enough thoughts about Major Crimes to justify a post, WHAT EVEN
So in our rush to take Sharon's side against Jackson, we seem to have missed what a fantastic episode 2x7 it was for Sharon's character? In that she was pretty far out of line the whole time.
It was just a very honest picture of fundamentally decent adults behaving badly. I didn't feel like anyone was made out to be a horrible failure, but they were clearly out of line. And tbh, I thought that gave us a great insight into Sharon's character. Not so much that she's FLAWED!!!1!! but that Jackson was clearly not a good influence on her. She let her judgment slip just a little bit, because hey, it's Jackson, you know he pulls crap all the time, and it didn't occur to her that he wouldn't be On Her Side, even though he clearly took the job at least as much to start feeling like he had himself together professionally again. But as he discovers more and more confidence in his job, she realizes their dynamic is shifting (even though I think she asked him to do it because on some level she wanted to push him to make a move in some direction or other). And as it got more and more heated they both became more and more rigid because IT'S MY JOB DAMMIT YOU'RE THE ONE MAKING IT PERSONAL.
Basically everyone whose name did not rhyme with Crusty was teetering on or way the fuck over the line this episode. And what's almost worse, is that they were all so caught up in being belligerent toward each other that they were very hurtful and unfair to him. That child was setting a perfectly acceptable boundary - he didn't want to be in an unfamiliar social environment. He had every right to say no. PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO SAY NO TO THINGS. And A-hole and D-bag used the same tricks on him that Sykes used on Browning. "We've made promises like this before" is incredibly legalistic language to use on a kid who trusts you. And then Provenza guilted him by saying HE would be just like his mom if he didn't show up giving no reason, when what he was trying to do was give Krissy a reason.
And the show continues to impress me by following through on these things. Prosecutor Whatshername was totally real with Sharon about how Sharon's blurred personal/professional lines were creating complications. Rusty's fears about not wanting to lose one of literally two safe people he has ever had in his life turned out to be validated the very next day. Moreover, the dismissiveness the team treated him with when he tried to set his own boundaries is clear as the assholishness it was when the next case started poking some of Rusty's old wounds. This show is really working better than a basic cable police procedural has any right to do. This entry was originally posted at http://pocochina.dreamwidth.org/304677.html. Leave a comment here, or there using OpenID.
- It was pretty unethical for her to ask Jackson to represent the kid, because they are married and that is a conflict of interest. That's the kind of appeal-worthy violation she usually tries to avoid. But getting the kid an attorney while there was an actual public safety issue is at least fair enough.
- But as soon as it became an actual investigation of Speedy, that becomes a much bigger issue. Jackson was RIGHT to object to them poking holes in Speedy's story when they hadn't cleared the question with him first. Jackson was being kind of a jerk in the private conferences, but he was absolutely doing what he should've been doing for his client. (You know, the person whose rights he was there to protect?)
- And of course, once they had the actual investigation figured out, the "public safety" rationalization was gone. At that point they were just trying to close a case. Jackson was right to object to their harassing the kid over his express orders, and he was RIGHT that they - not just Sharon, but the whole squad - were misbehaving for personal reasons. Sharon wasn't exactly behaving badly in front of the squad, but she absolutely was responsible for her employees' behavior.
It was just a very honest picture of fundamentally decent adults behaving badly. I didn't feel like anyone was made out to be a horrible failure, but they were clearly out of line. And tbh, I thought that gave us a great insight into Sharon's character. Not so much that she's FLAWED!!!1!! but that Jackson was clearly not a good influence on her. She let her judgment slip just a little bit, because hey, it's Jackson, you know he pulls crap all the time, and it didn't occur to her that he wouldn't be On Her Side, even though he clearly took the job at least as much to start feeling like he had himself together professionally again. But as he discovers more and more confidence in his job, she realizes their dynamic is shifting (even though I think she asked him to do it because on some level she wanted to push him to make a move in some direction or other). And as it got more and more heated they both became more and more rigid because IT'S MY JOB DAMMIT YOU'RE THE ONE MAKING IT PERSONAL.
Basically everyone whose name did not rhyme with Crusty was teetering on or way the fuck over the line this episode. And what's almost worse, is that they were all so caught up in being belligerent toward each other that they were very hurtful and unfair to him. That child was setting a perfectly acceptable boundary - he didn't want to be in an unfamiliar social environment. He had every right to say no. PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO SAY NO TO THINGS. And A-hole and D-bag used the same tricks on him that Sykes used on Browning. "We've made promises like this before" is incredibly legalistic language to use on a kid who trusts you. And then Provenza guilted him by saying HE would be just like his mom if he didn't show up giving no reason, when what he was trying to do was give Krissy a reason.
And the show continues to impress me by following through on these things. Prosecutor Whatshername was totally real with Sharon about how Sharon's blurred personal/professional lines were creating complications. Rusty's fears about not wanting to lose one of literally two safe people he has ever had in his life turned out to be validated the very next day. Moreover, the dismissiveness the team treated him with when he tried to set his own boundaries is clear as the assholishness it was when the next case started poking some of Rusty's old wounds. This show is really working better than a basic cable police procedural has any right to do. This entry was originally posted at http://pocochina.dreamwidth.org/304677.html. Leave a comment here, or there using OpenID.