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Episode Recap: "Ruby"
"Run, run, run."
I doubt I could have gotten out this recap Sunday afternoon, immediately after screening this week's powerful episode of TNT's The Closer. As I said then, in a separate blogging, I was that shell-shocked, that rattled by not just the horrific crimes at the heart of the episode or by the twisted mind-set of our killer, but also by the toll the case took on Gabriel, Brenda and the PHD as a whole.
"Everyone pretends kids don't want sex. But they do."
With that first thought from Roger's sick mind, it instantly became clear that this episode would be different. That it was not a matter of whodunit but why — and we were disgusted to hear the answers. There were no false leads or mistaken intent this week. We had our culprit, and it was just a matter of getting his confession.
By any means necessary...?
Lord knows, over the past two seasons we have seen Brenda Leigh pull every trick to coax an "I did it" out of a suspect's mouth. And on rare instances, we have questioned a squad member's tactics. But to see Gabriel pushed to such an extreme — "excessive force" is how Commander Taylor would put it in the final papers — was painful yet compelling.
In weeks prior, Gabriel first teetered close to losing his position on the Priority Homicide Squad, then saw a "hero" within the black community go down in flames (and perhaps when he did not "need" to). He was understandably already on edge. Those foul words from Roger's mouth merely led him to cross a line. And Provenza saw it coming:
"Do not leave this room."
We read about police brutality in the news. We see it depicted on procedurals. But here, within the Closer crew we almost consider as family, it was jarring.
Who else felt their heart cave when the dogs in the park began barking?
The scene between Brenda Leigh and Gabriel, immediately after the interrogation-room assault. No jazzy Closer theme plucking throughout. Just stone-cold silence couching a back-and-forth either of them would have given anything to avoid.
Provenza offering perhaps the extended hour's one bit of levity:
"A 30-year-old single man living alone, no porn? Now that's suspicious."
But that was before we realized how dark this episode would grow.
"No, Roger. I do understand. What I'm trying to tell you is I don't care."
The theme for this season is family, and Gabriel is, we thought, the good guy. The honorable big brother. Now, our family is fractured. A badge has been collected. The sergeant's "I don't know" hanging heavy in the air.
"Don't come back until you do."
My concern: Have we not seen the worst fallout of this case?
I mentioned in Sunday's blog that I saw something in a final scene, but perhaps read too much into it.
Roger, dead. Hanged in his jail cell. A suicide "note" to his mother scrawled inside the palm of his right hand.
But Roger was right-handed. We saw that when he signed the confession.
Color me conspiratorial, but that incongruency appeared to register on Brenda's face as she viewed the penned flesh.
Was someone extremely desperate to keep this case from going to trial? I'm afraid to ask.
Yet I wonder.
UPDATE: Closer creator James Duff just posted a big ol' "Thank you" to the fans. Check it out in his TVGuide.com celebrity blog.
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Jul 9, 2007 10:11 PM
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I thought that too. I think Taylor def had something to do w/it. His tone was animated when he said "The thought of going to jail must of been too much". Yeah right.
It went over the 10 minutes they said. My TiVo stopped right at 10 min past and I missed the last 2 min. I screamed LOUDLY "NNNNNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!" and my kids came running in. LOL. I'll catch it again @ 9pm. (live in LA),
This was the most disturbing epi yet. You were right....very similar to "Suspect" on W/out a Trace. The suspect was just sick. The way he talked about black girls made me want to lock my daughters in the house until they're black belts in Karate. I lost my appetite. I hope next week is a little lighter. This was just to realistic for me. Good but sickening.
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Jul 9, 2007 10:54 PM
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Hands down one of the best crime episodes television has ever produced (I too compared it to "Suspect" from Without a Trace season 1 over at my blog).
The tension between Brenda and Sgt. Gabriel had to come to a head, I just wasn't expecting it to go as far as it really did.
I do not think Taylor had anything to do with the guy hanging himself (well nothing more than getting him beaten almost to death in GenPop). Taylor will do some things that cross the line but no way he would go this far.
