Directed by: Rick Wallace
Written by: Ralph Gifford, Carson Moore
First aired: September 17, 2012
The quarterback of a high school football team is found dead in his car. The first suspicion is a gang hit, but as Major Crimes digs into the evidence, it begins to look more personal. Meanwhile, Rusty has to decide if he wants to meet his father. Before he can make that decision, however, he has questions.
This episode shows another step forward for the team. For the first time, they all unite around their Captain, especially in the face of Taylor being a piece of work once again. It starts with Assistant Chief Taylor declaring the murder of Anthony Lewis a major crime and putting a hold on all notifications. He wants to prevent a gang war, but both Captain Raydor and Detective Sanchez disagree with his decision as they brief him. His priority is public safety, while the Captain and her team worry about being able to solve the case. Taylor is not willing to compromise or trust his division head to handle the situation responsibly. The look Raydor and Sanchez share at the end of that scene speaks volumes about their feelings on the matter, and there is a lot of silent communication going on between them throughout the episode. It is a joy to watch, especially when you know how much more of this there will be over the course of the show.
Taylor keeps throwing his weight around throughout this investigation, freaking out about something Raydor and her team do every other minute. The first instance is their notification of their victim’s brother, when Taylor fears that he will go after his rival gang once he leaves. Turns out that Captain Raydor is a few steps ahead of him, though. When the strategy becomes clear to Taylor, Raydor leaves with this almost imperceptible smirk that I just love about her. It speaks of her confidence, but it is also a snarky little “I told you so” that Taylor more than asked for. And then comes Provenza who, for the first time, seems to approve of the Captain’s rules. Taylor’s look at the end of the scene can be read as surprise at the Lieutenant’s change of tune, because only a few episodes earlier, he was loudly complaining about those rules and the woman wielding them. How things change…
While the Captain found a way to keep Anthony’s brother locked up over night, she is unwilling to risk a lawsuit for holding him longer than absolutely necessary. Despite that division’s bad track record with lawsuits, Taylor seems prepared to risk another one and is vehemently against the Captain’s plan to let Lamar go so that he would lead them towards a potential suspect. Taylor wants them to solve the case yesterday, but complains about everything they do to make it happen. At some point, Raydor tells him to let her know if he wants to take over the investigation. That conversation between them is fun, especially if you watch Provenza and Buzz. They seem to enjoy witnessing their boss put Taylor in his place.
In the end, Captain Raydor’s strategy works out, despite Detective Sykes getting hurt, and Taylor praises her for a job well done. Once again, Raydor and Sanchez silently communicate their thoughts on the matter to one another. Those two have a beautiful scene in the end where Julio points out that her idea solved the case. That interaction is the highlight of an episode that focuses quite a lot on their developing relationship. While Julio was rather unhappy about her transfer in the beginning of show, this episode shows them working together and communicating wordlessly. His acknowledgement of her work shows that he has fully accepted her as a member of the team.
Another significant step forward occurs between Captain Raydor and Lieutenant Provenza towards the end of the episode. Provenza reassuring her that it is not her fault that Sykes got injured is such a lovely scene. In the beginning of the show, he insisted that Raydor would not know how to do her job without his experience. Here he fulfills the role of a mentor without being condescending or smug about it. It is another moment that shows how far she has come in being accepted, maybe even liked, by her team. Provenza also acknowledges what a good job Sykes did, suggesting that he accepted her as part of the team, as well.
Lastly, we have to take a look at Rusty. Since the previous episode, the red folder with the information Andrea Hobbs found about his father has become a permanent fixture. It signifies both Sharon’s and Rusty’s preoccupation with the subject. Sharon is walking a thin line between encouraging Rusty to meet his father, because he could be a good guy and the family the boy has not had in a long time, and not wanting to make him feel unwanted or pushing him away. It is clear that she likes having him around, which she keeps pointing out to him. This episode reveals that Rusty has at the very least gotten used to living with Sharon, if not grown fond of her. He asks her twice if she wants him to meet his father so that he can live with him. He even makes himself useful, first by learning how to load the dishwasher to Sharon’s unsurprisingly exacting standards, and then by cooking her breakfast. It is rather heartbreaking that he thinks he needs to be useful to her in order for her to want to keep him around. What must his life have been like if this is how he expects things to work. Well, Sharon will teach him what unconditional love looks like.
Before he decides whether or not to meet his father, Rusty wants more information about him which, given his past experiences, is not surprising. So, Sharon takes the folder with her to ask her two senior Lieutenants for advice on how to go about it. While Flynn’s first idea gets shot down—he calls Provenza while standing next to him to give him an anonymous tip about Mr. Dunn that would enable them to run a background check—his second idea to contact a lady he knows at DCFS is more successful. The red folder is now replaced by another one, which contains the information DCFS collected on Mr. Dunn. In the end, it gets left behind at the office when Rusty decides that he has no interest in meeting his father, because he is happy where he is. Of course, he is careful not to admit any feelings for Sharon beyond saying that he thought they were getting along well. Sharon, too, is still very careful to keep her emotions to herself, but she does not seem unhappy when they finally leave behind the folder and the subject of Daniel Dunn. Or so they think.
Agreed on everything. SO much silent communication. Starting at the beginning with the over the shoulder “homework before TV,” then the more lighthearted “everything’s okay” look over the other shoulder before Sharon left the condo.
One of my favorite things on the show in general (since it’s fiction, I obviously don’t enjoy people being in danger/getting hurt in real life) is Sharon’s emotions anytime she’s watching her team on film in the field. She does the worry and horror SO well, and, here, you could practically see what was going through her mind while Amy was getting beaten up.
Mary’s acting is a master class on telling the entire story with nothing but a facial expression. There are so many moments like that on this show. Not just when she’s worrying about her people. She’s truly amazing!