Major Crimes - General Discussion

[TrixieTrue]

15 hours ago, 4evaQuez said:

 

Again, why couldn't they just have Stroh take out his gun first. Why did Provenza have to find it after he'd been shot 5 times? Why did they have Provenza be horrified at Rusty's actions and even outright state that Rusty shot him 5 times in a horrifying manner, and why did the show make it clear that Stroh had absolutely no interest in Rusty in this final appearance, only to show Rusty as a hero for getting away with murder in the same way Stroh had done so because of his own mother's love for him and belief that she was protecting him. They have Andrea say that Sharon would be proud of Rusty - to be fair this is in relation of him wanting to work for the DA's office- but nothing would be further from the truth. Sharon, with a heavy heart, bloodshot eyes, and a lost discussion with her priest, would take Rusty's gun to the LAPD herself to make sure a proper investigation was had. I did not just finish watching the finale of Major Crimes. I watched the finale of Rusty Beck, Junior Murderer and that is not the show I've been binging these last few days.

 

I can't imagine that FID would clear Provenza. First of all, Rusty wouldn't have had a police firearm. So Stroh would have been shot with a non-issued weapon and FID would be ok with that? Even if they got Firearms Francine to vouch that Stroh was shot with Provenza's police weapon, there would be other inconsistencies.  

And there would have been some regular police officers at the LAPD that they could have pulled in. Not every single officer was at the airport. 

We know Duff identifies with Rusty, but trying to make him the hero of a show he never should have been a central character in doesn't work. 

 

[Raja]

2 hours ago, TrixieTrue said:

.  

And there would have been some regular police officers at the LAPD that they could have pulled in. Not every single officer was at the airport. 

We know Duff identifies with Rusty, but trying to make him the hero of a show he never should have been a central character in doesn't work. 

 

That is a normal problem with LAPD based shows for  locals who know about the political geography. In California jurisdiction runs statewide so any officers from School District Police, one car was at the Rodney King beating for example, to the Highway Patrol could provide back up.  It has been a while since I saw this but did they call for Sheriff's support, and in real life inform them an operation was going down so a deputy doesn't shot an unknown detective since the Marina is in unincorporated LA County and part of the LASD deputies patrol area?

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, TrixieTrue said:

The Rusty/Gus relationship was always uneven. Had they been good friends, sure, I might have bought that. But I don't know if it was the actor's chemistry or what, but the two barely seemed to tolerate each other at times.

The "Gusty" relationship always made me eyeroll a bit because to go from the brother of a runaway murder victim to Rusty's love interest was a bit of a stretch, and, IMO, was poorly handled. And it could have worked if we had a conversation between them showing some mutual empathy and sympathy for their bad childhoods, but, instead, Gus's was presented like part of an interrogation, and I don't recall Rusty responding to Gus with similar information.
IDK. Maybe I just missed it because I tended to multitask during Rusty drama unless it was with Sharon Raydor.

And, @Bastet (or anyone), have you read why the writers named Rusty's mom Sharon too? It seems they didn't think that one through if it was supposed to be for comic relief or even for dramatic emphasis. If nothing else, it makes discussions like this awkward at times.

[4evaQuez]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

The "Gusty" relationship always made me eyeroll a bit because to go from the brother of a runaway murder victim to Rusty's love interest was a bit of a stretch, and, IMO, was poorly handled. And it could have worked if we had a conversation between them showing some mutual empathy and sympathy for their bad childhoods, but, instead, Gus's was presented like part of an interrogation, and I don't recall Rusty responding to Gus with similar information.
IDK. Maybe I just missed it because I tended to multitask during Rusty drama unless it was with Sharon Raydor.

And, @Bastet (or anyone), have you read why the writers named Rusty's mom Sharon too? It seems they didn't think that one through if it was supposed to be for comic relief or even for dramatic emphasis. If nothing else, it makes discussions like this awkward at times.

My issue with Gusty is that it brought out Rusty's worst trait, his judgmental attitude. Rusty was quick to remind people that he wasn't some middle-class white boy, but in his relationship with Gus, that's exactly what he was. He constantly had this air of looking down on Gus. I also kinda hated that the show never really addressed the power imbalance between the two. Rusty had consistent emotional support, financial support, professional options, and he's white in a world that values whiteness. Gus didn't have any of these things on his side. 

Gus was no angel. He often tried to push Rusty into situations where Rusty was not ready. He also didn't actually seem to like Rusty very much as a person - not that I blame him, but I'm not in a relationship with Rusty. At times, he also seemed to recognize this power imbalance and resent it, yet he chose to try to desperately cling to the relationship.

The actors also didn't have particularly good chemistry, and at times, they came off as coworkers forced to interact than two guys in a passionate relationship, and for Rusty, his first relationship which should have been a tad more fanciful from his end. First love and all.

