"The Closer" Puts on Latex Funbags and a Matronly Dress

There are two operative modes for The Closer. Half the time viewers get dark and gritty episodes — usually involving a horrifically violent crime, a sympathetic victim, and Det. Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) emotionally affected by the tragedy she's investigating.

The second type of Closer episode is basically lighthearted fluff. There's a crime involved, sure, but the focus is more on Brenda Leigh's cat, or maybe her overly adorable parents are in town and tagging along to crime scenes. Forced hilarity ensues.

I love The Closer when it is gritty and dark, but those lighter episodes are so sugary they make your teeth hurt.  

This week we got one of the fluff episodes. Blergh. You could just tell from the opening shot of Brenda Leigh in a pink parka.

Too bad really, because it turned out to also be the week the show chose to explore transgender issues. Beau Bridges guest starred as a retired detective who comes back to Los Angeles to testify in a murder retrial. The complication? He is now a she. A transgender lesbian who shows up in a matronly dress and outsize breast implants.  

Now I like Beau Bridges just fine as an actor, but I don't think his range includes transgender lesbians. There was never a single moment during this episode where I actually believed his character. And Lt. Provenza's extreme reaction to his old buddy was equally unbelievable.

"Trust me, I've had worse gigs... Check my IMDb listing."

Was the episode objectionable in terms of transgender representation?

It sure would have helped if they'd cast an actual transgender actress to play the part, but on the whole I think they had their heart in the right place. (But then I'm not transgender. I'd appreciate comments from any trans AE members who happened to catch the ep.)

The show did manage to have its cake and eat it too – First scoring cheap laughs by allowing the male detectives to continually crack wise about the absurdity of a guy in a dress. But then winding up the show with a tidy hug and a change of heart by the crusty, yet loveable Provenza.

Det. Lt. Provenza (G.W. Bailey)

Honestly, the episode might have been well-intentioned, but I found the whole thing really tiresome. Haven't we seen this same plot a thousand times before? It was done just as well if not better on the first season of All in The Family. (In "Judging Books by Covers" Archie's old buddy Steve, a former football player, shows up and completely freaks Archie by coming out to him.) That was groundbreaking stuff... in 1971. I just wish The Closer had chosen a less dated plot to explore transgender issues.

I don't want to knock the show too hard here. While this latest episode felt like a bit of a misfire both creatively and in terms of GLBT representation, the show has managed to quietly incorporate a believable gay character (Dr., Morales) into their extended cast, and earlier this season they had a really strong episode, "Walking Back the Cat"  that dealt with gay issues.

Jonathan Del Arco as Dr. Morales

So, fans of The Closer, what did you think of this week's episode?

In case you missed it, TNT re-airs "Make Over" this Saturday, 12:00PM ET, and starting next week you can watch it online at tnt.tv