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Contrived, Forced Commercial for Major Crimes....

posted 12 years ago by knowledgeofafter
38 replies | jump to latest

I loved The Closer, but this is a "Major" disappointment.

Obviously, they were going to catch her nemesis, but did they really have to work-in the male teenage escort that will be co-starring in Major Crimes? His being an eye-witness in the murder case was not exactly an organic fIt. In fact, it felt extremely forced.

Brenda's relating to his working with "bad men" was also really contrived and hard to buy into.

Then, moments after violently attacking a civilian in a elevator of a police station (though satisfying to watch), she is offered a new job? SERIOUSLY??

Conveniently, this job will take her away for awhile but then will easily allow her to guest star on Major Crimes come season 2.

Really disappointing, sloppy story telling

on a side note: the camera work during the action sequences was Horrible, disorienting and appear extremely cheap

I love Sedgwick in this and think she deserves a better send off

[–] Celebrianna 12 years ago

Then, moments after violently attacking a civilian in a restroom, she is offered a new job? SERIOUSLY??

This part indeed surprised me. I thought maybe there's something that I was not understanding since I was doing other things while watching but I found it really surprising for her to get a position like that after attacking Stroh. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed seeing her shoot Stroh. Heh.

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[–] SataiDelen 12 years ago

Neither did I. This actually happens a lot in the real world. Fair? No, but then, life's not fair.

I still maintain that the way the show ended, it was on a good note, and I'm satisfied with it. Further, I'm really enjoying Major Crimes. (Love that the desk still contains all of Brenda's junk food! LMAO!)

[–] dgniewek 12 years ago

Yes. Sad that the Closer ended and found the offer of a new job moments after she attacked a suspect extremely unlikely. Happy for Brenda, but the ending was disappointing.

[–] ritamilo 12 years ago

I thought that too at first, but then I remember: Brenda had been coping with her father's near-death, her mother's death, the leak in the squad, and the downward spiral of not only herself but her career. Stroh knew what he was doing when he told her "so sorry to hear about your mother" because he was taunting her. Bringing up her mother was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I also think that she knew her job was crumbling, so she attacked him to get some kind of DNA to help corral him.

I only wish that there had been more time used for this episode. And I hate the use of the "resignation/good-bye letter." Too many shows use that as a ploy to tie up a number of loose ends in one fell swoop. I wish there had been a good-bye scene between her and Raydor: you know, Brenda sort of telling Raydor to take care of her boys. Brenda seemed maternal towards him and I wish we'd seen more of it this last hour that we had with her.

English MA: Symbolism's my life. "Truth vs the world" - Boudicca of the Iceni

[–] saul_rothman 12 years ago

she attacked him to get some kind of DNA to help corral him.

You know, I don't think I was completely paying attention during the finale, lol. I have a couple of questions.

Would DNA collected in such a manner actually be admissible? I mean, Brenda's a law enforcement agent, and she was obtaining the DNA against his will -- or did he voluntarily release a hankerchief or something to her? I mean, it's not like Morales drawing blood medically, but still, presumably, Stroh objected to being struck and bloodied.

Or was Brenda suspended at the time or did she quit or something? I just don't remember (although I don't think suspended would be enough or cops would use that as a ploy).

Saulisa

Logic is our best defense against The Experts.

[–] ritamilo 12 years ago

I found the DNA thing disturbing (I actually did work in my county's DA's office and I did learn a few things, LOL) was that Brenda knew that the moment she laid hands on Stroh, her career was basically finished.

She said something to the effect to Raydor that she knew she was suspended, I believe. Then she went to the ME's office and asked Dr. Morales to place the DNA under her fingernails onto the cap. DDA Hobbs also showed up "unofficially."

It was then that Hobbs told Brenda there was a job for her. Dr. Morales really did not want to have anything to do with the DNA scheme, but Hobbs and Brenda more or less convinced him that it was "for the greater good" to get Stroh off the streets.

DDA Hobbs' phone call asking Stroh to come in for a buccal swab because there was some interesting DNA found on a woolen cap pushed him to the point where he broke into Brenda's house, intent on murdering her and Rusty.

I am not an attorney so I can't quote statutes or such but to me as a person, no matter how evil Stroh was. they more or less planted DNA evidence because they honestly were unable to obtain any prints - he was uber-careful about thta and the way he stymied them was in itself a smack in the face.

English MA: Symbolism/my life. Truth vs the world - Boudicca of the Iceni

[–] saul_rothman 12 years ago

She said something to the effect to Raydor that she knew she was suspended, I believe.

Is being suspended enough to rule the blood legally obtained? If so, what would keep a department from suspending officers for the sole purpose of getting around the law?

Or was the attack not in order to collect DNA they couldn't get legally but to collect DNA in order to plant it (like I said, I don't think I was paying attention)? If the latter, whoa.

Unless they were bluffing and had no intention of using it at trial...

But if that were the case, they could just lie about it being there.

Gotta watch this again. Sounds disturbing.

Saulisa

Logic is our best defense against The Experts.

[–] ritamilo 12 years ago

I think that the writers wanted it to be conveyed that no one really knew how the DNA was obtained, except for Hobbs and Dr. Morales and Brenda. Personally, the whole thing was so odd to me: a DDA is literally bringing in a suspect to do a buccal swab to match illegally obtained and planted DNA? In what universe can that happen and yes, I know, somewhere it's been done, I'm sure.

English MA: Symbolism/my life. Truth vs the world - Boudicca of the Iceni

[–] saul_rothman 12 years ago

You're right. It's very odd. In court they would have to explain how it was obtained or else it wouldn't be admissible. Heck, you'd have to show how it was obtained simply to prove it was his -- forget about legalities.

