Lieutenant Michael "Mike" Tao is assigned to the LAPD's Major Crimes Division during The Closer and Major Crimes.
Tao is the Priority Homicide Division's and later Major Crimes Division's forensic specialist and often leads the processing of the crime scenes.
Character Information[]
At some point in his career, he worked at the LAPD's Scientific Investigation Division and has been described by Taylor as a "technical genius". He is apparently also the MCD's unofficial liaison with the SID. After his time in the Scientific Investigation Division, he has held detective assignments in Vice (though we don't know if that was in the Vice Division or at an area/bureau–level)(“Family Law”) and in the Robbery-Homicide Division (“Hindsight, Part 1”).
The Closer[]
In “Sudden Death”, when Det. Sanchez's brother was killed and he was ordered home so he couldn't interfere with the investigation, Mike secretly kept Julio up-to-date on new developments in order to show him that they are making progress, eventually earning the ire of Chief Johnson when, because of Mike's information, Julio was able to beat the division to a person of interest, jeopardizing any statement he might make. When talking about the matter with Brenda, Mike said he was just trying to help Julio and didn't know a better way to help his friend, though he admitted that it wasn't "by the book".
In “Under Control”, when picking up his son Kevin from summer camp where he works as a counselor, Mike is thrown into an investigation of a missing 9-year-old. At first, Mike only calls Julio for help, but when the situation appeared to grow worse he notified Lt. Provenza and brought in the rest of Major Crimes. Mike was also assigned as the Incident Commander, rather than Provenza, and Mike was responsible for coordinating the entire search effort for the missing boy. The boy was eventually found dead floating in the pool of an abandoned house, but autopsy showed he hadn't drowned, rather he had been poisoned. Eventually, the boy's father was found out to be behind the murder and Mike was brought to the verge of tears after the father's confession showed how unhinged he was.
Major Crimes[]
In “Before and After”, Tao gives some advice to Det. Sykes when she asked him why Lt. Provenza doesn't like her. Tao told Amy that Provenza doesn't like anybody but advised her to care foremost about the victim and not about what anyone thinks of her.
In “The Ecstasy and the Agony”, Tao became frustrated with himself after he was unable to remember something he thought was important from the crime scene. He eventually remembered that he saw that the victim had opened the peep hole on his front door and therefore wouldn't have opened the door except if it was someone he trusted. This realization helped MCD to discover a new suspect as their victim would have never opened the door for their original suspect.
In “Out of Bounds”, during an investigation, Tao notes that his son, Kevin, is new behind the wheel and if you put him on the road, add a little rain "which makes every LA driver crazy", there is a good chance of road rage. He later jokingly asked Det. Sanchez why he went alone to the crime lab to analyze some paint chips with the Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometer as he (Tao) being interested in forensics would have liked to have seen the process.

Tao in a flashback to 2004
In “Dismissed with Prejudice”, the Major Crimes Division re-investigates a case which Tao had worked on in 2004 when he was still a Detective. The conviction was overturned when the victim's (and suspect's) daughter recanted her statement about seeing her father stabbing her mother, and new blood evidence placed another person at the scene of the crime, just like the original suspect had said but which Tao did not believe. Tao apologized to both the daughter and the father for his actions during the original investigation and promised them that he would get to the bottom of the case. The daughter, Lydia, accused Tao of manipulating her to testify against her father. Tao refuted this, telling her he only wanted to help her remember but maybe didn't dig deep enough into what she was saying because he had not wanted to traumatize her. Tao asked Lydia to watch the tape of his initial interview with her and see if he still acted in bad faith in her opinion.
Back at the PAB, Tao gave the MCD squad a walkthrough of the events that happened in 2004 but concluded that Will Reichman's defense attorney was right: he hadn't given any credence to Reichman's intruder theory and always thought he had done it "from the get-go." Lt. Provenza noted after this that it was probably because "he's guilty as hell", which Capt. Raydor noted to be a very bad statement to make at this time, as Reichman's civil attorney is suing the LAPD for millions of dollars in damages. Reichman is also suing Tao, the LAPD, and the City of Los Angeles for wrongful imprisonment. When the LAPD started to investigate their new suspect with the FBI, they find out that he is missing, and has been since 2004. The FBI suspects that he is somewhere in Costa Rica, living off of $1.8 million dollars he embezzled. The suspect's wife (whom he left behind in Colorado) tells the LAPD that because his husband was a cheater, they should look for a woman who disappeared at the same time as they are most likely together. They then realize that their original victim fits that description and looked further, finding out that their original victim and this new suspect were lovers. Based on this new information, they re-examine the orginal case and surmise that their new suspect is also dead, killed by Reichman the same night he killed his wife. When confronted with the new evidence, Reichman takes a deal of life in prison and a gleeful Tao once again arrests him for murder. Tao speculates to Lydia that the deal was to prevent her from having to testify against him, again, and also his way of saying he was sorry. When Lydia faces her father for the last time, he tells her his only regret is that he didn't murder her too, leaving Lydia visibly and understandably distraught, hugging Tao as Lt. Flynn escorts Reichman out of the squad room.

