I HATE to shop. I can't stand to just dawdle in a store, looking for something, anything that might or might not be just right. The endless crowds. The inept sales people. The prices. Cue Sound effects: SCREEEEECH! Did I just say I hate to shop? Let me clarify. I hate to shop without a motive. I LOVE to shop as a costume designer, but not as a consumer or when asked to go along with friends to "help them find just the right thing". NO! As a shopping costume designer, I have a motive, called a character and I do my research and develop a back story both socio and economic so that when I go into a crowded department store I can channel that character and power shop knowing EXACTLY what I must choose and buy that will be just perfect for said character and give him or her meaning. Meaning that lets the audience immediately identify with or disagree with or love or hate that individual character. I guess you can say I hate indecision and when I'm the shopper in control I decide, I in many ways, am motivated to become that 2 dimensional written character and bring him/her to life. And I can enter a store and shop for perhaps 4 characters head to toe in as little as half an hour.

Half Load didn't have the powerful impact of one of our dramatic story lines but it had the power of choice and the consequences of that choice. Brenda had the sad duty of giving Kitty's favorite things to the local shelter on a Saturday so I pulled out her favorite 7 Jeans and popped on top a Pure cashmere black twin set and on her feet her Lucchese Cowboy boots, but when she and Fritz had to make a U-Turn and go see grumpy ol' Father Jack, she of course is always prepared just like the good little girl scout that I'm sure she was and reached into her bottomless handbag and pulled out, oh, just an old Irene rusty-sienna brown jacket with a black stripe of wool across the bodice, picking up the black in her rust leather boots. All of these items seen off and on for a couple years now.

I loved the look on Gabriel's face when Brenda suggested a community meeting and of course she wasn't dressed to meet and greet and press the flesh as Provenza said. She had to go home and change into an all ready seen before Irene platinum gray raw silk suit, a serious silhouette and a pencil skirt, the first one we've seen this season. She looked every bit as impressive in that suit as Pope and Taylor looked in their police uniforms. After all a suit or a twin set is all the uniform Brenda needs! Provenza was once again dapper and dashing in a crisp blue striped Charvet shirt with French cuffs and a necktie by Brioni, gosh I've had fun spending money on him, thanks to his gal-pal Lauren.

I can't recall if I've ever repeated head to toe any look that Brenda has worn in over 5 seasons, so on Day 2, I looked through her ever-growing Irene suit collection and picked a tan birds eye weave jacket with rosy pink antique buttons, the skirt was used maybe 2nd season in an editorial photo shoot for publicity and has a black background with flowers of red, tan and white. On her feet Brenda wore red patent leather Oscar de la Renta open toed Mary Jane high heels.

It's been fun to see Flynn don his three piece suits and colorful ties, to be amazed at how many patterns from plaids to checks to tattersals to stripes to herringbones, a veritable symphony of combos on Tao and how he never looks like a stereotypical techno geek, but cool as can be. Buzz is evolving from a young man with budget restrictions to a man who likes to shop at Banana Republic, Penguin, a little Paul Smith when he can afford it on a civil servants paycheck and almost anything at Nordstrom in the Brass Plum section. How can Sanchez go wrong with his earthy tones and textures and that dead pan delivery that you just know means business and you especially know there is a temper always at the surface just waiting to come out at just the right moment. Gabriel still has his custom shirts and designer ties and Paul Smith suits and looks Robertson/Melrose Place stylish all the time.

Kelvan who turned in a heart wrenching performance wore a silk shirt from Fox Hills Mall, in a store that many of the Lakers Basketball players shop at, the colors of gold, yellow, black and rust opposed yet coordinated with Brenda because after all he was guilty by shooting a gun into the air and our two gangstas were pitch perfect in combos of ProClub t's and Hanes sleeveless t's and khakis in black and tan and tats, it's all about the tats.

I liked that Brenda and Fr. Jack kind of made nice with each other and their combined efforts of painting over the graffiti on the wall was tender. As Brenda said, "where there's no motive there's no meaning." and Fr. Jack wisely replies, "You think there's no meaning because you're looking for it, but meaning isn't something you find, it's something you give." So when I shop with a motive, I find the meaning of that character among the racks of full price and on-sale clothes just waiting to be chosen and give meaning to the on screen life of all the folks that inhabit the world of The Closer.


The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer/speaker and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc.