Ha! The Maltese, Falcon, The ultimate McGuffin. Smart writing. Just continues with the occasional goofy ensemble - with great characters - and brilliant performance by Baird.
8 Reviews
The Maltese, Falcon.
hutch137727 December 2020
Very funny
keysam-026102 July 2022
Laughed out loud more than once. Really enjoyed the Maltese Falcon joke (& Arsenic & Old Lace was also referenced). OK it's not a typical episode for a police drama, but this (& The Closer) have never been typical and never afraid to include humour.
Would I want the entire series to be like this? No. But the occasional episode is fine.
Would I want the entire series to be like this? No. But the occasional episode is fine.
Awesome!
billnorth198425 June 2014
I have been watching "The Closer" and "Major Crimes" since the beginning and I thought this was one of the very funniest episodes they've done. (The show usually does one lighter, flight of fancy episode a season and this seems to have been that one.)
What made this particular show especially good - in my opinion - was the return of a character who appeared on "The Closer" named Dick Tracy - a police impersonator - although in this episode he's gone back to using his real name of Jonathan Baird.
Jonathan Baird - or "Captain Jonathan Baird" - calls Lt. Provenza and alerts him to a "13 year-old male" dead on the premises of this massive estate - and that's (surprisingly) where the fun begins. The 13 year-old turns out to be a Maltese - "Falcon" - which had been owned by a Leona Helmsley like character...and I don't want to spoil any more. It's that good and you should see it for yourself.
What made this particular show especially good - in my opinion - was the return of a character who appeared on "The Closer" named Dick Tracy - a police impersonator - although in this episode he's gone back to using his real name of Jonathan Baird.
Jonathan Baird - or "Captain Jonathan Baird" - calls Lt. Provenza and alerts him to a "13 year-old male" dead on the premises of this massive estate - and that's (surprisingly) where the fun begins. The 13 year-old turns out to be a Maltese - "Falcon" - which had been owned by a Leona Helmsley like character...and I don't want to spoil any more. It's that good and you should see it for yourself.
Excellent Episode
russpangborn24 June 2014
A very funny episode which finds the crew of "Major Crimes" investigating the death of a wealthy woman and the dog she left much of her fortune to. As usual, Flynn and Provenza take center stage though it's shared by the always excellent Andy Daly playing one-time police impersonator Dick Tracy. Definitely a lighter show but a great bridge between the typically much more intense stories. Well-directed by Paul McCrane and Mary McDonnell shines in a rare comedic role. While it's uncertain if Dick Tracy will return to the series, it certainly sets up that as a possibility. The episode also features the advancing of the Rusty story as his mother - who is now in rehab - may be released before too long and Rusty feels he must take a part-time job (which feeds into the central story). Nicely structured and many excellent one-liners.
Worst Major Crimes episode I've seen
stanb-223 June 2014
Warning: Spoilers
I have been watching Major Crimes since the beginning. I watched the Closer from it's beginning in 2005. This episode was so lame I couldn't believe that James Duff (the series creator) co-wrote it. The minute I saw the next door neighbor played by Harry Groener (a well known character actor) I knew he would turn out to be the murderer. And I was right. Bringing back Dick Tracy from The Closer was also a cheap shot at humor. It was funny the first time but not worth a repeat. I can only hope this was a momentary lapse. The story was about a dead dog who inherited a mansion belonging his dead multi-millionaire mistress. The dog was poisoned and it is suspected that his mistress was also poisoned. The major crimes squad had to investigate and find the killer. How they hit upon the next door neighbor is never explained.
Major Disaster
PurpleProseOfCairo17 June 2020
What did I just watch?
ssilvamty24 June 2014
I am so disappointed about this episode. Being a huge fan of the show I can say that this was horrid! You can barely recognize the main characters. This was like if you were watching a totally different show with with familiar faces. The Overacting of the Guest Stars was awful. Every season we are accustom to watch a "Provenza/Flynn" funny adventure.T Those episodes still great! When this episode started I thought this would be the case. Boy was I wrong! A totally unbelievable story, predictable and silly. Big Mistake. I am looking forward the next episode,wishing everything is back to normal and this was just a bad experiment.
Spontaneous Utterance Indeed
biorngm7 December 2020
Warning: Spoilers
A sit-com develops with a return of an amusing character working again alongside Flynn and Provenza. Not a very good sit-com, in fact, there is little doubt why this series was originally on TNT. A show can be highly rated, viewed by millions on an obtuse network but that does not make it good, repulsive at times, but not good. The episode was a break from the usual good acting from guests nobody recognized; one exception was the return of the Dick Tracy character, he is funny.
The guest cast of characters included Mr. Kleiner, the next-door neighbor of the Brewster home, Marcella Brewster is the deceased homeowner, Carter Bradford is the grandnephew, Devin Duncan is the grandniece, Dr. Enrique Cabrera is the doctor for the late Marcella Brewster, Angela Soames is the employee of cryogenic company Eternal Meadows and Eleanor Miller is the department store human resources employee.
