‘Major Crimes’ season 5, episode 1 review: Buzz’s past, Rusty’s struggle, and much more

The fifth season of “Major Crimes” premiered on Monday night, and we know that there are some things that many longtime fans of the show wanted to see. One of the biggest ones was a return to the series’ classic form, and we feel that “Present Tense” provided that!

However, here’s the issue that we have over the course of the hour: This particular case was not one of the strongest ones that we’ve seen over the course of the past few years. The one thing we’re relieved about is the culprit was not obvious, but we think when it comes to the overall narrative of the mystery, we’ve seen ones that are plotted out a little bit better. Also, we were so excited for the Buzz story regarding his past that it somewhat overshadowed what we saw here.

As for Rusty and Gus, we’d say that this was a little more of a mixed bag. In one way, we’re rather thrilled that the show has given us a love story for the character; yet, at the same time there could have been a little more substance behind him not wanting to hold Gus’ hand in public. Maybe this is intentional, since Rusty does not know how to properly explain it himself, and is still trying to figure himself out.

Overall, we would say that the season 5 premiere was worthwhile thanks to seeing more of Sharon and Andy (he’s contemplating a big move), but we do think it lagged somewhat behind the end of “Hindsight.” Then again, we were more of a proponent of the five-part story arc than most when it comes to building tension. This was still an enjoyable hour for the show, and we’re very much glad to see it back. Grade: B-.

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