Why the Closer's Brenda Leigh Johnson is My Favorite TV Character

Yes, I "embrace my Grace." I have been enjoying Holly Hunter's work since Broadcast News. Saving Grace and character Grace Hanadarko resonate with me because Grace is who I was. One of the boys with one solid girlfriend I could tell anything to, smoking, partying hard, some drunken gaffs, single and free, questioning the whole Gods thing, yet still ultimately being true to my core values. However, that was then, and The Closer's Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson is now.

Why I Relate to Brenda

I still have the same solid girlfriend I've been sharing secrets with for pushing 40 years and still question the God thing. Brenda (as I call her), played by Golden Globe® winner Kyra Sedgwick is who I am now - strong in her professional life and somewhat of a mess at home. In love with her husband, but not wanting to be the typical wife and never wanting to feel tied down. She places her job at which she excels first. Closing homicide cases with a suspect's confession is a great distraction and always an excuse to wiggle out of an uncomfortable situation with her amazingly understanding husband Fritz. He's FBI, she's LAPD, and they try to stay out of each other's way when cases overlap, but they do compete and it's fun to watch that dynamic. See memorable moments here.

I like it that Sedgwick's Brenda is a complete character who is smart, type-A, emotionally high maintenance at home, is committed to and in love with her husband yet has intimacy issues, cares about people, is reliable, and doesn't do offices politics or suffer fools gladly. Her chocolate dependency is just a bonus!

"Brenda: I'd like to start with you, Ms. Powell. I'd like to say how sorry I am that I was unable to ignore your general level of incompetence in the wrongly obtained conviction in the case of Bill Croelick. And I'm sorry if you felt hurt and defensive about putting a man on death row for the wrong crime, and I certainly hope that that will never, ever happen again. Agent Jackson, I deeply regret that the FBI handed over two million dollars to a man on a terrorist watch list without the capacity to trace it, or managed to follow him for months without knowing his wife was having an affair with a doctor, and I hope you do much better in the future. Captain Taylor, I suppose I should apologize to you for not having been born in Los Angeles, but having seen you work up close now for several months, I can honestly say that try as I might, I can't think of any fair and reasonable system on earth where I wouldn't outrank you. There. I hope that clears everything up."

Characters in Brenda's World

In addition to husband Fritz played by Jon Tenney, Brenda's world on The Closer includes her squad - Sgt. Gabriel (Corey Reynolds), the goofy odd couple pair of Lt. Flynn and Lt. Provenza (Tony Denison and G.W. Bailey, Lt. Tao ( Michael Paul Chan) the detail oriented computer expert, Det. Julio Sanchez (Raymond Cruz), the intense and passionate one. Brenda's boss, Assistant Police Chief Will Pope played by J.K. Simmons (June and Spiderman) is a delight to watch. Brenda's interaction with these characters fully forms hers.

"Brenda: Okay. Maybe this Samantha Jones lifted Bill Croelick's stainless steel lighter - with his fingerprints on it, made a copy of Lisa Barnes' driver's license, stole a car, pushed it off a cliff, cutting her hands and feet off as she jumped into the falling car and set herself on fire. Maybe she trained for her suicide with Cirque du Soleil."

Memorable Plots from The Closer

I enjoyed the whole of the first season of The Closer as Brenda arrives at LAPD, outranks everyone, and ends up at the end of the first season with a loyal team out of the men who resented her when she first arrived. I'm sure that would appeal to most women.

To Protect and to Serve (season 2 of The Closer) was a funny episode where Flynn and Provenza find a dead woman in Provenza's garage. Since they have tickets to a Dodgers Giants game, they wait until after the game to call in the crime. Much hilarity ensues and Brenda, who is furious with their breach in protocol, supports them anyway.

Problem Child (season 4 of The Closer) offered a new twist on a missing child. Is he victim or killer?

All of The Closer episodes are well written, combining the interests of the police drama at hand with development of the characters.

Watch The Closer on TNT.

Sources:

http://www.tnt.tv/series/closer/
http://www.tnt.tv/series/closer/quotes/?contentId=38713