The Closer Season 1 Episode 6

This episode made me sick to my stomach. Until this episode I never knew people could really be that nasty and sick. A girl is raped and killed. While at the victim's house, Brenda get attacked and almost raped, but she fights back and kicks the guys butt. The guy is upset, because he claims that she 'wanted it' and then shows them the ad that was on the website. The ad requests for a man to use the key under the rock to come in and rape her. I really enjoyed it when Brenda pushed the big red button trashing all website information after she received the information that she needed. Its awesome how she works her magic.


The exboyfriend wanted the victim raped so that she would realize that his little hit on the arm wasn't a big deal. I wanted to smack him upside his head.

This is my first foray into the world of the Closer. I really enjoy Kyra's title character and the entire episode sees very believable. It was a little predictable, though. I knew the guy that broke into the crime scene was into S&M and all that jazz, because there is a similar CSI (Miami, maybe) episode where people pay to be kidnapped for the adrenaline rush. This is a reminder as to how scary it can be to go online and talk to strange people - for sex or for any other reason. I'll definitely be watching more of The Closer. Great show!

The Jones list – nice little twist on Craig’s list – but with that funny little twist of Jonesing for something. This episode was hard to watch from the start – rape is always a touchy subject and then to see Brenda attacked. Wow – I was on the edge of the couch yelling at her on the tv to get to her gun – glad that she listened. So I did guess that the ad was placed by the ex-boyfriend so she would get scared and go running back to him. Men are sick that way…also glad that Fritz seems ok with Brenda’s kinda strange behavior.

this is the exact reason i watch the closer. the drama mixed in with the action is amazing. i still can't beleave that that girl's boyfriend would hurt her like that. or that that girl would dump a guy just because he lightly slaped her. he had no history of slaping anyone and then he loeses control for two seconds and he slapes hes so little it barly made a bruse. that girl was tough and if she was to live she needed to losen up on that section. but still that doesn't justify what he did. that was just worng.

This episode does so much right, and I have nothing to criticize about any elements of it, unbelievably enough. Usually something irks me, but 'Fantasy Date' was brilliant!





Firstly, the storyline- I love the twists and turns in it; the fact that the boyfriend ended up ultimately responsible, that he had actually set up Carla- I actually believed for a while that she had subscribed to the website of her own volition, though I eventually guessed [before it was revealed] that it had been a calculated attempt to victimize her. The kid that actually killed her got off pretty easy though- I mean, he killed her, for crying out loud, surely there's got to be some penalty! [Although some teens recently got out of jail after only two years, even though they abused this elderly man, set his house on fire and let him die in there- they were sentenced for five years, but were let out for 'good behavior']





Secondly, the humor! It was hysterical- they check out suspects, and one of them turns out to be a little kid who shouldn't even be on those kinds of trashy sites- where was the adult supervision, I ask you? And how the guy in charge of the site asked snidely if they could back to work and Brenda, looking absolutely beautiful [coz sometimes she looks old, it's interesting how that varies between scenes], says sweetly, "Sure, let me help you", trips the kill switch thing that wipes out all their information and quips, "Sue me". Great!





Thirdly, the attack! I'm used to either 'Cold Case', where Lilly never gets attacked, and 'Law and Order: SVU', same with Olivia. It's always the guys that get bashed up, nothing happens to the ladies, like the writers think they're fragile little butterflies or something. Or then there's 'X-Files' [and even 'Stargate' to some extent] with Scully getting beaten up every other episode and never being able to do anything about it. That frustrates me! It's like, didn't the FBI teach you self-defense at all? Here, though, Brenda was attacked and she got the upper hand of the idiot- none of that, 'ooh, he knocked my gun from my hand' rubbish. It was a really cool scene, how you think she's done, the guy's whacked her on the head, he's on top of her on the bed [though you know she won't be raped, she's the main character, come on...] and then she gets her gun out on him- great job to all the actors involved in the whole episode!





