Although Monday, September 1, is a national holiday, Labor Day, in the United States, there will still be a brand-new episode of The Closer called “Split Ends.”

On this “hair-raising” installment, Team Brenda investigates the murder of a hairstylist for a TV show who also has a disturbing background filled with abuse. And if that’s not enough — an abused woman — to irritate Brenda, then how about another visit from her wonderful but slightly meddling parents? You can just predict the detective’s overwhelming anxiety already.

Check out a sneak peek for the episode after the jump.

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Original Air Date: August 25, 2008

Ham, Ham, Ham!

Whoever wrote the official TNT description for “You Are My Partner,” Saving Grace’s second-midseason finale, must have been as drunk as Ham is at the very beginning because there’s no mention of Bobby at all, let alone his recent disappearance into an undercover role. Despite the customary crime woven into the plot for good measure, this episode was all about Ham and the cop’s continuing spiral downwards following the death in the Middle East of his Marine younger brother, Ralph.

The crime of the week, an especially hateful and typically twisted one, revolves around the brutal rape and murder of Mexican Rosie Carreo. A skinhead named Hubert Montrose Cordan, aka Smash, brings her to a local hospital after he finds her body by a dumpster outside the white power joint he works in, and the OCPD squad initially believes he’s responsible for her death.

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Original Air Date: August 25, 2008

The moment I read the description, I knew this episode of The Closer, directed by Kyra Sedgwick’s husband, actor Kevin Bacon, was going to be one of the best I’ve seen. It didn’t disappoint either.

“Sudden Death” opens with the apparent drive-by shooting of Detective Julio Sanchez’s brother, Oscar, practically right outside the cop’s house and in broad daylight as he works on his motorcycle. The 19-year-old dies soon after he reaches the hospital, which is no surprise considering he was shot four times. Sanchez’s response afterwards in front of his colleagues, all of whom show up with their spouses or significant others, is unexpectedly strange, however.

Instead of the huge wave of anger I was expecting given his notorious temper, Sanchez is more concerned that his fellow cops have some pizza and understand how much he appreciates them coming. When someone asks if he wants them to contact his family, Sanchez says he’ll do it himself later since all of his family members are at work. Everybody has a different reaction to grief, I guess, especially in the early stages.

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“Sudden Death,” the August 25 episode of The Closer, is going to be yet another winner this season for two reasons.

First of all, actor Kevin Bacon, the real-life husband of series star Kyra Sedgwick (as I’m sure we all know), returns to direct this episode, marking his third year in a row contributing to the series behind the camera.

Second of all, and most important to me, the episode focuses on Detective Julio Sanchez (Raymond Cruz), which is the first time the show has given us an entire plot revolving around his volatile character. Sanchez, whom I find impossible not to admire for his stony-faced tenacity, always looks like a volcano patiently waiting for the perfect time to erupt. I love him.

Unfortunately for the Priority Homicide detective, his brother is shot on “Sudden Death.” Then again, on the good side for both siblings, Sanchez’s colleagues have his back all the way and refuse to stop trying to close the case until it’s, well, closed.

A two-minute sneak peek follows the jump, courtesy of TNT, and it makes me even more eager to see the entire installment.

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Some fans may not realize this, but the August 25 episode of Saving Grace, “You Are My Partner,” doubles as the series’ midseason finale. Although the second season has a total of fifteen episodes and only seven will have aired after the 25th, Holly Hunter and her castmates are going on hiatus and will return with the remaining eight installments later.

The big question is when since TNT hasn’t announced a set date that I know of. Whenever it is, the show will be back with fresh material; chopping seasons in half is a common practice on basic cable.

“You Are My Partner” happens to be a pretty good place to take a break because the official description makes it sound very intense. Fans might welcome a rest after watching it.

The plot continues the Bobby storyline from the previous episode “Are You an Indian Princess?,” where Butch was distressed to have his partner suddenly and swiftly go undercover without so much as a warning to his colleagues, wife, or family. We’ll learn why during “You Are My Partner.”

Don’t read ahead if you don’t want to know!

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On “Are You an Indian Princess?,” the August 18 episode of Saving Grace, the officers in the Oklahoma City Police Department will tackle a painful case involving a kidnapped child.

The little boy in question is abducted after his mother is murdered, and considering that Ham’s younger brother Ralph just died on the previous episode from injuries sustained while on active duty in the Middle East, the case will cut too close to home for him in particular.

Watch Grace visit the hospital room of a severely injured child in the sneak peek following the jump. Be forewarned, however, that it’s not an entertaining scene in the least.

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The August 18 episode of The Closer is another teen-oriented installment called “Problem Child.”

Brenda must decide whether a missing teenager should be handled as a runaway case or something more ominous, the last of which is possible thanks to the boy’s gruesomely violent history.

The sneak peek after the jump shows Brenda, her Priority Homicide team, and the FBI as they make a chilling discovery at what looks like a typical, normal suburban home.

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Grace has problems everywhere she turns on the August 11 episode of Saving Grace called “Do You Love Him?“

First, a drunk driver hits her Porsche, revealing thousands of dollars worth of bills in the door that were stored there by the car’s former owner. Of course, the inevitable investigation that follows leads right to a murder.

Second, Ham’s younger brother Ralph, who was just on the episode before last called “A Little Hometown Love,” goes missing in Afghanistan, causing the entire squad to feel Ham’s pain.

And third, just as Ham decides to get more serious about Grace, his older brother Nick reveals he doesn’t care much for her. If only he knew about Earl, I wonder how he’d feel then.

In the two-minute sneak peek after the jump, Grace, Butch, and Bobby put their heads together to make progress in the episode’s central case.

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Unfortunately, TNT still hadn’t posted a preview clip online for the August 11 episode of The Closer by the time I put this together. The episode is called “Dial M for Provenza,” and just from the title alone viewers can tell that our favorite TV curmudgeon, Detective Lieutenant Provenza, is going to play a major part in the plot.

Last month, I wrote about actress Jennifer Coolidge having been cast as a guest star for an upcoming episode of the series. Well, here it is. She plays the intelligence-challenged wife of a car dealership owner who ends up the target of a murder for hire.

Provenza goes undercover to help wrap the case but instead gets into a world of trouble and then some when his car is stolen with all of the evidence inside. Ouch!

Even worse, Pope informs Priority Homicide that if they don’t make things right in two days, poor Provenza can say bye-bye to his job on the force. I don’t even need to see a video preview to know that this episode is going to be a tremendous hoot.

The Closer airs Mondays on TNT at 9pm EST.

The August 4 episode of The Closer is another interesting installment in the adventures of Brenda called “Live Wire.” If you’re a fan of Brenda and Fritz’s relationship, this one might also be a bit difficult for you to watch.

Why? Well, not necessarily because of the usual bickering the two engage in, but because this time the tension is work related. That angle always makes the disagreements between them more intense since both are so devoted to their careers.

The problems start when a man conducting surveillance is killed in downtown Los Angeles and Times reporter Ricardo Ramos — remember him from the current season’s premiere? — gets the scoop. The subsequent police investigation eventually intersects (or should I say “collides”?) with the FBI’s, leading to all of that conflict mentioned earlier.

Sneak a peek at some footage from the episode after the jump featuring Brenda and her crackerjack Priority Homicide team on the scene of one of those prioritized homicides.

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