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In a fantastic new review, Salon.com media critic Jennifer Pozner compares Major Crimes to the USA Network show Suits- and decides that Major Crimes is the show to watch, calling it “a procedural with a heart”.
An except from the article:
“To soften Raydor’s all-business persona on “The Closer’”s last two seasons, “Major Crimes” makes her an unofficial foster parent to Rusty, a troubled teen former sex worker who lives with her while waiting to testify as the key witness to a brutal murder. In contrast to the prurient way sex worker characters are depicted in most procedurals, “Major Crimes” recognizes this boy’s humanity without erasing or pussyfooting around the truth of his traumatic past. Viewers get to know Rusty and the Captain alike as we watch her enroll him in the Catholic high school her children attended, set firm but caring boundaries, and slowly break through his angry defenses. Over the course of the first two seasons, Rusty’s distrust of Raydor morphs to grudging respect, appreciation, and—though he hasn’t admitted it yet—love.
He hasn’t admitted something else, too: during season two, Raydor becomes increasingly convinced Rusty is gay, and he either hasn’t allowed himself to realize it yet or he’s staying intentionally closeted. Refreshingly in a TV landscape that still traffics in homophobic stereotypes, she and the adults respond to this awareness without a moment’s hesitation or disdain, striving only to create a supportive environment in which he can peacefully embrace who he is.
Last week’s episode, featuring the murder of a transgender girl, was drawn with similar care. In a departure from the dismissive treatment of trans characters on most procedurals, Raydor and her team insisted on referring to the child with her preferred pronouns. The girl’s father respected his daughter’s right to self-define her gender identity and had planned to help her pay for hormone treatments; he argued bitterly with his wife whenever she referred to her “son” or dismissed “his choice” to “pretend” to be a girl. “Major Crimes” gave this trans child a dignity rarely allotted to crime show corpses.
This may not be Shakespeare, but for a procedural crime show “Major Crimes” has a lot going for it: humane storylines, compassionate characters, diverse performers and women who get the job done. With an average audience of seven million its first season, the series has become basic cable’s No. 1 new series of 2012. Five of the second season’s 21 episodes have yet to air—so go ahead, binge.”