Okay, so one little thing nags at me- Fritz. As if any guy in the history of mankind would be that patient with someone like Brenda...'sleepover' translating into him on the sofa? Any other guy would've bailed!

Ok, if the lead in the series were male, would they show him getting brutalized by a man in a mask? No. The fact that they allowed Sedgwick's character to endure it is the mark of what this show is about. She was victumized, but she is such a tough cookie that everything turns out ok. By next week, I am sure it will all be forgotten. (Pity.)





It was nice to see Meridith Baxter. Her role as a politician was underused, but she made the most of the screen time she had. Perhaps she will be a recurrent character.





The guilty pleasure of the show is G.W. Bailey. I can scarcely believe that this guy was ever in the Police Academy. He appears to be relishing his role.

First, some loud, sustained applause for Kyra Sedgewick's acting in this episode.





The strength that shone through her vulnerability was incredible -- how deeply shaken she was, how she wasn't going to let that stop her.





Also, her multi-pronged approach to suspect interviews makes her a formidable interviewer. She watched the exboyfriend on the monitor for less than a minute before determining that "ditzy assistant" was the best approach to take with him. He's a "controll freak," like he says in his profile, he's offended by authority or external controls, and the most effective approach to get him to open up is to pretend to be no threat whatsoever.





This served her better in her second interview with him than her first, but it was a remarkable read.





Tracking those potential rapists was actually a little frightening. The 8-year-old that came to the door was jarring (you are *not* supposed to be visiting that site young man) but also ... one's name gets on the wrong list and the police show up at one's door. That's ... a little Orwellian, but watcha gonna do?





I especially loved Brenda zapping the servers after they got what they needed. That was just fun. Except, in the future, I'm thinking, less a big red button on the wall and more a nondescript gray button at your station.





I thought the Senator was well done, and I felt bad for Carla, and for the guy who attacked Brenda, although it was frightening to witness the attack, and if Brenda wasn't a very strong person at the peak of her training that could've ended very badly. Who [i]knows[/i] what kind of scenario he might've prepped and played out.





I blame the idiot cop who left his station and wouldn't give her the key.





The storytelling was excellent, if a little tight. They needed to introduce the exboyfriend in the beginning and then they had to completely stop talking about him immediately in order for him to seem too innocuous to be relevant. If they'd had more time, they should've interviewed a few red herrings.





But the way the story was written, there was no time. Brenda needed to get to the fact that Carla fought back in order to reach the conclusion she wasn't some online solicitress into kinkiness.





Though I imagine she had trouble incorporating that personality into the room she was observing. But she's not a profiler. She's an interrogator, and a darned good one. I just imagine that the way her mind puts personalities with their surroundings, backgrounds and actions she must've been at least somewhat confused by the crime scene.





Way to be deeply perceptive, Brenda. :)





The kid who actually did the attack was a good actor, too. And the makeup on him was well done as well. That whole interview sequence -- Brenda's attacker, the clawed-up kid, and the ex-boyfriend -- that was some outstanding writing and well presented.





Excellent job, everyone. Way to be there for her, Fritz, even if just on the couch, and hey -- she kept that outlandish little cat, too. Way to go, Brenda. :)

While we got a touch of Brenda's softer side in "The Big Picture", we really got to see Brenda as a woman with the ability to be rattled to the core.





Brenda handled herself like a pro when she was attacked, as would be expected from her training. But we also got to see her physically shaking and how affected she was in the moments following the attack. Though keeping a brave face in front of her co-workers, Brenda allowed herself a few moments to be upset before facing the world again.





Upset enough to call Fritz, we finally got to see Brenda in need of a security blanket of sorts, adding more to her vulnerability. Though unable to bring herself to come out and ask Fritz to come to her and to stay with her for the night, she did reach out to him and let him know that she needed him, in a presumptuous sort of way befitting Brenda.





More to Brenda's credit, she continued to pursue the case even after everything seemed to be solved, because things still did not add up. Despite her recent experience with the attack, she was able to regain her composure and bring herself back to the Brenda that everyone knows: the closer.