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Controlled Burn

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Episode Guide

Season 4, Episode 1

Episode Date: July 14, 2008

Writers: James Duff and Mike Berchem

Director: Michael M. Robin

Guest Stars: Jonathan Del Arco (Dr. Morales), Stephen Martines (Ricardo Ramos), Brian Krause (Tom Merrick), Lenny Schmidt (Plumber)

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Episode Synopsis

Originally called in to assist with crowd-control in a burned out Griffith Park, Brenda and the PHD switch gears and take control of a murder investigation when a woman's body is discovered amid the chaos. Brenda soon finds herself assisted by none other than Bill Croelick - a man she'd hoped never to see again - and shadowed by LA Times reporter Ricardo Ramos. At home, the temperature is rising in Brenda's personal life as she and Fritz get under each other's skin while living temporarily in the close quarters of an apartment with bad plumbing and a no pets policy.

CASE FILE

Location of murder:

Griffith Park

Victims' names:

Linda Harold (First victim - 4 others died as a result of the fire).

What we know about the victims:

Harold was a stalker and had issues with letting go of her exes. The others were vagrants living in the park.

Cause of death:

Blunt force trauma to the head

Evidence:

Carpet, missing photos and computer in her home

Suspects:

Bill Croelick
Tom Merrick, Firefighter

Investigation complications:

Ricardo Ramos, LA Times reporter who compromises the investigation when he interviews Croelick behind Brenda's back.

Murderer:

Tom Merrick

Motive:

Merrick was ending his affair with Harold. during an argument, Harold threatened to inform Merrick's wife of their affair.

Brenda's closer tactic:

Confronting Merrick when he went to pick up Linda's car from the impound yard.

BRENDA'S PERSONAL LIFE

Personal conflicts: Brenda and Fritz are having problems with the toilets, but as there is a no pet clause in their rental agreement, Brenda's landlord can't know about Kitty, so they can't have the landlord repair the toilet. .

Family conflict: Fritz refuses to pay for an outside repairman because it is the responsibility of the landlord to pay for or to ensure that repairs are made, not the tenants. He resolves to motivate Brenda to confront her refusal to deal with the Kitty issue by taking Kitty to her office, leaving her to Brenda's care, and stating that she cannot come home until Brenda tells the landlord about the cat.

Developments with Fritz: They move into a duplex together. Brenda and Fritz chose not to buy a house before her bungalow was sold because of the housing market. Instead, they are renting while they continue to look for a house.

Work hassles: Brenda must reluctantly allow LA Times reporter Ricardo Ramos to shadow her during her investigation. During the investigation, Ramos interferes by seeking out Croelick and interviewing him.

Sugar junkie moment: During discussion in the Murder Room, Brenda is seen eating what looks like chocolate.

Episode Background and Trivia

The context and first location for this episode is Griffith Park during the devastating 2007 fire. The fire broke out on May 8, 2007 near the Roosevelt Golf Course and the Greek Theater, on the southeastern side of the park adjoining the Los Feliz neighborhood. Included in the episode are several clips of the actual fire, including one showing the fire silhouetting the Griffith Park Observatory. In total, the fire burned more than 800 acres over three days, and forced the evacuation of homes along the southern park boundary.

The episode draws its title from a wild land fire containment strategy knowing as controlled (or back) burning, where heavy vegetation is burned off to control the direction of an approaching fire while cutting off its source of fuel, thus bringing the fire under control. Controlled burns are more commonly done to limit growth or reduce heavy stands of vegetation to prevent fires or to re-balance an ecosystem being reseeded or replanted.

In several scenes, the PHD discusses the fire's Mutual Threat Zone (MTZ), a generic law enforcement term for any area covering an event in two or more jurisdictions. In this episode, the fire's MTZ is referred to as LA County, Los Angeles, Burbank and "San Marino." Cute trick - San Marino is some miles away and would necessitate the fire jumping one freeway and the cities of Glendale and Pasadena. More likely, the fourth city should be identified as San FERNANDO, which adjoins the park to the northeast, across Interstate 5 and US 101.

The impound lot where the victim's car was towed is Viertel's Towing, a real LAPD "Official Police Garage" or OPG. The LAPD's OPG shield can be seen on the wall behind the team as they confront Merrick near the end of the episode.

Brenda and Fritz' new duplex is in classic southern California Spanish architecture. The curved archways and doorways, as well as the use of wrought iron and stained glass window details suggest the house was built in the 1920's, when a housing boom followed the development of the Hollywood film industry.

Trivia: Dr. Morales' line "I see dead people, lots and lots of dead people!" is, of course, a clever play on the famous line from the 1999 film "The Sixth Sense."

Best Episode Quotes

Brenda: "If your not outta my house in five seconds I'm gonna save the state a whole lotta money and I'm not kidding."

Best Episode Moments

Bill Croelick walking into the squad room and saying "Hi Just Plain Brenda." Flynn's reaction was to grab him, shove him into a cabinet and then frisk him.

Brenda's reaction as she realized Fritz had urinated in the shower!

When it was revealed that Ricardo Ramos, the LA Times reporter, interviewed Croelick and leaked information during the investigation of a murder, Ramos asks if he can speak and Commander Taylor says, "I wouldn't."

Brenda's face as she realized she was expected to slip her hand, without a glove into the skin of the victim's hand that had been detached from the body and re-hydrated to attempt to get a fingerprint for identification of the victim.

Croelick showing up at Brenda's duplex, and lighting the candles as he tells her "I am still carrying a torch for you."

Sanchez picks Ramos up to show him how the victim was killed as Brenda calmly tells him to put Ramos down. Sanchez continues to play head games with Ramos by demonstrating how she was hit over the head, before staring at Ramos while standing very close to him.

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#1hotchfan

Season 4

Jul 24 2008, 8:48 PM EDT by Dex_Morgan

Thread started: Jul 14 2008, 7:18 AM EDT Watch

I cannot wait for tonight's premiere! I feel as if it's been forever and I'm dying to know what happens! I'm thrilled TNT is running a mini-marathon today. I can refresh my memory on Season 3 episodes and get my dose of Brenda & Fritz for the day. :)

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#1hotchfan

Apartment

Jul 22 2008, 8:35 AM EDT by #1hotchfan

Thread started: Jul 21 2008, 9:00 PM EDT Watch

I have to say, Brenda and Fritz's apartment certainly has way more room than her Bungalow did! It seems so much more spacious so it's funny the episode synopsis talks about them living in close quarters!

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