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RSS'The Closer': What's in the booooooooox?
"The Closer" delves into the perils of surprises packages this week. It's not always illicit substances or yummy brownies -- sometimes it's a decayed corpse. Brenda is spending some quality time sightseeing with a recalcitrant Charlie -- which is why she's not around to stop Provenza from instructing that the ominous duct-tape-and-plastic-wrapped cooler should be opened in her office. This is a problem because it contains a particularly unpleasant decaying body. Ick!
The cooler was sent by the disgruntled owner of a self-storage place -- the renter, Doug Courtney, had set up an automatic payment plan, but his debit card expired and the payments stopped coming. The storage guy kept trying to get the cops to come look at it, but they never showed -- so he mailed it to Major crimes. C.O.D. Hah!
So is Doug Courtney a killer who got sloppy? Nope -- he's the corpse. Terrance -- now Dr. Terrance -- says he was shot in the head, and pinpoints the time of death to May 21, 2006, sometime after 6:12 p.m. That's not due to hid forensic skill, but to the newspapers and receipts he found with the body. But who would want Doug dead?
Well, who wouldn't? His stepfather complained that Doug was a waste of space, He's grateful that Dough dropped off the radar -- and he demands that his wife, Doug's mom, be grateful too. Others in Doug's life are equally hard -- his former landlord calls him a pig, his former girlfriend an a-hole, and his former best friend dubs him a leech. Doug borrowed and squandered money, he cheated on his girlfriend with the landlord's daughter, and he apparently pissed away all the cash he had on gambling and lottery tickets. Nice.
But Doug's mom has news -- she sneaks away from her hubby and shows Brenda letters that she's received from Doug over the years, from places like Peru and Australia. The last one came about five months ago-- three years after Doug had died. Curious.
Brenda plans a trap -- she sends plastic-wrapped coolers to each of the people who hated Doug. Inside are cameras -- the better to see who opens he coolers -- and GPS transmitters -- the better to track whoever doesn't open the cooler, but instead tries to hide it or get rid of it. See, the real killer will know better than to open up the cooler and perfume the room with eau de corpse. So who's the bad guy>
That would be Jordan Wallace, the best friend. Doug bought lottery tickets with cash he'd borrowed form Jordan, and then, when he hit the jackpot, he seemed unwilling to share. So Jordan killed him and cashed in the ticket. Jordan sent letters home to Doug's mom whenever he travelled. No more travel for you, young man!
The home front
Charlie is proving to be sullen, disrespectful, sneaky, unpleasant -- you know, a teenager. But she's a teenager with a friend who is willing to send her pot through the mail. Nice! Charlie makes herself some pot brownies, and Brenda samples some. Cue the blissed-out druggedness from Brenda, which Charlie thinks is hysterical. Fritz... no so much. He figures out what's going on, informs Charlie that he's in AA and such things would be very bad for him, and resolves to send her back home. Hey, Charlie: When you're caught with illegal substances in the home of an FBI agent and a police detective, the correct response is NOT "It's not my fault you're a drunk!"
But Brenda has a revelation when Doug's mom bemoans the fact that she gave up on her boy. if only she'd been there for him! Brenda decides that she and Fritz will be there for Charlie -- they'll keep her for a while longer, to let her know she's always got someone to turn to. And if that fails... well, Brenda will happily let Fritz arrest her for transporting illegal substances through the mail.
Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends
- I loved the squad betting on where the murderer had fled to. Provenza puts $20 on Mexico, while Sanchez picks Thailand. Tao has the best response: "I'll put $20 on Kuala Lumpur. not only is it fun to say, but they have the largest department store in Malaysia!" Good to know!
- Provenza pricks up his ears when he hears that the cooler is wrapped in duct ape. apparently that's the international symbol for "bad, bad contents inside."
- Everyone gagged and retched when the cooler was open -- except Provenza. He went right on doing his crossword puzzle.
- Charlie tells Fritz she won't open the box in front of him because her friend sent her "personal items." What, you can't get tampons in LA?
- Brenda, who may still be under the influence of the brownies, hugs Dr. Terrance. He holds on for WAYYYY too long, leading Sanchez to start coming in as a bouncer, and Provenza to swat at him with a rolled-up newspaper.
