Major Crimes - White Lies Part 1 - Review: "Today, I believe in the Devil."

This episode was a prime example of why I fell in love with this show. The character work was the outstanding element of the episode for me.

As I expected, the courtroom sequence was compelling. I loved the way the director opened it, by staging the initial questions as though Dwight Darnell was in the middle of one of his sessions. I wasn’t disappointed.

Dwight picked up the gun being used in evidence and asked Dr. Bowen if, after using his psychological profile to set him up for arrest, he could predict what he would do next. I was expecting Dr. Bowen to guess correctly (which he did), but I didn’t think he’d move. I expected him to assume that the gun Dwight was holding was empty and be killed because of it.

Dwight did start shooting. Dr. Joe did not die, but DDA Rosen, Sheriff Deputy Simms, the Court Appointed Attorney Calderon, and Chief Taylor were all killed. Raydor finally shot him. He died on the operating table. Raydor tells Provenza that she's having trouble with the fact that she killed a human being and can't seem to care.

I have to give kudos to Brett Davern, who played Dwight Darnell. His performance during his questioning of Dr. Joe was spot on. I was so captivated by Dwight’s hurt feelings that I was focused on him as Dwight began to segue way into the sense that something dangerous was about to happen.

Provenza took control of the case and got the investigation off to a good start. Unfortunately, before they could get into the meat of the case, Rusty returned to the squad room having heard that “Dr. Joe” was dead. My heart went out to Rusty. Like the cops that have helped raise him over the last few years, he wanted to help. My heart went out to him, and I couldn’t quite understand why they couldn’t tell him the truth.

When they brought in the court clerk, she completely freaked out when she realized that someone had forged her name in order to load the gun. She also revealed something I hope is NOT fact based. But, the world being the world, I am willing to bet a nickel that it’s based on fact. That reveal is that the Los Angeles Courts has the WORST SECURITY EVER. Basically, since it’s purchase in 2004, they have never changed the combination to the evidence safe.

They discover that Deputy Simms was in on the shooting. He disabled the shock belt that Dwight wore during the proceedings. Simms was also dating a court clerk who left work early and has since disappeared. They also find out that Simms convinced Mark’s (Sanchez’ foster kid) mother to run. But, as Provenza points out, it doesn’t make sense that Simms would be planning his own death.

Raydor’s theory is that Dwight shot his other victims to cover the fact that Dr. Bowmen was the real target. It seems Dwight had to kill him because he had given him the name of the man, Jordan Graff, who is a “Harvard Law School grad.” Between the character's first impression and the episode title, I found myself doubting the veracity of that statement.

Dwight describes his father as the “real power” behind the Aryan movement. His mother describes him as a marine who died in Iraq. The conversation with Dwight’s mother disturbed Sharon, which is not surprising, but I found myself unable to trust her. I kept thinking that the actress has to have a bigger part of this story.

Major Crimes discovered that the Z-Brotherhood owns several apartment buildings. They get the city to condemn the buildings so they can all be searched. During the search, Jordan Graff shows up ranting about the injustice of it all. They arrest him. I’m guessing we’ll be catching the rest of his interrogation next episode.


Unfortunately, they don’t find the missing weapons. They find the missing court clerk and her cat. The court clerk’s body was rolled into a carpet. Her cat was in its carrier.

Despite all of the focus on the courtroom shooting, Buzz got some concrete information in his quest to find the murderer of his father and uncle. The woman, Jen, whose name Hecht gave Buzz during the interrogation last week. She didn’t provide Hecht’s alibi. Buzz now knows that Hecht killed his father. What is next there?

I am hooked and totally on board to see the rest of this story. There were a lot of questions asked and many left to be answered in the last two episodes of this season finale event.

The most frightening line of dialog in the episode for me was, Provenza saying “Don’t worry Captain, I’m feeling lucky.” That is almost always the set up to a character being killed off.

How adorable was Dr. Joe on morphine?

What did you guys think of the episode?

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.

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