An obsequious, Southern-twanged Atlanta transplant with a thrift-shop wardrobe, Deputy Chief Johnson believes emotional insight has a singular function: as a tool to break perps in the interrogation room.
At that, she is an unparalleled master. Real life is another story. A mystery story.
Why do her parents intimidate her? Why won't she commit to her dreamy FBI boyfriend (Jon Tenney)? Why can't she give up Ring Dings?
Sedgwick sees right through her.
"Most people live on the surface of life. It's easier, frankly. It's harder to be a truth-seeker, to want to change things about yourself. That's exhausting. Brenda has no time or interest. She wants to analyze everybody else."
Despite her aversion to introspection, Deputy Chief Johnson will be faced with at least one trauma this season that forces the crime-solving savant to search for clues to her own M.O.
She suffers "an unusual health crisis," says creator and executive producer James Duff, trying to avoid details. "It's an issue a lot of women face. She has to learn how to do that and maintain her job and her relationship."
Ever the good cop, Sedgwick puts it more obliquely.
"An element comes into her life unexpectedly that makes her come to terms with some things she wasn't ready or willing to come to terms with."
She must also come to terms with her father, a gruff retired military officer who suddenly shows up on the Aug. 20 episode. Northern Exposure alum Barry Corbin will do a four-episode arc. Frances Sternhagen returns as Johnson's mother.
Sedgwick, 41, and Duff, 51, both understand why many adult children are tense around their parents.
"We all have a certain fear of disappointing them; a fear that they won't be happy with the person we turn out to be," Sedgwick says. "We all want their approval."
