Major Crimes Season 5 Episode 9 Review: Family Law
Jack Ori
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It's always the wife. Or at least, that's what Lieutenant Provenza would have us believe.
Except this time it wasn't.
Major Crimes Season 5 Episode 9 offered a case that was both quirky and sad, a rough start to Julio's attempt to be a foster parent, and Sharon needing to rein in Rusty's impulsivity.
It was as sad as it was quirky and made for an enjoyable hour of television.
The investigation of the hour was worthy of Law and Order: SVU, complete with a college student who was earning money on the side as a prostitute.
The girl and her boyfriend seemed to have a philosophical disagreement with the idea that prostitution is wrong.
What a stupid question. No, he wasn't jealous. Why would he be? And I wasn't in a relationship with Bobby. It was transactional. Safe sex.
Bree
It was an interesting point of view, though it didn't make prostitution any safer or less illegal. The cops were quick to point out that prostitution led to Bobby Cushing's murder but didn't spend much time on the fact that Bree, the prostitute in question, could have also easily been raped or killed.
Oh my God. Oh... what have I done?
Mr. Miller
Lately, Major Crimes seems to have developed a bad habit of pulling the real criminal out of thin air in the last fifteen minutes of the hour. "Family Law" was no exception.
Suddenly, Bree's father was found to be in the hotel where Bobby and Bree had their last encounter. Unsurprisingly, he turned out to be the killer.
Since the case is so often incidental to the actual point of the story, this kind of tacked-on ending might be acceptable once or twice, but it seems to be a pattern.
In any event, it could have easily been avoided by having Bree's relationship with her father be part of the story prior to his sudden appearance and subsequent confession.
It also wasn't very clear what Bree's friendship with Bobby's daughter, Megan, had to do with anything.
I found a guy. We don't know if he's THE guy yet, and we don't want him knowing we're onto him.
Buzz
Buzz's investigation into his father and uncle's murders was finally back in the forefront! Predictably, Rusty ignored instructions to stop filming because he thought he knew better than Buzz how to proceed with the investigation.
Let's talk about what you don't know, or don't remember.
Sharon
I was glad that instead of Rusty going off half-cocked and making a mess out of everything, he turned to Sharon. She explained the issue in no uncertain terms and ordered Rusty to delete the video.
His response made me wonder if he'd already sabotaged the case by posting it on his blog.
Staying with a black family last night was bad enough. I'm not going anywhere with a Mexican!
Mark
Rusty's introduction to Julio's temporary foster son, Mark, was more interesting than his refusal to listen to anyone. Like Mark, Rusty was an abandoned kid. In fact, he was abandoned at the zoo – the place Mark wanted to be abandoned at for some reason.
Now that Mark's mother has turned up dead, the parallel is almost complete. If Mark witnessed his mother's murder, Rusty will certainly be a good mentor for him.
Rusty and Mark's scenes were enjoyable, but I hope that Julio can build rapport with the kid himself and get around his prejudices somehow. Julio needs to be able to relate to Mark in some way other than threatening to handcuff him if he doesn't behave.
What did you think of "Family Law"? Did the solution to the mystery seem random? Do you think Rusty will somehow mess up Buzz's case? Will Julio be able to foster Mark now that his mother is dead?
Weigh in below, and don't forget you can watch Major Crimes online if you missed anything.
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.
