The Closer/Characters

Main Characters

Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick)

"People may be created equal, but they do not die that way."

The Southern-accented CIA-trained interrogator that leads Priority Homicide/Major Crimes. Nominated for Chief of Police in Season 6, but ultimately does not get the job. Abrasive, intelligent, calculating, and temperamental.

• Action Girl: Subverted, actually. If you do see her pull her weapon, things are very bad. Not that she's not good with it as well.
• Anti-Hero: Type III.
• Bunny Ears Lawyer
• Catch Phrase - "Thank you. Thank you so much."
• Da Chief - Serves as this to the rest of the squad.
• Guile Heroine
• Lawful Neutral - Brenda values the law, and sees all her victims as equal, even if they're criminals.
• Married to the Job - Brenda veers in and out of this trope, which becomes somewhat awkward once she actually marries Fritz. Then it becomes more a Jurisdiction Friction marriage.
• Polyglot - Alas, except not Spanish...

I speak German, Russian, and am fully conversant in Czech, and I have to move to the one city where half of the people are from Latin America?

• Never Live It Down - Her adulterous affair with Pope. Even though Brenda has since married Fritz, he's not above mentioning her affair with Pope when he feels that she is putting her ex-lover before their marriage or her own career.
• Southern-Fried Genius - Most definitely.

Detective Sergeant David Gabriel (Corey Reynolds)

"Chief? We've got something."

Brenda's personal assistant, in essence. Intelligent, logical, and perhaps the most educated (besides Tao) of the squad. Nicknamed College Boy by Provenza, and mocked by various people when he supports Brenda despite his reservations. Johnson's first supporter and her favorite.

• Badass Mustache - (except in season 6; it returned in season 7)
• Conflicting Loyalty - The entire squad in the early seasons are torn between Taylor and Johnson in early episode. Poor Gabriel tends to be the lightning rod for this particular clash, however. Johnson even sympathetically acknowledges this in a season one episode where he was especially torn.
• The Lancer
• Hypercompetent Sidekick - For a given value of "sidekick," and with an even more competent boss.

Detective Lieutenant Louie Provenza (G.W. Bailey)

"You know me, Flynn. Since when do I go out of my way to help anyone?"

Oldest and most experienced member of Priority Homicide. Brenda's second in the chain of command. Bad luck with women.

• Deadpan Snarker - He gets a good deal of the best lines.

Nothing tastes better than somebody else's wedding cake. Mine tasted like prison food.

• Embarrassing First Name - As far as Provenza is concerned, his first name is Lieutenant. He goes so far as to threaten Flynn if he repeats his first name/nickname after his old partner mentions it repeatedly in front of him.
• Heterosexual Life Partners - With Flynn
• Married to the Job - Provenza has been divorced several times, which explains why he lives in a relatively unimpressive rental despite his salary (which is second only to Pope's). It's also been stated that his first wife will receive half of his pension when he retires. He therefore REFUSES to retire

Provenza: I have a civil service job, and the only way that I am going to leave the Los Angeles police department is if I get shot, have a heart attack, and then you run me over. After which I will consider a disability position. Pope: But you really still haven't told me why. Provenza: When why my first wife and I divorced, I agreed to split my pension with her from the day I retire. I'll be damned if she gets a nickel. Pope: That...I understand.

• Noble Bigot with a Badge - His response to Georgette is...unfortunate.
  • His remarks about hippies (regarding pot dispensaries) gets him specifically assigned to deal with them by Chief Delk. Bwahahahahah. By the end of the case, he does get to point out to Delk that it was a case of two drug dealers killing over money anyway.
• Seen It All - It takes a LOT to faze this man. One particularly notable incident involved a cooler sent to Major Crimes covered in plastic wrap and duct tape. After it was cleared by the bomb squad, Provenza has it taken into Brenda's office to open (Brenda had the day off). Upon opening it, the squad discovers a body that's been decomposing for 5 years. Everybody either instantly loses their lunch or walks out of the room with their mouth and nose covered...except Provenza, who calmly orders everybody out of the room, closes the cooler and grumbles about having to call Brenda.

Detective Lieutenant Andrew Flynn (Tony Denison)

"The world is short one less scumbag. We shouldn't be investigating who did this, we should be giving them a medal."

Second only to Provenza in experience. Misogynistic (especially toward Brenda), frequently serves as a contrast to Brenda's ethics with regards to whose deaths are worth investigating.

• Heterosexual Life Partners - With Provenza
• Heel Face Turn - He spends most of the first season running Brenda down behind her back, and being rude to the point of insubordination to her face. But when he's suspected of falsifying evidence in an old investigation(which he didn't), the politically-minded Taylor tries to throw him under a bus to limit the damage inflicted on the department. Brenda, on the other hand, believes Flynn when he says he didn't do anything wrong, and she eventually proves his innocence. At the conclusion of the episode, Flynn angrily demands that Taylor transfer him to Brenda's command.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold - Heart of gold is probably stretching it a bit, but he does come across as a

fairly nice guy underneath the layers of attitude.

• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown - gives a spectacular one despite his age after he gets viciously attacked after an AA meeting.
• The Alcoholic - But in AA for over a decade, with no signs of falling Off the Wagon.

Lieutenant Michael Tao (Michael Paul Chan)

"Babs, patron saint of bomb techs. Ain't she cool?"

Tech man of the squad. Encyclopaedic Knowledge of just about anything tech-related, sometimes too eager to share it.