Carter and Devin are the closest kin to the late Marcella Brewster and her dog Falcon. Marcella Brewster was beheaded before the remaining body was cremated, her head was cryogenically frozen and stored at Eternal Meadows where Flynn and Provenza retrieved with a court ordered search much to the dismay of employee Soames. Dr. Enrique Cabrera provided the LAPD of Marcella's multiple changes to her will and added insight into her erratic behavior with video evidence. Mr. Jonathan Baird is the actual name of the security guard formerly known as Dick Tracy from The Closer. Baird guards the estate home while attending to the dog which was granted sole heir to the Brewster fortune.
Dr. Morales determines the late Marcella Brewster did perish as a result of arsenic poisoning as did her dog. The arsenic was in the frozen crab cakes fed to the dog accidently by Mr. Baird; had he known the food was poisoned he would have found another safe source of nourishment for Falcon. Marcella finally passed away after suffering from a form of leukemia, a treatment for which was intravenous arsenic trioxide. The killer not only found a way to add arsenic to her treatment and he found a way to poison the dog's food. The confrontation between Baird and Kleiner in the kitchen of the stately home provides the admission of guilt from the killer where arsenic was introduced to both Marcella and Falcon. Captain Raydor lures Kleiner to the kitchen after she poses as a niece of the late Mrs. Brewster getting the house ready for a possible quick sale now that the dog is dead. The Captain excuses herself to attend to other matters in the house while Jonathan Baird watches Kleiner empty the freezer of the spiked crab cakes to hide the evidence. Major Crimes captures Kleiner in the driveway with his spontaneous utterance admitting to the poisonings.
Rusty receives a letter of recommendation from Provenza with his assistance to the LAPD in the apprehension of his would-be killer and his excellent court appearance as a witness to the Stroh case. The recommendation is taken by Baird out of the murder room while nobody was paying attention as Provenza needed only Rusty's signature with name typed in to supply any department store security willing to hire such a perfect candidate. Baird is seen being congratulated by Eleanor Miller; the department store human resources employee hiring Jonathan.
In all due fairness to the overall series, Major Crimes, where the majority of its episodes are acceptable and above average fodder for a crime show, this is one of a few episodes that can be dismissed as filler. Major Crimes has 105 episodes to its credit, this one episode should not be used to judge the entire group. Buy the premise and you buy the program, even on a single episode basis, although it takes some fortitude to watch this story for a person admiring the series.
The guest cast of characters included Mr. Kleiner, the next-door neighbor of the Brewster home, Marcella Brewster is the deceased homeowner, Carter Bradford is the grandnephew, Devin Duncan is the grandniece, Dr. Enrique Cabrera is the doctor for the late Marcella Brewster, Angela Soames is the employee of cryogenic company Eternal Meadows and Eleanor Miller is the department store human resources employee.
Carter and Devin are the closest kin to the late Marcella Brewster and her dog Falcon. Marcella Brewster was beheaded before the remaining body was cremated, her head was cryogenically frozen and stored at Eternal Meadows where Flynn and Provenza retrieved with a court ordered search much to the dismay of employee Soames. Dr. Enrique Cabrera provided the LAPD of Marcella's multiple changes to her will and added insight into her erratic behavior with video evidence. Mr. Jonathan Baird is the actual name of the security guard formerly known as Dick Tracy from The Closer. Baird guards the estate home while attending to the dog which was granted sole heir to the Brewster fortune.
Dr. Morales determines the late Marcella Brewster did perish as a result of arsenic poisoning as did her dog. The arsenic was in the frozen crab cakes fed to the dog accidently by Mr. Baird; had he known the food was poisoned he would have found another safe source of nourishment for Falcon. Marcella finally passed away after suffering from a form of leukemia, a treatment for which was intravenous arsenic trioxide. The killer not only found a way to add arsenic to her treatment and he found a way to poison the dog's food. The confrontation between Baird and Kleiner in the kitchen of the stately home provides the admission of guilt from the killer where arsenic was introduced to both Marcella and Falcon. Captain Raydor lures Kleiner to the kitchen after she poses as a niece of the late Mrs. Brewster getting the house ready for a possible quick sale now that the dog is dead. The Captain excuses herself to attend to other matters in the house while Jonathan Baird watches Kleiner empty the freezer of the spiked crab cakes to hide the evidence. Major Crimes captures Kleiner in the driveway with his spontaneous utterance admitting to the poisonings.
Rusty receives a letter of recommendation from Provenza with his assistance to the LAPD in the apprehension of his would-be killer and his excellent court appearance as a witness to the Stroh case. The recommendation is taken by Baird out of the murder room while nobody was paying attention as Provenza needed only Rusty's signature with name typed in to supply any department store security willing to hire such a perfect candidate. Baird is seen being congratulated by Eleanor Miller; the department store human resources employee hiring Jonathan.
In all due fairness to the overall series, Major Crimes, where the majority of its episodes are acceptable and above average fodder for a crime show, this is one of a few episodes that can be dismissed as filler. Major Crimes has 105 episodes to its credit, this one episode should not be used to judge the entire group. Buy the premise and you buy the program, even on a single episode basis, although it takes some fortitude to watch this story for a person admiring the series.
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