'The Closer' recap: Illegally blonde

There are the sad, sobering Closer episodes, and there are the goofy Closer episodes, and despite the fact that a man got shot, last night’s hour was straight-up hilarious. Alex Serabian clearly had it coming. Making his wife dance naked for her AA friends? Please.

I love, love, love Jennifer Coolidge. Her performance as overripe Angie Serabian — greedy, murderous, outrageously ditzy — was right up there with her Legally Blonde manicurist and dingbat Best of Show trophy wife. She was a perfect foil for Provenza, the kind of bodacious 1950s bombshell you imagine he might really fall for in his civilian life. Start to finish, this was their night. All Kyra Sedgwick needed to do was eat her candy and stay out of the way.

Q: Are you sitting down?
A: Actually I’m standing in a parking lot in Bakersfield.

Now that I type it out, the lines look a little flat. The charm was all in Coolidge’s breathless, giggly delivery.

Or how about her bratty “Too bad for you and GREAT for me!” when she found out the evidence against her has been lost?

I never really worried that “big old sexy grouch” Provenza was goingto be canned. To start with, it seemed rather unfair to blame him forhis car being ripped off. Plus, what would the show be without him? ButI guess the writers were trying to inject some “tick-tock” urgency tothe confection of a story arc. Really, though, this just wasn’t a night when the plot mattered all that much. Ihave to confess that my eyes glazed over and I started thinking aboutdoing the laundry whenever Alex Serabian’s ponytailed brother came onscreen.

Much more engaging was seeing Pope and Provenza sit down to a glass ofbrown liquor as they commiserated about their own grabby (at least intheir view) ex-wives. A satisfying peacemaking moment, and a strongconclusion to a zesty comic episode.

What did you think of last night’s show? Do we like it whenBrenda steps out of the spotlight? Is anyone else bugged by the weirdlittle avatars of a writhing Holly Hunter that appear in the corner ofthe screen midway through the show? And — totally off topic — shouldI make a cup of coffee and stay up some night to watch Saving Grace?