DVD Review: The Closer – The Complete Third Season

By Patrick Luce Jul 25, 2008, 12:43 GMT

An offbeat personality, a tough-as-nails approach and a track record as one of the country\'s leading investigators - these are just a few of the traits exhibited by television\'s next great detective, Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, played by three-time Golden Globe Award nominee Kyra Sedgwick in "The Closer." In her first lead role in a dramatic series, Sedgwick plays a tough CIA-trained detective, with Southern charm, who has been ...more

Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson and the rest of Priority Homicide return for a third season of TNT’s hit crime show The Closer. The series sticks to the established formula from the past two seasons, but also keeps the charm and laughs that made the show a hit.

At the heart of the series’ success is Kyra Sedgwick’s offbeat performance as Johnson. The character is quirky; has a Southern accent that is polite and makes you laugh even if she is cuffing you; and seems to live in her own little world.

She is constantly making her squad jump through some of the strangest hoops, but always manages to come up with the bad guy before the credits roll.

The third season continues to let Sedgwick shine as her character has to deal with house moving issues; a health scare; the continued romance with FBI Agent Fritz Howard; struggles with the politics involved in her job; and a road trip with mom and dad (in what is probably two of the funniest episodes of the season).

As good as Sedgwick is in the show, The Closer would be nothing without its supporting cast – which includes J.K. Simmons, G.W. Bailey, Corey Reynolds, Robert Gossett, Tony Denison, and Jon Tenney.

As he has in past seasons, G.W. Bailey becomes one of the main reasons I kept watching the DVD set. His character, Det. Lt. Provenza, is the veteran of the team, but seems to always be lacking that sage advice the senior member of a police show has the ability to give the younger cops. Instead, he is often the cause of some of Johnson’s quirks – thanks to a knack of stumbling upon dead bodies at all the wrong times.

Bailey delivers the character full of salt and wise-cracks, but also makes sure there is enough softness to him that you find yourself caring for the old guy – such as when Brenda is told budget restraints are going to force her to lose a member of the team and Provenza is up for forced-retirement. As important as Sedgwick is to the series, it is hard to see the show being as enjoyable without Bailey.

While I continue to enjoy the series, some of the cracks and faults from past seasons have yet to be corrected, and are starting to become annoying. I realize the series is called The Closer, but the fact that she solves a crime every episode in the closing minutes gets a tad annoying.

The formulaic feel of the series is starting to grind on me a bit. Each episode features Brenda using her chaotic method to solve a crime with her squad rarely in on what she is doing – even though they are trained professionals.

Her method normally involves some kind of clash with outside squad politics – be it the D.A.’s office, other police force members, or the F.B.I. Of course, Brenda always solves the crime so her methods are just accepted. Again, I still enjoy the series, but halfway through the season I found myself wondering how many more episodes until the set was finished.

I would also like to see the other members of the squad get more screen time. One of the series’ strengths is the great supporting cast.

The third season did open up a bit more and give the rest of the cast more time (such as Corey Reynolds' character getting suspended for beating a confession out of a prisoner), but not enough for the talented cast (the show has J.K. Simmons for god sakes!)

Third Season episodes include: "Grave Doubt", "Saving Face", "EC", "Ruby", "The Round File", "Dumb Luck", "Four To Eight", "Manhunt", "Blindsided", "Culture Shock", "Lover's Leap", "Till Death Do Us (Part 1 & 2)" and "Next Of Kin (Part 1 & 2)".

The third season set comes with the standard special features - including a gag reel; unaired scenes; and “The Art of Interrogation” feature.

If you are a fan of The Closer then you will want to pick up the third season DVD set. If not, the show’s talented cast makes it worth giving The Closer a chance. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a good cop drama or a series that does an excellent job mixing the drama with some good laughs.

The Closer – The Complete Third Season is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.