http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/07/31/THE-CLOSER-Four-to-Eight.aspx Chief Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) is having what my middle-aged female relatives call “power surges,” in keeping with the themes of vulnerability and weakness that THE CLOSER introduced last week. Not being a doctor, I doubt my diagnosis would stand up to critical review, but it seems pretty damn likely the show’s writers are headed down the menopause path, which ought to make things interesting between the chief and her FBI beau Fritz (Jon Tenney). Anyway, that’s for the future to reveal. This week’s episode is about baseball. Well, kinda. Two Latino teens are shot to death right outside one teen’s house, and since the house is in gang territory, it makes things a little more exciting than the usual random murder in Los Angeles. Because of a number of recent gang-related shootings, Commander Taylor (Robert Gossett) asks for Priority Homicide to lend a hand, presumably all a part of the ongoing thawing of relations between Taylor and Johnson. As Spock once observed, “Only Nixon could go to China.” Geek non sequitur aside, the investigation unfolds as you’d expect, eventually focusing on a rising high-school baseball star and his hardworking dad, but the emotional turmoil and physiological changes Chief Johnson experiences hamper her investigation. Fortunately, Detective Sanchez (Raymond Cruz) is there to pick up the slack and, to a certain extent, act as Jiminy Cricket. en-US Critics Rant info@criticsrant.com Subtext Version 1.9.4.0 http://www.criticsrant.com/images/default_gravatar_bullhorn.png http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/07/31/THE-CLOSER-Four-to-Eight.aspx 77 60