Major Crimes - Fifth Dynasty - Review: "Fall Comes Too Soon"

The summer finale came way to soon for me. We’ve got another couple of weeks before new fall shows start appearing, so why couldn’t we get another couple of episodes in under the wire. Enough whining. Let’s discuss the summer finale.

The processing of the crime scene is already in progress when Provenza arrives. We get the run down on the victim this week. Chandler Ethan Ryan, the son of a superior court judge who is currently living in protective custody. The man was hit in the neck with a shovel that’s still sticking up out of the body.

The team examines the house. Chandler had only owned it for 2 months and was doing some renovations by himself. I think Buzz is taking detectives lessons. He jumps into theorizing about what happened in Chandler’s last moments. He looks at the paint on the floor and surmises that it can be used to tell the tale of what exactly happened. Buzz’ theories seem pretty accurate to me. Buzz has really had an awesome season.

Chandler’s mother, Judge Fryin’ Ryan, lives three blocks away. Her window had been shot out the previous month, so the theory is that the people who fired the shots may have gone after Chandler because they could no longer get to her. The members of the Aryan Nation biker gang “The Fifth Dynasty” are the first suspects.

While they’re trying to round up the biker gang and bring other members of the Ryan family down to the precinct, Raydor has to break the news to the Judge. It feels like the two women know each other. Her first reaction is denial. She calls her son on the phone and leaves him a message to call her back. She breaks down when she realizes…this is not a mistake.

The rest of the Ryan family arrives. They’re understandably confused. Flynn realizes they’re missing one child. Their 13 year-old son is not with them because he was helping his Uncle Chandler paint the dining room. Raydor notifies Provenza that they now have a critical missing.

Gus and Rusty arrive at the precinct because Andy has found news on Paloma. They meet with Andy and Rusty’s former social worker to discuss the case. They found Paloma in the foster care system. She’s in a foster care situation where she is really happy and doing well. Rusty, the expert, brings up the reality that bad foster parents coach and threaten kids to make sure the social workers find/hear what they need to find or hear to generate a good report. However, after four visits the social worker believes the girl is happy, healthy and thriving.

Both Andy and the social worker lay it on pretty thick about the fact that the moment Gus identifies his sister they will have to open an official search for his mother. I know Gus doesn’t want Paloma to go to their mother because Mariana/Alice was so against it, but why these heavy-handed warnings not to make Paloma’s situation official? I think the way this story point has been handled it gives the impression that it is more important than it actually is. This impression was underlined for me because; nearly the exact dialog and weight were being put on the concept in a previous episode. This was the only klunky moment, for me, in an otherwise excellent episode.

The unit takes DNA samples from Henry’s (the13 year-old) parents. They begin to get frustrated and bicker. Judge Ryan rather bluntly tells them the real reason the police are gathering is information. They will need to use the information to identify Henry’s body if a body is found. Judge Ryan may have calmed her family and gotten them to cooperate, but she’s not as docile. Raydor manages to calm her down though.

Sykes and her beau, Lt. Cooper, stake out the home of the girlfriend of one of the bikers. Cooper suggests she transfer to his unit so they could spend more time together. Sykes likes where she is and doesn’t think working and playing together is a good thing. Having had to suffer through the end of Gabriel and Daniel’s relationship on “The Closer,” I heartily agree. The girlfriend returns home and the two cops quickly have their suspect in custody. Unfortunately, one of the biker’s friends blows up their car. The arrested biker laughs gleefully and I just really hope that wasn’t Syke’s personal car.

Rusty quizzes Sharon on Gus and Paloma’s situation. Paloma’s foster family wants to adopt her. Basically, the moment she and Gus acknowledge they’re siblings, the adoption proceedings will have to stop. DCFS is bound to look into getting her back with her birth family. So, Paloma will be uprooted and sent to Nevada while the investigation is going on. Then, if they do (as I would hope they would) find that her birth mother is unfit, she would end up in the Nevada foster care system; unable to return to the family that wants her in California. Sharon points out that Gus is unable to take care of her regardless of his good intentions. He has no place to live and not job. She’s certain that, given his guilt and desire to do right by his sister, he will ultimately make the right decision. Rusty wants to know how they can guide him to that. I love this Rusty, whose first concern is someone else’s well being.

