TV Angel

Season 4 of The Closer is off to a good start. Last week’s premiere brought back season 1 villain Bill Croelick. Croelick is an arsonist-slash-serial killer who was released from prison when it was discovered that he was framed for the one murder for which he had be convicted. (The police and the DA were never able to make a solid case against him for any other murders.) In episode “Controlled Burn” Croelick ingratiated himself into the investigation of, what else? A case of arson-slash-murder.

The writing is what we’ve come you expect from The Closer, sharp, witty, and tight. Kyra Sedgwick is really at home in the character of Chief Brenda Lee Johnson and Sedgwick is still as engaging as she was when the show debuted in June of 2005.

The overall storytelling, however, was a little disappointing. I found the story completely predictable and had the firefighter pegged as the killer from his first scene. But what I really bothered me was the underutilization of Bill Croelick. Why stretch back to the first season to find the-one-that-got-away and then not bring any resolution to his storyline. Hopefully it’s an error that will be corrected later this season. Otherwise someone just decided to give Jason O’Mara some screen time in advance of Life on Mars this fall. (O’Mara plays the lead on ABC’s beleaguered British remake about a time traveling detective.)

All told, The Closer is still the same show I fell in love with in 2005, which is this season’s biggest strength and biggest weakness. There isn’t a feeling that the characters or the stories have really evolved. Not to mention, Brenda’s squad is supposed to investigate “high profile” cases, ones that receive a lot of media attention. Yet each case is pretty much solved in a bubble with little or no outside pressure from the media.

A reporter did play a role in the story in “Controlled Burn” and it looks like tonight’s episode promises more in that vein. But the one thing the show is missing is the constant media presence that has only been alluded to up until this point.