# Thoughts on the current story arc on THE CLOSER (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-the-current-story-arc-on-the-closer-spoilers/549061 "2010-08-03T21:38:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-the-current-story-arc-on-the-closer-spoilers/549061/61 "2010-09-14T16:27:28Z")
Any thoughts on last night’s finale, which ended just as we all knew it would (except with some ambiguity about what will happen to Pope’s job)? ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-the-current-story-arc-on-the-closer-spoilers/549061/62 "2010-09-14T16:52:45Z")
it ended the only way possible to keep her team intact, and to give the writers the way out of her getting the job … ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-the-current-story-arc-on-the-closer-spoilers/549061/63 "2010-09-14T18:12:50Z")
I only wish it hadn’t been a character they introduced in the same episode. Give us some suspence. As soon as they introduced the new guy, Delk (right?), as another candidate for Chief, it was obvious he was going to get it and Brenda would stay at Major Crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-the-current-story-arc-on-the-closer-spoilers/549061/64 "2010-09-14T18:22:55Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > I only wish it hadn’t been a character they introduced in the same episode. Give us some suspence. As soon as they introduced the new guy, Delk (right?), as another candidate for Chief, it was obvious he was going to get it and Brenda would stay at Major Crimes. Wasn’t that always obvious? As pointed out upthread, keeping the format required that Brenda stay in Major Crimes, and keeping Pope around required that someone else get the Chief’s job. It was only a question of how. It’s almost a pity. It’d be an entirely different show, of course, but I’d enjoy a series with Brenda as Assistant Chief and Mary-What’s-Her-Name from Battlestar Galactica as the head of Major Crimes. I like how they interact. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-the-current-story-arc-on-the-closer-spoilers/549061/65 "2010-09-14T18:36:37Z")
Yes, the minute Delk appeared, it was obvious he was going to be the new chief. I really like the way he talks, though. Commander Taylor was hilarious, all “Life is not fair” and then going off arm in arm with the new chief. “I know for a fact that the FBI is asleep right now.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-the-current-story-arc-on-the-closer-spoilers/549061/66 "2010-09-14T19:22:50Z")
I agree: it was obvious Delk would be the next chief. Not quite Taylor, but from the look of things, Taylor has his ear. Though by watching Brenda work, I think Delk respects her. I loved that scene where they were both on the same wavelength about how to handle the case. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-the-current-story-arc-on-the-closer-spoilers/549061/67 "2010-09-14T22:06:41Z")
I’m usually not a big fan of Courtney B. Vance, but I thought he did a good job with Delk last night, so it will be interesting to see how he interacts with the crew (though really, how often did the old Chief show up on the show? ) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-the-current-story-arc-on-the-closer-spoilers/549061/68 "2010-09-14T22:09:44Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > I’m usually not a big fan of Courtney B. Vance, but I thought he did a good job with Delk last night, so it will be interesting to see how he interacts with the crew (though really, how often did the old Chief show up on the show? ) I expect that he’ll be a recurring character a la Captain Rayner. Who should have been Chief of Police, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-the-current-story-arc-on-the-closer-spoilers/549061/69 "2010-09-15T05:32:55Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > Yes, the minute Delk appeared, it was obvious he was going to be the new chief. I really like the way he talks, though. The thought “It’s the DA from Law and Order” was chased pretty quickly by “Is he a bad guy or the new chief?”. I suppose he could be both, as the bad guy’s partner who started the white van before he got in was never revealed. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-the-current-story-arc-on-the-closer-spoilers/549061/70 "2010-09-15T06:38:28Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > Yes, the minute Delk appeared, it was obvious he was going to be the new chief. I really like the way he talks, though. Yeah Since this was a multi-episode plot anyway, it would have been nice to have all of the candidates in the mix all along rather than just Pope, and then the final winner at the last minute. OTOH it was nice the way they made him seem like he was going to be an incompetent adversary but then he turned out to be actually clever and competent. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-the-current-story-arc-on-the-closer-spoilers/549061/71 "2010-09-15T10:22:17Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > I suppose he could be both, as the bad guy’s partner who started the white van before he got in was never revealed. I don’t think that’s what happened. I think with their openings, sometimes the sound from one segment overlaps with the previous segment. It was definitely the lone bad guy driving away. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-the-current-story-arc-on-the-closer-spoilers/549061/72 "2010-09-15T16:27:16Z")
I liked Courtney Vance as the ADA on Criminal Intent, and it will be fun to see him butt heads with Brenda Leigh. This is the best outcome possible. What’s good for Brenda is not what’s best for the show or the viewers. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-the-current-story-arc-on-the-closer-spoilers/549061/73 "2010-09-15T16:30:58Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > I liked Courtney Vance as the ADA on Criminal Intent, and it will be fun to see him butt heads with Brenda Leigh. > > This is the best outcome possible. What’s good for Brenda is not what’s best for the show or the viewers. Well, Brenda didn’t really want to be police chief anyway; she was pressured into the application by Fitz, Rayner, and (partly) Pope. And I don’t think she ever really thought she’d be best used in teh job anyway. I imagine the mayor making his decision partly because he decided, “Damn, with all the crap that happens in this city, we do not need to be moving our most effective investigator out of an investigative position. Plus I need to keep her where she is in case I ever need anybody wacked.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-the-current-story-arc-on-the-closer-spoilers/549061.md?page=3)