 

 

Edited January 19, 2021 by 4evaQuez

[CrazyInAlabama]

I'm watching the "Two Options" episode where the older couple are killed, and their grandchildren are kidnapped.    The show certainly was pushing the special operations group for a spin off weren't they?     Complete with Jon Tenney as the director, and the blonde haired actress as the deputy, with the attorney being the difficult insider role.     

Then in the next episode, Season 3, is when Luke Perry guest stars.   That's so sad.     Rusty's graduation party happens, and that's nice.      

Edited January 19, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

And, @Bastet (or anyone), have you read why the writers named Rusty's mom Sharon too?

For that scene at the end of the first episode, so Rusty (and we) can learn she hasn't actually been looking for his mom (in the five minutes she's had the job, in between looking for the person responsible for four murders), she hasn't even cracked the file.

2 hours ago, 4evaQuez said:

The actors also didn't have particularly good chemistry, and at times, they came off as coworkers forced to interact than two guys in a passionate relationship,

Rene Rosado was brought on to play Gus, "Alice"'s brother, not Gus, Rusty's potential love interest.  After Mariana's funeral, James Duff - always thinking about Rusty, Rusty, Rusty - at some point decided that when he brought Gus back for the trial, it would also be as a love interest.  That's why Gus returning with the hots for Rusty makes no sense, because it was never written or performed that way originally.

49 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I'm watching the "Two Options" episode where the older couple are killed, and their grandchildren are kidnapped.    The show certainly was pushing the special operations group for a spin off weren't they? 

Yep.  I'm glad it didn't go, because I wouldn't have watched it (too traditional a cop show for me) and I'd have missed Fritz on this show.

[wknt3]

On 1/18/2021 at 3:16 PM, Bastet said:

I don't have the emotional energy to truly get into my myriad feelings (which, yes, I still have, strongly, three years later) about killing Sharon off, making the whole damn show about Rusty vs. Stroh in the end, and Rusty and Provenza's actions in Stroh's death, but since you weren't around at the time, I'll just tell you that James Duff has given at least six different answers for why he did what he did, and one of them was to claim he wanted to show that without Sharon, everything went to shit, that Rusty and Provenza would never had done what they did if she'd been alive.  (Mind you, this is an answer he gave after being raked over the coals for months, so I do not believe him, and it's stupid even if true, because it states that her influence on them died right along with her.)

Yeah I don't buy that either. The ending was all about Rusty Beck Boy Detective figuring everything out and defeating the evil genius Phillip Stroh, showing that in the end he could do what Brenda, Sharon, and the whole LAPD couldn't. Everything else is just rationalization and whether it's before or after the fact, conscious or subconscious, etc. is pretty much an academic exercise.

Edited January 21, 2021 by wknt3
ducking autocorrect

[CrazyInAlabama]

Currently Lifetime has Major Crimes from 10 am to 2 pm, Monday Through Friday (Central Time), but starting 2 February, they're going to have the next two MC episodes from 9 to 11 p.m (Central time).    That's as far as the Titan TV schedule goes.     However, that's part 2 and 3 of Hindsight, and a multi episode arc, so I'm wondering if the schedule will change to having some episodes at night or not.   

The two episodes at night on 2 February seem to be the only time they play at night.    

Watching 3 hours of MC on weekdays, just reminds me how the Rusty storyline is so over done.   

Edited January 24, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[Spartan Girl]

Saw “A Leap of Faith” yesterday and the stepdad who killed the autistic stepdaughter and whines about how he was the victim for putting up with her for so long and blamed the mother for not wanting to put her in a home disgusts me to no end.

Ditto the guy that killed his cousin’s husband and her two children (one of whom was biologically his) because he was obsessed with her. If I were the mothers in both of the episodes, I would have killed those bastards myself.

[Bastet]

3 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Ditto the guy that killed his cousin’s husband and her two children (one of whom was biologically his) because he was obsessed with her. If I were the mothers in both of the episodes, I would have killed those bastards myself.

The crime in "Flight Risk" is horrific, yes, but I admit I conclude repeat viewings distracted by my lingering thought following his confession -- where in the process did he dig a grave large enough for an adult male in his cousin's (Vanessa, sister to Cynthia Logan) backyard and how did she not notice that (there is zero indication she was in on it)?

He couldn't have had time to do it that morning - he'd planned to kill only Ben, and by knocking him out and putting him in that trunk he'd rigged up for carbon monoxide poisoning; he wasn't expecting the kids to be home.  So he has that pesky unexpected wrinkle to deal with - stabbing Ben instead, thus needing to clean up all that blood in the daughter's bedroom, and disposing of the bodies of two children - and he gets roped into the search early on, because Cynthia's mom went over there when Cynthia couldn't get in touch with her husband and found the house in the state it was in. 

