‘Major Crimes’ season 5, episode 2 review: An ‘adult’ case; Rusty’s latest surprise

On Monday night’s new episode of “Major Crimes,” “NSFW” delivered on a couple of different fronts.

First and foremost, we had a case regarding the death of a cop, which was brought on by some machinations inside a certain adult movie-making industry. There were of course many slimy people we had a chance to meet as a result of this investigation, but the smart thing that the show did was create a distinction between what Sharon and company considered unethical and what was actually illegal. This is, after all, a show about law rather than any sort of moral judgment.

What the show did do over the course of this hour is find other ways in order to arrest the head of the video-making company to go along with others affiliated with what happened. Why was that? It was largely a consequence of him knowing some of the women were on drugs, and therefore not really capable of giving consent to having sex with him.

As fascinating, twisted, and ultimately demented as the main case of the week was, we did still find ourselves wanting more throughout from the individual characters themselves. For example, Rusty received some surprising news this week in learning that his biological mother was expecting another child, and he didn’t take to this very well given her financial situation. Eventually the two faced off, and he pressed her to give the child up for adoption so that they had a chance at a normal life. This was heartbreaking stuff, and it’s something we would have liked to see more of just to see the development of this relationship further. She did admit to him in the end that she would at least think about what he said.

In the end, “Major Crimes” gave us what we’d consider personally to be a stronger episode than the season 5 premiere, one ripe with emotional scenes and a case that tested the unit. Do we want more? Of course, but there are times when we consider that to be a good thing. Grade: B+.

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