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Friday 19 October 2012

The Closer 7.19 "Last Rites" Review

A priest, Father Adam (Ben Bode) receives a call to administer last rites and the doctor on call leaves a note.  Fr Adam is killed and his DB dumped outside a school.  Provenza (GW Bailey) comments on a murdered priest being dumped where he was and Flynn (Tony Denison) comments, it "makes me think bad things."  Taylor (Robert Gossett) arrives with Pope (JK Simmons) and Taylor wants the DB moved ASAP.  Pope tells them they have to wait for the archivist before they can search his room.  Then Pope will make a deal with the Archbishop to examine Adam's papers.  Pope adds if Brenda (Kyra Sedgwick) has a problem with that then she'll have to deal with him.  Gabriel (Corey Reynolds) repeats what he said, "...Chief Johnson ...problem with that."

Brenda's father Clay (Barry Corbin) has arrived and she wants him to use the walker, she had it made up with police lights and CS tape.  Her mother, Willie Rae (Frances Sternhagen) tells her the new drugs and therapy is working, since he couldn't even move in Atlanta.  Brenda says no one will go into the rectory until the LAPD.  Brenda goes in the front way with Sanchez (Raymond Cruz) and Mrs Wallingham (Sandy Martin) wants her to leave.  Adam taught elementary school and if the parents found out about the murdered priest they'd be angry.

Tao (Michael Paul Chan) finds the rug left an impression in the carpet at the apartment where Adam was sent.  There's a girl's uniform in the drawer and photos of girls on the wall.  Adam has the lease to the apartment.  Brenda says none of Adam's prints were found in the apartment.  Fritz (Jon Tenney) is helping her with the molestation issues.  Clay can't taste his food.  Fritz interviewed the girls and found no evidence of abuse.  There were too many different girls in the photos and that's not the MO of a paedophile.  Brenda must convince the church they're not on a witchhunt.  Fritz takes Clay to the doctor as he likes his driving better.

Raydor (Mary McDonnell) posits as the photos weren't pornographic, they can open a dialogue with the church.  Brenda conducted a warrantless search and refusing to follow Pope's orders was insubordination.  She has an unsigned complaint from Pope and he wants Brenda to "recognize his authority."  She got him not to sign so that Brenda can see his position.  Brenda wonders why Pope has a chip on his shoulder.

Pope resumes negotiations with the church.  Tao found Adam's prints on the travel mug and the camera button in the bedroom.  Dr Hamlin doesn't exist or isn't registered in the state.  Brenda says the killer bought the rug with him and Tao adds olive oil was also in the rug, which is used in last rites.  Willie Rae tells Brenda her father is fine and his numbers need improving which gives Brenda a clue.  The clock on the camera wasn't set so they can see the time of day on the photos.  Adam was at a debate or at the cathedral at the time of some of the photos so he couldn't have taken them.  The landlord, Morris (Gary Perez) says he doesn't change the locks.  Father Calhoun (Paul Vincent O'Connor) is brought in and Pope wants Taylor present, not Brenda.  He refuses the journal request.  Raydor also adds they need a handwriting sample.  He comments Raydor is no better than Brenda.  Pope threatens to get a warrant and Taylor mentions the evidence they found, re photos, prints etc.  Raydor asks if they can have the journal for one day, with Calhoun being present all the time.

Brenda asks him to look at the dates and they'll need a handwriting comparison.  March 23rd, he was travelling to a San Diego conference.  Brenda believes it can't be coincidental that Morris's prints are there but none from Adam.  Morris had access to the apartment 24 hours a day.  He was involved in a car accident a few years back and a missing person's report was made on his wife.  A rug was also missing from the Morris home.  He has two sons, David and Michael and a priest, Adam was called to the hospital.  Adam didn't write down the message Morris had for his sons.

Adam's car was towed 30 miles.  Adam's car ran out of gas and Morris couldn't drive it back.  A storage facility is located nearby.  Morris confessed to Adam back at the hospital as he thought he was dying.  He left a message for his sons, that he killed their mother.  Brenda can't offer him absolution.  Provenza calls to say they found his wife's DB.

Pope tells Brenda he's going upstairs and won't be around to watch Brenda.  Someone will be replacing him as Assistant Chief who won't have time for her and he throws away the complaint, suggesting she doesn't need that in her record if she wants to circulate her resume.  Hinting that Brenda may want to leave.

Clay makes breakfast and Brenda tries to speak with her mother but she doesn't wake up.  So much for Brenda telling her mother that they'll have Clay around, no one thought about her mother.   What was it she wanted to tell Brenda and why did she tell Brenda she wasn't worried about not having her father around, but how she's going to look after him.  Don't suppose many saw that coming and now Brenda will probably have to look after him.  Strange she was looking after Clay for six months, but no one bothered to ask her how she was doing.  It was sad for Brenda though, she never got to say goodbye.  No one did.

The episode started out as what could have been dangerous territory with the death of the priest, but luckily it didn't go down that route.  Instead it focused on his past coming back to haunt him, so to speak with the confession that he heard.  How pathetic was Morris.  First he killed his wife and left her in the storage facility, he could have buried her anywhere by now.  Secondly he uses his own apartment building to kill Adam there and to fake all the photos and leave them there, when he could have lured him there under other pretexts, or even somewhere else, like the storage facility itself, under the pretext of wanting to confess without going through the motions of giving him an address, his own address etc.  Then he remembered to put Adam's print on the camera but not on the lease!

Willie Rae telling Brenda she can't "keep working like this your whole life.  It'll catch up with you."
Brenda: "I expect it will, but not tonight."  No tomorrow instead, was that some kind of a foreboding from Willie Rae.  Provenza will miss her too.

Oh boy after eveything Brenda had to deal with this season, they now throw in that for her to deal with too, seems they're going all out to make her life and departure as miserable as possible.  Pope's still turning on her and can't be bothered to look out for her anymore.  Taylor was when he tried to get her out of the rectory, wonder why?  Don't read anything into that, I'm just thinking out loud.

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