Saulisa

Logic is our best defense against The Experts.

[–] skeptic-phd 10 years ago

Maybe I've watched the series beginning to end too much, but it seems that all of you questioning this tactic missed a HUGE part of the conversation between Johnson, Morales and Hobbs. The intent was never to use the evidence in court (clearly stated by Hobbs), but just to force Stroh into another face-to-face conversation. (This conversation takes place at the morgue, when Morales questions why Brenda would ask him to plant evidence, and she opens the door so Hobbs can explain that it isn't planting evidence if they are only using it for the purpose of getting Stroh back to the table to talk, because he THINKS he made a mistake.)

[–] miffedone 11 years ago

Agreed. Somewhere someone should have slipped in a "you're on involuntary leave for six months and retired from active duty, but there is a desk job in the DA's office as liason to..." or something similar. To have her go from such an obvious displinary issue (she even says "I'm probably fired" herself) to a promotion to the DA's office is absurd. Probably the biggest non-sequitur in the entire seven year run of the series.

Miffed One

[–] AllenRes 12 years ago

Oh please, I knew a guy that served under my husband in Iraq that was sent home from deployment for huffing while out on convoy, received a DD, yet despite that DD picked up a contracting job for 90K a year in Afghanistan.

People do get offered jobs in a cloud of misconduct. Happens a lot, especially in many government jobs.

[–] knowledgeofafter 12 years ago

Not saying it doesn't but the Same Day? As if the was seen as admirable?

Sorry to me it screamed "this is the perfect way to have her leave and come back whenever we want" just very inorganic

[–] AllenRes 12 years ago

They should've made the series finale two hours long. They could have spaced out the events.

Now that I think of it...
He was actually hired for the job less than a month after a DD. He was a real scum bag. I am sure he was fired from this contracting job too though.

[–] knowledgeofafter 12 years ago

lol

well a two hour cross over would have panned out better. It just felt really, really rushed. The guy had been alluding her for years...it was too much to happen in one hour.

[–] Celebrianna 12 years ago

But is it the same day? Maybe I missed a scene. I saw the scene where Pope read the letter about her new position but was she offered the job in a scene before he disclosed it in that letter that he read to Raydor and Taylor?

[–] knowledgeofafter 12 years ago

Yes...she was offered the job almost literally while the guy's blood was still on her hands. She went to the morgue to have them swab the blood of her knuckles and as she walked out she was offered the position

[–] RubyVal10 12 years ago

I wouldn't be surprised if the DA's office hadn't had an eye on her for a while. Also from the phone call between the DA and Stroh it was clear there was no love lost between them either, so they probably DID applaude her for what she did.

[–] PlayitagainPam 12 years ago

Fairly certain that when Hobbs mentioned the job, she mentioned that they had been planning to offer it to her. She probably brought it up just then because she knew that Brenda would likely be suspended or fired for her actions with Stroh.

[–] zabbree 12 years ago

I think that's why Hobbs didn't want to get involved in the warrant issue when they were in Taylor's office. She was planning to extend the offer from the beginning.

Also, she's not going to Atlanta for work. She's going to visit her father and family.

[–] MercurialAquarian 12 years ago

Good point. Pope had so much as said her job was no longer secure upon his swearing-in as LAPD Chief. There would be chatter about Pope's new agenda and chain-of-command in a number of city and county offices prior to this.

[–] Deeana 12 years ago

I didn't realise this was the boy that was going to be in Major Crimes anyway, so it didn't bother me at all.

The job offer was convenient, I agree, but I was happy with this episode and the way it ended.

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[–] zabbree 12 years ago

1. It doesn't take much to get arrested for solicitation. You can be arrested for approaching a prostitute, especially a minor.

2. She would only have been arrested for assault if Stroh pressed charges. He didn't. So, everything would have been handled internally. I've seen officers who have been charged with use of force get promoted. So, it's not that much of a stretch. The job offer was already in place. That was pretty clear from Hobbs' behavior from the beginning.

3. The boy was in their custody. You can speak to a witness or suspect without their parents at age 16 in a lot of states. Granted, I don't know about California, but in my state a 16yr old can speak to police without their parents. He was also in protective custody, which would have kept him with the police because of the attempt and threat on his life.

4. Stroh has successfully broken in to women's houses and killed them. It's not a stretch to believe more than one of them might have owned a gun. He was planning on the element of surprise working in his favor. He was psychotic and convinced he would win. That's not that big of a stretch for that character.

[–] tricoastal 12 years ago

Using a gun was never Stroh's m.o. He preferred dominating his victims by physical force, strangulation, etc. He probably figured he would disarm Brenda by threatening the kid with the knife to his throat and then kill both by brut force.

[–] EricBurkheimer 12 years ago

Actually, she was never fired or officially reprimanded. She was suspended, then made aware of the position, and after stroh attacked her and confessed, Raydor questioned if the reprimand was necessary, and Brenda had resigned for her new position by her letter, so no official punishment before accepting the job.

[–] knowledgeofafter 12 years ago

Everyone's counter-arguments make sense, but I am sorry I cannot shake the feeling that this was a sloppy episode for the reasons I mentioned and others brought up in this thread.

Given this was a planned Series Finale, I really think it is lacking structure and logic. Stroh should have come back at least an episode prior.

We can go back and forth on the probably of a job offer, but in the end, it left me unsatisfied.

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[–] knowledgeofafter 12 years ago

Tom,

Could not agree with you more! It seems like the writers had already moved onto the next series and this was something they threw together...the episode a week before was ten times better