Glad to see we finally got a def answer on the Gabriel/Daniels thing. Hot and heavy apparently.
Amazing television!!! Emmy for both leads this week!
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Jul 9, 2007 11:02 PM
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I loved that Provenza used what I have always considered the greatest line for an excuse: "I thought it was a good idea"
I wonder how I would have felt about this episode had the promotions were so obvious: "best episode ever". I can only imagine what impact this episode would have packed had the bar not been set so high.
Corey Reynolds has outshined everyone of his cast members this year, Kyra included.
Best Line: "I can't sweep this under the rug, just because you're my favorite"
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Jul 9, 2007 11:28 PM
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Outstanding episode. And fantastic blog, Matt.
This episode was horrifically jarring - and disturbing. It isn't often that the thoughts are so awful that I can't bring myself to at least summarize them.
James Duff said in his blog that this was the best episode yet - and he was right. Everything was - perfect.
Kudos to the actors - the writers - the crew. Every element of this episode was perfectly choreographed.
tp72 - the Black Belt in karate for your daughters is a great idea. Girls need to know how to protect themselves against the Roger Stimples who do - in reality - exist in this world.
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Jul 9, 2007 11:30 PM
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Well, thanks Matt! I felt there was something weird about the prisoner "hanging" himself but I missed the whole business with his confession being on his right hand and also signing with his right hand--boy, do I hope he uses both hands to write!!
As stated above truly amazing televison!! I hope Brenda's chilling words of "don't come back until you do" made a very deep impression on Gabriel--to me, when he sat down at the end with her, his demeanor came across as a bit cocky--sort of wink, wink, boys will be boys. I hope that's not the case. The writers on this show truly deserve kudos!!!
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Jul 9, 2007 11:41 PM
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I watched the second airing at 12:10am - and it ran exactly one hour. They must've cut out the ending or re-edited down by 10 minutes. There was just a mention of the hanging, but no visuals. Changes the whole ending from your recap.
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Jul 10, 2007 1:41 AM
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I think just about the only word I can come up with for tonight's episode is "Gobsmacked." That's how I feel - absolutely gobsmacked.
The arc on this has been interesting - starting with the first episode, Gabriel was the only one to give Brenda respect and it was his willingness to support her that gradually allowed the others on her team to open up just enough that she could start to earn their respect. The "good big brother" aspect you mentioned is very much right - and now he's done something that could seriously fracture the "family."
It's going to be interesting to see how Daniels responds to Gabriel's suspension. I think the other officers are a bit less likely to be angry at her for having suspended him - I think even they know that she had to do *something* - but because of Daniels' relationship to Gabriel, she'd have good reason to hold a grudge.
There is, of course, also the matter of Provenza's tacit approval of what Gabriel did, shown by his ordering the monitor shut off and the taping stopped, knowing what was likely to happen. While I'm not sure he can be officially sanctioned by the LAPD for that (unless Buzz decides to report it, but I can't imagine that Buzz would come out looking very good from that, either, so he has a bit on incentive to stay quiet) - but between the humorous times Provenza's turned his eye or bent the rules himself and *this* - will there be repercussions of that? Will Brenda find herself thinking that maybe Provenza judgment and trustworthiness are questionable enough that it *would* be better to deal with the budget issue by having him retire.
I commented on this over at Ducky's site, too, but the comparison to WaT's "Suspect" is very apt. That's one episode that has stuck with me, and either TNT was aware of how that episode would resonate with tonight's Closer, or by some kind of coincidence, "Suspect" was the episode shown for today's WaT's new 11am slot. The scene at the end of that one, as Jack is trying to make the perp think he's "on his side" is one of the creepiest thing's I've ever seen, and so beautifully played. Generally, I really HATE it when characters throw up, but in that case, it was really the most appropriate response to demonstrate just what it had taken for Jack to do that.