Tao with a slight smirk after getting his man, again
“ | Will Reichman, you're under arrest, again, for extremely premeditated homicide. Or, as we like to call it around here, murder in the first degree. | ” |
— Lt. Tao |
In “Under the Influence”, when Jason Andrews (a writer on Badge of Justice), is on a ride along with Mike and Julio, they stumble into an investigation which eventually reveals three murdered men in a chop shop. During the investigation, the writer causes some problems for Mike, as he continuously tries to interfere with Major Crimes' investigation, either by recording interrogations and pointing out presumed illegalities in their investigative procedures even though he doesn't actually know the laws around them. During the recording incident, Andrews commented to the rest of the division, after getting caught, that Mike had told him there was no expectation of privacy in a police station, causing everyone to turn to Mike looking rather annoyed, though Buzz was quick to retort that is only for criminals as the officers themselves have a right to privacy.
During “Risk Assessment” he explains to Rusty Beck that he originally wanted to be a doctor, to please his parents, but found that doctors spent too much time protecting themselves. He instead joined the LAPD who protect each other and others.
In “Open Line”, Tao is forced to fatally shoot a suspect and it clearly affects him greatly.
In the 5-part story arc "Hindsight" of Season 4, Tao came in contact with his old partner Mark Hickman, a disgraced former detective who committed perjury on the witness stand and lost them the murder case of an LAPD police officer. He had protected his partner during an IA investigation which was handled by Captain Raydor when she was still in FID, by not telling her about Hickman's extramarital relationship with a murdered LA County DDA, but had no problem "throwing him [the partner] under the bus" when he lied on the stand. When Hickman later gained access to the MCD murder room with a visitors badge he was supposed to have returned, Tao got very angry at him, something that is quite rare. Although Hickman was most likely drunk and acting aggressively, Capt. Raydor determined it was not a use-of-force situation and told the detectives to calm down. Tao disobeyed that order, something he had never done before, and attacked Hickman to remove his visitors badge. He later apologized to Raydor in her office and promised he would not cause any further problems.
In “By Any Means, Part 4”, Tao is forced to kill Phillip Stroh's accomplice Dylan Baxter in self defense. As a result, Tao is forced to wait in a house with a possible bomb until FID arrives to clear him for the shooting. After checking Baxter's computer, Tao comes to believe that it's a dead man's switch leading to information being sent to the LAPD and FBI rather than a bomb. Tao is proved right when the countdown ends and Baxter's dossier is sent to both parties. Tao is cleared by the FID and joins the majority of the LAPD at the airport to await the arrival of Stroh.
Badge of Justice[]
In Season 2 of Major Crimes, Mike started a second career in Hollywood, working as a technical advisor on a show called Badge of Justice. It is indicated that he makes a great deal of money from this job and often references Badge of Justice and things done on the show. He has even won a story credit award for his work on the show.(“Tourist Trap”)
According to a writer on the show, Jason Andrews, the show focuses on a team of internal affairs detectives who "fight crime and corruption inside the LAPD." When hearing of this premise, Det. Sanchez could be seen rolling his eyes and asking "what corruption?", while Mike's face revealed that he hadn't actually told anyone at work what the show is about and quickly wanted to change subjects.(“Under the Influence”)
In “Hostage to Fortune”, Major Crimes was able to use the equipment bought for the show to help solve their case.
Family[]

Kathy Tao
Mike is married to Kathy (also spelled Cathy) and they have three sons, one of them named Kevin (born 1995). In a video made to Brenda and Fritz on their wedding day, when asked about what makes a good marriage, Tao said patience, while Kathy said "Patience. And separate bathrooms." (“Double Blind”)

Kevin Tao
The Tao family is close with Julio Sanchez; when Julio's brother Oscar was killed, Kathy came to the hospital with Mike and she also gave him a kiss on the cheek as a goodbye.(“Sudden Death”) Mike's son Kevin also calls Julio "uncle Julio".(“Under Control”)
In “Under Control”, Mike's relationship with Kevin was shown to be somewhat strained as Mike hasn't allowed Kevin to get a drivers license yet. Mike claims that this is because of his bad grades, but it isn't the whole truth. At the end of the episode, though, Mike arranges to take Kevin to take his driving exam at the DMV. In “Out of Bounds”, Kevin was said to be new behind the wheel.
Officer-involved shootings[]
- Frank (missed) (“Time Bomb”)
- "The Sniper" (alongside Lt. Flynn, Det. Sanchez and Det. Sykes) (“Long Shot”)
- Felix Kosta (“Open Line”)
- Dylan Baxter (“By Any Means, Part 4”)
Career information[]

