L.A. Crime Goes South In The Closer

Kyra Sedgwick returns to play the sweet toothed, crime solving Southern belle, LAPD Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson, who turns the Los Angeles crime scene upside down in The Closer. The cable record-breaking show, which boasts nearly 10 million viewers last season, returns to TNT for its fourth season this summer. Continuing its streak of explosive plot twists and witty dialogue, thanks in large part to Deputy Chief Johnson and her ragtag band of sidekicks, The Closer strays from the more technologically and action driven storylines of crime shows, such as CSI. Instead, the show focuses more on instinctual and often unconventional crime investigation techniques that is allusive of older crime dramas.

The tensions of office politics and Johnson’s ever evolving romance are more reminiscent of crime shows such as BBC’s Prime Suspect. The show’s plots often unravel as slowly as the protagonist’s drawl and one can’t help but to question if Johnson’s unusual and sometimes questionable interrogation techniques would ever fly in the real world. In one recent episode, Johnson even posed as a lawyer in the interrogation room to pry more information from a suspect on an investigation. However, one also can’t help but root for Johnson whose coy, Southern gentility metamorphoses into relentless bull-doggishness in order to catch the criminal every time.

The Closer airs on TNT, Mondays at 9/8c.