Directed by: Arvine Brown
Written by: Michael Alaimo
First aired: June 17, 2013
Major Crimes gets to deal with what looks like a murder/suicide but turns out to be a robbery gone horribly wrong. While the team tries to solve their most recent case, Captain Raydor has a chance to teach DDA Rios a little more about how to approach the deal-making process. In addition, Rusty’s new pen pal makes an appearance, leading us down an interesting path for the rest of this season.
The episode begins with our new friend, Rusty’s charming pen pal. Of course, we don’t get to see them, but we do get a pretty good idea of how meticulous they are as they are writing their letter. The gloves, the collection of identical pencils, the fact that there are quite a few discarded attempts… Also, the music during this scene will become very familiar over the course of this season, as some variation of it accompanies almost every letter-related scene we will see in some form.
As a result of this first letter, Rios of course sees another chance to get Rusty out of Sharon’s care and off into witness protection. It is her first impulse upon learning about the threat, but I don’t think anyone expected Sharon to agree. When Rios and Raydor talk to Assistant Chief Taylor about the issue, he is on Raydor’s side. Of course, she knows exactly how to get what she wants, as our favorite Captain knows her way around all the rules and laws, and can use them to her advantage. She probably gets to listen to Taylor complain about their budget all the time, so when she raises the question of who is going to pay to have Rusty put in witness protection, it has the desired result. Taylor refuses to pay for it, and the DA’s office won’t either, so Rusty stays where he is—at least for the moment. I love how Sharon is a little smug about playing the money angle just right, but then Taylor shoots down her wish for additional protection for Rusty. Her expression is priceless!
The letter obviously causes some concern, even though Rusty seems determined to shrug it off. The bigger concern for him is Rios’ insistence on getting him out of Sharon’s house and into witness protection. Later on in the season we will see him make some rather stupid decisions out of a fear of losing his home. Of course he is a dramatic teenager about having some of his freedom taken away, but he accepts it more or less graciously (as much as that’s possible for a teenager) if it means he can stay with Sharon. The scene at home when they talk about the measures Sharon wants to implement until they know what exactly they’re facing is so beautiful! First of all, I am pretty sure that this is the only time we see Sharon folding her leg underneath herself as she sits, and I wonder why it never happens again. I love to see that level of being comfortable and at home. I suppose with her obsession about not eating on the couch and the general orderliness of her home, I could see her as the kind of person who prefers sitting in a “civilized” manner, but why would she do it here? Not that it is at all important to the scene, but it is different and as such of interest to me. I wonder if it was a conscious choice in that moment or if it just happened.
Anyway, back to the actual scene… I adore how Sharon phrases the changes she wants to happen as suggestions and Rusty’s faint hope that he actually has a choice. It shows her subtle leadership style, as she tries to get him to do what she needs him to do without wording it as an order. We see that in her interactions with her team as well. She makes the restrictions placed on his movements about making her feel better, which is obviously the right move. Rusty believes that he can take care of himself, which he emphasizes every chance he gets. Sharon could tell him that, realistically, he has little chance to protect himself against an armed person who intends to kill him, because he doesn’t. The fact that Stroh didn’t manage to kill him before was down to dumb luck and probably Stroh underestimating Rusty—a mistake he would likely not make again. Instead, Sharon agrees that he can take care of himself, thus avoiding an argument on the point and recognizing his past experience. So, Rusty agreeing to whatever security measures Sharon suggests is about making things easier for her, not about his own vulnerability, which is much easier for him to swallow. And he does, with surprisingly little whining, so Sharon’s strategy works.
Of course, as one prominent theme for this season (and the next…and the next), Andy’s health obsession is making an appearance again. This time in the form of an amazing cleanse, which a cute girl from the health food store recommended. The poor man is at the stage in his diet where he has to throw longing glances at a fruit bowl. Even if the whole thing is ridiculous, you can’t help but feel a little bad for him.
In the end, he’s once again being an idiot about the whole thing and let a pretty girl talk him into buying complete crap, and of course, his colleagues are more than happy to point out his mistake to him—and to tease him about the whole thing.
On the topic of bringing drinks to crime scenes… Do we really think that’s advisable? I would think that there are rules against it, but apparently, they don’t apply to Major Crimes, since we’ve already seen Provenza bring coffee to the crime scene at the start of the episode, one of which ends up with Emma Rios (via Julio), because Andy brought his own drink cleanse. Why Emma would want to drink a coffee at a crime scene when the sight of dead bodies is so horrifying to her that she has to scream down the building, I don’t know. A few episodes down the line, we’ll see her decline a coffee at the morgue with a face that clearly shows how disgusting she finds the idea, so no idea what happened in the meantime. And yeah, let’s not discuss how wrong it is to drink coffee in the morgue (looking at you, Captain Rulebook!).
Anyway, Emma Rios…In this episode we see more of Captain Raydor showing her how to make deals. I love that she is all patient and understanding with Rios while she explains what is going to happen, even though she is obviously somewhat annoyed, or at least surprised (?) that it takes her so long to get it. She only allows Mike to see a glimpse of that once Rios has left.
The episode ends with news about Rusty’s letter. As forensics was unable to find any clues as to who might have written it, Sharon makes the restrictions she previously sold as temporary permanent, which of course doesn’t make Rusty happy. His main concern, however, is not his loss of freedom, but the question of whether or not he will be allowed to stay with Sharon. Excuse me while I cry my little happy tears, because that’s as close to an I love you as we’re going to get at this point. And the moment between Sharon and Provenza that follows Rusty’s departure… *happy sigh* The Lieutenant would like people to believe that he’s an asshole, but he’s really such a teddy bear. He can claim that he doesn’t like Sharon all he wants, his actions show that she has already won him over. And it’s only going to get better. Sharon’s he doesn’t need to understand, he needs to stay safe is such a mom thing to say, and please show me the person who can watch her tear up without getting all emotional themselves. Season two really has all the mothership feels, and I’m so here for it!
A little additional note on costume… In this episode, what will come to be known as the Shandy blazer makes its first appearance, and to make it even more perfect, Sharon and Andy are matching in the scene, too.
