In an interview with the New Orleans Time-Picayune, Creator James Duff and actor  Graham Patrick Martin talk about the role Rusty Beck, and how the character will become the bridge between The Closer and its spin-off, Major Crimes.

“And we had an opportunity to work with him for awhile doing the finale, and he held his own with Kyra. I think that’s pretty amazing. As he was doing his thing, (co-executive producer and director) Mike Robin and I became more and more convinced that we needed him in the (new) series, and that that character needed to be in the series.

“It is a character that is unrepresented on television. Most children, most teenagers, are portrayed as people capable of sorting out your computer problems for you, or maybe having challenges in school, but this kid has a challenge of life itself, and has been through some very dark, dark, terrible things. Graham brought all that. You just have to like him.”

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In a follow-up interview, Duff talks more about Rusty, and his role going forward in Major Crimes.

“In a sense, in a very strange sense, this boy becomes Brenda’s alter ego in a way,” Duff said. “In the finale of ‘The Closer,’ a lot of who she is is transferred onto him, and then he goes on into Sharon’s life. It’s almost like you have a different version of Brenda there. That just sort of happened. His tenaciousness, and his inability to let go of what is he wants, and his sort of primal nature, is kind of what her’s was in some ways.

“He ends up with the Ding Dong in his hand and puts it on the table. She puts the Ding Dong in his bag and he ends up with it somehow. It’s like he’s got a little bit of Brenda with him at the end.

“I think that’s how people will unconsciously accept him.”

Duff also said he believes Martin’s character will continue with the show through multiple seasons, should the TNT pickup come. According to the network, “The Closer” finale drew 9.1 million viewers. With 7.2 million viewers, the “Major Crimes” premiere was the most-watched cable series premiere so far this year.  

“I see him going on,” Duff said. “He helps us humanize Sharon quite a bit. The fact that she takes him in is a demonstration of what her conscience is like, and her experience as a mother. We haven’t seen that kind of character leading a homicide division on television, a mother as detective. Of course, when we grew up, our mothers were all detectives, especially (mothers of) boys. So it’s only natural to think of her trying to get to the bottom of things. But he dramatizes that by his presence, and, if you like, in many ways like Fritz was to Brenda. That personal relationship to help define her, Rusty will be for Sharon.

“That’s the plan. If we get picked up, that’s exactly what we’ll be doing.”