I don’t like seeing Provenza in jeans. I’m just going to put that out there– it’s kind of a creepy look. That’s not an attack on the guy himself. The president, for instance, is a handsome man, but he cannot wear a pair of jeans to save his life. In fact, if I were a birther, that would be my number one piece of evidence: “of course he’s not American! Have you seen that man in a pair of jeans? He probably calls them dungarees! Commie.”
Anyway.
This episode starts out almost Mad Men-ish, with two “game stewardesses” getting ready to party with their first class passengers, Provenza and Flynn. Now, it’s pretty clear that these Southern belles are after more than just a good time pretty early on, but it took me damn near the entire episode to figure out why they were actually after these two guys. In fact, I’ll admit that I never actually figured it out. I kind of had to wait for Brenda to explain it to me.
Even though the story ended on a ridiculous note, with the two ladies stealing Provenza’s car, and a slapstick-y luggage cart race, the whole drug/coffee escapade managed to be both funny and pulpy. The Closer has really been changing its tone from one week to the next, but has done so in a way that still stays true to itself, so it’s not thematically jarring. In just a few short weeks, we can go from a genuinely tense stand-off, to something that feels like the Benny Hill theme should be accompanying it.
The whole chief subplot isn’t dwelled upon too much this week, but I totally call bullshit on it anyway. Brenda finally tells Chief Pope that she’s applying for the job, and he’s understandably rattled. This job has probably been his ultimate goal for most, if not all of his career, while it’s something Brenda has only started considering a few weeks ago. Adding insult to injury, he’s the one who brought her in, so he feels (somewhat understandably) betrayed.
However, this is what pisses me off: there is no way Pope would be dumb enough to say what he said to Brenda at the end of the episode. He’s known her for years, and he knows what drives her. If he would have just stuck to playing the wounded animal, there’s an awfully good chance that Brenda’s southern upbringing and her soft heart would have led her to cede the job to Pope.
Instead, Pope told her that the department would never hire her because she’s a woman. Seriously, Pope? Do you want to just start getting her coffee now, or do you want to wait until she officially job, and you’re officially her bitch? Brenda may have had a polite, Southern upbringing, but she’s tough as nails. It’s what’s gotten her to this point in her career, so Pope has to know that she’s one hundred percent going to see this as a challenge. So now, things are going to get ugly.
Clacked by Kona Gallagher 
on Aug 06, 2010 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
