CLOSER, THE: BATTER UP (TV)
Summary
One in this drama series about LAPD Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, a hard-nosed interrogator skillful at closing cases in the Priority Homicide Division.
In this episode, Clint Harper is robbed and murdered outside of a gay bar in what appears to be a hate crime. The murder weapon, a baseball bat, is left at the scene, and Dr. Crippen informs Johnson that Clint, high on ketamine, was dealt several unnecessary blows after the first fatal strike to his head. They are surprised to find that the robber failed to take a pair of diamond-studded dog tags from the victim, and as Johnson obsesses over her sick cat, the cops receive a promising tip based on the composite sketch of the killer and soon race off to arrest Blake Rawlings, a known thief.
Pope is annoyed to hear that Blake was arrested – roughly – based on next to no evidence, and Clint's domestic partner, Barry Anderson, emotionally describes witnessing the attack, stating that he has never before seen the expensive dog tags. Johnson tries to wrest a confession from Blake by hinting about his future as "a cute boy in prison,"; Clint, clearly high on drugs, admits that he has committed a string of robberies against gay men leaving nightclubs, not out of a sense of homophobia but because they are easy targets. Blake's' girlfriend, who called in the tip, is affronted to learn that she may not receive the reward money; the cops search her home and find a number of the stolen items – and another bloody bat. At the same time, Terrence informs Johnson that her "sick" cat has in fact had a litter of kittens, but she awkwardly dodges his request for a date as he offers to foot the vet bill.
Howard is annoyed when Johnson is forced to spend an evening with Pope, who praises her for solving Clint's case and presents her with a pair of earrings. Inspired by the gift, Johnson gets an idea and returns to the investigation, soon finding Clint's missing jewelry in a nearby lake. Blake's confession is determined to have been forced out of him by Taylor, who took advantage of the suspect's desperate state of drug withdrawal; security camera footage soon provides an alibi for Blake for the time of the murder. Johnson then traces the diamond jewelry back to a photographer, Julian Carver, who admits that he had been having a serious affair with Clint. Johnson eventually deduces that Barry is the killer, having imitated Blake's robbery M.O. in order to stop Clint from leaving him for Julian and taking half his assets. The case now officially closed, Johnson sternly reminds Taylor that she outranks him and will not tolerate future insubordination. She heads home to Howard, who offers his support of her new role as "cat mom." Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: TNT
- DATE: 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:45:05
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 118409
- GENRE: Drama, police/detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Women's Collection - Drama; LGBTQ+ Collection - Drama; Drama, police/detective; Murder
- SERIES RUN: TNT - TV series, 2005-2012
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Greer Shephard … Executive Producer
- Michael M. Robin … Executive Producer
- James Duff … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Nancy Miller … Co-Executive Producer
- Wendy West … Supervising Producer
- Andrew J. Sacks … Producer
- Michael Weiss … Co-Producer
- Gil Garcetti … Consulting Producer
- Rick Kellard … Consulting Producer
- Arvin Brown … Director
- James S. Levine … Music by
- Kyra Sedgwick … Cast, Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson
- J.K. Simmons … Cast, Assistant Police Chief Will Pope
- Corey Reynolds … Cast, Sgt. David Gabriel
- Robert Gossett … Cast, Captain Taylor
- G.W. Bailey … Cast, Detective Lt. Provenza
- Tony Denison … Cast, Detective Andy Flynn
- Jon Tenney … Cast, FBI Agent Fritz Howard
- Michael Paul Chan … Cast, Detective Michael Tao
- Raymond Cruz … Cast, Detective Julio Sanchez
- Kerr Smith … Cast, Blake Rawlings
- Joel Brooks … Cast, Assemblyman Bridges
- Robert Gant … Cast, Julian Carver
- Hank Stratton … Cast, Barry Anderson
- James Avery … Cast, Dr. Crippen
- Robert Clendenin … Cast, Terrence
- Conan McCarty … Cast, Detective Ross
- J.R. Cacia … Cast, Jimmy York
- Kiersten Lyons … Cast, Jennifer Russell
- David Andriole … Cast, Dr. Eric Hall
- Philip P. Keene … Cast, Buzz
- Wilson Cruz … Cast, Man in Bar
- Azita Ghanizada … Cast, Neighbor