She seems to feel guilt but be repressing it. A socialpath feel guilt about nothing, not just about particular crimes. And I'd agree false confessions would be more natural, but the problem here is the meta - they already had her kill a bunch of people before they realized what they had done. It would actually be a great ending if in the last ep, one of the confessions she extracted turns out to be false, and she has no legal liability for that, but that is the one thing that brings her guilt about other murders to the fore, so she confesses everything. (Her skill at extracting confessions from the guily is the lynchpin of her self-image. Having that go wrong might break her, especially when she is starting to crumble anyway. I'm using serial killer not to stand for mental illness, but for a murderer who has killed people on multiple separate occasions with down time in between. Anger can be a motive for serial killers - but it is still serial killing as long as the killer receives gratification. Brenda arranged for those people to be killed out of anger at their crimes and was gratified when they died. She may or may not qualify as seriously mentally ill. I don't believe evil automatically means mentally ill.

Right, but I think she feels no remorse over those who have died through her actions, yes? At least that is how it is being established now.

Why would you feel remorse over doing something you not only believe is right but is your proper job? I don't watch The Closer but that sure is what it sounds like this character is about from this discussion.

What is this character like when she is alone? Devoid of emotions? Does she truly have zero sense of morality or ethics or is it that her is all her own?

She shows guilt all the time over little things. So no she definitely is not a sociopath. And I don't think she initially felt guilt. But at some point in the law suit she spilled red wine on a document, and treated it as though the document was covered in blood. So she is like the writers - did not feel remorse at the time, just grim satisfaction. But once she was confronted with the number of people she deliberately gotten killed she emotionally connected with it, and had a sense that she had done something wrong. But then she decided that all these people still deserved to die, just as she originally thought, and that they would have gotten away with their murders if she had not killed them, and repressed the guilt. (I don't believe your "rational" mind can banish guilt that easily, but it can repress it.) But I think she now thinks of herself as someone who will do almost anything rather than let the bad guys win, rather than merely someone who is tough and unorthodox. That makes her willing to cross other lines she would not before. I think some part of her now thinks of herself as a bad guy even if she is not admitting that - not even to herself. So she is now acting more like a bad guy in other respects.

I am not certain where her moral center is to tell you the truth. I think Typo and Vortex bring up good points, but I'm not thrilled with the writing, so my arguments are what whe she has become. I don't agree she shows much guilt - taking the recent season alone. She she spilled the wine, but let's contrast that with recent behavior.

She will do whatever to get what she wants: including clearly jeopardizing her career. I am not sure this is the Brenda I saw in the first season. She is not devoid of emotion, but she is a serious manipulator - of people close to her as well as the suspects she goes after.

I am not sure how I will feel with next week's ep which seems to go back to the jokey jokey ha ha part.

I don't agree she shows much guilt - taking the recent season alone.

I feel like last season they came *this close* to her having an epiphany moment. I think it would have been a fascinating way to tie up the series if they had shown her grappling with any guilt and more importantly questioning and even resisting her own instincts as future cases arise.

Instead, they veered away and seem to have her doubling down. Disappointing.

She will do whatever to get what she wants: including clearly jeopardizing her career. I am not sure this is the Brenda I saw in the first season. She is not devoid of emotion, but she is a serious manipulator - of people close to her as well as the suspects she goes after.

I may be looking at the term sociopath in more of a technical way than you are. Facile manipulation is a feature of more than one disorder, and more than one personality type. A sociopath will have a flat affect when there is no one to put on a show for, will not experience empathy or compassion. Of course seeking those traits and finding them presupposes writers and show runners who have the knowledge and intent to present a sociopathic character as such.

It could be true. I am certainly not in a position to diagnose. My point is that she seems to have a pathological disregard for her violation of laws and civil rights. If that doesn't fit the DSM for sociopath, I'm fine with whatever pathology fits.

Has anyone else seen Perception?

I watched the pilot for the Eric McCormack factor (I find him attractive) and I'm a bit uncomfortable about how they're approaching mental illness as a major plot point. On the other hand, the female lead (whose name I'm blanking on) has potential. And there's bonus LeVar Burton.

Has anyone else seen Perception?

It is still on my DVR.

Calli,

I'm with you there. The whole thing makes me uncomfortable. It is why I stopped watching Monk.