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Major Crimes - Zoo Story - Midseason Finale Review - "Sharon vs Sharon"

16 Aug 2014

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So ends the first half of Major Crimes season 3. The venerable successor to The Closer has cemented itself as strong off-season fare through its wry wit, precise and thoughtful dialogue, as well as the continued growth of the family-like atmosphere of the Major Crimes division. Let's quickly talk about some character progressions that took place in order to pave the way to this midseason finale.

Rusty Beck, thrown in at the last minute (er, episode) of The Closer's final act, often grated me as a viewer in season 1. But there was a genuine reason that he was so untrusting and uncomfortable in his skin. He had been abandoned, abused, and was living a worst case scenario until he was found by Brenda Leigh in her pursuit of Phillip Stroh (Billy Burke). At the time, I felt he was a tacked-on character that was supposed to humanize Captain Sharon Raydor--Brenda's former antagonist--through the transition phase of the original show to its spin-off. I think I was right in my judgment, but I believe I failed to account for how well the characters could grow together.

By this season, Rusty is all but adopted by Sharon, which is something she is actively pursuing in order to help him into the next phase of his life. He's graduating from high school, he's chummy with Sharon's cohorts in the Major Crimes division, he's coming into his own as a person and a lot of great character moments are tied to Rusty's story this season. We continue to see Sharon's fierce maternal instincts in action as she deflects thinly-veiled accusations from her son Ricky, advances to undermine her authority by her (soon to be ex?) husband, and her tactful way of addressing Rusty's very prominent baggage on a daily basis. She and Rusty have such a mutually respectful relationship at this point, and it's a very nice payoff for all they've worked on since season 1.

But Rusty hasn't only grown on Captain Raydor. Lieutenant Provenza has become a very beneficial provider of support and reason for Rusty when he feels as though his burdens are too much or are inappropriate to bring forward to Sharon. This dynamic has been very fruitful as well for providing great insight into both characters, as Provenza becomes instrumental in helping Rusty open up about problems that spanned from his mother's continued abuse, to Rusty's dealings with his sexuality.

Indeed, each character that spends time with Rusty's character is usually presented with opportunities to expand on their on characters' story, as it seems Rusty is a great catalyst for bringing out the best (and in some cases, the worst) in the people that come and go through the LAPD office. One of Major Crimes' strongest points involves the personal side of things for our crew of officers.

As for the police procedural aspect of the show, it can still be hit-or-miss at times. There's usually a handful of standalone episodes that are just fantastic from the title card to the credits, but then there's the rest of the season where finding out "whodunit" doesn't really distinguish itself from any other similar procedural.

There are some exceptions, of course. The addition of the "S.O.B."(Special Operations Bureau, not the other "S.O.B.") in the last 2-3 episodes has spiced things up well, even if their introduction and continued appearances have felt a bit forced. This episode was definitely one of the best of season 3. The S.O.B. came back in this episode in a relatively reduced role (mainly to have McGinnis and Fritz on hand for exposition, exposure for possibly expanded roles later this season?) and we got to meet a really awesome new officer who found herself a victim in the middle of a human trafficking system.

Let's take it from the top: Last week, Agent Fritz calmly approached Lieutenant Tao and plainly stated that he was having a heart attack. In the midst of his impending promotion, Brenda Leigh's new assignment, and the excitement surrounding the S.O.B. lately, he needed Tao to discreetly meet him (mid-heart attack!) at the car, and tell no one.

That is exactly something Fritz would do, isn't it though?

We started this episode with a sigh of relief with Fritz having a post-surgical check-up, (Colin Ferguson playing as his doctor!) where he's strongly urged to delay his return to work as he is pumped with blood thinners, and has to wear a protective vest just to keep himself from antagonizing his heart again. He, of course, plays it off and goes back to work anyway.

Meanwhile, Captain Raydor and crew find themselves in another predicament when an investigation into a missing woman reveals the victim to be undercover S.O.B. agent Officer Kate Sherman, who was taken from a local nightclub. McGinnis rips through the scene and attempts to take control of the situation, feeling personally responsible for letting Sherman get involved in the first place. However, she's quickly reprimanded by Chief Taylor in order to allow Captain Raydor to continue their investigation. In this difficult situation, the Chief definitely shows more competence and understanding than he did upon his promotion to Chief at the beginning of the series, when he was obviously politically-motivated and incredibly annoying to deal with.


Ann McGinnis is being pushed as a strong female archetype (played by The Walking Dead's Laurie Holden) but at this point her character could use some better material, as she's just too "tragic" and too amped up to root for. However, her S.O.B. Agent Kate Sherman proved herself in her introductory scenes this episode. Kidnapped in the middle of a nightclub to be sent south of the border into a slave trade, she rose to the occasion and not only fought her hardest, but also helped another victim escape (who unfortunately was later killed off-screen). Up until the end, she had some great fight scenes, a few believably vulnerable moments, but nothing too dour or hokey. I can't wait to see more from Ellen Wroe's Agent Sherman.

In the pursuit of the husband-and-wife veteranarian/kidnappers, Detective Sykes took lead and put down the man holding the women as prisoners in their facility, with a quick trigger finger. Sykes has grown a lot as well over the course of this show, from season 1's hotshot rookie to the calculated
and confident detective of season 3. She then proceeded to track down and halt the truck that Agent Sherman was trapped in en route to her would-be trafficking owners. (However, she wasn't exactly helpless as she had broken out of her container and was at the ready with a handy piece of wood if someone had attempted to handle her)

The case of the week was riveting, if also conventional as far as a kidnapping procedural episode goes. But, there was another storm brewing this week. That's right, this was the week of Sharon Beck vs. Sharon Raydor. After seemingly having his mother finally out of his life, for some reason (stockholm syndrome? just plain wanting to be there for his mother? convenient writing? teenage stupidity?) Rusty visited his mother after her calling him from a jail cell. She immediately claimed it was a misunderstanding, not even drug related and that their reasons for detaining her were flat out lies to keep her there. Unfortunately for Rusty, he didn't catch the red flags raising up left and right with his mother passing around the blame for her detainment.

