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The Closer Season 3 Episode 4

Ruby

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9.0

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AIRED: 7/9/07

Racing against the clock, Brenda and the PHD search for a missing 8-year-old girl who disappeared before making it home from school.

While concentrating on a sex predator, Gabriel takes drastic action to solve the case, putting his career and the investigation on the line.

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Fan Episode Reviews (10)

a child gets abducted and a race against time begins. police violence, the violation of civil rights, torture as means of getting the suspect to confess.

5.6

By artaudx, Feb 05, 2012

It was painful to watch. one of my favourite series starting to deteriorate and showing a side of the american legal system, which should not exist.

a girl gets abducted, the whole squad works on her case. only 90 min after her disappearance, all the detectives are on the search for her. totally unbelievable. a

suspect is found. in police custody he is beaten to pulp to get a confession. later he is thrown into a cell with other inmates. the have been informormed, what crimes he had committed and is beaten again. it seems, that there are no laws in the united states, that every criminal can be tortured and beaten. i will not believe, that the people of this proud nation are morally so deteriorated, that they can accept the ethics of this episode.moreless
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A little girl named Ruby goes missing. They search for her and her abductor. They find the abductor, and girl is dead. Then they must figure out how to get a second confession (the first one was coerced through violence) out of the man so he doesn't walk.moreless

3.5

By UDissent, Feb 23, 2011

I'm afraid to say that this was the worst episode of "The Closer" I've ever seen. The script was not like a regular "Closer" script. There was a lack of humor to lighten the dark moments, which is integral to the show. The subject matter, which already lends itself to drama, was handled in a heavy-handed manner. It was almost overdone. The plot was completely transparent. This wouldn't have mattered too much though, if the script, the dialogue and the bits around the plot would've made up for it, but it did not. The rest of the team was almost non-existent, except for a few token moments, which is also an integral part of the show. Also, the actor that they chose to play the pedophile did a poor job of it (I'm being kind here). The writing for the pedophile was clichéd, and then, it's not enough that he's a pedophile, he's racist too. And the racism was written in as sort of an afterthought. As if to make him already more despicable than he already was--and it was entirely unnecessary. In addition to this, the line that Brenda stated right before she left the tragi-comedic pedophile (I hate to even refer to a pedophile in this manner but that is the way he, between the writing and the acting, came across) was anti-climactic. I also found the family aspect of the missing girl not very well developed. I didn't really feel attached to them in any way. The scene with them was like a million others I've seen and the acting for the parents (it's like they were trying to cry, but couldn't squeeze out the tears, which is worse than using some other way to convey the pain because it draws you away from the scene and the moment and into the affectation of it all)

I will say this, so as not to be totally negative, the moment when they found the girl's body was very well done. The acting, the flashing lights to give you glimpses, impressions, of the horror and raw emotions surging through Brenda and Gabriel, the words spoken, it was excellent drama. I'm glad, as well, that Gabriel was punished for doing what he did. If he'd have gotten away with it, it would've been the final nail in the coffin. In this review, I will also say that I have high standards for a "Closer" script, so as to give this review context. This is the first episode of the first two seasons that I've seen (and have on DVD) that I have not thoroughly enjoyed. This is the first time it has disappointed me. So, while this may be the worst episode of this show that I've seen, that certainly does not imply the corollary that it is the worst episode of any show I've ever seen. This is the first episode of season three that I have watched. I must say that I'm looking forward to tonight's episode to cleanse my palate.moreless
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An 8 year old girl is missing, and the detectives close in on a suspect. He gives nothing up, until Brenda leaves, and he comments to Sgt. Gabriel how sexually provocative black girls are. Provenza stops the film and Gabriel beats a confession out of him.moreless

10

By RCT537580, Jan 14, 2011

All divisions are searching for a missing 8 year old girl. Cameras locate a van cruising the area, and when located there is no sign of the girl. The Deputy Chief gets nothing from the suspect, but when she leaves the room, Sgt. Gabriel, infuriated by the suspect's remarks about sexually provocative black girls, beats a confession out of him. Provenza, knowing what was coming, had the camera equipment in the interview room turned off as Gabriel approached the suspect. They find the girl dead, and then must deal with the beating, the forced confession and the coming media outcry. Brenda approaches Commander Taylor who tells her to let robbery book the suspect. He then places him in general population where everyone knows who the suspect is and what he did. The inmates beat him brutally. He begs to talk to Deputy Chief Johnson to protect him. He waives counsel and confesses to rape and murder and also to two other unsolved murders. Brenda is kind and gentle with him as she leads him to the confession. Then, when he asks what will happen to him now, she says she doesn't care. Later, the man hangs himself, and the problem of Gabriel having to testify and admit the beating is gone. However, Gabriel is suspended without pay for ten days. When Brenda asks if he would do it again, he says he doesn't know. This episode is filled with all the problems facing the police working within the constitutional rights of a suspect everyone knows is probably guilty. The fact that in this case he was guilty doesn't diminish the seriousness of police misconduct and the pressures police work under every day and the added pressure when the victim is a young child.moreless
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A litle girl goes missing and Brenda and her team are on a manhunt to find her abductor and hopefully find her alive. Detective Gabriel gets himself in a little bit of trouble along the way. And it's not a happy ending for all.moreless