• Asian and Nerdy - Oh yes. The only person on contemporary TV who could possibly best him at this trope is Grant Imahara.
• The Danza - Played by Michael Paul Chan.
• Fake Guest Star - Early on, bizarrely.
• Fake Nationality - Averted and Invoked. Both Michael Paul Chan and Lt. Tao are Chinese-American, but Tao, being fourth-generation, doesn't speak a word of Chinese.
• Hollywood Nerd
• Older Than They Look - Michael Paul Chan is 61. Tao looks maybe in his 40s.

Detective Julio Sanchez (Raymond Cruz)

Formerly of the Gang Task Force, tends to bring intimidation and awareness of the street to the murder room. The whipping boy of Season 4.

• Butt Monkey - If something bad happened, chances are, it happened to Sanchez.
• Dead Little Brother - Happens on screen.
• Dropped a Bridget On Him - Poor, poor Sanchez.
• Taking the Bullet - Does this for Provenza.
• The Big Guy - Despite his short stature compared to Tao or Gabriel, Sanchez is one of the most likely characters to be involved in an action sequence.
• Therapy Is for the Weak - His initial opinion after his brother dies. Then they Dropped a Bridget On Him. Off to therapy he goes.

Detective Irene Daniels (Gina Ravera)

Forensic accountant and liaison with Homeland Security. Engages in a relationship with Sgt. Gabriel for one season.

• Put on a Bus - Promotes out of the squad to Intelligence after season 4.
• Token Twofer - Black and female.

Buzz Watson (Phillip P. Keene)

Civilian sound and surveillance man for the squad.

• Ascended Extra: Doesn't do much in Season 1.
• Deadpan Snarker - When he speaks, he can (and has) give Provenza a run for his money.

Buzz: You want me to go out there and pretend to be Lt. Tao? Brenda: Yes! Exactly! Buzz: Do I have to over-explain everything?

• The Silent Bob - Buzz doesn't get many lines, but he can say VOLUMES with a look.

Special Agent Fritz Howard (Jon Tenney)

Brenda's boyfriend during the first season, fiancee during seasons two through four, and husband from season five on. Winds up engaging her in jurisdictional confrontations and assisting her in getting information from the FBI; becomes the official FBI liaison with the LAPD during season six.

• The Alcoholic - Attends AA, has been in rehab.
• Berserk Button - Do not disrespect his AA meetings or attempt to offer him drugs.
• FBI Agent
• Happily Married - Surprise! So far, anyway...
• Never Live It Down- His drinking problem; besides nearly destroying his career, Fritz (prior to the start of the series) regularly drove while shitfaced drunk, to the point that he wake up in strange places with no memory of driving there.

Assistant Chief William Pope (J.K. Simmons)

"I'm sorry. Sometimes she forgets there are other people. In... the world."

Brenda's highly political boss. Willing to play both sides against the middle. Serves as Da Chief to Brenda, and can vary between stickler for protocol and slicing through red tape depending on mood and circumstance. Cheated on his first wife with Brenda around nine years before the beginning of the series, and when this is revealed it creates no small amount of tension.

• By-The-Book Cop - Mostly.
• Da Chief - As noted.
• My Cheating Heart - With Brenda, pre-series.
• The Alleged Boss - Brenda can get away with a lot.

Commander Taylor (Robert Gossett)

The commander (Captain in Season 1) of LAPD Robbery-Homicide. Very much willing to break regulation and delve into gray areas to get the job done, despite being extremely political as well. Serves as the LAPD liaison with the media.

• Butt Monkey - At least in Season 6, a good chunk of Major Crimes goes out of their way to make Taylor miserable. This ranges from dumping a lot of evidence in his super-cubicle office to messing up his Christmas plans
• Heel Face Turn - Starts out in opposition to Brenda taking over PHD, ends with being willing to point out her blind spots, but accepts her leadership of the squad, over three seasons.
  • As of Season 7, this is looking more like a Heel Face Revolving Door. Taylor is nice or nasty depending on how things look for his job prospects, which makes his real opinion of Brenda unclear.

Captain Sharon Raydor (Mary McDonnell)

In charge of FID, the Force Investigation Division, essentially Internal Affairs. Introduced in Season 5. Comes into conflict with Brenda when she investigates Det. Gabriel after an officer-involved shooting (he fires on a suspect who allegedly fired first). Foil to Brenda, but portrayed sympathetically; they come to something of an understanding after working together to investigate a case where cops are killed in the line of duty, although their interaction is still tense. Gets her own It's Personal episode when she suspects one of her detectives is being abused by her husband in the season 5 finale.

Was chief instigator of getting Brenda on the shortlist for Chief of Police in season 6, and grudgingly admitted that she actually admires — or at least respects — Brenda in the ninth episode. The two are currently on - well, on a bit of a more even keel these days, even if they still don't precisely like each other.

• Action Girl: Like Brenda, if she pulls a weapon, it means the cowpies have just hit the fan. But some people might think that being an Internal Affairs cop means she can't handle herself in the field. These people would be wrong, wrong, so very very wrong.
• Bait and Switch Tyrant: Although the "switch" took awhile, she is now firmly on Major Crimes' side.
• Ensemble Darkhorse/Breakout Character: Nobody expected Raydor to be popular, let alone popular enough to helm the spinoff series Major Crimes.
• Fire-Forged Friends: After the events of the first ten episodes of season seven, Brenda and Sharon are firmly allies and very definitely have each others' backs - Brenda outright admits that "I know she's protecting my flank." (This does not mean, of course, that there is not still much eyerolling about each others' quirks on both sides. Because there is. But they're getting there.)
• Internal Affairs: And fabulously jarring (and sometimes hindering) in most of her appearances.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: in season 7; will lead the Spin-Off Major Crimes when The Closer ends.