Netflix has already made some pretty great additions throughout December, and now all seven seasons of a Marvel star’s critically acclaimed crime drama are streaming on the platform for the first time. The past few weeks at the streamer have seen everything from the highly anticipated Troll follow-up Troll 2 debut and climb the charts to additions like Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery and Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches Season 2. Netflix subscribers looking for their next binge-watch won’t want to skip this intense crime drama.
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Just three years after originating the role of J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, a role he later reprised in several Marvel Cinematic Universe films and Marvel animated shows, J.K. Simmons took on the role of Assistant Police Chief Will Pope on the TNT series The Closer. All seven seasons and 109 episodes of that show joined Netflix on December 22nd, marking the first time The Closer has streamed on the platform in the U.S. The series initially aired on TNT from 2005 until 2012 and centered around Kyra Sedgwick’s Brenda Leigh Johnson, an Atlanta police detective who relocated to Los Angeles and heads up a squad that handles sensitive, high-profile homicides.
The Closer Is One of the Best Crime Dramas of All Time
The Closer’s arrival to Netflix is especially exciting given that the series is really one of the best crime dramas ever. The series proved to be consistently intense and thrilling with its storylines and became a standout with its focus on the psychological and conversational aspects of police work. But The Closer also managed to become more than just a procedural series, focusing just as much on the personal challenges and relationships of the characters as it did on gritty police work and crime-solving. without becoming overly soapy. Sedgwick’s Brenda Leigh Johnson, a role that earned the actress a Golden Globe, was presented as not just a cop but a whole person with flaws, ambition, and a complicated personal life, and the rest of the characters were equally well-developed.
The Closer was such a success that it spawned the spin-off series Major Crime, which debuted in 2012 and centered on McDonnell’s character, Sharon Raydor, as she heads up a special squad within the LAPD that deals with high-profile and sensitive crimes. The series, which aired for six seasons, didn’t move to Netflix with the flagship show and is mostly nonexistent on streaming, but fans can rent or buy it online.
What’s New on Netflix?
Netflix’s TV catalog got some pretty great additions this month, including Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches Season 2, all seven seasons of The West Wing, new episodes of the hit indie animated show The Amazing Digital Circus, and even both seasons of Hulu’s Stephen King adaptation Castle Rock. If you’re not ready to commit to a multi-season binge-watch, Netflix also added plenty of great movies to the platform, including Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, Cast Away, and The Talented Mr. Ripley.
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