I love The Closer so much, you guys. Seriously. It's one of those rare shows that never fails to utterly delight me with its awesomeness. I love the characters (and how every single last one of them gets to have a bright shining moment of 100% douchebaggery because they're human and also, you know, get actual emotional growth), I love the stories, I love the continuity.
Enclosed behind the cut is several reasons I love The Closer. (Warning: picture heavy.)
Enjoy!

This is The Closer. The Closer is a cop show set in Los Angeles, currently in its fourth season. The characters (from left to right) are: Sanchez, Tao, Gabriel, Daniels, Taylor, Fritz, Pope, Flynn, Provenza, and Brenda Leigh Johnson.

Brenda Leigh Johnson: If you don't mind, Lieutenant, I like to have the answers before I ask questions.
Meet Brenda. She's the Deputy Chief and is known as the closer, someone who gets confessions out of people when everything rests on one. She's a former Atlanta detective who moved to Los Angeles to head a special police department unit that solves sensitive, high-profile murder cases. (She also likes sugar and sweets. A lot.)
Brenda Leigh is good at getting confessions out of people, but bad at, uh, everything else, especially personal relationships, though she's smart and clever and will do anything it takes (within the law) to solve her cases. As such, she earns the grudging devotion of her squad, most of whom initially balk at having a woman head the Priority Homicide squad of the LAPD.

Brenda: (on the phone with Fritz) I'm going to have to deal with some pompous, arrogant oaf who doesn't know thing one about investigating a murder. You wouldn't happen to know who they're sending over, would you?
Fritz: (walking into Brenda's office talking on his cell phone) Yeah. I do.
Fritz Howard is an FBI agent who's often a liaison to the LAPD. He's also in an adorable and dysfunctional relationship with Brenda. (They're ridiculously cute together, by the way.)

(Very cute.)

Brenda: (complaining to Pope) I was promised a crew of elite detectives, and what Capt. Taylor here has given me is a bunch of junior varsity wannabees ...and Provenza.
This is Brenda Leigh's squad. They are all, in their own special way, awesome. They've got their major flaws and positive qualities, and you wind up loving all of the characters (though you'll no doubt wish Daniels got more screen time, woe).

Brenda Leigh Johnson: Nice place.
Detective Daniels: (dryly) Except for the murder.
Brenda Leigh Johnson: Well, we all have a past.
Detective Irene Daniels is badass and snarky, with excellent put-downs when one or two of the men in the squad try to put the moves on her.
Sanchez: You have the right to shut up. Any stupid thing you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If your broke ass can't afford it...
Sanchez: Take off your shoe.
Buzz: Oh, I love when he does this.
Suspect: You ain't got nothin' on me. I ain't gotta tell you nothing.
Sanchez: Take off your shoe. (Suspect does, Sanchez whacks himself in the chest with it)
Sanchez: You kicked me!
Pope: (to Brenda) Well, it's good to see you're having a positive influence on your team.
Detective Julio Sanchez is a bit of a sarcastic asshole, but believe me, you will love him for it. (You will also want Sanchez and Daniels to make out. Or maybe that's just me.)

Gabriel: I've never ridden the subway. Something about going underground in a city that shakes. Kinda freaks me out a bit.
Sergeant David Gabriel is Brenda's number two, but is by all accounts the number one suck-up. He has a bit of an unrequited thing going for Brenda Leigh if you think about it a lot (which I do). Gabriel is actually in a relationship with Daniels, which rocks, because they're amusing and pretty together. (And manage to secretly date for an entire year before anyone in their squad notices, which takes some skill, what with Provenza being a busybody.)

Tao: I Googled it. (To Fritz) It's an internet thing.
Fritz: Yeah, I know what Google is, Lieutenant. It's the FBI that has a hard time getting online, not me.
Lieutenant Mike Tao is probably the smartest person on the squad, technology-wise. He's an expert in electronics and computers and can be hilariously condescending to people. See above quotation.

Provenza: (eavesdropping with Buzz over Brenda's wire) OK. Here we go. Spill your guts.
Brenda: It was my crazy ex-husband...
Buzz: Lieutenant, this is making me really uncomfortable.
Provenza: Buzz, don't make me pull out my gun.
There is also Buzz Watson, the camera and recording guy. Think of him as the show's version of SGA's Chuck. *grin* I adore him and am pleased that he's getting more screen time lately.

(Provenza notices something furry floating inside the hot tub in which the victim was found)
Provenza: Is that a rat?
Flynn: That's his hair replacement system.
Provenza: His what?!
Flynn: They used to call it a toupee.
Provenza: They used to call it bald, too.
Last but not least, Detective Lieutenant Provenza and Detective Andy Flynn. These two have to be my favorites, as Bella can attest to. Er, and as you can probably guess. *eyes my icon* Initially, they're both sexist assholes, but as the series progresses, they begin to show other sides of their personality (and begin to respect Brenda Leigh for her detective skills). They're also the two I like to pretend are sleeping together. *grin* Even if they aren't, they are totally BFFs.

Those are their "trying to get out of trouble" expressions. (They wear them a lot. Oh boys.)

See? BOYFRIENDS.

