It’s no secret I’m a great fan of THE CLOSER. In fact, I think it’s responsible for my current TV addiction. It kind of awakened me to the fact that TV finally had some great female characters.
I watched six seasons in one delicious hit and loved every moment of every episode. Then an enforced break ensued while I waited for season 7 to become available.
It was announced, in the meantime, that Kyra Sedgewick had called it quits and this was to be her finale season, despite a continuing spin off for the rest of the cast called Major Crimes and featuring Mary McDonnell.
7 turns out to be a tough season for Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. Her boss dies, her dad is sick, there’s a federal lawsuit hanging over her and then something really awful happens. I won’t go into any more plot details to avoid spoilers, but I will say that though I enjoyed seeing Brenda’s story through to the end, I found the season quite depressing.
The writers pretty much make Brenda pay for some of the more hard line decisions she’s made in previous cases. The lawsuit surrounding the Shootin’ Newton murder haunt hers right up until the last episode and finds Brenda doubting herself and all around her. And then she suffers some serious personal losses. It was tough to watch.
One highlight for the season, for me, was the fact that she finally gets to nail serial rapist and serial killer Phillip Stroh to the wall, and then 
some. That was a very satisfing Closer closure.
For the rest, some of the plot tie-ups felt a little bit contrived. However, the characters stayed true to form and there is no taking away from the strong sense of family and loyalty carefully built up around the Major Crimes unit over seven seaons (despite the threat of a traitor among them).
As a lead-in to her role in the spin-off, Mary McDonell’s character Captain Sharyn Rador is allowed to become a lot more likeable and it was good to see she also had Brenda’s back when things got nasty.
The other highlight for me was Fritz. Oh … why aren’t there more Fritz’s in the world?? A devoted, caring, sympathetic husband beyond compare. Fritz’s need to be bottled.
The Closer will always be a series that I think of with great fondness. I loved the characters and I think I’ve absorbed a little bit of BLJ into my psyche. They can’t be a bad thing – she’s one gutsy lady. Kyra Sedgewick is legend in the role. But if you haven’t watched the finale season, don’t expect to be uplifted. Karma is a bitch and she’s got Brenda’s number.
Below is a pic of me with Mary McDonnell taken in 2010.