So he must have pre-dug the grave, which means Vanessa is quite unobservant.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think the cousin/murderer dug the grave when the husband, and kids were out, the day before,  and the wife was at that seminar in Santa Barbara, or where ever it was, because her talk to the participants was early in the morning, so she went up the day before.   Sometimes, when I used to go to workshops for work, even though someone was only going to have a short talk, or one session as a presenter, they were there for several days, to attend some meetings, or just catch up with colleagues 

Edited January 26, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

The crime in "Flight Risk" is horrific, yes, but I admit I conclude repeat viewings distracted by my lingering thought following his confession -- where in the process did he dig a grave large enough for an adult male in his cousin's (Vanessa, sister to Cynthia Logan) backyard and how did she not notice that (there is zero indication she was in on it)?

He couldn't have had time to do it that morning - he'd planned to kill only Ben, and by knocking him out and putting him in that trunk he'd rigged up for carbon monoxide poisoning; he wasn't expecting the kids to be home.  So he has that pesky unexpected wrinkle to deal with - stabbing Ben instead, thus needing to clean up all that blood in the daughter's bedroom, and disposing of the bodies of two children - and he gets roped into the search early on, because Cynthia's mom went over there when Cynthia couldn't get in touch with her husband and found the house in the state it was in. 

So he must have pre-dug the grave, which means Vanessa is quite unobservant.

Well, in fairness she had only just gotten home to find her whole family missing. But I will agree that she didn't seem like the brightest bulb. That shouldn't imply that I didn't feel sorry for her.

[Bastet]

8 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I think the cousin/murderer dug the grave when the husband, and kids were out, and the wife was at that seminar in Santa Barbara, or where ever it was, because her talk to the participants was early in the morning, so she went up the day before. 

 

4 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Well, in fairness she had only just gotten home to find her whole family missing.

 

Not Cynthia, the wife/mother.  I said Vanessa, Cynthia's sister/the killer's other cousin.  Yes, Cynthia was gone and that's why he planned to kill Ben then - she was at the seminar and the kids were supposed to be at that camp.  But Vanessa was home, and that's whose yard he buried Ben in without her knowing.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Oops!   I didn't catch that it was another cousin's house, not the children's house. 

[proserpina65]

On ‎01‎/‎25‎/‎2021 at 6:05 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Saw “A Leap of Faith” yesterday and the stepdad who killed the autistic stepdaughter and whines about how he was the victim for putting up with her for so long and blamed the mother for not wanting to put her in a home disgusts me to no end.

That one interested me, because I could see someone not being able to deal with a child whose autism is particularly severe.  But all I could think was "Dude, you should've just left".

 

Damn it, I lost all of my previous post.  Oh well, it mostly just said that I love Flynn, Provenza and Tao, and cannot stand that Rusty is in every freaking episode whether or not he fits in the story.

[Bastet]

28 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

That one interested me, because I could see someone not being able to deal with a child whose autism is particularly severe.  But all I could think was "Dude, you should've just left".

Same; life with Annie indeed sounded unspeakably draining, but he chose to marry into that.  So then it's worse than he expected, his wife won't let anyone other than the two of them carry any of the load, whatever -- LEAVE.  He was so hung up on being seen as the good guy - since the bio father had split - that he'd rather kill her?!  It was a premeditated crime, not an instance where he snapped.

What an asshole.  "You have no idea how tired I am."  Dude, I get that; I'm not in any way cut out for that role, either.  But if your next thought is "How can I kill my stepdaughter and frame the neighborhood sex offender for it?" you're not tired, you're a monster.

I say this every time the episode comes up, I know, but Paula Marshall bugs the shit out of me so it's notable how great I think she plays the mom's realization of why he won't go do the line-up; that dawning horror and disbelief is well done.

Edited January 28, 2021 by Bastet

[Spartan Girl]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

Same; life with Annie indeed sounded unspeakably draining, but he chose to marry into that.  So then it's worse than he expected, his wife won't let anyone other than the two of them carry any of the load, whatever -- LEAVE.  He was so hung up on being seen as the good guy - since the bio father had split - that he'd rather kill her?!  It was a premeditated crime, not an instance where he snapped.

What an asshole.  "You have no idea how tired I am."  Dude, I get that; I'm not in any way cut out for that role, either.  But if your next thought is "How can I kill my stepdaughter and frame the neighborhood sex offender for it?" you're not tired, you're a monster.

I say this every time the episode comes up, I know, but Paula Marshall bugs the shit out of me so it's notable how great I think she plays the mom's realization of why he won't go do the line-up; that dawning horror and disbelief is well done.

