The Closer is an American police procedural television series starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief. A CIA-trained interrogator originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Brenda has a reputation as a closer—an interrogator who not only solves a case, but also obtains confessions that lead to convictions, thus "closing" the case. The series ran on TNT from June 13, 2005, to August 13, 2012.
The Closer was created by James Duff and the Shephard/Robin Company in association with Warner Bros. Television. On July 11, 2011, the series began its seventh and final season, having finished its sixth season as cable's highest-rated drama. The Closers final six episodes began airing on July 9, 2012, with its finale airing on August 13, 2012. Following the finale, The Closers spin-off, Major Crimes, premiered.
Episodes
thumb|left|Primary cast in 2006
Each episode of The Closer deals with an aspect of the Los Angeles culture as it interfaces with law enforcement in the megacity. The show deals with complex and subtle issues of public policy, ethics, personal integrity, and questions of good and evil. The rather large character ensemble explores the human condition, touching on individual faiths, traditional religious influences in the lives and communities of contemporary society, and the breakdown and dysfunction of family systems, work teaming, police violence, and government responsibility.<!-- --> The first season began with Brenda Leigh Johnson arriving at the LAPD to lead the Priority Murder Squad (PMS), quickly renamed Priority Homicide Division (PHD), a team that originally dealt solely with high-profile murder cases (seasons one to four).
During season four, an embarrassing tangle with the press over just what criteria make a homicide a priority allowed Brenda to manipulate circumstances so that the division was upgraded to a much larger major crimes division with a wider scope,