What I’m Watching: The Closer

The Closer: Season 6, Episode 5 “Heart Attack” (B+)

While this show always has strong, good cases, they’re not usually quite this severe and serious. It worked extremely well here, putting Bruno Campos in a familiar role as a murderous surgeon and presenting a powerful ultimatum for Brenda and the rest of the team regarding morals of criminals and innocent people in need. Pairing that central plotline with Sanchez’s refusal to let go of the boy whose mother he’s supposed to find increased the effectiveness of this episode. Since it was obvious that Sanchez couldn’t stall forever, the ending scene with him asking out the mother was a pleasant, heartwarming surprise. It’s nice to see Fritz step in and help out every once in a while, especially since it gives him something else to do other than get frustrated with Brenda. The accidental revelation of Brenda’s application for the position of chief made for quite an entertaining situation that is sure to spiral into even more chaos, confusion, and contemplation. Commander Taylor’s reaction was especially poignant since he’s technically supposed to be somewhere close to the same level as Brenda in rank and his anger with not being informed before the members of Brenda’s team. Watching Pope continually spout off his fury at Brenda’s application being part of the reason that, in his own words, he’s no longer the slam dunk he was supposed to be, makes it clear that there’s going to be a division coming soon where Brenda will likely hold a grudge even if Pope does end up getting the job. No matter what, I’m excited to see how the team will function with the three people in leadership positions shuffling jobs in some way.