I don't care how stressful her autism made things. It didnt make her a bad person and more importantly SHE DID NOT DESERVE TO DIE. I hate how people act like people with autism and other disabilities don't have feelings or that their lives don't matter lives because they do. The mom screaming at that bastard about how Annie loved him got me because it was probably true. Whatever problems Annie caused, she probably did love him. And he acted like she was a piece of trash he could just throw away.

Edited January 28, 2021 by Spartan Girl

[Bastet]

For me, the worst part was him blaming Annie, like she had a choice and was actively trying to burden him!  "She was not a special needs child, she was a 'no one else can ever need anything because it's all about her' kind of child.  The only life that Annie ever had was the life she took from us."  So gross.
 

[Spartan Girl]

46 minutes ago, Bastet said:

For me, the worst part was him blaming Annie, like she had a choice and was actively trying to burden him!  "She was not a special needs child, she was a 'no one else can ever need anything because it's all about her' kind of child.  The only life that Annie ever had was the life she took from us."  So gross.
 

SERIOUSLY! Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, ever asks to be born that way. Fuck him. I almost wish the mother had been in the room when he said that; no jury in the world would convict her for whatever she would do to him...

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

What an asshole.  "You have no idea how tired I am."  Dude, I get that; I'm not in any way cut out for that role, either.  But if your next thought is "How can I kill my stepdaughter and frame the neighborhood sex offender for it?" you're not tired, you're a monster.

I hadn't noticed his excuse included being tired. I have made some bad decisions when seriously overtired (albeit life-threatening to me, not others) so I *might* like to see a episode or limited series in which they show how someone who starts out being a nice guy who wants to help raise an autistic child (or something similar) then slowly morphs into a monster due to lack of sleep and entering a kind of fugue state. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

On today's episode, "Reality Check" about dysfunctional couples on a reality show, the one suspect talks about spin offs.   Sanchez, and Provenza look at each other, and say we know what a spin off is.   It was a funny moment.   

With the autistic stepdaughter murder, the killer knew what he was getting into when he married the girl's mother.    I bet his first move was trying to get the mother to send the girl away to some care home, and when she refused, then he moved to plan B.  

Edited February 3, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[Bastet]

My favorite part of "Reality Check" is Provenza suggesting that when they refer to Mr. and Mrs. Dickerhoof as a couple, it should be Dickerhooves.  It is such a Provenza thing to say, and the best part is the look on Andy's face, because he's actually considering it.

My second favorite is Julio saying "the world wants a break" when he snatches the annoying sister's phone and she protests he can't cut her off from the world like that.

Third is all the snarky comments about marriage (which this series is full of, and I'm here for all of them), especially "But in a car with two steering wheels driven by a married couple, I'm going to have a hard time proving intent".

I could go down a pretty long list of favorites; that's a good comedic episode.

Just one more: Andy going from annoyed that the only work Sharon will let him do is watching that awful show to yelling at the contestants through the TV.  "It's in the freezer!  Oh my god, how can you walk away from the refrigerator without checking the freezer?!"

("They love that show in prison, too.")

[Bobbin]

Change of seasons here, 1:10 in Arizona, about Rusty's ex-father, another unqualified parent. This is the second viewing for me, and I still wonder why they didn't arrest the S.O.B. anyway (they reneg on deals all the time) and show some concern for the safety of his future stepdaughters instead of waiting for the mother to find out the hard way.

What a turn around in the squad's relationship with Rusty in just 10 eps. With Andy, it began with the ride to the bus station to get Sharon Beck, seeing how loyal and devoted Rusty was in spite of her treatment of him -- and Andy knowing, I believe, that she wasn't going to be on the bus.

Back to the Stroh thread, someone would have to falsify the ballistics report, that's all there is to it. And Provenza had better have gunshot residue on him by the time the crime lab gets there. And Rusty not. Of course all of Fandom wanted to see Rusty put down Phillip Stroh, and do it with cool satisfaction.  I never understood why Brenda didn't finish the job in her kitchen when she had the chance. 

[Bastet]

15 hours ago, Bobbin said:

Of course all of Fandom wanted to see Rusty put down Phillip Stroh, and do it with cool satisfaction.  I never understood why Brenda didn't finish the job in her kitchen when she had the chance. 

Not this fan.  And Brenda declining to carry out an extrajudicial execution after all that time dealing with the fallout of having arranged for several to occur was quite satisfying to me.

15 hours ago, Bobbin said:

and Andy knowing, I believe, that she wasn't going to be on the bus.

I don't read Andy as knowing Sharon Beck wasn't going to show.  But I love that scene, when he - as an addict whose kids basically grew up without a father - sees the brittle, broken child of an addict underneath that obnoxious exterior.  Rusty was never "the little psycho" to him again after that.

