Thursday, July 09, 2009

Roundup: So-So Goes 'The Closer'; Mean Looking 'Bar'

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer


'The Closer's' Fifth Season Airs Mondays on TNTGoing Astray

Confession: I was a little underwhelmed by this week's episode of The Closer.

Not in the I-don't-like-the-show-anymore kind of way; more like the not-really-sure-what-I-want-to-say kind of way.

The case was so-so. It boiled down to a carjacking gone wrong. Carjack-ee ends up threatening carjack-ers with a gun; and, in shooting a couple of warning shots at said carjack-ers, one of the bullets ends up killing an innocent bystander two blocks away.

Now that is what you call one stray bullet.

True, there was a nice Abbott and Costello kind of interrogation by BJ of said carjack-ers, which essentially finds them stumbling over themselves and confessing to a crime they didn't even know they committed and/or that the law covers; and, there was some comical laser tag/beam me up Scotty moments with Detective Tao figuring out the path of the stray bullet. Buzz also got approved for a $70,000+ grant to upgrade the surveillance equipment so that everyone can now watch interrogations in a) 18 different letterbox formats and b) wirelessly at their desk. And, since the stray bullet managed to kill the victim on the grounds of Father Jack's church (who, we recall, has been featured in a previous episode and isn't exactly one of BJ and Co's biggest fans), it made for some interesting moments with Detective Sanchez running THROUGH the church to get up to a higher vantage point whilst making sure he took a moment to kneel at the altar.

But aside from that, there wasn't a whole lot to report in Major Crimes this week.

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.



Mean People Suck

We all know this bumper sticker, right?

'Raising the Bar' Airs Monday's on TNTIf not, you do now.

And it was the perfect way to describe this week's episode of Raising the Bar.

Let's just say I wanted to slap a stick over Detective Port-a-Prick's desk (or maybe that should've been forehead?) for, essentially, letting one of Jerry's clients DIE whilst in custody just to: a) get back at Jerry; b) get back the woman, who had committed NO crime but of whom one might say had a thing against 5-0 for constantly harassing her and/or thinking she's selling drugs.

Okay, so maybe her adversarial approach in talking to every NYPD cop with an attitude and a load of F-bombs didn't help her reputation much. And she probably wasn't ever going to get invited to any NYPD Christmas parites given she continually refused to knark on those selling drugs in her neighborhood. Still, bouncing her around from precinct to precinct so she wouldn't show up in Central Booking and/or Jerry couldn't get to her wasn't cool. But continuing to do it WHILST she was suffering from a burst appendix and screaming for medical attention - to which she WAS entitled - means one big humongo civil lawsuit coming against this NYPD detective, who also happens to be banging Michelle Ernhardt.

In other news ... how about Judge Farnsworth making the move to potentially steal Charlie from the claws of Judge Kessler?

Go Farnsworth!

(Like Kessler is going to let that happen. Farnsworth: "This is my courtroom." Kessler: "This is my courthouse. Stay away from Charlie ..").

Me thinks this has all the makings for some good tit-for-tat between two really great actors.

And note to Bobbi: Glad to see you are finally growing a pair given that whacked out soon-to-be-ex-husband of yours is just a little too ... well, whacked. Can we please stop the innocent-OMG-what-am-I-going-to-do routine and have more of the confrontational, don'f f**k with me routine from this week's ep? kthanxbye.

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

1 comment:

John said...

The Closer

I was also underwhelmed by the episode.

Incidentally the tragic shooting of an innocent bystander is one reason you are never supposed to fire warning shots.

I had one minor and one big complaint.

The minor problem is that you can’t see the laser beam as they showed. If you shine a laser beam (or even just a flashlight) you can see the source and the spot illuminated (if you are in the right location), but you can’t see the path of the light unless it is foggy or dusty. Without water droplets or dust or some such, there is nothing for the light beam to reflect off so that you can see the light beam.

My major problem was Grace’s interrogation of the two clowns who were trying to do the carjacking. I am way beyond tired of her technique of saying I am not interested in the whatever – drug dealing or attempted carjacking when either (a) someone else like the FBI is and will then arrest them for that or (b) she is using that approach to get them to in effect confess to murder.

Now, I have no problem with the legality or ethics of this. I am just tired of the writers using this all the time. It has gotten very old, it is lazy and BJ is becoming a one trick pony. How come not once has the interrogatee or his/her lawyer said, “I want use immunity” – i.e. what I say can’t be used against me in any way, including inspiring a search for independent evidence about what I confessed to? If you are only solving crimes committed by idiots it doesn’t make you look like a great detective.