Major Crimes: Flight Risk
June 28, 2014 9:34 AM - Season 3, Episode 1 - Subscribe
Major Crimes, the spin-off from The Closer started its third season with a case of missing a father and two children. Family secrets get exposed as the investigation proceeds.
Episode 4 will air on this coming Monday, June 30, so I'll keep posting episodes until we're caught up, unless someone gets the posted before.
As for this episode: [SPOILERS]
I thought it was a tasteful way of showing bodies of kids in suitcases. Unfortunately, the fact the cousin was the killer was pretty clear from the beginning. I don't know if it was a conscious decision to cast someone who looked so different from the tanned, blonde ladies of Cynthia Logan's family, but they didn't really give a good reason why the cousin would be there with the mother and sister. It all seemed to fit the typical "odd person out" set-up for these procedural dramas.
[/SPOILERS]
I'm interested to see what comes with the character progression for Rusty, and for Sykes (who showed up to the crime scene in a cocktail dress).
posted by filthy light thief at 11:38 AM on June 28, 2014
As for this episode: [SPOILERS]
I thought it was a tasteful way of showing bodies of kids in suitcases. Unfortunately, the fact the cousin was the killer was pretty clear from the beginning. I don't know if it was a conscious decision to cast someone who looked so different from the tanned, blonde ladies of Cynthia Logan's family, but they didn't really give a good reason why the cousin would be there with the mother and sister. It all seemed to fit the typical "odd person out" set-up for these procedural dramas.
[/SPOILERS]
I'm interested to see what comes with the character progression for Rusty, and for Sykes (who showed up to the crime scene in a cocktail dress).
posted by filthy light thief at 11:38 AM on June 28, 2014
I'm fond of this show. I'm still kinda waiting for Sharon to have a meltdown about Rusty at some point. She seems way too understanding. I agree with you about this particular episode.
posted by idb at 7:17 PM on June 28, 2014
posted by idb at 7:17 PM on June 28, 2014
I liked The Closer, and am fond of Major Crimes too. G.W. Bailey is a treasure.
I'm not sure what I think about how they're writing Rusty's non-coming-out process though. While it makes sense that someone forced into sex work by bad circumstances would not exactly be leading the Pride Parade, there's something kind of tiresome & creepy about how the other characters just keep tiptoeing around the subject and just trade significant looks and euphemisms even outside of Rusty's presence.
posted by oh yeah! at 9:02 PM on June 28, 2014
I'm not sure what I think about how they're writing Rusty's non-coming-out process though. While it makes sense that someone forced into sex work by bad circumstances would not exactly be leading the Pride Parade, there's something kind of tiresome & creepy about how the other characters just keep tiptoeing around the subject and just trade significant looks and euphemisms even outside of Rusty's presence.
posted by oh yeah! at 9:02 PM on June 28, 2014
Rusty's made it super clear repeatedly that he Does Not Want To Talk About That. And I like that they respect that decision.
My husband watched the first episode as a big fan of Major Crimes and has not asked to see any more. The grief of the mother, of everyone involved and how the camera stepped back - the x-rays, the expressions on people's face, the sounds that woman made - way too effective for us. Very very well done.
posted by viggorlijah at 1:37 AM on June 29, 2014
My husband watched the first episode as a big fan of Major Crimes and has not asked to see any more. The grief of the mother, of everyone involved and how the camera stepped back - the x-rays, the expressions on people's face, the sounds that woman made - way too effective for us. Very very well done.
posted by viggorlijah at 1:37 AM on June 29, 2014
Rusty's made it super clear repeatedly that he Does Not Want To Talk About That. And I like that they respect that decision.
Yes, it's not the characters not talking About That directly to Rusty that troubles me so much. That I can read as respectful. But I just find it off-putting that everyone seems to treat the word "gay" as a verboten slur even when he's not in the room. Or that we keep having these psych-out scenes where other characters think Rusty's talking about being gay when he turns out to be talking about something else entirely. It seems like the only person so far to have spoken openly about Rusty's sexuality has been a villain - serial killer Stroh's lawyer. I was hopeful that the sweet scene between Rusty & Sharon at the end of S2 was a sign that the writers were going to show us Rusty beginning to come to terms with his sexual orientation this season, but judging by these first few episodes it seems like we're no closer to that character arc than before.
