about those exact worries that are again haunting Fritz. I realize that it’s perfectly understandable, especially given Brenda’s peculiarities, that the issue could come up again. But given the small amount of time that gets devoted to Brenda and Fritz at home, I’d rather see something new.
The thing that really surprised me about the Brenda and Fritz part of the episode was that they didn’t play it as a cliffhanger. “Will Brenda move to DC?” might have been a tough sell, because it’s highly unlikely that they could pick up and move the whole team Laverne & Shirley style. Although, I’d still watch. On the other hand, they could have sold it as “Will Fritz take the promotion?”, leaving the state of their relationship in the balance. You still figure it wouldn’t happen, but you can reason out enough possibilities to make it workable.
So, that will do it for The Closer until next summer. I don’t understand the scheduling decisions at TNT at all, and given the choice I would prefer to have all of season six in the summer. Strange as the brief return was, it did ensure that I’ll be tuning in, whenever they decide to run the new episodes. The show is still going strong.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Dec 22, 2009 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
