What I'm Watching: The Closer

The Closer: Season 4, Episode 9 "Tijuana Brass" (B+)

Color me extremely impressed. I worried that perhaps this show had lost its edge, but it managed to wow me in a major way not once but twice throughout this, the penultimate episode of the summer season. Firstly, the news article which got Priority Homicide shut down. I was shocked that Pope would pull the plug so immediately, but I was floored by Brenda's stunning twisting of the story when she informed the troublesome reporter that she would essentially be heading the exact same division, with more jurisdiction, and on top of that, Commander Taylor reporting to her. It was also a nice treat to see Brenda actually being nice to her team and cooperating with Fritz in the eye of the storm (think Gibbs' behavior after the death of a member of his team in the season three premiere of "NCIS"). Weird to see Silas Weir Mitchell as a priest, but he did a good job and convinced me. The second moment that really threw me for a loop was Brenda arresting the corrupt Mexican cop under Manuel's name so that he would be killed rather than the innocent kid he framed. Especially interesting that the cop didn't confess and instead got killed in prison, leaving the innocent kid free to live his life, unafraid of the bounty on his head. This is one terrific show that could run for years and years if I had my way, and I'm going to miss it when it goes off the air in just a week.