[wknt3]

On 1/30/2021 at 2:03 AM, Bobbin said:

What a turn around in the squad's relationship with Rusty in just 10 eps. With Andy, it began with the ride to the bus station to get Sharon Beck, seeing how loyal and devoted Rusty was in spite of her treatment of him -- and Andy knowing, I believe, that she wasn't going to be on the bus.

Of course all of Fandom wanted to see Rusty put down Phillip Stroh, and do it with cool satisfaction.  I never understood why Brenda didn't finish the job in her kitchen when she had the chance. 

 

17 hours ago, Bastet said:

Not this fan.  And Brenda declining to carry out an extrajudicial execution after all that time dealing with the fallout of having arranged for several to occur was quite satisfying to me.

Or this fan. Or most of us who were posting on the old forum at the time as I recall. I was hoping for just about anything else actually. And even though I was pretty much expecting Gary Stu Boy Detective to save the day, I was hoping that it would be set up to be justified in some way, like Stroh pulling his concealed weapon while Provenza is calling for backup or cuffing him. In fact I think most of fandom was bored with Stroh at that point. If it was about fan service they would have found a way to bring KS back and have Brenda be the one to swoop in. Now that I could have gotten behind...

 

Quote

I don't read Andy as knowing Sharon Beck wasn't going to show.  But I love that scene, when he - as an addict whose kids basically grew up without a father - sees the brittle, broken child of an addict underneath that obnoxious exterior.  Rusty was never "the little psycho" to him again after that.

I always saw it as Andy being unsurprised, not knowing for sure she wasn't going to show, but knowing it was a real possibility. And I totally agree that that scene is where the light bulb went off in his head regarding what Rusty went through and his own experiences.

[Bobbin]

Yeah, I knew "knowing" was too strong when I wrote it. "Fearing" was more what I was after, based on Andy's knowing the nature of addicts and from hearing Rusty's between-the-lines description of his mother's "fragile" condition. A movingly written scene, as well as Rusty's attitude adjustment by the time Sharon found him in her condo. A lot packed into her report, "Rusty's home."

[Bastet]

52 minutes ago, Bobbin said:

A lot packed into her report, "Rusty's home."

That's a great scene.  I love the parallel between Rusty and Sharon, about not crying in front of people (he took off on Andy after his mom didn't show, and later that night she booked it out of the Murder Room when she teared up about Rusty taking off - and later, in "The Shame Game", we get that fantastic scene when she beat feets it out of Rusty's cubicle before she can no longer hold back the tears over his attempts at apologizing for accusing her of wanting to get rid of him).

And I like him being apologetic about the money his mom conned them out of, and Sharon fibbing that "our bosses" have it covered - Rusty would be uncomfortable knowing the squad is eating the cost, but if it's Taylor or random, faceless LAPD brass writing it off, it won't be yet another thing for him to dwell on.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I am watching the reruns, and still fail to understand Buzz's rationale that he is responsible for the family of the murderer of his father and uncle.   He didn't make the man or his associate rob and kill them, so the responsible person should be the man who did.    

[shapeshifter]

9 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I am watching the reruns, and still fail to understand Buzz's rationale that he is responsible for the family of the murderer of his father and uncle.   He didn't make the man or his associate rob and kill them, so the responsible person should be the man who did.    

Buzz feels responsible for the innocent family having the hardship of having lost their father/husband/earner because if he/Buzz had not pursued finding his father and uncle’s killer, the family of the killer would have never suffered the same loss that Buzz felt as a child. 

Rusty, however, is the person that initiated the search for the killers, not Buzz, and Rusty doesn’t share the sense of guilt that Buzz feels (misplaced though you and others might find that guilt, @CrazyInAlabama). 
But Rusty has never experienced the loss of a caring father or uncles, like Buzz has. 

The killer was a young man under the influence of drugs that destroyed his ability to make ethical decisions at the time. Buzz realizes the killer is no longer someone who would do something like that. The killer does not resist arrest or flee. 
If the purpose of prison is to reform a criminal, prison is not necessary for the killer. 
Perhaps financial restitution to Buzz would have made more sense for everyone involved, but that was not an option. 
Maybe Buzz preferred a kind of revenge anyway. 
But Buzz did not see the killer’s son as deserving of the punishment the killer’s son is ultimately was going to pay for being the son of a killer. 

Still, you’re right, @CrazyInAlabama, Buzz should not pay either. 

[lookeyloo]

Where can we find starting season 4? We keep getting reruns up to season 3. 

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Buzz realizes the killer is no longer someone who would do something like that. The killer does not resist arrest or flee. 
If the purpose of prison is to reform a criminal, prison is not necessary for the killer. 

