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THE CLOSER “War Zone” Review

THE CLOSER "War Zone"

On tonight’s episode of THE CLOSER, “War Zone,” Brenda made a decision that left me reeling. We know Brenda is tough as nails and utterly ruthless when she needs to be, but, wow, she may have crossed a line tonight. Or not. I still can’t decide. One thing I’m sure about is that “War Zone” is one of the most amazing episodes The Closer has ever done.

It started with Brenda going up against the US Army, the FBI, and Pope in order to try to solve the murders of three soldiers just returned from Afghanistan. It turned out to be a case of mistaken identity between twin brothers. How does one brother join the army while the other ends up in a gang? I guess they both “joined up” in their own way, albeit in very different organizations.

The Army Major, played by Gary Cole, was quick to call this a terrorist act and was eager to go all “Chicken Little” and ruin any advantage Brenda had. It was his fault (and Pope’s) that they ended up giving immunity to a man who killed an elderly storeowner and an eight-year-old boy. At least Major Dorcet lightened up a really intense episode with his comments to Fritz (Major Dorcet: “Thank god. You have to help me with this woman.” and Major Dorcet: “My opinion, she needs to get laid.” Fritz: “Hmmm…I don’t think that’s the problem, really.”).

During the interview with Turell/T-Ball, Kyra Sedgwick proved why she won the Emmy last night. The anger that flashed in her eyes while he was confessing to shooting the little boy was scary. Her performance during that scene was brilliant.

So let’s talk about that ending and the decision Brenda made to leave Turell at the curb, his death almost certain. She even said to him, “Don’t worry, Turell. I have a feeling I’ll be looking into your eyes again very, very soon.” And we know she had planned this ahead of time because she cut the video feed in the control room and gave Reggie all the phone calls he wanted. I know Turell was a coldblooded murderer, but that was just ruthless, even for Brenda. A few episodes ago, when she busted the doctor that was performing vigilante justice, Brenda was horrified and asked who made him God? Here, she chooses to let the gang take care of its own. What’s the difference?

I really think this was one of the most well written episodes of The Closer ever. We all probably predicted that the immunity agreement was a bad idea, but I didn’t expect everything to play out like it did. It makes me wonder how morally ambiguous the writers are willing to make Brenda’s character.

Well, the other big event in this episode was that Chief Pope finally apologized, though I think it was overshadowed by everything else going on. Still, it was nice to see them patch things up.

So what did you think of Brenda’s decision? Did she go too far? Do you think it could hurt her chances for the promotion to Chief of Police? Let me know in the comments!

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Author: | August 30, 2010 | 6 Comments

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  • Ben

    Brenda, to me, is human, and with that will come a moral ambiguity. I admit I have not seen every episode of the show but I have seen enough to know that she is in situations like this where she makes these decisions, as would someone in her line of work likely make as well (though just not as cinematic).
    Brenda is probably just like every other person out there, she will criticize other people who play god because she doesn’t agree with their position and judgment, nor can she truly understand said position and judgment in its entirety because she just is not that person. However she, like anyone else, looks at herself in at least a slightly different light. To her Turell NEEDED to be punished, and she did everything she could to make sure justice was done. I think on some level we all want to be god, and we think we can do the best job judging and determining the flow of events, as Brenda did in tonight’s episode. However we cannot entirely trust others to be in that position, as with that doctor a few weeks ago.
    Brenda’s also not been the most “moral” character around, she’s manipulated and lied to bosses, coworkers, suspects, to do her job and we have to admit we love her for it. Not every show has Chuck Norris, so they can’t be as black&white or clear cut as Ranger and still hope to be watched or taken even remotely seriously. Brenda’s never been an angel, and I hope she stays that way.

  • Mike Jurisic

    The moral thing to do would have been to pull out a gun and shoot to kill the moment the confession was made, everything after that was skewed morality and ridiculous laws.

  • Pat

    I think this decision will come back to haunt her.

    But, I think the decision point was giving Reggie unlimited phone calls. Honestly, what if they had sent T-ball to prison? He would have been a dead man there too.

    I like the fact this was a morally ambiguous decision – these types of programs and episodes that explore these issues are what attracts me to them.

  • Helen

    I thought she was using the threat of being killed on the street as a scare tactic on t-ball to get him to give up his immunity, after which she’d offer to place him in an isolated sector in prison or something. I didn’t expect her to just leave him there. I guess she did make it clear to him that he could give up immunity, though like another post said, he’ll probably be killed just as easily in prison, isolated wing or not.

  • ginger

    I Love Brenda; but I think she crossed the line. Her job is to serve justice, not carry it out. Her “bosses” should never have offered the immunity in the first place. I think what she did will come to light in future episodes and will prevent her from getting the promotion. Of course, I really don’t want her to get the promotion anyway because it would change the whole show. I am more concerned about how she will be affected if he dies and if it will change the way her detectives and her husband view her. In real life she would probably be terminated for what she did (if there was an investigation). Oh well…great tv!

  • Rachel

    I never cry when I watch tv. Ever. It’s just something I didn’t do.

    Until, of course, that episode. Kyra Sedgwick definitely deserves that Emmy. The emotions playing out on her face during the most pivotal scenes were amazing. She is definitely a great actress, and the show, fighting the cliche that the more successful a show becomes the lower the quality gets, keeps getting better. I think we all want to know whether she chooses Chief or not.

    The Closer has made me fall in love with it yet again. I can’t wait for next week.

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