• Air date: 13 Jun '05 13 episodes
      Season 1 opens with the LAPD's new Priority Murder Squad (PMS), soon renamed the Priority Homicide Division (PHD), under the direction of Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson investigates the murder of a technological genius. Brenda has recently joined LAPD after a long career in law enforcement, including with the Atlanta and Washington, D.C., Police Departments. We soon learn Brenda is originally from Atlanta, Georgia, was CIA-trained, and was recruited by her former married lover, Assistant Chief Will Pope. Brenda is resented as an outsider by much of the LAPD and seen as an adversary by Robbery-Homicide's Captain Taylor, who initially persuades her squad to request transfers en masse in an unsuccessful effort to force Brenda's resignation. Brenda soon wins over her assistant, Sgt. David Gabriel, and the grudging admiration of the team when she shows them why she is called a closer; but her battle is far from over. As the season progresses, we see Brenda struggle to establish her authority and earn the respect of her squad, despite the efforts of Taylor and Detective Lt. Andy Flynn to both undermine her authority and hamper her investigations. Slowly, one-by-one, Brenda wins over her team; and, by season's end, she has earned the loyalty of them all, even the hard-boiled Det. Flynn, as they stand united against Capt. Taylor's final attempt to remove Brenda from the squad.
  • List of Episodes (13)
    • 1. Pilot

      13 Jun '05
      Series Premiere. A seemingly routine murder investigation by the LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division is interrupted by the arrival of Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson, the new head of the LAPD’s Priority Murder Squad. An outsider from Atlanta in her first week of service, Brenda has already begun to face the resistance of long-time high-ranking officers, particularly Capt. Taylor of Robbery Homicide, as well as the questionable confidence of her own squad, who have decided to request transfers en masse. O
    • 2. About Face

      20 Jun '05
      Brenda and the team must investigate the murder of high-profile model Heather Kingsley, who dies as a result of nicotine poisoning, applied to her scalp via her hair conditioner. Suspicion quickly falls on her movie-star husband, Dean, whose philandering ways and false claims of a pre-nuptual agreement make him the likely killer. As Brenda investigates, she is drawn into the world of celebrity beauty, where illusion is everything, and the standard high. When she undergoes a make-over to meet the
    • 3. The Big Picture

      27 Jun '05
      Brenda must fight for justice for two Russian prostitutes murdered by the illegitimate son of a Russian mafia figure whiles she overcomes the prejudices of a department who sees one dead prostitute as pretty much the same as another. As she does, she confronts her own prejudices, and discovers the justice for these women is scarce in a world dominated by men. When the FBI steps in to take over the investigation, she shows the stern stuff she's made of, using highly unorthodox methods to finally
    • 4. Show Yourself

      04 Jul '05
      Brenda and the Priority Homicide Team investigate a sniper who is killing gang members in and around MacArthur Park. Offering assistance is an ex-Army colonel who believes the sniper to be his son. As an all-out gang war looms, Brenda tentatively accepts his assistance, but as her investigation progresses, Brenda's doubts about the Colonel's motives grow. With Fritz' assistance, she realizes the Colonel is not there to help, but to help his son escape. The two face off in the dark on a Los Angel
    • 5. Flashpoint

      11 Jul '05
      Brenda enters the high-stakes world of pharmaceutical research, when a drug trial for new anti-addiction medication lead to the death of one of the principal investigators. Nothing is quite as it seems as she investigates the high-powered president of the drug company sponsoring the trial, the seemingly easy-going psychiatrist and the teenaged participants in the study. Too soon, one of the teenagers falls victim to manipulation of the medication, and Brenda untangles a web of exploitation of th
    • 6. Fantasy Date

      18 Jul '05
      Brenda finds herself the unexpected victim of violence against women when she investigates the murder of a congresswoman's daughter. At first, it appears the victim was engaged in sexual activity online that included an invitation to violence. But as Brenda and the team investigate the world of online solicitation of sex, they discover just how vulnerable to abuse women are, and how easily the web can be used for revenge. In the end, Brenda finds a killer bent on revenge, and saves the victim's
    • 7. You Are Here

      25 Jul '05
      When a judge is murdered in Griffith Park, Brenda's investigation takes an unexpected twist. Her best witness, or perhaps her prime suspect, is his teenaged son with autism. Challenged by the boy's behaviors, but convinced he has the clue to unraveling the case, Brenda must try to understand his disability, and thereby learn what he knows. Meanwhile, she must keep his mother, and the child protective system from taking custody of the boy, limiting her access to him, and the killer.
    • 8. Batter Up

      01 Aug '05
      When a gay man is murdered, seemingly the latest victim of a string of hate crimes, Brenda must confront prejudices inside and out of the LAPD. But when the perpetrator of the crimes turns out to be something quite different than expected, and has an alibi for the latest murder, Brenda must dig deeper to discover if this crime is part of the string, or a crime of passion disguised as a hate crime. Meanwhile, Flynn and Taylor step up their efforts to undermine Brenda once again, but with unexpect
    • 9. Good Housekeeping

      08 Aug '05
      The murder of an adolescent girl from Mexico, found dead in the Los Angeles River, proves difficult and painful for Brenda and her team. At first, a known sex-offender seems the likely candidate, but questions arise about why the girl and her mother were brought to the US, leading the investigation in another direction. Soon, the girl's backpack suggests the girl's uncle or the family for whom the mother worked may have been involved, A search of the house suggests one of the family is the murde
    • 10. The Butler Did It

      15 Aug '05
      Three wealthy, spoiled and unruly children become the target of Brenda's investigation when their stepmother is murdered and the family butler seemingly commits suicide shortly thereafter. Riding heard on the trio is their family attorney, who cleans up their messes and provides them with alibis. Convinced the butler was actually murdered, Brenda sets out to discover which of the children committed the murders, and finds the real killer was someone altogether different!
    • 11. L.A. Woman

      22 Aug '05
      Brenda finds herself at odds with the FBI in a struggle to gain control of the murder investigation of a well-known businessman. Deciding to work in tandem, Brenda finds herself working directly with Fritz, who was assigned to the case. After discovering that the FBI has ulterior motives in the investigation, Brenda's relationship with Fritz is put under further strain.
    • 12. Fatal Retraction

      29 Aug '05
      Brenda and her team must find not only a killer, but also identify the killer's victim when a deranged, homicidal madman is set free due to mistaken identity. Trying to make sense of an array of complexities in this unusual case, Brenda comes across what may be another betrayal by a member of the Priority Homicide Division. The case takes an even darker turn when Brenda becomes the center of the psychopathic killer's attention.
    • 13. Standards and Practices

      05 Sep '05
      An unnamed source files a grievance against Brenda in the midst of a high-profile investigation of a murdered L.A. filmmaker. With her career on the line, Brenda is skeptical of Chief Pope's intentions when he volunteers to help. In classic Brenda style, she spurns the accusation, refusing to suppress her demeanor in deference to the complaint. In response to the situation, the PHD team comes together to act in unison, sending shock waves through the entire department.