All this time, he's been driven by the notion that if he can identify their killer, he can achieve that mythical "closure" people are always on about, and deliver it to his mother and sister as well.  Reality is, identifying and locking up the killer doesn't change a damn thing for his family.  But it destroys the killer's family.  The wife and kids who came along when he was a different person are now in almost the same position the three surviving Watsons were thrust into at the same age.

Y'all know how useless I find Buzz, and how lacking I find the actor's skills, but that moment when Bill Jones asks for a moment to say goodbye to his family, and Buzz nails him by asking if he gave Jay Watson the chance to say goodbye to his family is great, because it's followed by him indeed allowing Jones that opportunity.

2 hours ago, lookeyloo said:

Where can we find starting season 4?

It's in syndication on StartTV and Lifetime.  StartTV is currently near the end of season two, and Lifetime is about halfway through season five.

Edited February 10, 2021 by Bastet

[CrazyInAlabama]

Today was the MC episode I dreaded.   During the Sanctuary City story series, where the three student vanish, and when Captain Raydor passes out in the squad room, and it's the beginning of the heart disease.     

Today was the end of Capt. Raydor.     Even knowing what would happen, it still made no sense to kill her off.   If she would have had a heart transplant, she would have been out for months recovering, so she didn't have to die.

I watched the episodes with Sharon's illness, and I think I understand more of her reasoning to not have a transplant, and live her life to the fullest, but I still cried when she collapsed, and when the doctor came out to tell everyone she didn't make it.  

The few final episodes of the Rusty boy hero was interesting, but I do like what everyone is going to do after the final episode.     Provenza's eulogy was great acting.   

Edited February 20, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[Bastet]

17 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Today was the MC episode I dreaded.   During the Sanctuary City story series, where the three student vanish, and when Captain Raydor passes out in the squad room.     

I have to be in the right mood to re-watch season six, because for all the stuff I like, there's, you know, that whole pesky thing about killing off one of my favorite TV characters of all time and sending me into a tailspin of emotions.  (And then that damn Rusty/Stroh ending.) 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I love the episode where Rusty's biological sperm donor beats him up, and the entire squad confronts the man, and witnesses him relinquishing his parental rights.  As Sharon says, Rusty isn't an orphan, because he has a family in the squad room, and with her.  

Spoiler

Emma Rios, the prosecutor was such an unlikeable character.   She couldn't even get Julio's name right.    She was so awful that I'm not even sorry Stroh took her out in the last season.        Guess I'm not getting nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year, for saying that.  

 

Edited February 25, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[proserpina65]

On ‎02‎/‎10‎/‎2021 at 2:31 PM, shapeshifter said:

The killer was a young man under the influence of drugs that destroyed his ability to make ethical decisions at the time. Buzz realizes the killer is no longer someone who would do something like that. The killer does not resist arrest or flee. 
If the purpose of prison is to reform a criminal, prison is not necessary for the killer. 

I've never had sympathy for people like this.  Yeah, it's great you turned your life around, blah, blah, but you did the crime and deserve the punishment for it.  (You being the criminal, not shapeshifter.)

[Bastet]

I don't think Buzz was really contemplating whether Bill Jones deserved to be punished now for something he did long ago when he was a very different person, more ruminating on what he hadn't ever thought about in this long quest of his -- the effect Bill Jones finally getting that punishment has on the innocent people around him.  I find it a nice popping of the closure myth, that Buzz finally accomplished what he had first taken this job to do, but not only did it not make anything better for his family, it blew another family apart.  That doesn't mean he was wrong to pursue it, just that the unintended consequence is something he has to deal with.

Unfortunately, it turned into that seriously creepy relationship Buzz was developing with the Jones family, and it's still Buzz, so I was never going to get into it, but I liked that his primary emotion after the arrest was not the celebration Rusty and Gus were expecting - or that Buzz himself had been expecting - but a "what have I done?" introspection about a family now put into a situation similar to the one he, his sister, and his mom were thrust into at the same age.  Two very different reasons for that catastrophic change (and, of course, Bill Jones is alive; unlike Jay Watson, he can at least see his family sometimes), but it makes sense for him to focus on the parallel.  And I like the touch that it took him by surprise, and after that he became aware of it (how the killer's family would be affected) in some of the cases they worked.

Edited February 28, 2021 by Bastet

[Spartan Girl]

Saw “Jailbait” and it’s just so typical that the one time I actually get to see the angry mother of the murder victim attack the killer when it’s her own husband, it’s the crazy whiny so-deep-in-Egypt-denial mother of a paroled serial rapist. Not saying the father was right to take matters into his own hands because he knew the guy would do it again, but I can’t bring myself to pity her delusional ass either.