While tonight's Closer didn't require that kind of a demonstration of being creeped out on Brenda's part, the look and the tone of her "I just don't care" spoke volumes.
I have to say, though, I HATE that they apparently had to edit some out to get it to fit in to the 1 hour slot when it was shown later. I was hoping that they'd just padded it out with maybe a few more ads and that "Saving Grace" preview, because I think the hanging scene was important to the overall impact. Even if Taylor's reaction to the suicide and that the suicide note was written on the right palm of a right-handed person aren't thread drops that will be picked up later (and if there inconsequential enough that they can be edited out, I would tend to assume that they won't be), I think that the scene as a whole added to the episode and regret that not everyone will be able to see it complete (at least not until DVDs come out)
In any event, that was some good TV tonight. I've really liked this show from the start, and feel very lucky to have jumped on it early and stayed with it. I just hope that now that they're reached this kind of a pinnacle, they'll be able to follow up on it well.
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Jul 10, 2007 2:53 AM
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Bet I know which episode Tthe people behind "The Closer" will submit for next year's Emmy! It really was the best episode yet! and what a change from last weeks also-excellent episode--was I the only one LMAO at the "HUGE mouth and slathered on lipstick" jokes?
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Jul 10, 2007 3:43 AM
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No, you weren't the only one to laugh at that. It was just priceless when Brenda asked Daniels (does she have a first name yet?) if her lipstick made her mouth look big and Daniels wanted to know if she was asking as a friend or a boss - and then when Brenda asked why she'd never said anything, her "for the same reason I never mentioned your sweaters" was just beautiful!
I almost wish I'd saved last weeks on my DVR though, right now, I could handle a bit of the gangs levity right now after this one...
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Jul 10, 2007 7:55 AM
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Matt, can you tell us why TNT decided to air two versions of the episode on the same night? Especially when we were promised an EXTENDED episode?
It really creates confusion, and isn't fair for West Coast viewers who get the second -- and IMHO, not-nearly-as-compelling edited version. We lost TEN minutes of in-your-face, gut wrenching action! Not happy about this, not happy at all.
Why are West Coasters asked to make do with sloppy seconds?
Also have a problem getting FX's Rescue Me episodes that don't air in the scheduled Wednesday 10 pm time slot. Married with Kids runs instead. Yikes!
Why're cable networks not showing any love for the West Coast?
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Jul 10, 2007 8:01 AM
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This was the most disturbing, yet best, episode yet. Emmy worthy for Brenda, Gabriel and the writers.
I didn't catch the fact that Roger was right-handed and that his suicide note was written on his right hand. I'll need to watch it again and focus on Brenda's expression.
The actor who played Roger sure did a great job of portraying such a sleaze. Roger's answer as to why was disgusting but the scary thing is that there are real ppl out there who think that way.
Gabriel looked cocky when he gave Brenda his badge and gun. This worries me. It's like he doesn't realize his actions forced her to do what she had to do. I pray his attitude will change in time. Maybe Daniels will have to remind him that Brenda had no choice.
After last night, I'm ready now for another light episode.
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Jul 10, 2007 8:03 AM
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Re: later airings not being extended, I apologize, but I took it for granted that everyone read Closer creator James Duff's TVGuide.com celebrity blog, which warned of this. Next time I will err on the side of pimping too much Closer-related site content.
In the meantime, why not focus our energies on the positive and drop James a note in his blog's Comments section about what a "most excellent" episode this indeed was.
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Jul 10, 2007 8:59 AM
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Everything about this particular episode was top notch from the directing and editing to the writing and acting. This is not summer fill in any way, shape or form. I was riveted from the get go and it never let up for a second. A superb show just keeps getting better and better.
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Jul 10, 2007 9:43 AM
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I still can not shake this episode. It was the best and most disturbing show of the series. Everyone was on top of their game and this show is absolutely one of my favorites. Was I the only one cheering when Sgt. Gabriel took matters into his own hands and when Taylor sent that creep to general population?
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Jul 10, 2007 9:52 AM
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