The Closer Creator James Duff: "Elysian Fields"
Tom Skerritt with Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Elysium is that section of Hades reserved for the eternal rest of ancient Greek heroes. In the City of Angels, however, Elysian Park, perched near Dodger Stadium and the LAPD Academy, turns out to be the unceremonious burial ground for a man dragged behind a pick-up truck and then shot in the head.
Enter former robbery/homicide Detective Olin, played by the always-intriguing Tom Skerritt. Asked to return from a lonely retirement because of his familiarity with the victim, Det. Olin — or Joey O., as he's known to his former co-workers in Major Crimes — seems more intent on wrapping up an old case of his own than helping Brenda close hers. Ghosts of Those Who Got Away haunt the hallways of Parker Center and, as Deputy Chief Johnson's obsession with the elusive rapist/murderer Phillip Stroh returns to cloud her judgment, she finds some uncomfortable and eerie parallels between herself and the annoying, (but dogged) Joey O.
Though the word "elysium" came to represent the halcyon rest for the honorable dead, its original meaning was, literally, "to be struck by lightning." Sometimes, that's what it takes to change one's outlook, the central theme of tonight's episode. Crime can often be horrific; that horror can bleed into the lives of those who investigate it. Police officers who cannot leave their jobs at work risk unbalancing their private lives in irredeemable ways. Finding one's way through the perilous thickets of a career in law enforcement to a peaceful retirement bathed in the solace of Elysian Fields is not a journey, as Joey O tells Brenda, "for the faint of heart." Neither is tonight's episode, written with grim precision by the admirable Michael Alaimo.
All of us at The Closer are grateful for yet another terrific star turn, this time provided by the inimitable Mr. Skerritt, one of the great, talented actors who have shown up in the past few years to wear a badge in our version of the LAPD.
Next week: the return of Frances Sternhagen as Brenda's mother, Willie Ray, and the introduction of a new Johnson family member, who already occupies a special place in the hearts of our cast and crew.
— James Duff
