The Closer: Season 2 (complete)

[meganbmoore]

With the major problems I had with the first season addressed (the extreme heavyhandedness in the approach to some of the characters and the way so many cases revolved around a woman having been sexually wronged) the show has settled into "comfy viewing" territory for me.  I like it, but don't have much of a compulsion to post on it as I watch.  While I doubt I'll ever like Pope, the rest, even Taylor and Flynn, have grown on me pretty well.

The main draw for me, of course, remains Brenda.  The thing about Brenda is this: Brenda is a wholly traditionally  female character in a traditionally male role, but she never remotely codes as male, nor are any concessions ever made with her.  She's not just "traditionally female," she's also conservative and old fashioned, and is as girly as a 40-year-old woman can be and still act her age.  But there's never the remotest sense of Brenda being in a "man's world."  Everyone, whether they like it or not, is in Brenda's world.  The options are to do what she wants, get out of the way, get bulldozed over getting in her way, or roll over and play dead.  She's a force of nature in a way that few main female characters are allowed to be without taking on masculine traits, and this extends into his personal life.  I adore Fritz, but in many ways, he's The Chick: he's not weak or a pushover in any way, but his role in the series is wholly defined by his relationship with Brenda.

I have to say, though, that while I think the show is moving in the right direction by having 50% of the cast being POC(10 main cast members, 3 black, 1 asian, one hispanic) and portraying them all positively (despite series facepalming issues in season 1, in season 2, he's Brenda's rival primarily in the context of her investigations interfering with other investigations, and other departments being interfered with because of her, and his having to deal with it) it seems that 

Gabriel and Daniels, though perfectly workable and compatible as a pairing, were randomly hooked up because someone went "we have two nice, intelligent, attractive, heterosexual black people about the same age and of opposite genders...obviously, they'll date" as opposed to because of anything about the characters making the pairing happen.

 

Comments

[tatterpunk.livejournal.com]

Gabriel and Daniels, though perfectly workable and compatible as a pairing, were randomly hooked up because someone went "we have two nice, intelligent, attractive, heterosexual black people about the same age and of opposite genders...obviously, they'll date" as opposed to because of anything about the characters making the pairing happen.

It's funny to read your thoughts on Season 2 this morning, as last night's episode re-incorporated this storyline in an interesting way. One of the things I like about The Closer is its tendency to re-focus relationships so that they speak to team, instead of individual, dynamic.

I wouldn't swear to anything, but I think the writers intended to take this narrative thread to a different place, initially, but the actress playing Daniels had a noted absence during Season 3 and I think it forced them to regroup.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I sometimes get the feeling that the show forgets that they could/should give their other female character something to do when their lead is female. She barely spoke at all in season one. Almost might as well have been an extra.

[tatterpunk.livejournal.com]

It's definitely a problem. I'm tempted to believe there's some kind of time conflict with the actress -- I believe she's a regular on another show and was recently in a big movie -- because it's such a glaring omission, and the writers seem smarter than that.

But perhaps I give them too much credit.