dragonfire88's Full Review: Closer: The Complete Fourth Season
In 2005, The Closer started to air on TNT. I missed the show at that point, but started watching it when the episodes aired again early in 2006. I quickly became hooked on the show and have been watching it ever since. I picked up The Closer: The Complete Fourth Season when it was released and finally watched the set recently.
I want to share some information on the series in general before I talk specifically about The Closer: The Complete Fourth Season. Some of this information could be spoilers for people who haven't watched the previous three seasons of the show.
The Closer is focused on a special unit of the Los Angeles police department that was formed to deal with higher profile cases. A decision was made to hire someone from outside the department to head the new squad, which initially causes a lot of bad feelings aimed at deputy chief Brenda Johnson. She had worked for police departments in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. as well as having worked with the CIA. Brenda has a reputation for getting confessions that stand up during trials and lead to convictions.
The first season of The Closer introduced Brenda, her team, and a few other returning characters. Most of the team didn't care that much for Brenda, with one or two people downright hostile. As the first season progressed, Brenda won over her team and they became a unit that worked very well together by the second season. The second and third seasons show how the team became stronger while solving cases. Things from Brenda's private life, like her relationship with FBI agent Fritz Howard, and things for a few other characters are also dealt with at times.
Each episode of the fourth season of The Closer focuses on a different investigation that Brenda and her team work on. Every case is resolved in some way - sometimes not how Brenda wants - by the end of the episode dealing with that particular case. The investigations do add a bit of mystery and suspense to what is going on. Brenda and her team are shown following clues, interviewing people while working on the investigations. Someone that Brenda has dealt with before as a suspect returns during the first episode of the season in a sort of different part. One or two things tied to cases do come up again in later episodes. Those things won't make as much sense for people who haven't watched the episodes in order. I'm thinking that one character might end up returning at some point. Most of the cases are murders, though the team also deals with a missing boy and a potential bomb threat as well. Brenda interrogates people in every episode, so that is a big part of the series. Some of her techniques do seem a bit questionable to me, and even like entrapment at times.
Some sort of crime scene is shown during every episode during the fourth season of The Closer. For several episodes, the crime scenes are shown right at the beginning of the episode while the opening credits play. Others aren't shown until slightly later and a few of the crime scenes actually aren't shown until much later in the episode. The scenes dealing with crime scenes aren't the most pleasant to see, with some being rather gross. Certain things connected to the crimes being investigated are rather disturbing and could upset some viewers. Since the show airs on the cable network TNT, it can get away with being a bit more graphic than shows on the main broadcast networks.
I consider The Closer to be a serious show overall, but it also has a decent amount of humor, some of which is a bit twisted. Brenda continues to say and do things that I find funny. Her reactions to certain situations are really funny and make for some entertaining moments. Flynn and Provenza still bicker which usually results in some funny bits. During Live Wire, Provenza shares that he has custom made shoes because of an orthopedic issue. A few times during the rest of the episode, Flynn teases Provenza about having medicare shoes. Tao and Provenza seem to really enjoy recreating things at times, much to the annoyance of some of the others. Dial "M" for Provenza is one of the funniest episodes overall. Things go so wrong in what should have been a fairly easy case for the team to close dealing with a woman wanting to kill her husband. There are little things in the background, like the things written under the pictures of the woman and her husband on the board in the room, that are really funny. Brenda's parents are back in a few episodes and they tend to add humor even when things are serious. Fritz's sister turns up and she is rather unique. That uniqueness causes some of the characters to react to her in interesting ways.
Once again, the fourth season of The Closer has a story arc that carries through several episodes even when it isn't a main focus. During the first episode of the season, Brenda has to put up with a reporter being allowed to observe the team while they work. Will claims the decision was made because of the negative press the department has received in the past. Brenda is not at all happy, and the decision ends up causing all sorts of problems since the reporter is determined to stir up problems for the squad with his stories. The reporter pops up in several episodes and acts like he is happy for what he caused within the department. As a result of one of his extremely critical articles, Will reads Brenda the riot act and the priority murder squad is dismantled. It is ultimately replaced by the Major Crimes Division that Brenda is also in charge of. She takes advantage of an opportunity to establish a few things the division will deal with that weren't originally intended. She also manages to keep her team intact for the new division. As a result of the new division, they will be dealing a variety of crimes in the future, including fraud, rape and kidnapping. The new division is formed during the ninth episode of the season, and the annoying reporter isn't around any more after that.
