Rusty's Dad and Excellent Writing on Major Crimes

I have mentioned the usually layered writing on The Closer and Major Crimes. The final episode of Major Crimes, Season 1, is one of my favorite examples. Rusty's father has revealed himself as a self-justifying, seemingly affable but manipulative man who doesn't like his plans to go awry.

What is fascinating is (1) the father is not obviously a jerk at first yet (2) from the first, the father is obviously carrying out his own agenda. There is a backstory that is not spelled out but is used consistently.

The guy is engaged. His fiancée has two little girls. She is likely not altogether sure of her husband-to-be. He is obviously self-centered and not prepared to deal with children once they stop being cute. She is also wealthy and someone he wants to marry. Rusty, his unexpected son, becomes a way to make a good impression, and the father's eagerness to adopt that role is a red flag since any normal man would be rather flummoxed at having a teenage boy dumped on his doorstep.

Rusty is taken to meet the fiancée. He later complains to Sharon, his foster mother, that the fiancée asked all kinds of intrusive questions. And Rusty likely did feel bulldozed. He was consequently quite blunt about his past, which freaked out the fiancée. BUT--and this is where the writing truly excels--once she gets over being freaked out, she wants to talk to Rusty, to bring him into the fold. She is an instinctive mother (and probably takes that role more seriously than the role of wife-to-be) and sees Rusty as a child to be helped, not a problem.

But the husband-to-be, Rusty's father, hit him for supposedly mouthing off, and Rusty returned to Sharon.

The characterization here is very smart. The man isn't domineering or controlling. His outrage--to the point of blacking Rusty's eye and cutting his lip--is over his plans being potentially ruined. Rusty isn't behaving properly. He isn't helping along the already determined (according to one person) story.

The sheer weirdness of Rusty being expected to help along the agenda of a man he barely knows is not grasped by the "sperm donor" (as Rusty begins to calls him). The father sees the entire world in terms of himself and honestly believes himself to be a patient man who tolerated Rusty, who "needs to be disciplined." He fails to grasp his fiancee's true concerns--that is, his identification with the woman's interests is a role he has (temporarily) adopted, not a reflection of any actual ability or desire to comprehend another human being.

One suspects that he will lie to his fiancée about why he ultimately (at Sharon's insistence) signs away his parental rights. But the fiancée is obviously already somewhat uneasy about him. I doubt the engagement will last.

Again, this backstory and characterization is never spelled out--it is simply used when the action and dialog require it be used alongside excellent pacing.

Very good writing!