PTR Senior Staff Writer
Keep the KleenexIt's not often we get to see the softer side of Brenda Leigh Johnson.
The weaker side.
The maybe-I-made-a-mistake-side.
But we did this week.
Not only did we see her get emotionally attached to her victim - outright tears of sadness when he passed away after severe gunshot wounds to the abdomen. But, we also saw that the checking of her emotional sensibility at the door as she once again chose to close her case over all else stung her more than usual.
Crime solved: good
Emotional cost: high.
After she plunked Charlie at the hospital, assigning her to keep an eye on said victim given BJ was called to the scene WHILST transporting Charlie somewhere over the rainbow, Charlie befriends the victim in a pretty darn clever way to cover her being ... well, dumped in the hospital. But BJ's deliberate attempt to keep Charlie at bay when she knew he was on his last breaths, thus, interrogating him on his last breaths as to who might've been the shooter (disgruntled brother of his girlfriend, who chose to lie to her family and say she was raped as opposed to simply saying she got herself pregnant) got BJ in a whole lot of hot water at the end of the ep.
Especially having to deliver the news to Charlie that her newfound friend had died.
And having prevented her from saying goodbye.
Not the first time BJ had gotten into trouble by her relentless pursuit of closing her case.
Not the last time.
And that's a good thing.
It makes for good episode viewing given we rarely see Brenda be wrong. She always manages to hold the upper hand - even when her methods are questionable. And yet with this ep, I'm not sure choice was wrong even if it was somewhat painful to those closest to her.
In a way, it was almost an ironic form of payback.
And yet, I can't fault her for staying until the very end with the boy - not simply coming in, getting what she needed and bailing. She filled in in a mother-like way (given real mom was a flight attendant on her way to Hanoi and couldn't get back home in time before), nor managing to nail the brother for the shooting.
Painful justice.
But justice nonetheless.
The summer finale of The Closer airs next Monday at 9 p.m. on TNT. For the scoop on the series, head on over to the show's official site.
NGKOTB
I know an Ashley.
Seriously.
I do.
She's all-knowing. Self-righteous. Talks a million miles a minute. Can quote random facts for no apparent reason.But she isn't a Public Defender for New York City.
Then again, you know what they say: everyone has a twin - even if it is fictional.
I like the new girl - even if she is ... well, annoying.
Reason I like her most: Rich gets to be her mentor.
Yay!
And how happy am I Bobbi and Jerry finally did the deed?
Double yay!
As for the major case focus this week, Jerry defends a young man who stabbed a fellow inmate even though he should never have been in jail in the first place. His stabbing of an inmate was done out of desperation to escape the grips of the gang inside prison who were torturing the young man.
Stab the guy, we won't bug you anymore. As in, won't beat the crap out of you. Torture you. Make your life a living hell.
Naturally, Jerry doesn't win. And the poor guy has got to go back to prison.
And again I think: does our justice system ever work, or is it all just a total joke?
How PDs ever put up with it is beyond me.
Go Jerry and Bobbi!
The summer finale of Raising the Bar airs next Monday at 10 p.m. on TNT. For the scoop on the series, head on over to the show's official site
1 comment:
RE: The Closer
I wasn’t thrilled with Brenda’s not calling Charlie to run down to the hospital to see the kid before he died, but it wasn’t my major complaint about her actions.
Using Charlie’s friendship with the victim to get Charlie to unknowingly conduct an illegal video recorded interrogation and then blackmailing Charlie into legalizing it after the fact was inexcusable (and illegal).
Brenda occasionally shows a bit of remorse after the fact, but I always view it as more of a plea for sympathy for her position than any actual regret for what she has done.
Brenda has only one priority and that is solving her crime. And although she normally frames it as doing this for the victim that is BS. Her interest is in solving puzzles. She is like House in this regard. He saves people’s lives (normally), but that is secondary to solving the medical puzzle. Brenda arrests criminals and that is just a follow up to solving the crime puzzle. The difference between the two is that House is honest about his priorities with himself and others, while Brenda lies about what her priority is.
When Brenda defends herself at dinner after illegally taping Charlie and then blackmailing her, Charlie correctly calls BJ on her lie and says no one believes that, including BJ. Fritz chimes in that he didn’t believe BJ either.
She had no real sympathy for either of the people shot when she used her niece. She thought the victims had brought this on themselves due to drugs or something else. It is only later that she figured out the boy who didn’t immediately die was largely innocent that she developed any real feelings for him.
Brenda’s silent plea for sympathy to Fritz at the end was not based on regret for anything she had done nor did it reflect any change of heart on how she will act in the future. She has not changed and will not change; she deserved no sympathy.
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