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Defying the traditional sophomore episode slump, Major Crimes bucked the trend to see ratings growth in last night’s intense new episode.

3.7 million viewers tuned in to watch the squad put an end to an underage porn ring, up slightly over last weeks season premiere. Greater gains were seen in key demographics, where the episode brought in 0.4 million viewers 18-49, a whopping 25% increase over last week.

The season premiere of Major Crimes continued to perform well throughout the week, coming in as the #3 most-watched scripted series of the week, behind only ratings juggernaut Game of Thrones and Rizzoli and Isles, which took over Major Crimes long-held 9pm time slot for its final season.

Overall, Major Crimes is once again proving to be a bright spot in TNT’s summer schedule. The highly-promoted Animal Kingdom had a disappointing bow last Tuesday, with 1.10 million total viewers tuning in for the 2-hour series premiere (a 70% decrease in viewers from Major Crimes). Likewise, returning series The Last Ship returned down sharply over last year, with 1.78 million total viewers and 0.39 in key demos tuning in, losing more than 40% of its audience over the its season 2 premiere numbers.

Major Crimes returns with an all-new this Monday at 10pm/9c on TNT.

Want more Major Crimes? Listen to the  ”What Would Sharon Raydor Do?” Podcast with Mary McDonnell, now streaming on MajorCrimesTV.net!