Major Crimes 5.13

A thrilling and emotional episode illustrating why this is now one of the very best shows on TV.

• This 3-parter wasn’t as good as the 5-parter from early in the year but it was still some of the best crime drama storytelling you would ever see anywhere.
  
• The script set up a genuinely compelling mystery and was able to engage us, get us invested, and - after 3 chapters - give us a dramatic and exciting payoff.
  
• We also had the conclusion of the long-running Buzz b-story. The final scenes of this were as good as, if not better than, the main story. In fact, the a-story was slightly predictable in the way it brought a gun into play in the final seconds whereas the b-story successfully switched gears in it’s final minutes. Brilliant.
  

10/10

Major Crimes 5.12

Major Crimes 5.11

Major Crimes 5.10

The highlight here was definitely the sight of Buzz opening a can of whupass on Hecht. Aside from that: it was a simple, engrossing case-of-the-week moving from a to b to c with deliberation. Quality storytelling. 9/10

Major Crimes 5.9

Ginny Gardner. Once again the case-of-the-week is an engrossing story, well told. Punctuated by good character scenes for Rusty, Buzz and Sanchez, each driving a specific and strong story arc. 9/10

Major Crimes 5.8

• Jonathan Slavin was brilliant, all the Rusty scenes were great and the case-of-the-week allowed for lighthearted moments.
  
• I particularly enjoyed Sanchez’s repetition of “Very Vanilla.”
  
• There was a top notch guest cast here, not just Slavin but also Sherilyn Fenn, Missi Pyle and Wendy Davis.
  
• But those Rusty scenes stole the episode.
  

9/10

Major Crimes 5.7

A type of episode they don’t do often: a cat-and-mouse thriller with a hell of a lot of gunfire and cold-blooded murders.

Add the terrific Jere Burns and you’ve got a 10/10 episode.

Major Crimes 5.6

Major Crimes 5.5

Major Crimes 5.4

Major Crimes 5.3

A major departure from formula that doesn’t quite work. Too much forced-conflict with the FBI characters and a limp ending are the big weaknesses. The story is certainly strong, and would probably have worked better without the ISIS connection. Yet, that same ISIS connection lead to a great opening act. Overall, however, the Rusty scenes and the Buzz scenes were the best part. 8/10

Major Crimes 5.2

Major Crimes 5.1

Major Crimes 4.23

Great performances from the guest stars bring this excellent five-part storyline to gripping and satisfactory conclusion. 10/10

Major Crimes 4.22

Strong, enjoyable episode which begins to give us some answers to the various questions this story has raised. We learned a lot here, but focus was taken away from the Hickmans. And that’s where most of my interesting lies. Very, very keen to see how the last part plays out. 9/10

Major Crimes 4.21

Intense, riveting. First episode to give real screentime to Brigid Brannagh, who was superb. Her interrogation scene was great, so much going on, but it was an episode of great scenes. The show has really upped it’s game for this 5-episode arc. Top tier storytelling. I hope they do many more of these arcs. 10/10

Major Crimes 4.20

This 5-part arc is brilliant and Jason Gedrick and Arjay Smith are brilliant in it. Very exciting television. 10/10

Major Crimes 4.19

Major Crimes 4.18

Zachary Booth, Erik Stocklin. Another departure from formula. A strange murderer, to say the least, and well-told case-of-the-week with a couple of nice twists/misdirections. 9/10

Major Crimes 4.17