The Round File


Title	The Round File
Series	The Closer
Season	3
Episode	5
Airdate	July 16, 2007
Viewers	{{{Viewers}}}
Written by	Michael Alaimo
Directed by	Greer Shephard
Guests	Orson Bean
Previous episode	Ruby
Next episode	Dumb Luck
Episode list	Season 3

“	There's no need to beat information out of this old man. He's been confessing all morning.	”
— Detective Lieutenant Louie Provenza

When an old man comes to the LAPD and claims to be a serial killer, Brenda discovers that there may be some truth to his claim.

The VictimEdit

Bernard Kaplan - A resident of the Summerview Senior Living Center who was livin on Medicaid and lived in room 309.

The SuspectsEdit

Donald Baxter - Bernard's best friend and a former crime journalist who wheeled him out of Summerview and called 911 to get help.
Nurse Janet Townsend - An elderly nurse at Summerview who cares for the residents and gives them there medications.
Judd Whaley - The manager of Summerview who runs the day-to-day operations and is responsible for deciding who gets admitted to Summerview.
Doctor Sid Reisen - The on-call doctor at Summerview who signed the death certicicates of all the people who died at Summerview.

EvidenceEdit

Closing the CaseEdit

Brenda's StoryEdit

Guest CastEdit

Nina Foch (Doris Donnelly)
Orson Bean (Donald Baxter)
French Stewart (Gary Evans)
Jim Ortlieb (Judd Whaley)
Kathryn Joosten (Janet Townsend)
David Andrews (Donald Baxter, Jr.)
Debra Azar (Nurse Stiles)

LocationsEdit

Episode NotesEdit

The episode's title, "The Round File", is drawn from the expression "to file something in the round file," meaning to throw something in the trash. In this case, the round file serves as a metaphor for the way older Americans may be viewed as having been thrown away by families who are unwilling to care for them, but instead send them to live in retirement communities such as the one where the murders took place. The expression also applies to the way the LAPD swept aside Donald Baxter's concerns by "filing them in the round file."

TriviaEdit

Dr. Crippen, the medical examiner, has the same surname as a famous American murderer, Dr. Hawley H. Crippen, who was found guilty of the grisly murder of his wife, Cora, in London in the early 20th century.
First appearance of Dr. Morales who later becomes a major recurring character on The Closer and Major Crimes.

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