Something else that popped up several times during this season of The Closer is the fact that Irene Daniels and David Gabriel have broken up and they are having trouble working together. There is a tension between them and basically everyone on the team is aware of the issue. They manage to deal all right for most episodes, but they do blow up at each other at times and even have a fight or two while working. Those segments aren't my favorite and can be a bit uncomfortable to watch, but they do seem realistic.
Brenda and Fritz's dating relationship began during the first season of The Closer though they had met sometime before that. During the second season their relationship gets more serious and Fritz moves in with her. In the third season, they start looking for a bigger house, deal with her health issue and get engaged. I like them together, but they do have issues they are still dealing with. Brenda isn't in a hurry to get married, though at one point, Fritz does put his foot down about the issue so she'll set a date. The last four episodes of the season deal more with the wedding plans and the actual wedding. I really like Brenda and Fritz, so I was very glad that the wedding happened. There are a few pictures from the wedding on the case and in the little booklet with the episode list, so it isn't exactly a secret that the wedding is in this season.
Other relationships continue to be important to The Closer. When the show began, Brenda is resented and not liked by her team. She manages to win them over and by the time of the fourth season, the team has a good relationship and works very well together. The team is basically like a family and they tend to look out for one another. That really comes out during Sudden Death and again in Time Bomb. The team and the relationships are strained by the fact that Irene and David have broken up. Flynn and Provenza's friendship continues to include a lot of bickering. Brenda relies on each member of the team for different things. Provenza does try to deal with certain issues at times so that Brenda won't have to. Commander Taylor is more accepting of Brenda and they manage to work together better, though he still is a jerk at times. Brenda's relationship with her parents is dealt with again during a few episodes.
Brenda continues to be a strong, independent woman determined to close the cases she works on. At times she seems willing to do anything to close a case, which does cause her some problems at times. She still loves chocolate and other snacks. Brenda isn't perfect and she makes mistakes, but she is still a likable character overall. I really like Kyra Sedgwick in the part. Brenda's parents Clay and Willie Ray turn up in a few episodes. They likable characters and Barry Corbin and Frances Sternhagen do well with the parts.
Fritz is in every episode, though never as much as Brenda. Frequently he says something off hand that ends up giving Brenda some sort of inspiration that leads her to a new discovery in her case. He does get frustrated with her, but he remains devoted to her and their relationship. He does help to keep her more balanced. Jon Tenney does really well with the part. Fritz's sister Claire appears in the last two episodes. She is very out going and says she is a psychic. She attempts to help Brenda with her current case and does actually come up with things that are somehow connected to the case. She is nice enough, but Claire did irritate me a bit with the way she was so overbearing at times. Amy Sedaris is fine in the part.
Even though the rest of the team is in all the episodes, not as much has been shared about them. David Gabriel sort of seemed to be like Brenda's second in command in the first few seasons of he show. That didn't seem to be going on as much even though he is still an important part of the team. His relationship with Irene has fallen apart, though the details of what happened aren't shared. They struggle to still work together and have some arguments, one or two of which get a bit nasty. David does act like a jerk at times and comes across as a bit arrogant. Corey Reynolds does very well with the part. Irene is still the only woman on the team. She is very intelligent and does a lot of work tracking down financial records tied to the cases they are working on. Irene seems more composed than David during their flare ups for the most part. She is missing from some episodes, something that has also happened in previous seasons. Gina Ravera does well with the part.
Andy Flynn, who started out a huge jerk I couldn't stand in the first season is actually likeable and makes for one of the more entertaining characters in the show now. He still makes some errors in judgement every so often and he does get annoyed by his co-workers sometimes. Flynn has a very interesting friendship with Provenza that has the men bickering and picking at each other. Tony Denison does really well as Flynn. Provenza is the oldest member on the team. He does have a history or making huge mistakes that threaten cases though he always means well. He has been stepping up more to handle certain issues so that Brenda won't have to. He can be grumpy, but he is very likable overall. He's always saying or doing some little thing that makes me laugh. G.W. Bailey is wonderful in the part.
