James Duff on Season Three

I and nine other fans had the chance to participate in a conference call with James Duff (The Closer’s creator) this evening. He answered some of our questions and talked about developing the show and what’s to come in season three.

Creating The Closer
Duff says his inspiration for Brenda Leigh Johnson (brought to life by the amazing Ms. Kyra Sedgwick) came from many sources. He says there is a lot of his own character in Brenda and also quite a bit of his mother and sister. He says his Mom “can tell if [he’s] lying across the room” and his sister is “very secretive about her private life” – both very Brendaish qualities.

Though Duff names a theme for each season (One was about being a woman authority figure in a male dominated world, Two was about partnerships, and Three will focus on families) and normally plans the beginning of each season far ahead, he doesn’t like to plan for the characters too far ahead. He prefers instead to let them develop organically. When characters do something surprising, Duff says he still wants it to be in character.

More after the cut including some spoilers for season 3…

Season Three
In one of those surprising character developments, the coming season will find Brenda and Gabriel, the squad member she has the closest relationship with, butting heads. Gabriel is beginning to find his own way as an investigator after spending the past two seasons learning from Brenda’s example. As a result, he and Brenda start arguing about the best way to do things. James Duff says that past seasons have seen Brenda’s protagonist face off against Commander Taylor’s antagonist. He says this seasons conflict will be “more powerful” when viewers will see Brenda and Gabriel, who share a close bond, struggle with one another.

No longer solely Brenda’s antagonist, Taylor’s role this season will be a bit different. Budget cuts at the LAPD see “everybody trying to play together a little bit better” Duff says. That includes Taylor who has developed what Duff calls a “grudging respect” for Brenda over the past two years. However Duff cautions viewers to be careful about trusting Taylor’s intentions even if he seems to have buried the hatchet with Brenda.

If there isn’t enough conflict for Brenda at work, there is bound to be even more drama when Brenda’s parents visit. That’s right, as well as Frances Sternhagen returning as Brenda’s Mom, viewers (and Fritz!) will finally get to meet Brenda’s Dad. This season the lies Brenda has told her parents (Dad still doesn’t know she’s living with Fritz.) come out. Duff adds that these episodes will also shed a little more light on Fritz’s past problems with alcohol which have already been hinted at on the show.

Season three will have a two part episode in December just as season two did. Duff says Brenda and Fritz will go to Brenda’s home in Atlanta for the holidays where we will meet more of Brenda’s family including at least one of her three brothers. Something unexpected (a case, perhaps?) will come up and Brenda and Fritz’s trip to Atlanta won’t be quite what they expected. These episodes will also see more exploration of Fritz’s past problems with alcohol which Duff says “he thinks he’s solved”.

Speaking of Brenda and Fritz, one of the callers asked if there was potential for a wedding between Brenda and Fritz and Duff replied that there was definitely potential there but he didn’t want to say more. He also mentioned that there will also be a four or five episode arc this season that shows Brenda dealing with a “serious health issue”.

What’s in the Future?
While they had trouble fitting Fritz’s Mom into season three, Duff says he hopes to introduce her in season four. He also mentioned that children are an issue for Brenda and are “certainly an issue for Fritz.” Duff says he wonders whether Brenda would be a good mother and thinks she probably has the same doubts. He does say that he thinks Brenda and Fritz’s relationship would need to be more formalized before kids come into the picture. (I know I am not the only one all asquee at these marriage hints!)

James Duff mentioned as the call ended how wonderful the interest in the show has been and how grateful he is to all of us fans and the careful attention we all pay to the show. Hearing him talk about season three, it sounds like he is giving us fans even more fantastic stories to obsess over. I cannot wait! Season three starts this Monday, June 18th, at 9 p.m. Easter Time/ 8 p.m. Central on TNT.

Many thanks to James Duff for speaking with us and the people at TNT for arranging the call!

~ by closerreview on June 15, 2007.