- Poor Buzz -- not only do they use the last of his government grant money on coolers and duct tape, but Brenda also borrows his freshly washed car ... which is NOT freshly washed by the time she's done with it.
- Is anyone else ready to drop-kick Charlie out of a moving vehicle? I mean, BESIDES me and Fritz....
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Pleased as punch moment for me? The honest reactions when they opened up the cooler at the beginning of the show. If they employed the old trick we used to use when I worked in a theater, they had a bowl of ammonia in it, which always makes people reel back when they get a good whiff of it. Nice job from everyone in both scenes where they opened it (especially the fake one near the end, when there wasn't anything in it).
**** me off because they're employing yet another bloody tired stereotype moment? Really, Charlie's a pot-smoking, lying, manipulative little *****. Gee, who could have seen that plot twist coming? I expect more originality from shows like The Closer, not the same old tired been-there-done-that-burned-the-frickin'-T-shirt plotlines about teenagers. Fritz's reaction was a little more violent than I was expecting, and a good job by the actor for making it look real.
Considering the two are mother and daughter, I'll bet Kyra Sedgewick and Sosie Bacon had a blast filming the Brenda-is-high-hyuk-hyuk scenes. Sosie looked like she was genuinely tickled several times.
Oh, and the mystery was fine, too. Actually, that's a lie, it was kinda boring compared to the rest of the goings-on, but eh...
brenda high as a kite.
fritz going off on charlie.
priceless and realistic scenes.
the best part of the show.
don't police officials and fbi agents get drug tested? Charlie could've cost either them their job plus called into question all their cases. Best exchange -
Fritz: Were you really going to arrest her?
Brenda: No I was going to let you do it.
don't police officials and fbi agents get drug tested? Charlie could've cost either them their job plus called into question all their cases. Best exchange -
Fritz: Were you really going to arrest her?
Brenda: No I was going to let you do it.
don't police officials and fbi agents get drug tested? Charlie could've cost either them their job plus called into question all their cases. Best exchange -
Fritz: Were you really going to arrest her?
Brenda: No I was going to let you do it.
Love this ep - love the humor. And yes - I looked more closely at Charlie - she does somewhat look like Brenda - NOT a spitten image, like some of you said - but a little. Good thing she does not look like Kevin. Wonder what the brother looks like... Love especially the scene where Brenda was high as a kite - I knew that the minute she saw those brownies, she would've sniped some of them - and that there was something hinky in them as well. But, still - love Brenda's reaction - priceless..!! Love also how Provenza keeps eating his fruit, while ordering everybody around. GREAT Show.
Good episode. Agree with the drug testing of LAPD & FBI; Charlie could have gotten both Brenda & Fritz fired by dosing them. Dr Terrance was again amusing.
I could have definitely done without Buzz's car. I refuse to repeat the make & model here. Way too much product placement, with excessive camera angles, over the top dialog discussing the car's features, etc. If I wanted merchandising shoved down my throat, I'll watch Smallville.
Not only could Charlie have gotten Fritz and Brenda fired, but as he pointed out - what does she think that would have done to him as an alcoholic? Charlie could have cost him a lot more than his job, like his marriage, his health...
Nice episode for Gabriel. Good to see him back in top form after several miscues last season. It was cute the way they were all trying to help him study for the detective's exam. What an awesome cast they have. And isn't Flynn just a terrible piece of work? And don't you just love him?!
A moment on my soapbox: It irritates me to no end that people (on TV and off) write off insolence, disrespect, substance abuse, etc. as being typical teenage behavior. Nope. Not where I come from. Which is one reason I was glad that Brenda recognizes that someone needs to try make a difference in Charlie's life before it's too late. Even though I, too, want to drop-kick her out of a moving vehicle.
Buzz's Prius, perhaps?
:P
stickymittens - Good point about typical teenagers, but I suppose TV teens tend toward the stereotype for the sake of plot points. Yes, it'd be great if they stretched their writing muscles and came up with something different, but I suspect it's already hard enough to do a quality weekly series. Plus, as I've realized recently, some familiarity in plots is comforting to many viewers.