Yeah, I'm kind of losing track of where they're going with this. Her speechifying about having to step outside the lines like the coach was repellent.

(And talk about unfortunately timely plotting.)

I have a theory. The short version is "yes" you are supposed to hate her.

The long version: up to this last season, behind all the quirky layers, Closer was just a typical cop drama about a hard-ass cop who breaks the rules to get the bad guys. And we were supposed to cheer for her, and mostly did.

And then in planning the closing season the writers looked back over her past, realized that as written she was a monster and a threat. The whole idea of cheering rule-breaking cops is a bad one. So they decided to use the last season to make us see that too. (And kudos to those who noticed it before this season.)

And we were supposed to cheer for her, and mostly did.

Do you mean most of us did, or we did most of the time?

And kudos to those who noticed it before this season.

Seriously, not looking for kudos, I've always disliked her (but love the rest of the ensemble, so I watch for them), but since they seem to be actually working it, she's repulsive. A horrible person who seems intent on dragging people down to the place where her mind lives. And who cares about the collateral (or direct) damage?

I think most of us who watched the show did most of the time.

I've seen two random episodes of The Closer. I thought she was vile. Never could watch the show.

I guess I mostly turn off that part of my brain when I watch cop shows. (Which is why I have no cop shows that are must sees for me.) Because just about all of them have cops who first decide who the bad guys are and then do whatever they can to get them - within the rules or not. Which leads in the real world to really brutal cops. So if I could not turn off those particular brain cells I cant think of many cop shows I could watch. There may be a few, not a universal to cop shows, but pretty common.

A show like NYPD Blue or The Wire is pretty clear about showing the grey (or really dark) spaces that cops go to in order to punish who they see as the lawbreakers, or just to exploit their power. I respect that.

Then I watch Steve McGarrett plough through tons of innocent people (and co-workers!) just doing their jobs just in order to escape (admittedly unjust) detention. Nothing made of it. Because he's the man. Action hero, living on the edge.

Ack. Ptui.

Since the whole premise of The Closer is to get the perps to confess to their crimes, it portrays cops unapologetically crossing ethical lines more often than other cop shows, IMHO. I had to stop watching it.

Who is Steve McGarret. Sorry action heroes not big in my life. Except Jackie Chan. Maybe sometimes Jame Bond, but Bond is not a hero. He is a supervillain who happens to fight other supervillains much of the time.

The Wire has cops who are bad(like the one who broke the kid's arm in the fourth season) and some drug dealers, like Bodie, who are decent young guys. they do an interesting thing in re McNulty being the "cop who makes his own rules' in that, as in real life, it bites him on the butt. Mostly, I think *we* still cheer for him(a testament to Domenic West's performance, in my opinion,) but his department finds him a huge pain in the ass because he's so dedicated, doesn't care about the chain of command, and makes work for his supervisors every chance he gets. And then there's Prez, who makes one of the biggest character turnarounds since Wesley(although he doesn't quite make it to that whole bitter and hot thing, occasionally I found myself thinking Mrs. Prez was kind of lucky.) But on most shows, screwing up that badly as a cop would cost you protagonist status.