Da' 'Closer' is Da' Bomb

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer

Holy. Freakin’. Cow.

Do the folks over at The Closer know how to do their season finales or what?

Four seasons in, and they have never disappointed me. But last night’s “Time Bomb” episode has left me breathless.

Just. Plain. Breathless.

I’m still sort of stumbling over myself today after the shoot - out - at - the - OK - Corral - Mall. I don’t think I blinked for the last five to seven minutes of the episode – rivaling my stare-at-the-TV-screen-mouth-agape for 15 minutes after last season’s Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles finale.

Who’da thunk it could happen twice in the same calendar year?

And a writer’s strike year at that.

As we just got done singing the praises of last season's amazing “Blindsided” ep (which ended up Numero Uno on our PTR Best Ep Countdown), last night’s summer finale is going to give us a lot to think about between now and January (when BJ and Co. will return with new eps).

And perhaps for much longer than that.

Seriously.


The Case

Silly me for thinking this ep was going to be funny.

It sure started out that way.

BJ seemed so antsy pantsy in having to adjust to now being “Major Crimes,” not “Priority Homicide.”

And the case seemed to just be about a teenage kid who ended up on the unlucky side of building himself some pipe bombs (read: blew himself up with one).

Comic relief came at the expense of BABS, a state-of-the-art UGV (unmanned ground vehicle) called into investigate what became an instant bomb threat once the victim was identified as having schrapnel in his stomach. And from there, I thought we were in for the ultimate of Keystone Cops routines – whether it was Brenda’s impatience with BABS; her seeming confusion of who was where, with what and how; being carried feet first over the shoulder of Detective Sanchez and a Bomb Squad Task Force member not once, but twice, in order to force her to stand clear of the danger bomb zone; Lieutenant Provenza and Lieutenant Flynn laughing at the rather … how should we say … expressive way the young teenage victim expressed his appreciation of his high school principal (let’s just say he used the desk as a toilet).

Then it changed.

Turns out three teens were in cahoots to plan a Columbine-esque massacre in the name of being Agents of Extension of the human race.

Evolution’s End.

As in, set off bombs inside a shopping mall so as to force everyone outside, then take high positions on the roof and pick them off with an array of semi-automatic weapons so as to get the maximum amount of carnage and make their point – as per the original Columbine plan, except the bombs inside the school failed to detonate. As Fritz said, "As bad as [Columbine] was, it could’ve actually been worse."

Any time the word "Columbine" enters into a sentence, nothing is funny anymore.

And when someone actually tries to duplicate the tragedy?

Yikes.


The Shootout

This was some sequence.

Wow.

Nerves, urgency, uncertainty, fear, wrapped up into a shootout of all shootouts.

Once BJ has tracked down the last surviving teen involved in the plot, it is somewhat too late.

And all hell breaks lose.

The sound of the gunfire is still ringing in my ears.

In saying that, I want to commend the sound techs (and the post production team) on this one - they left the gunfire very raw, sort of that pop-pop-pop that is real gun fire, not the Hollywood Buh-Bang-Boom version that gets overly done. And the rapid fire succession – that constant pop-pop-pop from anywhere and everywhere - made it feel as if you were in a war zone.

And when the squad wishes each other luck to stop Terminator Teen?

Yikes.


The Slow-Mo Sequences

As if the shootout wasn’t compelling enough, there were some absolutely breathtaking slow-mo isolation sequences that further reinforced the sheer horror of what was unfolding on screen.

I mean, serious s-l-o-w-m-o.

When you can see the bullet shell casings slowly dropping out as the weapon is fired, or each gun’s pullback/release upon being triggered … wow.

Victims of traumatic experiences sometimes say that it’s almost as if time stood still while they were going through it. True, they can often times block out the entire experience. But other times, they can actually remember very precise detail, very specific instances. The way this sequence was shot seemed to drive home that point.

As in, never forget.

Something tells me the entire squad is going to be in trauma therapy next season.

Let’s hope it isn’t the therapist from Cold Case ('cause we know how UNsuccessful that was, eh?)


The Shot

Detective Sanchez.

Not looking good.

How about the bullets actually hitting him in the back as he tackled Lieutenant Provenza to save him? True, from the special effects perspective, we know he was just being squibbed. But still, I can’t say I didn’t go “Ah!” when it seemed as if he was being used for target practice was Terminator Teen.

BJ and Co. could’ve used their own Terminator last night.

Where’s Cameron when you need her?



All in all, The Closer continues to deliver year in, year out – with compelling performances and moving storylines such as this one. Ones that make you think, ones that make you laugh, ones that make you uncomfortable, ones that make you appreciate the truly talented group of people that have entertained us thoroughly for four seasons.

This ep will no doubt find its way on to PTR’s Best Ep list next year.

See you in January.

New episodes of The Closer will return to TNT in January 2009. If you missed any episodes from the summer season, catch up on the show anytime over on the show’s official Web site.