"I went to a place to eat. It said 'breakfast at any time.' So I ordered french toast during the Renaissance". --Steven Wright ... If you are a devotee of time travel, check out this song...

Friday, July 17, 2009

The Closer: Det. Richard Tracy

The Closer - like Bones - is a deft mix of detective story and comedy. This past Monday's episode - 5.6 - hit new comedic heights. Some scenes had me practically falling down laughing.

The main storyline, about the murder of an Internet matchmaker, was funny enough. But they threw in a detective impersonator...

Det. Richard Tracy at first fools Pope, Provenza, and Flynn, who are so happy with his being first on the scene (in the murder outside of our regular district) that they give him their cards. This opens the door for Tracy to conduct the investigation by impersonating Pope et al.

It takes Brenda, of course, to realize that Richard Tracy = Dick Tracy, a fictional character, but the story gets even funnier once Tracy is outed. He loudly complains that keeping him in custody is keeping him off the case, and in effect gives Provenza and Flynn a glimpse in the mirror of what a passionate detective might be. Fine performance by Andrew Daly (who used to be on MADtv) as Tracy.

I hope we see Tracy back (his character's real name is Jonathan Baird). The Closer is better than ever, introducing new characters like Capt. Sharon Raydor (Mary McDonnell) and now Det. Tracy in just about every other episode, in a frothy cool mix just right for the summer heat.



See also Tom Skerritt on The Closer and Pres. Laura Roslin vs. Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson







5-min podcast review of The Closer

4 comments:

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

The closer is my favorite tv show. i watch The closer tv show regularly A great interrogator like Brenda Leigh Johnson of The Closer TV show can make criminal go nuts and accept his crime without even knowing it. I just cannot stop clapping whenever this character succeeds in getting confession out a seasoned criminal.

Anonymous said...

Is there anyone who want to watch missing episodes of The Closer Season 6 just go through this link.

MrMotoMike said...

The set piece where Pope is on the phone demanding that "Central" look harder for a Detective Richard Tracey is a little masterpiece of timing. Brenda's look of comprehension, her summary that all the evidence has been turned over to a "Detective Dick Tracy", and most of all, the flawless reaction shot from Pope, is worth seeing many times.
It seems that The Closer does the occasional comedy bit with tremendous energy. Totally refreshing for a series that usually has a lot of tension.

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