Episode 1.01- “Reloaded”

Episode 1.01 – “Reloaded” –  Original Airdate Monday, Aug. 13, 2012.
The department is still reeling with the recent departure of Deputy Chief Brenda Lee Johnson, creating a tough transition for the newly appointed head of Major Crimes, Captain Sharon Raydor. But there is little time for adjustment as the department rushes to reach a plea bargain when a string of grocery store robberies turns fatal. After proving to be a valuable source for the case, undercover police detective and military veteran Detective Amy Sykes is transferred to Major Crimes. Meanwhile, Raydor takes a big step to protect teenager Rusty Beck after he runs away from his foster family.

 

Directed by Michael M. Robin
Written by James Duff
Created by James Duff

 

Episode Stills
(For more images, check out the Photos page)

Review: TNT’s Major Crimes Complicates Crime Politics Even More

One of the first “reviews” of the pilot- and some very good news to be had!

“But while McDonnell seems to take great care in showing Raydor’s strong, able leader side, she also allows for moments of vulnerability to shine through—and even a softer side when we finally get to go home with her. She has her own missteps settling into Brenda’s seat (literally), and she certainly isn’t as quirky as Brenda. In fact, the series premiere closes the drawer on that personality type and ends up saying an extended good-bye past The Closer’s series finale with one last sweep of Brenda’s office, revealing some personal effects she left behind for which Raydor has no use.”

Whole article here: TNT’s Major Crimes Complicates Crime Politics Even More

Review: ‘Major Crimes’ solves TNT’s dilemma

Excerpt from the LA Times Review of Major Crimes.

Where Sedgwick’s music was chaotic and bright, McDonnell’s (as it was in “Battlestar Galactica”) is modulated and cool, but with a blue-flame intensity. She seems to be one who keeps her head when all around her are losing theirs (and sometimes blaming it on her), but also sets us see that her feelings are complicated and that her composure is harder-won than it looks.

Brenda could be unorthodox to the point of illegality — her concerns were more moral than ethical, you might say, which created the problems that brought McDonnell’s internal affairs investigator into the picture in the first place. Sharon pays more attention to the Book by Which Things Are Done: “God does she love the rules,” someone says. But she is happy to find new ways to make them suit her needs.

Read the whole review here.

‘The Closer’ Spinoff Flips the Script on ‘Major Crimes’

Major Crimes premieres on August 20th in Canada on the Super Channel, and the Vancouver Sun had  this fantastic review of the pilot episode.

 

“The Closer was a seven-year examination of the justice system,” Duff said. “We used a single character to refract different points of view. It was a single-lead show. It was a single lead with a really good ensemble, but it was a show with a single point of view. She was interested in the confession, and that was pretty much all she was interested in.

“The big difference with Major Crimes, I would say, is that we are looking at the justice system differently. It’s more of a group view. And there’s less agreement about what that means. It’s not only about the confession but about what happens afterwards. The justice system is over-extended. Major Crimes is going to ask a question that’s been asked more of government these days, which is: How much justice can we afford as a society? Trials are expensive. The system is backlogged. What are the ramifications of that? That’s what Major Crimes will be about.”

Major Crimes will also be headed by a strong woman, Duff points out, but this time it will be McDonnell’s character who takes the lead.

“Not only is this someone who believes in the rules, this is someone who wrote a lot of those rules, running the division now,” Duff said. “These guys are used to working with someone who was fast-and-loose with policy. Now they’re working for someone who says policy can be their friend, and she has to somehow convince them to believe that. This is someone they all know, and mistrust. It’s about having someone you know and mistrust taking over and doing a job you don’t believe they’re capable of doing.”

Whole review here.