[Bastet]

18 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Saw “Jailbait” and it’s just so typical that the one time I actually get to see the angry mother of the murder victim attack the killer when it’s her own husband, it’s the crazy whiny so-deep-in-Egypt-denial mother of a paroled serial rapist. Not saying the father was right to take matters into his own hands because he knew the guy would do it again, but I can’t bring myself to pity her delusional ass either.

I don't like her, either.  "No, that is not my boy."  Fool, please. 

The father was wrong in what he did, and he was as worried about Eric's inevitable future attack "ruining" them as he was about whoever the victim of that attack was going to be, but he was right when he said, "Your little boy was a monster".

I felt sorry for Kim, the daughter/sister caught in the middle of a mess she didn't have a hand in creating, but the rest of the Riley family can get stuffed.  And Kim needs to move far away; her mom was in such denial when Eric was alive, now that he's dead, she's probably going to build a shrine to him in his old room and babble on every day about how unfairly persecuted her baby boy was.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Bastet

[friendperidot]

I'm watching on Start tv, and even though I've been through the entire show a couple of times, I can't make myself quit. I guess I will when I'm ready. But yesterday's show had a moment I had missed, the episode was where Dr. Morales' father is visiting and they are pretending Dr. Morales has a bigger role in solving the murders than he actually has. A lot of sweet moments at the end. But this is also a Camryn Manheim episode, and there's a scene where she pops in to ask about them making an arrest. Dr. Morales is sitting with his father standing next to him, the father leans down and asked who that witch is (in Spanish), Dr. Morales says she's a bureaucrat. Father stands back up and he and Camryn Manheim exchange a look that is just fraught with possibilities! He knows Winnie Davis for what she is and she knows exactly what he asked his son and what he thinks of her!

[CrazyInAlabama]

I just saw "Off the Wagon" about the actor ODing on Oxy.   The doctor who prescribes anything to anyone, is Flo from the Progressive commercials.  

[Bastet]

6 hours ago, friendperidot said:

He knows Winnie Davis for what she is and she knows exactly what he asked his son and what he thinks of her!

I don't think she understands Spanish in general, though, so I don't think she knows what he asked his son; administración and burócrata are not hard to figure out, but she didn't react at all to bruja.  And Winnie Davis does not strike me as someone who'll let "Who is this witch?" pass by (and good for her).

(Eduardo starts off by asking "¿Quines esta bruja?" and Dr. Morales answers, "Administración.  Burócrata.")

When Eduardo looks at her afterward, her face plays to me like continued confusion and annoyance that the two Moraleses are still hanging around Electronics, with bureaucrat not being the type of thing that bugs her.  If she knew about witch, though, I think we'd have seen something in her face at the time, and I especially think she'd have had a great parting shot as she left.

That's what I do when people talk about me in a language they think I don't understand; I let it hang for a bit, and then I nail them.  I've always wished that had happened in the scene.  Sure, she's the adversary, but Sharon - who Andy once drew as the Wicked Witch - would have enjoyed her having the last word over that particular thing.

2 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The doctor who prescribes anything to anyone, is Flo from the Progressive commercials.  

Yep, Stephanie Courtney.  She's been in a lot of things other than the commercials, and I think she's pretty good. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

So in the final episodes series "Conspiracy Theory", so the killer turns out to be the doctor's wife killing him, after she found out he was the rapist of all of those women?   

Spoiler

But I'm wondering if she killed the husband/Dr. because he found out her son was the serial rapist, and not her husband?  And I'm betting she killed the attorney too.     I know the show says it was the doctor, but I was always suspicious of her innocent acting son.    That's just my speculation, but I think it would have been a good twist.  

I don't know if they were hoping for another spinoff with Major Crimes with Provenza, but there are some characters that I just didn't want to see again.   Mainly, Rusty, and Cammie, the new detective that was going to transfer to the squad.   I would have loved to still see the other regulars, but some I just couldn't watch.  

I watched the four part episode with the three missing boys, the wedding and the (in my view) unnecessary death of Sharon Raydor.      That was awful to watch, but I sort of understand why she didn't want the transplant.   However, you aren't competing against one specific person for the transplant, it's the sickest person with compatible blood type and factors, and other criteria, who receives the organ.   A friend's wife received a heart from a donor in the next state, because she was compatible.    

The only reason I will watch the final series of episodes is to see the videos Sharon left.    

Edited April 2, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[Bastet]

Lifetime is airing a marathon of some season one episodes right now, so I'm watching periodically during breaks from NFL draft coverage.  I love Sharon at the end of "Before and After" (the second episode, with physical trainer and serial rapist "Hanging Chad" as the victim).  She's got Provevnza throwing a fit at work, Taylor reneging on Pope's promise to make her a commander*, and she comes home to find Rusty is still camping out in the living room, bitching at her about not finding his mother, and threatening to leave.  I love her shoving his stuff in a bag, and I especially love when she snaps, in response to his "You can't tell me to go to my room, you're not my mother" protest, "You're right, I'm not your mother.  And how do we know that? Because I am here."  But then she visibly reins herself in, and says in a much nicer tone of voice, "I am here, and your mother is not.  And you're going to have to try and make the best of it."

