Created by James Duff and the Shephard/Robin Company, The Closer centers on Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick), who was brought from Atlanta to Los Angeles by Assistant Police Chief Will Pope (J.K. Simmons) to lead up a new special murder investigation task force, Priority Homicide. Pope selected Johnson because of her uncanny ability to ‘close’ a case by getting confessions others could only dream of.
Without Sedgwick, The Closer would be just another of the countless police procedurals that came before it. Sedgwick’s southern accident becomes more pronounced, the angrier Brenda gets. While the series focus is the cases Brenda must deal with, there’s enough about her personal life—dealing with her hunky FBI agent boyfriend (later husband) Fritz Howard and her parents Willie Rae and Clay (wonderfully played by Frances Sternhagen and Barry Corbin).
As good a cop as Brenda is, she is very disorganized (she can never find anything in the large shoulder bag she is always carrying), can’t seem to find her way around Las Angeles, and has a complex relationship with junk food, digging into sweets whenever she’s under stress.
Despite her obvious skills, her underlings initially resent her for being both female and not a product of the L.A.P.D. system. More concerned with solving cases than being nice, the fact that she’s good at her job galls Capt. Taylor (Robert Gossett), head of robbery and homicide. He set up the unit Johnson is now heading under the assumption that he would be leading it. To add insult to injury, she now outranks him.
Brenda spends much of the first season gaining the respect of her subordinates which includes David Gabriel (Corey Reynolds) evolves into Brenda’s apprentice of sorts, a real curmudgeon, detective lieutenant Louie Provenza (G.W. Bailey) is second in command, detective lieutenant Andy Flynn (Tony Denison), who is transferred to the squad during season one, detective lieutenant Michael Tao (Michael Paul Chan) detective Julio Sanchez (Raymond Cruz), and detective Irene Daniels (Gina Rivera) who would become the only cast member to leave the series before the start of season five. Buzz Watson (Philip P. Keene) LAPD civilian surveillance coordinator, handles the audio/video needs of the department.
Internal affairs officer Captain Sharon Raydor (Mary McDonnell) is introduced during the fifth season, initially to investigate a shooting in which Sgt. Gabriel is accused of misconduct: later, she takes on a case involving Brenda’s possible mistreatment of a suspect in Brenda’s custody. Naturally, Brenda and her squad don’t trust Raydor, and want her gone. Eventually, the two come to respect each other. Sedgwick and McDonnell play well off each other. Both working in a male dominated world, it doesn’t take them long to realize that working together will benefit them both.
While there are some story elements that carry over from episode to episode (Fritz moving in, Brenda’s battle with sweets, Pope’s divorce, Charlie Johnson, Brenda’s niece), The Closer is mostly one-off plotlines taken to a conclusion. Unlike most police procedurals, viewers might know who the bad guy is from the start, and the mystery is how Brenda will get them to confess.
Lasting seven seasons, 109 episodes, and garnering Kyra Sedgwick an Emmy for Lead Actress in a Drama Series, 2010, The Closer had some notable guest stars: Curtis Armstrong, James Avery, Beau Bridges, Debrah Farentino, Ken Howard, Jeff Kober, Silas Weir Mitchell. Richard Roundtree, and William Daniels.
Warner Bros. recently released The Closer: The Complete Series on DVD. Spread across twenty-eight discs, with extras including Unaired Scenes, Gag Reels, Featurettes, Music Videos and More…