She said she needed $500 from him in order to make bail, because he has no idea how bad it is in the big house for his poor sweet mother. When he said he didn't have any money, (as a recent high school graduate with no job, how could he?) she immediately brought up the one thing that a true, loving mother would have left long behind--getting money through prostitution again. This is the same woman who verbally abused and abandoned him for his "condition" (read: his sexuality) and blamed him for all of her problems just a couple episodes before. The disdain I felt for that woman had venom frothing at the back of my throat. Both Graham Patrick Martin and Ever Carradine nail their scenes in this unsettling relationship they share on screen. Carradine is completely infuriating as Sharon Beck, the childish, manipulative, "put-upon mother figure" with absolutely no hold on reality at this point.


Thankfully, Rusty gets another dose of reality from Lieutenant Provenza as it's revealed that she was caught shoplifting and had drugs on her after all. Her story fell apart, and left Rusty in a bit of a bind for trying to help his mother out of her self-inflicted misery, as it became evident to him that she was in no position, (nor did she have any particular will) to change for the better.

But then, Provenza had Sharon watch the footage of Rusty and his mother's visit. Immediately, Sharon made her way to pay the sniveling mother a visit herself.  The scene unfolded slowly as they smiled at each other: Sharon Beck's thin smile and Sharon Raydor's knowing tactful facade. They spoke about a "deal" where Captain Raydor slowly and deliberately explained that if she steps one foot out of line, one single infraction,  Sharon Beck was going to remain in prison for a maximum sentence. Of course at this point, the pretense was broken and you could see the vulgar addict start to spit accusations and made-up reasons for why Captain Raydor was making a mistake: That she knew what was best for Rusty, she was his mother, and that Sharon would regret this decision.

The good captain smiled sincerely and reminded that woman who was on which side of the glass. She then proceeded to walk out.

It was immensely satisfying, and I'm waiting with bated breath for Major Crimes to return later this year.  (This is my first stab at a Major Crimes review, and I will continue to cover the show regularly once it returns!)

What did you think of the midseason finale!?
Sound off in the comments section below! 


About the Author - Wilson Crawford
Wilson is an avid fan of television, music, and the occasional video game. He enjoys well-written, thought-provoking characters and series that get better with age. Current favorites include The Good Wife and Mad Men. Past favorites include Damages, Fringe, Breaking Bad, 30 Rock, and Veronica Mars.

12 comments:

  1. Welcome back to the team Wilson!

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  2. Thanks Andy! It's good to be back! I've missed the community here quite a bit.

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  3. Great review, Wilson, of this episode of Major Crimes and the overall third season. I very much hope this is the last we'll see of Rusty's mother but it wouldn't surprise me if she came back later in the season to create trouble for the adoption process for Rusty.

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  4. Great review. I shared your opinions of Rusty when the show started. (I'd missed his initial introduction on The Closer- because I refused to watch the final season of that show.) He quickly became the reason I tuned in. I was really dubious about the arrival of Rusty's mother. I was expecting a lame tug of war over Rusty. But instead they used it to highlight the growth of Rusty's character. He's still a kid desperate for his mother to be ideal and love him no matter what...but he's grown up enough to want to know the truth about her and make the best decision for the situation. I'm betting she's going to take a shot at driving a wedge between Raydor and Rusty be telling him what she did. I'll be tuning in next season.

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  5. For some reason, I get the feeling it's not over with Rusty's mother.

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  6. I would think if I were Rusty, upon finding out Sharon did that for me I'd hug her even more, because his mother was so off the reservation, she wouldn't have even made sense to him.


    Also, why did you refuse to watch the last season of The Closer? I am curious. :)

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  7. I agree with you about Rusty...and I think he's at a point where that would be his reaction.


    As for why I refused to watch the end of The Closer....between spoilers and 'the signs on the wall' I knew there were elements that I was not going to be happy about. I had been hoping that her exit would be a 'bigger and better happy things' kind of exit, but then they made comments, in the spoilers, about Strough and I knew it was going to be several episodes of her being beaten down and forced to give up and leave, if not in disgrace, in a state of escape. In addition to that, one blurb mentioned personal issues...and I just knew they were going to kill off one of her parents. THAT I refused to watch both because I loved those two characters and because I was worrying about my father's' health.

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  8. I actually saw the final season of the Closer and, speaking from experience, it's a good thing you didn't watch it. I didn't like the circumstances of Brenda's exit. I felt they were putting her through so much crap and I didn't like how they were portraying Brenda at times. There were moments she came off as arrogant, willfully naïve, and scarily obsessive. I rather The Closer had ended with Season 6 with her becoming the new Chief of Police. It would have been the perfect way for her to go out.

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  9. Cassandra Gramegna16 August 2014 at 21:02

    Awwesome review and it was the best of the season...especially between the two Sharons!

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  10. Oh man, I remember the end there where she had a lot given up for the attack on Stroh, but I guess it didn't affect me as much. I think that intrinsically Brenda is just not always going to do the by-the-book thing, and it's gonna cost her. BUT that's just my opinion, of course. I really wish she would pop up in an episode of MC at SOME point too, I miss that character.

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  11. Wilson you are cute! xoxo

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  12. Wilson you are cute! xoxo

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