(Also? Boyfriends. Flynn is actually pushing Provenza's chair down the hallway because Provenza's too lazy to stand up. Hee.)
I love this show so much. *beams*
Enclosed behind the cut is several reasons I love The Closer. (Warning: picture heavy.)
Enjoy!

This is The Closer. The Closer is a cop show set in Los Angeles, currently in its fourth season. The characters (from left to right) are: Sanchez, Tao, Gabriel, Daniels, Taylor, Fritz, Pope, Flynn, Provenza, and Brenda Leigh Johnson.

Brenda Leigh Johnson: If you don't mind, Lieutenant, I like to have the answers before I ask questions.
Meet Brenda. She's the Deputy Chief and is known as the closer, someone who gets confessions out of people when everything rests on one. She's a former Atlanta detective who moved to Los Angeles to head a special police department unit that solves sensitive, high-profile murder cases. (She also likes sugar and sweets. A lot.)
Brenda Leigh is good at getting confessions out of people, but bad at, uh, everything else, especially personal relationships, though she's smart and clever and will do anything it takes (within the law) to solve her cases. As such, she earns the grudging devotion of her squad, most of whom initially balk at having a woman head the Priority Homicide squad of the LAPD.

Brenda: (on the phone with Fritz) I'm going to have to deal with some pompous, arrogant oaf who doesn't know thing one about investigating a murder. You wouldn't happen to know who they're sending over, would you?
Fritz: (walking into Brenda's office talking on his cell phone) Yeah. I do.
Fritz Howard is an FBI agent who's often a liaison to the LAPD. He's also in an adorable and dysfunctional relationship with Brenda. (They're ridiculously cute together, by the way.)

(Very cute.)

Brenda: (complaining to Pope) I was promised a crew of elite detectives, and what Capt. Taylor here has given me is a bunch of junior varsity wannabees ...and Provenza.
This is Brenda Leigh's squad. They are all, in their own special way, awesome. They've got their major flaws and positive qualities, and you wind up loving all of the characters (though you'll no doubt wish Daniels got more screen time, woe).

Brenda Leigh Johnson: Nice place.
Detective Daniels: (dryly) Except for the murder.
Brenda Leigh Johnson: Well, we all have a past.
Detective Irene Daniels is badass and snarky, with excellent put-downs when one or two of the men in the squad try to put the moves on her.
Sanchez: You have the right to shut up. Any stupid thing you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If your broke ass can't afford it...
Sanchez: Take off your shoe.
Buzz: Oh, I love when he does this.
Suspect: You ain't got nothin' on me. I ain't gotta tell you nothing.
Sanchez: Take off your shoe. (Suspect does, Sanchez whacks himself in the chest with it)
Sanchez: You kicked me!
Pope: (to Brenda) Well, it's good to see you're having a positive influence on your team.
Detective Julio Sanchez is a bit of a sarcastic asshole, but believe me, you will love him for it. (You will also want Sanchez and Daniels to make out. Or maybe that's just me.)

Gabriel: I've never ridden the subway. Something about going underground in a city that shakes. Kinda freaks me out a bit.
Sergeant David Gabriel is Brenda's number two, but is by all accounts the number one suck-up. He has a bit of an unrequited thing going for Brenda Leigh if you think about it a lot (which I do). Gabriel is actually in a relationship with Daniels, which rocks, because they're amusing and pretty together. (And manage to secretly date for an entire year before anyone in their squad notices, which takes some skill, what with Provenza being a busybody.)

Tao: I Googled it. (To Fritz) It's an internet thing.
Fritz: Yeah, I know what Google is, Lieutenant. It's the FBI that has a hard time getting online, not me.
Lieutenant Mike Tao is probably the smartest person on the squad, technology-wise. He's an expert in electronics and computers and can be hilariously condescending to people. See above quotation.

Provenza: (eavesdropping with Buzz over Brenda's wire) OK. Here we go. Spill your guts.
Brenda: It was my crazy ex-husband...
Buzz: Lieutenant, this is making me really uncomfortable.
Provenza: Buzz, don't make me pull out my gun.
There is also Buzz Watson, the camera and recording guy. Think of him as the show's version of SGA's Chuck. *grin* I adore him and am pleased that he's getting more screen time lately.

(Provenza notices something furry floating inside the hot tub in which the victim was found)
Provenza: Is that a rat?
Flynn: That's his hair replacement system.
Provenza: His what?!
Flynn: They used to call it a toupee.
Provenza: They used to call it bald, too.
Last but not least, Detective Lieutenant Provenza and Detective Andy Flynn. These two have to be my favorites, as Bella can attest to. Er, and as you can probably guess. *eyes my icon* Initially, they're both sexist assholes, but as the series progresses, they begin to show other sides of their personality (and begin to respect Brenda Leigh for her detective skills). They're also the two I like to pretend are sleeping together. *grin* Even if they aren't, they are totally BFFs.

Those are their "trying to get out of trouble" expressions. (They wear them a lot. Oh boys.)

See? BOYFRIENDS.

(Also? Boyfriends. Flynn is actually pushing Provenza's chair down the hallway because Provenza's too lazy to stand up. Hee.)
I love this show so much. *beams*
no subject
Date: 2008-08-13 07:05 pm (UTC)Mmm, Gabriel taking his shirt off would be excellent.
And yes, I love this show's cast. Diverse and hot!