The Closer

The Closer watch order

1. The Closer, seasons 1–7 (TNT, 2005–2012): 109 episodes. Season 7 has 21, aired in three runs from July 2011 to August 2012.
2. Major Crimes, seasons 1–6 (TNT, 2012–2018): 105 episodes. It premiered straight after The Closer’s finale and carries on with the same squad.

Most weeks, Brenda Leigh Johnson closes a case in the interview room, and most of those cases stand alone. The Essentials path above keeps 55 of the 109 episodes: the ones that change the squad, Brenda’s life with Fritz and her family, the cases that come back later, every season finale, a handful of fan favourites and most of season 7, which runs one long story to the end.

Major Crimes is the continuation. It has the same creator, James Duff, the same LAPD division and most of the squad, now led by Captain Sharon Raydor, whom this show introduces in season 5. It premiered on TNT the night The Closer ended, August 13, 2012. Kyra Sedgwick doesn’t continue: ending The Closer was her decision, announced in December 2010, not TNT’s answer to the ratings.

Finish The Closer before you start Major Crimes. Its first episode opens soon after The Closer’s finale and gives much of it away. The last six episodes of season 7 (S7E16–21) aired in summer 2012 and were added to lead into the new show.

Our watch-order guide covers both shows and why each one ended, with spoilers folded shut. Season 7 has an explainer of its own, for when you get there.

In October 2026, all seven seasons streamed on Netflix in the US, there since December 22, 2025 and included on the plan with ads. They could also be bought on Amazon, Apple TV and Fandango At Home. The Netflix deal is US only; in the UK and Canada, JustWatch listed The Closer as purchase-only.