On another topic, I wonder if we'll ever see any of Sharon's biological offspring on the show? She's not supposed to be estranged from them the way her ex-ish husband was, if I recall correctly, and yet they are hardly ever mentioned.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:42 AM on June 29, 2014
Yes, it's not the characters not talking About That directly to Rusty that troubles me so much. That I can read as respectful. But I just find it off-putting that everyone seems to treat the word "gay" as a verboten slur even when he's not in the room. Or that we keep having these psych-out scenes where other characters think Rusty's talking about being gay when he turns out to be talking about something else entirely. It seems like the only person so far to have spoken openly about Rusty's sexuality has been a villain - serial killer Stroh's lawyer. I was hopeful that the sweet scene between Rusty & Sharon at the end of S2 was a sign that the writers were going to show us Rusty beginning to come to terms with his sexual orientation this season, but judging by these first few episodes it seems like we're no closer to that character arc than before.
On another topic, I wonder if we'll ever see any of Sharon's biological offspring on the show? She's not supposed to be estranged from them the way her ex-ish husband was, if I recall correctly, and yet they are hardly ever mentioned.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:42 AM on June 29, 2014
I agree that they've pretty much gotten everything out of that but I'm wondering with the resurfacing of Rusty's mom if we'll find out a stronger reason he has to postpone coming out, such as bio-mom's deepset homophobia or Rusty's irrational but valid fear that being gay means he deserved to be abused as an underage sexworker, etc.
Buzz is intended to be gay on the show, or am I reading more into it? None of them really bring their private lives into the office, and when they do, there's a lot of trust involved.
There was a season two piece on Rusty discussed by the producers - Major Crimes tackles coming out, where one of the producers talks about his own long coming out struggle with family disappointment and religion. So I think the slow pace is deliberate, not poor writing.
posted by viggorlijah at 8:22 AM on June 29, 2014
Buzz is intended to be gay on the show, or am I reading more into it? None of them really bring their private lives into the office, and when they do, there's a lot of trust involved.
There was a season two piece on Rusty discussed by the producers - Major Crimes tackles coming out, where one of the producers talks about his own long coming out struggle with family disappointment and religion. So I think the slow pace is deliberate, not poor writing.
posted by viggorlijah at 8:22 AM on June 29, 2014
Thanks for the article link, viggorlijah, that was reassuring.
I can never remember if they've confirmed Buzz's orientation. He doesn't really get a chance to interact with people as much as the rest of the cast, just by the nature of his job, so the details of his personal life don't come up as organically as they do for everyone else. I think the only significant thing about his personal life to make it into the show was the reveal about his motivation for becoming a Civilian Surveillance Coordinator (I'm blanking on the details, it was in a conversation with Rusty but I can't remember if it was from last season or this one).
I know it was established in The Closer that Dr. Morales, the coroner, is gay, because he was always hitting on Det. Gabriel who he mistakenly assumed was gay (as a continuation of the running gag of Dr. Terrence's creepy crushing on Brenda). But I don't recall if it has ever been mentioned in Major Crimes, and Morales interacts with even less people in-show than Buzz, so the writers might find it difficult to mention again in a morgue exposition scene without it feeling shoehorned in.
posted by oh yeah! at 9:22 AM on June 29, 2014
I can never remember if they've confirmed Buzz's orientation. He doesn't really get a chance to interact with people as much as the rest of the cast, just by the nature of his job, so the details of his personal life don't come up as organically as they do for everyone else. I think the only significant thing about his personal life to make it into the show was the reveal about his motivation for becoming a Civilian Surveillance Coordinator (I'm blanking on the details, it was in a conversation with Rusty but I can't remember if it was from last season or this one).
I know it was established in The Closer that Dr. Morales, the coroner, is gay, because he was always hitting on Det. Gabriel who he mistakenly assumed was gay (as a continuation of the running gag of Dr. Terrence's creepy crushing on Brenda). But I don't recall if it has ever been mentioned in Major Crimes, and Morales interacts with even less people in-show than Buzz, so the writers might find it difficult to mention again in a morgue exposition scene without it feeling shoehorned in.
posted by oh yeah! at 9:22 AM on June 29, 2014
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posted by filthy light thief at 9:34 AM on June 28, 2014