PTR Senior Staff Writer
Raydor vs. BJ - Round 2I happened to be a day late (though hopefully not a dollar short) on my recap of The Closer this week. And yet, as if by some divine intervention, said lateness afforded me to the opportunity to catch a Touched By An Angel re-run LAST night that featured the one and only Captain Raydor (Mary McDonnell) before she was ... well, Captain Raydor. Since MM was again another major player in BJ and Co's face - er, I mean department - this week in the wonderful world of LAPD's Major Crimes, I found the TBAA viewing ironically timely because I.Just.Love.Captain.Raydor.
Can we just make Mary McDonnell a regular? Like, now? Better yet, can we just schedule giving her a guest Emmy nom for next year?
Seriously.
Not only do I like watching the characters go toe-to-toe with what each other's priorities - Raydor trying to prevent the LAPD from being sued/wrongly accused/unfairly blamed when a civilian is killed, BJ not giving a rip who does what as long as she solves her murder - the actresses seem to have created this perfect-pitch antagonistic chemistry that remains brimming with irritation, controlled with restraint, and tersely respectful.
The case this week was a tough one. They usually are when they involve the death of fellow officers. The show has delved into this realm before, and I think they once again did a pretty bang up job showcasing just how intense it gets when one of their own is killed. When it turns out that Neo-Nazi's who have a thing for killing cops are to blame, can't say I fully object to the rather confrontational nature Major Crimes adopted in bringing down said subjects. Sometimes, the little black rule book doesn't apply.
BJ never consults it.
Raydor lives by it.
Great conflict.
Strong episode.
New episodes of The Closer air Mondays at 9 p.m. on TNT. For the scoop on the series, head on over to the show's official site.
We Can't Save Everybody
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: watching Raising the Bar has given me a newfound respect for Public Defenders (PDs).
This, of course, is not surprising given co-creator David Feige WAS a New York City PD. And, any time he writes an episode, there is usually a very intimate and personal look at how PDs have to struggle with the clients they represent.As in, some of the client's stories are fairly gut-wrenching yet they are not guaranteed a happy ending.
Case in point this week where one of Rich's clients is busted for not paying his court fine. Okay, sounds simple enough ... except for the laundry list of hardships that make it nearly impossible for the poor guy to scrape together $235 to pay the fine. For people like Kathryn Morris, this is lunch money or possibly 1/3 payment for some Christian Louboutin shoes; to those living on public assistance and/or bringing home $30 a day when they HAD a job, this is practically life savings.
And Kessler, true to form, had no sympathy.
And even though Rich does pay his guy's fees after losing the hearing to Kessler, he still kinda-sorta gets in trouble with Roz (in the nicest way) given that PDs can't bail out their clients - no matter how gut-wrenching the story.
Bummer.
Or how about Jerry's client, who gets to go free for four seconds only to be rearrested outside the courtroom on an old charge for violating his parole when he tried to disarm a kid on the street. He held the gun for maybe two seconds, yet because he "handled" a firearm he was busted for violating parole - and sentenced to serve ANOTHER 24 months after JUST getting out serving the same amount of time for the crime in which he was just acquitted. Double jeopardy does not apply nor does his previous time served.
Seriously, I don't think I could be a PD. My heart couldn't take it.
In other news ... Kessler is now signed up with a hoity toity dating service. Too bad she's ... uh, a snore to be with, yet can't admit this to Charlie, and thus, tells him said blind date asked her out again (not). Something tells me Kessler is going to remain pretty lonely for a while.
And Bobbi ... what is up with this girl? I am loving Natalia Cigliuti's increased screen time AND her back-and-forth with Mark-Paul Gosselaar's Jerry. But, I feel like I want to slap the character. Now we're blaming Jerry for the divorce - that she left dearly demented doc because she just so "wanted" Jerry. Uh, 'kay. I thought it was because doc was a nutball? addicted to drugs? abusive? I know the suicide thing is a shocker, but seriously, Bobbi ... blaming Jerry for your issues isn't fair.
New episodes of Raising the Bar air Mondays at 10 p.m. on TNT. For the scoop on the series, head on over to the show's official site
4 comments:
I am a big fan of Mary McDonnell; I feel BJ needs to be taken down a peg or 12; I think Internal Affairs (I forget The Closer’s name for the group, something about Force) is important (or would be if they actually did anything); and in spite of all that I didn’t like Raydor Monday night.
Your description seems all too apt:
“Not only do I like watching the characters go toe-to-toe with what each other's priorities - Raydor trying to prevent the LAPD from being sued/wrongly accused/unfairly blamed when a civilian is killed…”
Her job isn’t supposed to be to protect the department, but to protect the populace from the abuse by the department.
Raydor has her procedures and rules (and in her desire to follow these is as inflexible as BJ’s desire to solve the crime). But I don’t get any sense of passion about her work, just the desire to win her turf battles. I also don’t see any imagination on how to solve her crimes. She may be the L.A.P.D.’s perfect Internal Affair’s Captain. She acts the part of a person who will tolerate no rule breaking, but she isn’t actually interested in doing her job.
I had no objection to the hidden camera or the lies BJ told the Nazis. Those are legitimate police techniques. However, letting one criminal nearly choke another to death while they watched was wrong. When the police have arrested and handcuffed a person, it is up to them to defend him from attack, even if they don’t like him.
As an aside, a couple weeks ago we saw Grace (from Saving Grace) in uniform for an officer’s death and this week we saw BJ in uniform. BJ carries it off well, while Grace looks like a kid playing dress up (which is odd since she exudes authority in street clothes).
Whoa there LK. What's all the picking on KM? She strikes me (yes I'm bias) as one of the more down to earth "celebs", less likely to spend loads on shoes.
:-)
RichE.
Kathryn Morris UK
You need to read up on KM's weaknesses ... :-)
She's confessed a serious weakness for Christian Louboutin shoes - making the comment in an interview (last year, I believe - the one about what cars she drives, etc.) about how the back of her Honda Ridgeline truck (assuming she still has it) could carry a boat load of Louboutin's home. :-)
Point being that, in her tax bracket, $235 is not a lot of money. Nor is it for Roma. Or Kyra. Or Holly. Or any of them. If only that were true for the rest of us. LOL!
I probably should :-)
I must filter out a lot of the "fashion talk" as I read such things. Anyway, it's not the clothes that are important, it's what's underneath.... :-o
:-)
RichE.
Kathryn Morris UK
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