(S03E03) Does anybody else really, really want cake? The scene near the end of this episode where the entire team was eating an angry bride's wedding cake made that cake look so damn good. Yeah, it was a good episode. But, what stuck with me was the cake.
I love when the writers pull out episodes like this one. Sure, there's a dead person and an investigation, but the entire episode still manages to be light-hearted. It all started with Lt. Provenza dropping a coffin down a flight of stairs, then proceeded to a fight between an angry bride and Brenda, and to the entire homicide team eating the bride's $30,000 catering (including that damn cake).
There were a lot of great scenes in this episode involving Brenda (the bride fight was pretty great), but my favorite was in the plastic surgeon's office where the surgeon made Brenda speechless. He tried to guess what she was in for and started saying very rude (but true!) things about how she slathers her red lipstick on, making her mouth look huge. So, she's suffering from self consciousness as she attempts to solve a murder. And it only gets worse when she looks to Det. Daniels for advice on new lipstick and Daniels takes her down another notch by bashing her wardrobe. Brenda's wardrobe, incidentally, is probably my favorite quirk of her very quirky character. The woman constantly pairs contrasting patterns and looks as if she shops the sales at JC Penney.
Lts. Flynn and Provenza got some good play in this episode as naughty little boys. It was like a playground dynamic between them and Brenda and Lt. Tau, who had to run and tell Brenda about the murder the minute the victim was discovered.
There wasn't really much controversy to this episode and we didn't get a whole lot of overall plot advancement, but that's perfectly fine with me. I was entertained. We got a little of the Brenda/Fritz relationship where she's under pressure to go look at houses, but the Brenda/Sgt. Gabriel riff didn't come up this episode. Best to let that simmer, I say.
Was anybody else a little uncomfortable with the blackmail practiced by Johnson and Pope at the end of the episode? I guess the justice system is full of this type of blackmail-- if you do this, we won't charge you with that-- but it seemed a bit unethical, don't ya think?
A couple of great one-liners:
"Not a wet eye in the house." - Lt. Provenza to Lt. Flynn after his eulogy
"Nothing tastes better than someone else's wedding cake. Mine tasted like prison food." - Lt. Provenza
"Oh, well. We're hateful people." - Dep. Chief Brenda Johnson
"Does this case have anything to do with the LAPD?" - Chief Pope
"No." - Lt. Provenza
"Then give me a big piece (of cake) from the corner." - Chief Pope
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-03-2007 @ 12:18PM
Steve said...
I love this show.
Each episode gets better and better. What a great cast.
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7-03-2007 @ 12:55PM
Dan Chichian said...
Again the "with me, with me, with me"
I love that the writers have given us payback regarding the lipstick and clothes. Though I don't think Daniels bashed her wardrobe so much as to comment on the sweaters. Since the Dr had already expressed surprise at Brenda possibly wanting breast implants.
The blackmail at the end didn't bother me, as everyone uses leverage at one time or another to get what they want.
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7-03-2007 @ 2:39PM
nicolas.graf said...
I loved this episode :)
The blackmail in the end didn't bother me at all, after all, the bride behaved like she needed a strait jacket, so she and her father got off pretty easy with this deal.
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7-03-2007 @ 3:25PM
Beth said...
I love this series, and this epsiode was the best ever. The blackmail part bothered me for about 10 seconds--it made me laugh to see psycho-bride and her whipped daddy slink out of Pope's office.
Maybe in an upcoming segment, this daddy and daughter duo will make a return appearance--as murder victims.
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7-03-2007 @ 9:24PM
MrsEldubya said...
This was one of those Closer episodes you just love. It reminded me a little of the first season when Brenda was self conscious about how LA women looked and got suckered into buying all those lotions and creams. Plus it played on her trying not to eat so much sugar and finally caving over the cake's icing. Yes, that cake looked and sounded good.
I love this show. I love Brenda Lee and her "Thank You, Thank You Very Much!" This was the perfect light hearted episode after the last two rather serious ones.
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7-03-2007 @ 11:30PM
La-di-dah said...
This episode was the perfect. These are definitely my favorite (quirkiest) group of detectives. I think the writers AND actors (even the one-eppy actors) have upped their ante, most definitely, this season. The guest star I loved the best was the dead detective's wife (bitchslapping) Flynn. Ah ah.
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7-03-2007 @ 11:42PM
Michael said...
Totally agree, this was the best ep yet of this fine series - and that is saying something! One of my co-workers commented she didn't ever get into this show because of Brenda's "fake" accent. I quickly responded that her accent (and the Southern belle behind it) is actually one of the BEST things about this show. Hopefully she caught last nights ep and saw Brenda Lee at her finest.
I can't believe no one's made a comment about the funeral home owner and his nickname. The look on Brenda & Gabriel's faces when he said he's "The Closer" was priceless!
http://www.myspace.com/scoobarama
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7-04-2007 @ 3:37AM
Michael Moncur said...
Yes, the funeral director's line (and the cops' reaction to it) was the best...
"At Sheffield and Eckert, I'm what is known as The Closer."
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7-04-2007 @ 4:29AM
Tele-Toby said...
Another good line from Provenza, when looking at the extra dead body (who was obviously gorgeous in life): I guess you can take it with you.
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7-04-2007 @ 4:25PM
trachein said...
Its Brenda Leigh, not "Lee"
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7-05-2007 @ 1:28PM
Margaret Calvert said...
I can only echo the other comments. Just when you think this show can't get any better, it does. This had to be one of the best episodes of The Closer ever. The cast is priceless and the humor continues to be one of the strongest parts of the writing. I'd like to see Kyra win another award (Emmy or Golden Globe - anything). When you see her on talk shows, you realize how different she is from Brenda, which in turn lets you know what a terrific (and under rated) talent Kyra really is. The Closer is definitely on my "Don't Miss" list. People who don't watch it have no idea what they're missing!
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7-07-2007 @ 6:13PM
Sepha said...
This show continues to be an absolute delight!
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7-20-2007 @ 2:57PM
joanna pressfield said...
this was the best episode ever of "the closer". the script was so smart and everything worked perfectly. i loved brenda finally asking buzz to cut her a wedge of cake-- with a flower. i loved brenda sampling the icing and provenza shoving cake into his mouth without benefit of a fork. bridzilla and her daddy were terrific, too. thank god for tnt on demand. i watched this episode twice and caught every word.
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