The Los Angeles Police Department’s best closer has exited the force, leaving a power vacuum in her wake. So it’s a good thing that Sharon Raydor (Mary McDonnell) is up for the challenge of leading the Major Crimes Division. The question is whether her sometimes irascible — but always capable — new colleagues are willing to follow her. Major Crimes, now streaming on Netflix, is a continuation of The Closer, the Emmy-winning police procedural starring Kyra Sedgwick. Read on to learn more about the six-season sequel series created by James Duff (The Closer, Sherlock & Daughter).
The LAPD’s Major Crimes Division is charged with investigating off-the-beaten-path cases — the kind that require an especially deft touch and a keen eye. When its famed deputy chief, Brenda Leigh Johnson (Sedgwick), steps down, her second-in-command, Detective Lieutenant Louie Provenza (Bailey), assumes he’ll be taking her place. He’s wrong. Instead, the brass appoints Sharon Raydor (McDonnell), who’s transferred from the Force Investigation Division (FID) to head up Major Crimes. The FID is a controversial division among LAPD officers, as it’s tasked with investigating police shootings and excessive force claims, and has implemented a number of unpopular new regulations. Provenza is resentful of Raydor’s appointment, especially when she commandeers his latest case the second she arrives.
The eager Detective Amy Sykes (Giovanni) was investigating Provenza’s new case before it landed at Major Crimes, and seems thrilled when she’s reassigned to the team. But the other officers aren’t feeling so warm and fuzzy toward Raydor: The junior detectives refuse to help an “outsider” until Provenza grudgingly reminds them of their duty to the city; and the seasoned Detective Lieutenant Andy Flynn (Denison) accuses Raydor of being cold and careless for not learning the victims’ names. Flynn also claims that the policies Raydor helped put in place during her time at FID hamper their investigations.
On top of all of this, Raydor is also juggling caretaking responsibilities for teenager Rusty Beck (Martin), a former child sex worker who’s the only living witness to a serial killer’s crimes. The bitter Rusty, whose mother is missing, has been reluctantly placed in Raydor’s care because he keeps running away from his foster home. Raydor, facing animosity both at home and at work, will have to harness every ounce of her underestimated skill, rigor, and professionalism to keep her head above water — and to stop Major Crimes from imploding with every new case.
