We talk with the boss! Mary McDonnell gives Major Crimes season 4 preview

Come on, major crimes division — how could you have let Phillip Stroh get away on that deal? We last saw the sadistic killer escaping via Uber. Season 4 of Major Crimes is themed around courage and we will see more shakeups in relationships, more Flynn and Sharon, and, yes, more Phillip Stroh (Billy Burke). We talked with Capt. Sharon Raydor — Mary McDonnell — on what to expect this season as Major Crimes returns Monday, June 8 at 9pm ET/PT.

Obviously Phillip is still around, so what can you share on that?
There is a Phillip Stroh element to the opener that I found absolutely fascinating. I can’t say what it is but there is. Sharon Raydor (McDonnell) has to come up against what Phillip Stroh is meaning to her in terms of one’s energy in the world. It’s very subtle, but I found it really beautifully dealt with because it’s surprising. But that’s all I can say.

You could see something was going to get screwed up in that deal. Why wasn’t someone in the room with them?
I know. It’s frustrating. When I first read the finale, the two-parter, I was like, “We can’t do this.” I was so upset. “No, you’re kidding me, no.” Then of course you surrender, because I don’t write it. There was something so human about when there’s someone who’s extraordinarily diabolical — it’s almost like they have steroids in their brain. They are moving at a pace that you would have to be as obsessively compulsively obsessed with them beyond 24 hours a day to keep up with them. There’s a whole lot of other people to save in the world. But yes, when you see the human error that led to him getting away with it again, you do want to tear your hair out.

We did see Sharon get slightly more rattled than she usually does when Rusty’s whereabouts were unknown.
In The Closer she saw what Phillip Stroh not only did to Rusty but did to Brenda. He has a very deeply rooted evil in the minds and hearts of these people. It’s more personal.

Knowing how we left off, is Sharon ever going to be able to let Rusty even begin to live a normal life?
That’s a big question. That is part of the question of Season 4. You’re right there. That is something we will be really looking at. Yeah, you’re right in the pulse.

Is there a theme this year at all? Last year it was expectations and expectations of having a family.
Yeah, this year it’s courage.

What do you think it takes to be courageous?
I think it takes a tremendous amount of letting go of thinking one can control outcome. To me, courage implies being willing to risk without predictability. It implies allowing oneself to love fully without fear. To me, courage always feels frightening because it’s letting go of either psychological or literally physical barriers.

Are we going to see more on Sharon and Flynn’s relationship?
I think you will, yes. I think what was clear to everyone but perhaps Flynn last year was the comfort that was developing in their relationship. They weren’t wanting to acknowledge it because it’s pretty complicated, or could be. As far as Sharon goes, I’ll just say that I have some thoughts about her relationships with men over the years. She was in that marriage that wasn’t a marriage. That marriage that was “separated but not divorced.” I don’t think that she has been without relationships, but she has kept them completely separate from work. Completely. Going through that with Jack Raydor, who was a very famous lawyer, and knowing the two of them were in a certain world. Everything that happened between them was public. She from that point on kept her relationships with men and whatever dating she may or may not have done completely private. She had some years there where there was nobody around, there was no Rusty, there was no kids, there was no Jack. The idea of potentially being involved emotionally again with someone who has work connections and all that that entails in terms of people watching and gossiping and things happening is pretty threatening to her stability. It’s kind of interesting that way, I think. Flynn does have something that she kind of does find him a bit irresistible, I think, at moments.