While the biker rants about how awesome white people are and how the country is going to the dogs, Provenza informs Captain Raydor that while, listening to a phone tap (standard in anticipation of a ransom call), they discovered that someone, at the family home, had called one of the members of the Ryan family. When the police went to check it out, they found the missing teenager.

Henry claims that gang members he can’t identify, because he was blindfolded, dropped him off. Raydor and Provenza know the kid is lying, but Henry valiantly tries to keep up with the questions. Raydor sends Lt. Tao out to run a Lexus Nexus search on Chandler and to get Henry’s older brother, Sean, into an interview room. Flynn’s questions sound like they suspect Henry of committing the murder. I do too, actually. But when Tao presents the results of the Lexus Nexus, search the case spins in a completely different direction.

Raydor presents the search results to Judge Ryan. Turns out that there were three cases where families with immigration issues accused Chandler of molesting their sons. Raydor and Ryan may have a personal connection, but Raydor doesn’t let her off the hook. Judge Ryan continues to back her son. She believes, as she did when the paperwork came before her, that it’s all lies. Buzz shows the feeds of the interview with Sean to the Judge. They force Judge Ryan to face the truth.

Sean confesses to having suffered years of abuse at Chandler’s hands. The abuse stopped when he was in high school. Sean was too old and Chandler had moved on. Sean couldn’t keep it together in college, so he dropped out and returned home. He realized that Henry was different and, I’m guessing, he realized that Chandler had started molesting him, but he didn’t do anything to stop it. But when Henry called from Chandler’s house hurt and crying, Sean went to get him. Sean finally confronts Chandler. The argument didn’t turn deadly until Chandler accused Sean of “liking” it. This sent Sean into a rage that resulted in Chandler’s death. No one wants this case tried in open court, so they make a deal. Sean has a really good case IMHO, so they should be able to take care of it quietly. One positive is that having been forced to face the truth about her son, she seems willing to do right by her nephew. And, according to Provenza later, did speak in his behalf.

The unit attends Mariana/Alice’s graveside service. Alice’s case touched each of them so I don’t think Rusty is the only reason they attended. Gus makes another plea to change the fact that he feels forced to walk away from Paloma until she’s 18. Provenza, looking at Sean’s picture on the front of the murder book, points out to Gus that sometimes older brothers make sacrifices to protect their younger siblings. This is the root of Gus’ guilt and regret. He was selfish when he left. Hopefully, he realizes that this unselfish act can redeem him a little.

When they’re alone, Sharon asks Rusty how he’s doing. Rusty regrets not being able to talk to Mariana/Alice about how much she meant to him. Sharon talks to Rusty about the future; what he can do for Paloma someday, what he can do for others. It’s a lovely moment. We’ve watched Rusty grow up on this show, and, as I watched the final scene between him and Sharon, I found myself wondering who, or rather, what he’ll be. Reporter? Social Worker? Some other type of advocate for kids alone in the world? This storyline seems to have brought him around to finding a way, as an adult, to help those who weren’t lucky enough to find a Sharon Raydor. As I watch this, I find it is a story I want to see more of.

This part of the season has been fabulous. I have really enjoyed how they’ve handled the character’s personal stories. (Though I think we may still be missing a Tao focused episode.) I also really liked how they handled Rusty this season. The decision not to rehash the Stroh story was an excellent one IMHO. So, what did you guys think about the episode and this half of the season? (P.S. Couldn't resist adding this one. Hope to see you when Major Crimes returns.)

About the Author - Prpleight

Prpleight is a screenwriter and senior software engineer with solid geek cred. When not writing code, screenplays, or watching TV (sometimes she does all three at the same time), she uses her broadsword Bessie to battle evil. She's been a frequent contributor to the SpoilerTV discussion boards for several years now. Currently, she's reviewing Stitchers and Major Crimes.

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