In the past month, I finished the whole six seasons of The Closer. I had not heard much about this series; only that its lead had won the Emmy. Otherwise, I was totally in the dark about The Closer, which has turned out to be my this year’s best detective show.
Usually, I watch shows I keep hearing about, with some blatant exceptions to the rule (like Parks and Recreation, Glee, 30Rock, etc.). But The Closer is a show about detectives and more about interrogation and smarts than evidence and street stakeouts. Brenda Leigh Johnson, played by the delightfully surprising Kyra Sedgwick, transfers to LAPD as a high-ranking officer, and faces staunch opposition for being an outsider and a woman. But she overcomes that by being a top-notch interrogator and a detective.
The series mostly works because of Sedgwick’s brilliant portrayal as the quirky Johnson. It is a must-watch for all fans of the detective genre.
The other show that I started watching after this was Criminal Minds. I can safely say that it is one of the many shows in the line of the CSI blitz. Although the form of detection is based on psychological analysis, the series feels too churned-up and the characters, heavy. There are some good elements, but those are just once in a blue moon. However, I will not completely shun it.