Tao's badge
- Tao's badge number is 2641.
- When in uniform, Tao wears six service stripes on his uniform. Each stripe represents five years of service in the LAPD, meaning he has served for 30–34 years.(“By Any Means, Part 1”) Taking into consideration that Tao served during the 1984 Summer Olympics, he had at least served for 33 years at the time of the episode.
- When Tao was seen in uniform in “Repeat Offender”, he was wearing four stripes (20–24 years of service). This of course does not match his latest count of stripes and awards, as he could not have served during the 1984 Summer Olympics if he had joined between 1987–1991.
- Tao was a Detective (presumably Detective III) in the Robbery-Homicide Division in 2004.(“Dismissed with Prejudice”) (“Hindsight, Part 1”)
- Tao was promoted to Lieutenant sometime between December, 2004, and June, 2005, when The Closer premiered.
- While Tao's exact rank (Lieutenant I or II) is never stated, it's presumed that he is a Lieutenant II.
- NOTE: While this would mean that Tao is the same rank as Lt. Provenza and Lt. Flynn, they both outrank Tao by seniority in rank. Additionally, Lieutenant I's are usually assigned as a watch commander at a geographical area while Tao, an experienced detective, was promoted to Lieutenant while assigned to the Robbery-Homicide Division and, a short while later, transferred to the Major Crimes Division (then known as the Priority Murder Squad).
Medals and service awards worn by Lt. Tao[]
The medals and service awards as seen worn by Tao in “By Any Means, Part 1”:
Medals and service awards goofs[]
Lt. Tao could be seen wearing the standard Detective Service Ribbon on his uniform. Considering his service years and his previous service in detective assignments, he would most likely have the Gold Star.
In “Repeat Offender”, Tao could be seen wearing the following awards which he no longer had in “By Any Means, Part 1”. While this is technically a goof, it should be noted that The Closer was never very accurate in its portrayal of LAPD award ribbons and who they were given to.

Tao in “Repeat Offender”
Trivia[]
- Tao still has friends in the SID and sometimes gives them Kahlua as gifts to expedite their processing of evidence in cases he works.(“Borderline”)
- While not as close to Rusty Beck as Sharon Raydor or Buzz Watson, Tao is shown to be fond of the boy. At the beginning, he is also shown to not dislike Rusty as much as Andy Flynn and Buzz did, giving up money to bring Rusty's mother to town but not saying anything bad about him as the other two did. When Rusty faces down Daniel Dunn, Tao stands with him with the rest of the squad and signs on as a witness to Dunn giving up his parental rights to the boy. He is later clearly unsurprised when Rusty admits to being gay, showing how well he knows Rusty and is very proud of him graduating high school. At Rusty's graduation party, Tao pulls Rusty aside and tells him that he hopes that everything the squad has done for him has impacted him well and moments like Rusty graduating are why they help him so much. Tao congratulates Rusty on how far he's come since they met and shakes hands with him. He later aids Rusty in his search for Alice Herrera's identity by giving him advice on hacking her voicemail and is immensely proud of Rusty when he succeeds, telling him proudly "you did it Rusty. You did it."
- In “Do Not Disturb”, Tao is shown to be amused though he tries to hide it when a missing girl's friend flirts with a taken-aback Rusty.
- He is the only person who knows that Fritz Howard has had a heart attack and wears a pacemaker (having taken him to the hospital after blindly promising not to tell others, including Brenda, what Fritz is about to tell him).
Gallery[]
THE CLOSER | |
---|---|
Main characters: | Brenda Leigh Johnson • Fritz Howard • Will Pope • Louie Provenza • Andy Flynn • Michael Tao • David Gabriel • Julio Sanchez • Irene Daniels • Buzz Watson • Russell Taylor |
Recurring characters: | Sharon Raydor • Dr. Fernando Morales • Andrea Hobbs • Kendall |
MAJOR CRIMES | |
Main characters: | Sharon Raydor • Louie Provenza • Andy Flynn • Michael Tao • Julio Sanchez • Amy Sykes • Buzz Watson • Rusty Beck • Russell Taylor • Wes Nolan • Leo Mason • Camila Paige |
Recurring characters: | Fritz Howard • Dr. Fernando Morales • Andrea Hobbs • Kendall • Emma Rios • Robby Oderno • Dr. Joe Bowman • Chuck Cooper • Ann McGinnis • Gustavo Wallace • Craig Richwood • Steven Grove |