Major Crimes - Dead Zone - Review: "Go Buzz!"

This weeks episode centered on finding the person (or persons) who killed the mother of Sanchez’ new foster son. I thought it was another great episode. The episode opened with Provenza and Sanchez questioning Mark, who was as stubborn about trusting the police as he was about trusting any person of color. Not surprisingly, we find that his mother was hooked up with a Skinhead group on a quest for Aryan Purity.

The unit walked a tightrope between getting information from Mark; which necessitated NOT telling him his mother was dead lest he shut down completely and protecting him from the harsh truth that his mother was dead. One of the most powerful and kind moments, for me, was Sykes putting the coroner close up of the dead woman on the Murder Board and replacing it with her DMV picture and writing “Missing” as opposed to “Victim” on the board.

The other interested party in this story was DDA Rosen, the lawyer trying to build a case against a Skinhead, Dwight Darnell, the head of a group named after the poisonous gas used to kill Jews during the Holocaust. Mark’s mother, Ava, was a witness in his case against Darnell. She was in a safe house but ran away. The Unit quickly surmises that these are the people who killed Ava. They just need to find them and the proof Rosen needs to get a continuance for his case.

Raydor applies a little maternal instinct to the situation when they find Mark’s favorite book among the items pulled from the car they were living in. The book led them to the name of Ava’s boyfriend, Henry Colson, a man who was not only using her in a fraud scheme, but was most likely one of the people “trafficking” her. I cheered when Sykes kicked him in the face.

The crime part of the story was filled with unlikable bad guys, convinced they were smarter than everyone in the LAPD. Raydor proved Henry wrong, on this point, by scamming hime into using her cellphone. Mr. Henry "Phone Call" Colson led the LAPD right to his family. Unfortunately, Major Crimes was too late to capture the bulk of the weapons the Colson's were moving.

The shootout was a nice change of pace for the show. It’s pretty clear that this isn’t the end of the story. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all plays out. I like the fact that they've taken a couple of episodes to set up the finale story but I’m really hoping it’s completed this season.

What was difficult to watch was these officers having to make the choice to put the case before Mark. Sanchez had the most difficult time walking that tightrope. It was interesting to have Raydor call him “Detective” when his passion to protect Mark got a little…heated.

I was really worried that Julio would never gain Mark’s trust because of what Sanchez (the cop part of Julio) had to do to find the people who killed his mother. The biggest point of concern was the fact that he participated in the lie that took them to Colson’s house. I couldn’t help but think that if Mark ever finds out exactly when Julio found out his mother was deadd he’ll never forgive him. Those final moments, at Henry’s house, were just heart breaking. I was pleased that they brought in the therapist to talk to Mark.

Buzz’ witness, Gene Hecht, was brought in for questioning. Buzz’ nervousness was evident in his attempts to put off the interview. Rusty wanted to watch the interview in the worst way. So, like any American teen (I don’t think he’s 20 yet), Rusty tried to butter his mom up by cooking breakfast. I cheered when she pointed out his bad behavior the last time he was given special access and declared that she had not yet made up her mind whether she would allow him to watch Buzz interview Hecht. Andy gave Rusty some good advice which, when you read between the lines, came down to 'don't be so self centered'. Rusty took the advice and got to watch the interview.

When Buzz and Provenza sat down in the in interview room, I wasn’t expecting a confrontation. They went softly initially, but Hecht wasn't taking the situation seriously. Buzz lets loose on him and it was a complete surprise. Wow. I did not know Buzz had it in him. As Rusty said “That was awesome.”

We’re rolling into the season finale. I’m looking forward to it. What about you guys? Did you enjoy the episode?

About the Author - Prpleight

Prpleight is a screenwriter and senior software engineer with solid geek cred. When not writing code, screenplays, or watching TV (sometimes she does all three at the same time), she uses her broadsword Bessie to battle evil. She's been a frequent contributor to the SpoilerTV discussion boards for several years now.

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