his mentioning it leads Rusty to figure it out on his own and go with Provenza's idea. At the end of the series, after Rusty kills serial killer Phillip Stroh, Provenza takes credit for the shooting to protect Rusty even though Stroh having a gun makes the shooting justified. Provenza is cleared of the shooting by FID, but it's implied that at least Fritz Howard and Julio Sanchez suspect the truth though they let it go. While Provenza's relationship with Sharon Raydor initially had a great deal of friction, the two grew closer over the course of the show and came to care greatly for each other. After having originally hated the idea of Sharon being in charge, Provenza feared who would become Assistant Chief if Sharon did not and expressed gratitude for her trust and affection for him. In season 6, when Sharon is diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, Provenza is one of the most vocally worried about her condition, attempting to convince Sharon to take a leave of absence for the sake of her health and yelling at two FBI agents after she collapsed while yelling at them. After Sharon dies, Provenza is visibly grief-stricken and delivers a moving eulogy for Sharon expressing his admiration for Sharon and her dedication to the rule of law, the very thing that had caused tension between them at the beginning. After the funeral, Provenza states that he was lucky to get through his eulogy without breaking down. Awards and decorations The following are the medals and service awards fictionally worn by Lieutenant Provenza. References Television characters introduced in 2005 Fictional Los Angeles Police Department detectives Fictional police lieutenants The Closer characters