*I love that scene in Taylor's office.  First when she snarks "Except, apparently, to Assistant Chief" after he says there's a promotions freeze.  And then, especially, this - which I always wonder if Mary McDonnell first read the line and thought about how many times she's felt like that in contract negotiations - after he does his spiel about the job being the promotion:  "So, considering how many people would like to replace me and how old I am, I should just take this job and be grateful, is that what you're saying?"

[TrixieTrue]

I was re-watching #FindKaylaWeber yesterday and was wondering what the legal outcome might have been. If I were sitting on a jury and heard everything that led up to Jim Weber killing his wife, I probably wouldn't be inclined to find him guilty. I'm assuming a lawyer would claim temporary insanity or something like that. The show usually ends before the trail and verdict, but I wonder how the writers would have handled that.    

[Bastet]

24 minutes ago, TrixieTrue said:

I was re-watching #FindKaylaWeber yesterday and was wondering what the legal outcome might have been.

While Provenza says "Now, it's a murder" and we don't know the specifics of when and how Jim Weber found out the cocaine was Lori's and that she stored it in Kayla's closet, it would likely be voluntary manslaughter instead.  Despite what TV tells you, temporary insanity (diminished capacity) isn't really a defense, it's a mitigating factor.  So probably they'd reach a plea bargain, agreeing to a sentence on the low end of the guideline for manslaughter.  Because he's guilty, but - especially because he's a celebrity - there's potential for jury nullification, so both sides have reason to be willing to deal.

Edited May 1, 2021 by Bastet

[CrazyInAlabama]

In the Kayla Weber case, I'm not sure I could convict Jim Weber for killing his wife.    One cocaine OD by the kid is one thing, but to have it around where the daughter could OD again?   That was unforgivable.   I suspect that I was supposed to assume that Lori, the wife, confessed that it was her coke, or Jim Weber figured out it was Lori's coke, and then he killed her for killing the daughter.    

I watched the last episodes yesterday, followed by the first episode.    I felt better about all of it to have Commander Raydor back again.   

Edited May 3, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[MaryMitch]

16 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

In the Kayla Weber case, I'm not sure I could convict Jim Weber.    One cocaine OD by the kid is one thing, but to have it around where the daughter could OD again?   That was unforgivable.  

Not only the way Kayla died, but the horrible thing they did to hide her body. What kind of monster would do that to her own child?

[Bastet]

Every time I watch "Party Foul" (which I just watched a few minutes of, because it was one of the scenes that pisses me off and I wasn't in the mood), I am surprised anew by how much I came to like Patrice, because she gets my blood boiling in her first episode.  She's not the only one, but damn.

"I know a troubled kid when I see one."  Except apparently, the one living in your house.

"He's a crazy boy who couldn't take no for an answer."  Oh, you mean like your granddaughter who stabbed her boyfriend to death when he kindly and respectfully broke up with her?

Goddamn, the willful blindness not to see that everything she (rightly) accuses Wesley of applies to Keisha as well (except Wesley didn't, you know, kill Keisha when she only wanted to be friends).

And the audacity, to say Keisha shouldn't have to go to prison, because her uncontrolled temper means she's going to get her ass beat.  Gee, Patrice, maybe you should have gotten her some help sometime in the past 19 years so she could manage her anger.  You were a fucking ER nurse; ask the psych attending for a list of therapists specializing in troubled kids.

I hate that the squad goes along with this crap to make a deal.  "The court will never let her plead insanity."  Yeah, because she isn't!  She is guilty of second degree murder, and, under the law, her mental capacity means she belongs in prison rather than a mental institution.

Do I think she'll come out of a mental institution better than she'd come out of prison?  Of course; I'm not mad at the result, I'm mad at how they got there -- on a show that generally sticks to reality, this is written in a way that really distorts being colloquially "crazy" versus mentally ill and when, legally, mental illness means one is hospitalized rather than incarcerated.

There are a disgraceful number of mentally ill people who committed a crime because of that illness, suffering in prisons across America instead of being treated and then released if/when that illness is controlled so they are no longer a danger because of it.  Acting as if someone like Keisha can easily avoid prison, when those folks can't, is aggravating.

[shapeshifter]

I just noticed that Mary McDonnell has a recurring role in the ABC show Rebel. 

Edited May 7, 2021 by shapeshifter

[CrazyInAlabama]

I wish Lifetime would just show the episodes in order.   They randomly skip some, especially the multishow arcs that are crucial to the storyline.