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Show:		9.0
Picture:		9.0
Sound:		8.0
Extras:		7.0
Score:		8.0

Director(s):	James Duff • Scott Ellis
Writer(s):	James Duff, Adam Belanoff, Steven Kane, Leo Geter
Starring:	Anthony John Denison • Corey Reynolds • G.W. Bailey • Gina Ravera • J.K. Simmons • Jon Tenney • Kyra Sedgwick • Michael Paul Chan • Phillip P. Keene • Raymond Cruz • Robert Gossett
Genre:	Comedy • Drama • Television
Release Date:	May 26, 2009

List Price:	DVD - $39.99
Amazon:

I have a new favorite television character. For a while there, Brandon Walsh was my favorite. Then when Tiffany Amber Thiessen came to 90210, Valerie Malone stole Brandon's spot. I had had enough of his goodie-goodie routine and was onto something with some edge. Then I went soft for Rachel Green. While I was on Rachel, I flirted with the idea of Jack McPhee on Dawson's Creek. After these two, I fell for Edie Falco's Carmela Soprano. But, now I have a new one: Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson from The Closer.

When The Closer was advertised as a new television series four years ago, it didn't look that interesting to me. In fact, I paid so little attention that I kept thinking: "Nearer to what?" Once I became aware of the hard letter "s," the show still didn't seem worth a watch. After all, I was a Law & Order fan. I watched the original, Criminal Intent and Special Victim's Unit. I couldn't get enough of Olivia Benson or Bobby Goren. Still can't. But now, I've added another detective that I cannot get enough of.

According to the TNT commercials: "Kyra Sedgwick is ‘The Closer.'" And she certainly is. She always closes her case and does it with the utmost professionalism cloaked in Southern charm. After watching all of the cop-drama's fourth season, I've started watching the first three seasons-simply to get as much Chief Johnson and her squad as possible before the fifth season begins June 8. I've already written it down in my calendar.

Unlike L&O, this show does not dabble much with the lawyers and judges, but focuses mainly on the crime investigations. Brenda is a thin blond woman from Atlanta, and her thick Southern accent almost always softens her up when she's shaking someone down. After firing questions at a suspect like bullets from a machine gun, she usually finishes her interviews with a big smile and a polite "Thank you. Thank you so much." She moved from Georgia to the Los Angeles Police Department after being offered the position by one of the head honchos, Chief Will Pope (J.K. Simmons), whom she had an affair with years ago when they both lived in D.C.

They manage a group of detectives who make up the Priority Homicide division of the LAPD, making this squad one of the Department's most elite. As Brenda closes cases and constantly butts heads with Commander Taylor (Robert Gossett), she attempts to plan a wedding with her live-in boyfriend, Fritz Howard of the FBI (Jon Tenney). Season four brings new challenge for the detectives, like a newspaper reporter who claims Priority Homicide only investigates murders of the rich, the white or the celebrity. The reporter requires the dismantling of their superior division, causing Chief Pope to give in...although he simply chooses to drop the word "Priority" from the title so they can keep the team together. Season five will call it: Major Crimes.

While this running dialogue continues like a soap opera throughout the series, each episode investigates a murder from its beginning to its end. The combination of the serialized nature of the show with the bookend murder stories in each episode makes it perfect for both the occasional viewer and the avid fan alike. I for one, have become an avid fan. If you only watch one episode, you could easily slip into occasional-viewer-mode. But watch three or four in a row and you'll be hooked. How can you not get hooked on a show that's all about the characters?

Brenda's exterior and her hard-handed murderer-chasing interior make her to fun to watch. Not to mention, she's a substance abuser. Not in the way of her other half, Fritz, who's a recovering alcoholic. When things go wrong for Brenda, she goes for chocolate. Sedgwick plays these moments perfectly. She never looks as satisfied by closing a case as she does in the moment she de-foils a Ding Dong. Pure bliss.

For me, bliss was watching The Closer. The title sequence is like unwrapping the sweet snack. I can't wait to sink my teeth into it. The show's serious and it's funny. You'll be pulled along by the drama and the whodunnit, but you'll find that jolts of humor infuse personality into the show. Sedgwick is backed by a great cast that graciously allows her the spotlight.

Who knows how long it'll last, but for now I've got a sweet tooth for The Closer. I can't say it'll last forever - Edie Falco's new series Nurse Jackie comes out the same day The Closer's fifth year starts. Could be neck and neck. For now I'll just say to Kyra Sedgwick, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

DVD Bonus Features

TV on DVD usually requires some great extra features. Nowadays it's rare that a box-set won't pack at least a few interesting featurettes. The Closer's fourth season on DVD is no exception. It has a gag reel and some unaired scenes. In addition, Corey Reynolds, who plays Brenda's right hand man Sergeant Gabriel, has an interesting feature: "The Closer: Reflections of a Homicide Detective." The actor spends a day with a real LAPD detective who rides around town showing him some real locations of murder scenes. The policeman discusses his cases candidly and Reynolds acts as a detective, digging up all the dirt. I'd have liked to see a little more on-set of The Closer, but the gag reel has some of that, so for all intents and purposes, it carried all anyone might want.