Review by C.J. Bunce
If you’re keeping up with the third season of Major Crimes on TNT, you’ll have seen last night’s episode, “Frozen Assets.” Set up with a preposterous plot–a multi-millionaire who has her head frozen and a poisoning that is foiled by returning detective wannabe Dick Tracy (Andrew Daly) from a 2009 episode of The Closer–Major Crimes yet again proves the show knows no bounds as to what the ensemble cast can get sucked into (and suck viewers into). Like Season Two’s episode with a comedy twist “There’s No Place Like Home,” which featured Marion Ross, Tim Conway, Ron Glass, Paul Dooley, and Doris Roberts in a plot to murder their landlord, “Frozen Assets” shows the lighter side of a series that usually reflects the violent world of L.A. crime. If you missed Season Two, the DVD release from Warner Bros. is here, and it’s full of plenty of extras for Major Crimes fans.
Creator and executive producer James Duff delves deep into the story development for Season Two in the special feature “Major Crimes: Personal Conviction,” revealing his vision of a season split between stories about “identity” as a theme–who the characters are and who the culprits of the crimes are and how they all got to where they are–and “character,” growth of the main cast members and learning more about these characters we thought we already knew from the prior eight years on television. Each cast member discusses their view of the characters they play (except the strangely absent Raymond Cruz). The crew seems to agree that Graham Patrick Martin’s Rusty Beck became the lynchpin and glue holding together the series for the second season, especially his relationship with series lead Mary McDonnell as Captain Sharon Raydor.
The series begins with the opener “Final Cut,” directed by Roxann Dawson, who sci-fi fans will know as Lt. B’Elanna Torres from Star Trek Voyager, and who also played Detective Ortega in a 2011 episode of The Closer. This episode introduced D.D.A. Emma Rios, played by Nadine Velazquez, the prosecutor who constantly clashes with the Major Crimes squad (interspersed with a season full of hilarious flirtations by Detective Sanchez). Duff acknowledges why viewers proclaim how much they hate the character, and also why she fits perfectly into the dynamic of the show.
Highlights of the season include a trio of episodes featuring Raydor’s ex-husband, played by Tom Berenger, G.W. Bailey’s Lt. Provenza and his ongoing wrestling with age and being the last of his class to still be working as a detective on the force, and the series finale focusing on the pursuit of a serial killer after Rusty and Raydor.
Six episodes include deleted scenes that further reveal details of the members of the squad that didn’t make it to the final episode cuts. The highlight of the deleted scenes can be found with “Return to Sender – Part 2,” featuring Dr. Morales (Jonathan Del Arco) as he encounters Provenza and Rusty after testifying in the Stroh trial. Another feature, “Behind the Scenes: A Look Forward,” discusses new themes coming ahead in Season Three, and some concepts the creators and cast want to see in future episodes.
Check out our wrap-up of Season Two on borg.com here.
Another great season for Major Crimes, the Season Two DVD provides not only four discs full of the 19 episodes from the series, but some extra content fans of the series will want to check out. Major Crimes Season Two on DVD is available here
