It's been but four months since we last said goodbye to The Closer, so there isn't anything terribly groundbreaking about the TNT show's return Monday night at 9 pm. This is actually OK by me. The show was great before, and the first of this latest batch of post-writer's-strike-episodes further perpetuates the momentum of The Closer's taut beginning to its third season last summer.

Monday's episode opens with a scene that may (or may not) answer a cliffhanger from before: Will Brenda finally close the deal with Fritz (Jon Tenney)? The show opens with Brenda (lovingly played by Golden Globe-winner Kyra Sedgwick) trying on wedding dresses with her eager mother (Frances Sternhagen), but her mind is really on work. This is actually a theme well-played out in the show: a woman so dedicated to her job and justice that the act of trying on wedding gowns is but a nuisance -- a distraction from work. "If that girl had her way," asserts her lovable and grumbly dad (Barry Corbin), "she’d have a minister stop by a crime scene and serve ho-ho’s out her purse."

Note: The network politely encouraged me to not spoil the will-they-or-won't-they wedding mystery and I'm inclined to oblige.

Brenda being Brenda, she does make time to talk about cake (her only vice being a wicked sweet tooth) and, in a very amusing scene, offers a tasting menu to her squad while they review gritty crime-scene photos from the suicide of a contractor. "I was surprised but I liked the lemon crème," Lt. Flynn (Tony Denison) reports after sampling the sweets. "It held up."

This ep's plot isn't as intriguing as other Closer yarns, but this didn't bother me, especially after reading press notes on the rest of the season. Brenda apparently "meets her match" in the second episode when a slick lawyer's maneuvering may allow a convicted sex offender to go free.

She's also still dealing with her parents meddlesome but loving ways (the first ep's scenes between Brenda and her dad are especially sweet), to which we can all relate, and Amy Sedaris fans can look forward to the comedienne popping up as Fritz's psychic sister, Claire. Um, OK!

And that's about all there is to say on the The Closer front for now, which suits me just fine. This show, while not tending toward the art-ful pursuits found in more gripping -cable dramas, like Damages, is just what we need right now. It's like a warm blanket keeping us keep us cozy in winter. And a little warmth never hurt anybody.

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