Corey Reynolds

'The Closer' (Mon., 9PM ET on TNT) isn't really up in the air these days. We now know that the show will come to a definitive end at the conclusion of next season's run. Still, on the latest episode, Brenda Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) finds herself up in the air -- in a very literal sense.

The episode is titled "High Crimes" -- and the LAPD must investigate a series of robberies which then lead to murder. The robberies in question take place at a bunch of medical marijuana shops. (So ... high crimes. ... Get it?)

But while trying to apprehend a suspect, Deputy Chief Johnson gets stuck in an attic -- and then the criminal smashes the ladder that she used to get up there. "Oh, for heaven's sakes!" Brenda says in her inimitable Southern accent, as both the ladder and the suspect crash to the floor.

(S04E03) "You cannot trust the police. They lie about everything." - Brenda

I think TNT over sold this episode in the preview. If you tuned in a few minutes early you would have heard their tag, "The only thing more surprising than the crime is the twist at the end." Honestly, I didn't think there was much of a twist at the end. I'll save any spoilers for after the jump, but the groundwork for the ending was laid out pretty clearly early on. That's not to say it was a bad episode though, because there was a lot to really enjoy here.

%Gallery-27619%

(S03E14) I'm sorry to say that I didn't like this "special" episode. It was a little too cheesy, over-the-top, and far-fetched. Yes, yes, it was great to see the cast during this time of the year since The Closer only airs during the summer. It felt comforting to reunite with Brenda, Fritz and Lts. Flynn and Provenza... but the story wasn't really worth it. The whole thing didn't suck, but I did feel let down by the episode.

(S03E11) This episode was chock full of stuff, wasn't it? I'm trying to figure out which story lines set us up for more issues down the road and I think there are several. But first, let's talk about Brenda Leigh. I was really feeling her pain during this episode. She just had abdominal surgery to reverse her Early Onset Menopause and she was obviously very uncomfortable. The woman should've been in bed, but we know she doesn't relax very well. And she wasn't even hiding her discomfort, which is a bit unusual for her. Also, I loved her near-breakdown when Fritz wouldn't help and she almost started crying about the fact that she couldn't eat chocolate anymore. That's a great personal issue that will no doubt bring on some comedy in the future.

(S03E10) You know what I like about this show? I like that, when each episode opens, the crime has already happened. With CSI and Law & Order, the crime usually happens at the opening of the episode. But we get absolutely no context from The Closer, but I enjoy that.

Okay, so this wasn't my favorite episode this season. In fact, I'd say it was my least favorite. It didn't suck--not by any means--but I just didn't find it all that intriguing. I think the case just was too simple. Even though Brenda and the detectives interviewed a handful of people, it didn't really seem to take any twists or turns. And, the presence of Brenda's parents derailed the case for me (as it did for her).

(S03E09) Another great episode of The Closer! The writers of this show are really knocking it out of the park this season. Did anybody notice in the opening credits that Kevin Bacon directed this episode? I giggled when we saw Brenda nude in the shower (through the frosted glass) because that seemed like a Bacon touch there... show off his hot wife.

Once again, the writers were able to magically mix humor with emotion. And the emotions in this episode were very highly charged, yet the humor fit right in. I am continuously impressed by the show- by the way the story lines and subplots are balanced so perfectly. The writers have become experts at knowing when humor is appropriate and when it isn't.

Kick-ass ratings and another Emmy nomination for Kyra Sedgwick have led TNT to renew The Closer for a fourth season. The police procedural is currently in the middle of its third season and is enjoying huge ratings for a cable series. Last week, it ranked #1 in cable Nielsens with more than 7 million viewers. Overall ratings for The Closer are up 15 percent over last summer.

I review The Closer for TV Squad, and I have to say that this is a spectacular season so far. The investigations are more thrilling and the characters--especially Dep. Chief Brenda Johnson--are getting more complicated, and therefore more interesting. If you haven't been keeping up, you can watch the latest episode on TNT's website or the entire season on iTunes.

(S03E07) Those evil, evil writers over at The Closer kept us hanging on for one more week about what on earth is wrong with Brenda. While it was frustrating that we didn't get an answer, it was also very well done. I thought the fact that Brenda went to see her doctor but didn't ask any questions about what could be wrong was very within her quirky character. She didn't want to know all the possibilities... just the facts. Now I'm strongly suspecting she's at the beginning of menopause. I just don't think her symptoms are of pregnancy.

(S03E06) So... what's wrong with Brenda? She's getting fevers, she's highly emotional and weepy, and she feels like she has a cold. It seemed like the writers were hinting to us that she's pregnant because of her weepiness, irritability and her apparent craving for mashed potatoes. But, what about the fevers? I went on to WebMD to try and figure it out and I'm stumped.

(S03E04) Wow. Just... wow. I had to keep reminding myself to breathe during this episode. I held my breath as Brenda and the Priority Homicide team looked for a kidnapper. And then I held it as Brenda, and then Sgt. Gabriel, interviewed the creepiest sex offender ever shown on television. And then again, as they found the kidnapped 8-year old they were looking for. Let's just say my brain didn't get a whole lot of oxygen tonight.

And let's talk about that sex offender for a second. Was he scary or what? I am going to have nightmares about that guy tonight. I kept muttering, "Oh my God" to myself as the guy said, "You see, everyone pretends kids don't want to have sex. But they do."

*Shiver*

(S03E03) Does anybody else really, really want cake? The scene near the end of this episode where the entire team was eating an angry bride's wedding cake made that cake look so damn good. Yeah, it was a good episode. But, what stuck with me was the cake.

I love when the writers pull out episodes like this one. Sure, there's a dead person and an investigation, but the entire episode still manages to be light-hearted. It all started with Lt. Provenza dropping a coffin down a flight of stairs, then proceeded to a fight between an angry bride and Brenda, and to the entire homicide team eating the bride's $30,000 catering (including that damn cake).

(S03E02) This was one of those great episodes that went seamlessly from comedy to drama, something The Closer does better than any other procedural on television. Think about it: CSI slips the comedy in throughout the investigation, but The Closer gets serious when it needs to.

The beginning of the episode was laugh-out-loud funny thanks to some great one-liners from Lt. Provenza (aren't you glad the budget cuts didn't get him?). When Pope's not around to bring the funny, Provenza can always step in. Some of the more memorables lines were:

(S02E14&15) I decided to sleep on it before writing this review, and I'm still confused as hell. This episode of The Closer required intense concentration. There were a lot of names -- Russian, Arabic, American -- thrown at us, as well as a lot of terrorist scenarios.

The story/investigation was so complicated that we only got to see hints of Dep. Chief Johnson's unusual personality. I enjoyed the little tidbits in the first hour that showed her restless at her house as she waited for the investigation to conclude about the shooting in her murder room. Like you would imagine, she attempted gardening, but appeared to have killed all the plants. And she tried to go for a jog but ended up at the pastry shop "that I hate!" down the street.

(S02E12) This episode opens with a sombre tone when a teen-age boy is found shot to death in front of his home, in a very nice neighborhood. The kid (Carl Neilson) doesn't have any gang affiliations but he is the star witness in a murder case and his testimony could free the man on death row for the murders of two convenience store owners. Detectives start their hunt for the man described by the kid as the real killer.

But hell with the case. We've got a bitch fight between Estelle (Chief Pope's soon-to-be ex-wife) and Brenda and it ain't pretty. Estelle barges into the investigation room and, with every single member of Brenda's team present, she yells at Brenda about her previous affair with Chief Pope and accuses her of having another affair with him. Yowza. So much for spending all of last season gaining the respect of her team.