Divisão Criminal

The crime aspect of this show is pretty good, but not extraordinary. This should NOT be the reason to watch the show. If you're looking for that, look somewhere else.

Watch the show for the charming character portrayed by Kyra Sedgewick, who looks like she's in over her head and a mess, but never really is. You won't like her much at first, then she'll start to grow on you and you can't wait for the next episodes. Watch it for the old Lt. Provenza, who you probably wouldn't mind punching in the face ... then episodes later, he's one of your favorite characters on the show. The characters is what makes this show good, and the crimes only further bring out their own .. uh .. character. The script dialog is also very witty. And the acting is very, very good.

If that's what you're looking for, then great. If you're looking for CSI, watch CSI. :)

And as a professional woman, why was I surprised by the nasty comments about the lead character? One poster missed the point entirely when he wrote that all of the detectives working for her submitted their resignations after the first meeting because she was a real bitch. They submitted their requests for transfer BEFORE EVEN MEETING HER. Under the circumstances, her behavior was pretty restrained. How I wish I could think up some of the responses she comes up with -- and had the guts to utter them!

And what's with the comments on her clothing? If Sipowicz had shown up, would you have questioned his credibility as a leader because he doesn't look like he walked off the pages of GQ? Few men in my workplace look like they spend a lot of time thinking about their wardrobe (to their credit, imo); why do you hold women to such a ridiculous standard?

I love the junk food theme. When was the last time you saw a fresh green salad in a police department? Oh to be starving and to see only donuts (forbidden food) lying around!

She's human -- a little bedraggled sometimes, a little neurotic about what she eats, not a paragon of organization... why can't you find that likable? If she were the stereotypical cold blue-suited automaton you seem to expect, you'd hate her even more, wouldn't you?

Wait... maybe all you hostile posters are just constructing an elaborate parody of how some men treat professional women. My bad; you're brilliant!

Sure, this could fall into the category with the other Law and Orders and CSI's but something about this show really stands out probably because its aired on TNT and you'd expect there to be some cheesy movie of the week quality about it. Like Law and Order the show puts more focus on the cases themselves rather than the personal lives of the characters, but The Closer opens the door a little more. Kyra is really what draws in people to this show, it's something about her character's charm despite the fact the character is from the often ridiculed south. The writers were also keen to make Brenda Johnson a real person, not some super-hero who always wins and always knows the every move of the bad guy; sometimes Brenda makes mistakes and pays for them and sometimes she is insecure about her looks or being freshly relocated to the big city of Los Angelos. The show just started this summer and I wish it the best of luck, I hope it can become as acclaimed as all the other crime dramas we've got on the airwaves today

I didn't see the first episode of this series, but from the first time I watched it I could tell it would be one of my favorite shows. And I wasn't disappointed. There are so many things I love about this show, but most of all it is hilarious to watch the characters interact with each other. Kyra Sedgwick excellently portrays a tough woman who won't let people walk all over her. People complain that Brenda is a b****, but maybe that's the point. What fun would it be to watch a show with nothing but sweetness and joy between the main characters, no conflict whatsoever? The tension she endures and often causes just makes the show all the more entertaining.

What is most irritating, however, is to hear people complain about how the perpetrators in each show is obvious. Anybody who had listened what TNT had been saying about the show before it premiered would know that they said from the beginning that this show would be unlike other crime dramas in that the crime would not be the main focus. This show is ABOUT Brenda Johnson.

So, in conclusion, this is an excellent, intelligent, amusing show, and I am sad to see the season end.

The only problem I've ever had with The Closer is the whole concept of a Priority Homicide Squad. Just what constitutes a priority homicide, as distinct from your garden variety one? The answer as the LAPD brutally admits is one that has or is guaranteed to give them bad publicity if it don't get solved.

So on that basis Chief J.K. Simmons formerly Doctor Emil Skoda on Law and Order forms a Priority Homicide Squad with some of the best detectives the LAPD has. But in heading it, Simmons reaches out of the department all the way to Atlanta for Deputy Chief Brenda Lee Johnson as beautifully played by Kyra Sedgwick.

The fact the two of them were once romantically involved is of secondary importance. Simmons is not a guy to mix pleasure and business. Her big asset on the job is an incredibly disarming manner and innate ability to read people that makes them fess up. That whole southern mush mouth drawl also grates on the sophisticated ears of some of LAPD's finest. But Brenda gets results.

We also see her as a fully developed character with a home life and a romantic life, that revolves around a current relationship with an FBI agent played by Jon Tenney. But there are days she goes home to nothing more than her cat which makes her good people in my book.

And the staff has its conflicts. Right now Gina Ravera and Corey Reynolds are going through a breakup that's not good for staff morale. But there is an old adage about not performing bodily functions where you consume edibles. Anthony John Dennison once her biggest detractor has now come around. Michael Paul Chan and Raymond Cruz have always been loyal to her. But my favorite is G.W. Bailey who used to be Sergeant Rizzo on MASH who always has something interesting to say.

The Closer ends almost as frequently as Perry Mason with Brenda Lee breaking down her suspect. The writing in these scenes is some of the best currently on series television. In fact The Closer is the TNT network's best show second to none.