9.5

By PoohBear73, Jan 14, 2011

The episode starts in a neighborhood where Brenda's team, others from the LAPD and FBI are searching for a missing girl. She was walking home from school and never made it. They are working against a clock and hoping to find her alive, but know their chances of that diminish as time goes by. Through interviews, they hear about a suspicious blue van and through surveillance cameras at stores, they find the van. They locate the owner and bring him in for questioning after the K9 team determines the girl was in his van. While being questioned, he asks for a lawyer. Brenda leaves him alone in the interrogation room with Detective Gabriel. He tells Detective Gabriel some upsetting stuff causing Lieutenant Provenza to cut the video feed to the room. Detective Gabriel's tactics (beating up the suspect) lead them to find Ruby's body in the park. They also find that 2 girls from other areas have gone missing and their suspect could be responsible for it. Once Brenda finds out what Detective Gabriel has done to their suspect, she puts him on suspension and tries to find a way to solve their case without having to release what Gabriel has done to him. She enlists the help of Commander Taylor who puts the suspect in general lockup and the prisoners there beat him up to the point where he is ready to talk without a lawyer. At first he lies to Brenda about when he last saw Ruby, but she is able to get him to confess to Ruby's murder and the other 2 girls, too. However, Brenda wasn't able to dismiss what Detective Gabriel did. She went to Chief Pope and he's been placed on a 10 day suspension. Brenda asked Gabriel if he was ever in that situation again would he do the same thing. He said he didn't know and she told him not to come back until he knew for sure. And that's how it ended. Can't wait to see what happens in the coming weeks.moreless
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This was a chilling, edge of your seat, extremely well acted and written episode.

10

By lisa1124, Jul 17, 2007

The best episode I've ever seen. I had a remind myself to breathe so many times. The mother's cry, the dogs barking in the park, every word that came out of the killer's mouth had me - it all had me on the edge of my seat the entire hour. I am used to the humor and bantering back and forth but I think there was only one piece of humor (from Provenza, of course). Every single actor deserves an Emmy for this episode. TNT out-does every major network with this show. This is the one show where I find myself anxious for 9:00 on Monday to happen.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Kyra Sedgwick	Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson
J.K. Simmons	Assistant Police Chief Will Pope
Corey Reynolds	Sgt. David Gabriel
Robert Gossett	Commander Russell Taylor
G.W. Bailey	Detective Lt. Louis Provenza
Tony Denison	Detective Lt. Andy Flynn

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Heath Freeman	Roger A. Stimple	Guest Star
Burnadean Jones	Mrs. Williams	Guest Star
Jonathan Adams	Randall Williams	Guest Star
Phillip P. Keene	Buzz Watson	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (2)
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- In 2005, Heath Freeman guest starred in an episode of Bones called A Man on Death Row. At the time. Jonathan Adams was a series regular on the program.
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- Nitpick: When Roger Stimple writes and signs his confession for Brenda, we see he is right handed. When she comes to see his body later that night in his cell, the apology to his mother, or his 'suicide note', is written on the palm of his right hand. Brenda looks hard at his hand, but says nothing about the inconsistency.
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QUOTES (4)
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- Brenda: (into phone) Fritz? Are we any closer to finding the girl...hang on, Will. Did we get anything from the van or the apartment? No, no, he's lawyered up, and I need something that ties him to Ruby Williams, other than the testimony of a German Shepherd. (walks past Pope)
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- Tao: Chief, we checked Roger's computer. No pornography; child or other.
  Provenza: (poker-faced) Thirty year old single man, lives alone and no pornography? Now, THAT'S suspicious.
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- Provenza: (closing Brenda's office door and taking a seat) I did a bad thing once. I'm talking about the first time. It was years ago. I was young, like Gabriel. And my heart, back when I had a heart, was in the right place. But I was stubborn. I was stupid, and I, I did something that I'm not proud of. But people grow, people change. Well, look at me now.
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- Flynn: Sorry to wake you Chief, but I have good news and better news!
  Brenda: What's the good news?
  Flynn: It only took a couple of hours for the search team to find the remains of the other two girls, right where Roger Said they'd be.
  Brenda: What's the better news?
  Flynn: No trial!
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NOTES (3)
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- This episode is rated TV-14-DV.
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- International Air Dates:
  Canada (French Language): September 26, 2008
  Czech Republic: September 29, 2008 on TV Prima
  Finland: October 15, 2009 on MTV3
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- This episode ran an additional ten minutes, from 9:00 to 10:10 pm, for its first run only.
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ALLUSIONS (0)
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