The only new thing shared about Mike Tao during the fourth season is that he is happily married to a very beautiful woman. He knows all sorts of things about computers and phone records. He is very knowledgeable about a wide array of things which have come in handy during some investigations. He does really enjoy recreating certain things and also likes giving longer explanations for certain things. He is a likable character that I think is interesting even though not a lot has been shared about him. Michael Paul Chan does really well with the part.
More about Julio Sanchez has been a mystery through the first three seasons of the show. He has a lot of knowledge about gangs and is good at his job. During Sudden Death, more is shared about him when he has to deal with a tragic event involving his brother. That episode also shows how he looks up to Provenza and the two men do seem to bond a bit. During the last episode, Julio also mentions the fact that his wife died, something I don't remember hearing before. Raymond Cruz did really well with the part, especially during Sudden Death.
Will Pope, the assistant chief for the police department, still serves as Brenda's boss. He is critical of her decisions at times an not happy about certain things. There isn't anything else tied to their past relationship or his messy divorce in this season. That makes me glad since I didn't like how Will was acting toward Brenda for a while. J.K. Simmons does really well with the part. Buzz is still around in every episode, using video equipment to document crime scenes and record interrogations. He doesn’t have as much to do.
Commander Taylor is in charge of Robbery Homicide. He didn't like Brenda at all when she was first hired and while he acts better now, I still think he would love to take over her division. Robert Gossett does really well with the part. Several other people turn up in various episodes without having as much to do. An assistant district attorney who acts like an arrogant jerk is in one episode, forcing a deal that then blows up in his face. Every episode has different suspects, so there are a lot of guest actors. Jennifer Coolidge is wonderful as an annoying, ditzy woman who wants her husband dead.
Main Cast
G.W. Bailey - Detective Lt. Provenza Michael Paul Chan - Lieutenant Mike Tao Barry Corbin - Clay Johnson Raymond Cruz - Detective Julio Sanchez Tony Denison - Detective Andy Flynn Robert Gossett - Commander Taylor Philip P. Keene - Buzz Gina Ravera - Detective Irene Daniels Kyra Sedgwick - Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson J.K. Simmons - Assistant Police Chief Will Pope Frances Sternhagen - Willie Ray Johnson Jon Tenney - Agent Fritz Howard
Different people directed th episodes throughout the season, including Kevin Bacon, who returned to direct his third episode of the series.
DVD Information
The Closer: The Complete Fourth Season has fifteen episodes on four discs. The case is a little different from what was used for the first three seasons. There is a little unfolding booklet that lists the episodes on each disc along with original air dates, information on who wrote and directed the episode and short plot summaries. It is also indicated if there are any unaired scenes for the episodes. Most of the unaired scenes don't really add anything, so it is obvious why they were left out.
The fourth disc includes the few other extras. To Catch a Lie is a short featurette that features interrogators talking about techniques for questioning suspects. It is interesting. A Day in the Life of a Homicide Detective shows footage from when Corey Reynolds rode along with a retired LAPD detective. The scenes of different murders the detective investigated are shown and he talks about the cases as well. There is also a short gag reel that is funny.
Episode List Episodes with an * after them have at least one unaired scene.
Controlled Burn Speed Bump * Cherry Bomb Live Wire Dial "M" for Provenza Problem Child Sudden Death Split Ends Tijuana Brass * Time Bomb Good Faith * Junk in the Trunk Power of Attorney Fate Line * Double Blind *
The Closer is still a very entertaining show that I still enjoy. The Closer: The Complete Fourth Season is a great DVD set for fans of the show.
The fifth season of The Closer started to air in June of 2009. The show continues to air on Monday at 9:00 P.M. EST with the episodes being replayed at different times during the week. The station does marathons of the show every so often as well. New episodes can be viewed on the stations website, www.tnt.com which has a whole section devoted to the show.
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