A monkey wrench gets thrown in the works when it appears Callie's ex-husband Ray may want out of Witness Protection, which could endanger Callie and Jeff, but only Jim knows at this point and he doesn't want to worry Callie with the upcoming wedding. Imagine the couple's shock when Jim's father Michael shows up out of the blue to visit for a few days and several surprises of his own. We also get to meet Jim's mom (played by Marilu Henner) for the first time, along with Callie's younger sister. I guess the showrunners figured they'd bring in the whole family with the upcoming wedding? It seemed a bit odd to start introducing all of these never before seen characters, but it was ok with the wedding as a premise.
In addition to dealing with the wedding stuff, Jim has the usual assortment of unusual cases, including tangling with a 150-year-old ghost, a murdered male stripper, a dead shot girl/alcohol spokeswoman, a dead BBQ icon who may not be all he seems, a zombie run turned apocalypse (probably my favorite episode this season), killer roller derby girls, gypsy crooks, killers for the sake of art, a murdered Jai Alai player, a killer threesome, some murderous cowboys and cowgirls, Civil War re-enactments gone horribly wrong, and even some feuding golf lovers. Jim will definitely have his hands full this season and as is his way, he'll rudely arrest (without ever Mirandizing these people, I might add), rudely question, make a discovery, rudely walk out and rudely arrest someone else. He'll rinse and repeat until he gets to the bottom of the crime, but he's charming and funny in the process, unless you are the one he is arresting. He always has his sidekick and Medical Examiner Carlos Sanchez (Carlos Gomez) along for the ride and I especially enjoyed Carlos in the ghost and gypsy episodes. He is so funny and superstitious. Of course, Daniel (Jordan Wall) is forever trailing behind or working back at the lab to do the nitty gritty work that gets the crime solved and he gets some extra screen time with his brother in the BBQ episode, as the pair compete in a BBQ contest.
Although I thoroughly enjoyed The Glades: The Complete Fourth Season, it has no special features and ends on a terrible cliffhanger, one that will never be solved. The show was cancelled without warning and so Clifton Campbell and crew didn't have time to wrap up some rather incredibly loose ends. I won't spoil it for you, but just know going in that you will be left wanting when a tragedy strikes on Jim and Callie's wedding day in the season finale. Here's to hoping some other network will pick up the show at a later date and wrap things up. While The Glades isn't the best show on TV, it's a light, fun, comedic crime drama. These things might not seem to go together, but The Mentalist has proven season after season that this is a winning combination and I hate to see The Glades end. Fingers crossed for some resolution.
