Season 1 opens with the LAPD's new Priority Murder Squad (PMS), soon renamed the Priority Homicide Division (PHD), under the direction of Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson investigates the murder of a technological genius. Brenda has recently joined LAPD after a long career in law enforcement, including with the Atlanta and Washington, D.C., Police Departments. We soon learn Brenda is originally from Atlanta, Georgia, was CIA-trained, and was recruited by her former married lover, Assistant Chief Will Pope. Brenda is resented as an outsider by much of the LAPD and seen as an adversary by Robbery-Homicide's Captain Taylor, who initially persuades her squad to request transfers en masse in an unsuccessful effort to force Brenda's resignation. Brenda soon wins over her assistant, Sgt. David Gabriel, and the grudging admiration of the team when she shows them why she is called a closer; but her battle is far from over. As the season progresses, we see Brenda struggle to establish her authority and earn the respect of her squad, despite the efforts of Taylor and Detective Lt. Andy Flynn to both undermine her authority and hamper her investigations. Slowly, one-by-one, Brenda wins over her team; and, by season's end, she has earned the loyalty of them all, even the hard-boiled Det. Flynn, as they stand united against Capt. Taylor's final attempt to remove Brenda from the squad.

19世纪末到20世纪初，这当中的二三十年说短不短说长也不长。对于中国，则是风云变化的几十年。在这当中，中国自二次鸦片战争后，又经历了洋务运动、甲午战争、戊戌变法、辛亥革命、二次革命等。其中，中国结束了清朝的统治，走向了民国；新思潮开始传来，旧制度渐渐走向衰退。千疮百孔的中国也正向着更光明的明天前进着。 在这二三十年的历史河流中，留下了许多亦正亦邪的人物，慈禧太后（吕中 饰）、李鸿章（王冰 饰）、袁世凯（孙淳 饰）、孙中山（马少骅 饰）等他们被记载在历史课本里，和中国的历史相挂钩。借由这部剧，让我们再回顾一下那个时代，那个风起云涌变化万千的时代。前路虽然艰辛，但我们也正一步步向前迈进。