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The Closer: Borderline

by Anna Johns, posted Aug 22nd 2006 1:38AM
the closer
(S02E11) Brenda's back! You probably thought she was getting her act together, thanks to the last few episodes. But, no. She's just as bumbling and unorganized as ever and it ends up with her backing her police vehicle into some guy's SUV. Brenda neglects to report the accident, as she was in a rush to get to a crime scene. Seems harmless, right? Wrong!

Anyway, on with the case. Brenda and the Priority Homicide team find tons of blood and brain fragments at a home with nothing in it but mattresses (did anybody else think of The Godfather?). From the amount of blood at the scene, the team determines that two people are definitely dead and a third is injured. They find the injured guy with a leg wound at a clinic, catch him trying to flee and move him to a hospital. It turns out he's Hugo, an illegal immigrant/drug smuggler who was shot by the dealers who held him and others for ransom.

The bodies end up getting found on a construction-- and this is where we get our first twist in the case. One of the victims is the killer/drug trafficker described by the victim in the clinic.

Once again, the secondary storyline is what leads Brenda to solve the case. The chief of the traffic division mentions that people actually care about traffic victims and make shrines to them. Brenda realizes the candles found with the bodies were out of respect to someone. It turns out the location of the bodies is the same place where a truck was found with a bunch of suffocated immigrants in the back. And one of the people who claimed the bodies was Carlos Gonzales, who coincidentally lived near where the gun in this crime was ditched after another crime.

It turns out our injured friend isn't as innocent as he proclaims to be. Brenda gets him to apply for a Visa and give his fingerprints, which they quickly match to the fingerprints on the truck that abandoned the dead bodies. And Carlos is guilty, too. He killed the two other men and tried to kill Hugo for murdering all those people in a truck three years ago. Brenda uses an interesting tactic to get Carlos to confess. She has Det. Sanchez go nuts on him in the interrogation room and he whispers something to Carlos in Spanish. What does he say? That if he confesses, he'll end up in the same prison as Hugo.

The traffic problem of Brenda's ends up with her playing politics. She gets Chief Pope to give the head of the traffic division a metal (Pope says, "Whatever. Those metals are a dime a dozen.") and she gets her car back and her traffic case is thrown out.

I didn't like how much Brenda tried to cash inon the favor she did for Pope by testifying for him in a deposition. She tried to cash it in several times on this case and on her traffic accident. Wonder how long she'll hold it over his head?

Loved the joke with Lt. Flynn's cell phone. He kept trying to grab it from her as she puts it in her mouth and coughs on it. Also loved the Dr. Tan coroner character who is meticulous about speaking directly into the microphone and the other, nervous coroner who turned the laser pointer on his face instead of the victim. I'm not sure what the writers have against coroners, but they sure do make these guys out to be freaks of nature!

Best line from Flynn when Sgt. Gabriel goes off on a tangent describing the bushes that a gun was thrown into, "He must be channeling Lt. Tau from Hawaii."

Next week: Pope's soon-to-be ex-wife confronts Brenda about her past affair with Pope in front of the entire team!

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PHILIP KADISH

Kyra Sedgewick gives an all-time great performance in this role. What an unexpected gift this show is.

August 24 2006 at 11:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Margaret Calvert

I disagree with the comments about the way Brenda behaved toward the traffic accident/ticket. Think about it for a minute -- if she'd just filled out the papers instead of fussing about them, there would have been no show and no laughs. And, it gives up more insight into the workings of Brenda and Pope. And, you never know how some of this will play out in future episodes. Enjoy the fun and go from there w/o it driving you crazy. Brenda/Kyra are too yummy to get real upset about. This show is just the best.

August 22 2006 at 6:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Gordy

Whoa...someone takes their 'The Closer' seriously. Anyway, loved the coroner scene...hilarious! After going deep the last few episodes, it was great to laugh out loud again at this excellent show. I'm starting to wish Jack McCoy would enter at some point to prosecute. That's such an important part to a crime drama, but not the real focus here.

August 22 2006 at 12:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dan Chichian

I wasn't thrilled with Brenda's behaviour towards the accident either. If she had spent as much time filling in the forms as she did whining about them they would have been completed and sent in on time.

August 22 2006 at 10:22 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris Wyant

Couple of things:
-They were not drug smugglers; they were "coyotes" and used to hustle Mexicans, taking all their money and smuggling them into the US.
-Carlos Gonzales didn't just claim the bodies; his parents were in the first truck after they had to return to Mexico and get re-smuggled.
-Also, it's important to note HOW Carlos found the coyotes; he went back to Mexico with the gun he found near his house and approached the same smugglers to bring him back.
-And it's medal, not metal... But that's not significant.

August 22 2006 at 7:01 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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