<P> In the series finale, episode 7.21 titled "The Last Word" (2012), two men trysting in a secluded park witness a masked man carrying a naked woman's body and flee the scene . The culprit chases and struggles with one of them (teenaged survival sex prostitute Rusty Beck), who pulls off the culprit's mask and uses his john's cellphone to dial 911 to report the crime . Brenda and her team find the body and use the clues found at the serial killer's burial ground and through the phone call to track down the two witnesses and tentatively identify the culprit as Stroh . To positively identify Stroh and close her final case, however, Brenda must employ nontraditional means that cost her her job and come close to costing Beck and Brenda their lives . Brenda lures Stroh to reveal himself by publicizing in the media pictures of Beck wearing the serial killer's mask as a hat and phoning 911, along with the audio and transcripts of that call . Stroh takes the bait, approaching Beck on the street, and is hauled into an investigation with MCD . There, Brenda threatens that she has his DNA, and Stroh, revealing he closely follows every detail of her life, taunts Brenda about her mother's recent death . Brenda attacks him, drawing blood and skin fragments that she and her friend at the DA's office convince the crime lab to match against DNA taken from Stroh's mask . That evening, when Fritz has left for Washington, D.C., to expedite the case, Stroh breaks into Brenda's house, holds Beck at knifepoint, and attacks Brenda . Brenda shoots him, but - although tempted as well as urged by Beck to kill Stroh - she is haunted by memories of the Turrell Baylor case and her own conscience and calls an ambulance, instead . Stroh offers a confession, but Brenda uncharacteristically does not want to hear it . This reflects a new kind of "closer", reflecting that she has learned from her mother's death and from Beck's comments and life story and must instead focus on the living, not the dead . </P> <P> The Stroh case continues to affect her old squad through Major Crimes, focusing on Stroh's efforts to stop Rusty Beck from testifying against him . While his efforts to have another serial killer kill Beck fail with some help from Fritz and the FBI, Stroh eventually escapes and is on the loose again . After Stroh apparently returns in late season 5, Brenda is stated to be put under police protection in "Sanctuary City, Part 1" due to Stroh likely killing again . In "Sanctuary City, Part 2", DDA Hobbs states that due to the lengths Brenda went to take Stroh down, if his trial resumes, her testimony could be considered prejudicial and Rusty Beck's testimony holds greater importance in the trial as a result . In "Conspiracy Theory, Part 4," its confirmed that Stroh has indeed returned and resumed his killing spree . Brenda remains under police protection with her protected state being part of a staged argument by her former squad for Stroh and his accomplice in "By Any Means, Part 3 ." In "By Any Means, Part 4," Stroh is finally killed by Rusty Beck, though Provenza takes credit for it to protect the young man . After Stroh's death, Fritz tells Rusty that Brenda is having a hard time processing the news that Stroh is finally gone . </P> <Ul> <Li> Brenda's favorite drink is a "big glass of Merlot". (Episode 1: 2: "About Face") </Li> <Li> Brenda got her house and cat from a murder victim whose case she solved . The cat is female and named "Kitty", though, Brenda always refers to Kitty with male pronouns (he, him, etc .) because she thought that the cat was male until she gave birth to kittens . Kitty is euthanised in the third episode of season 5 because of old age and health problems, and Brenda is very upset over the loss of the cat . Fritz gets Brenda a kitten named "Joel" at the end of Season 5; ironically, now that she actually has a male cat, Brenda occasionally refers to Joel as "she". </Li> <Li> Brenda speaks "German, Russian, and (is) fully conversant in Czech"; however, she does not speak Spanish . Thus she feels somewhat at a disadvantage in Los Angeles . </Li> <Li> Brenda loves junk food and sweets and hides all types of junk food in drawers, purses, and other places . One of her favorite sweets are the old - fashioned tin - foil - wrapped Ding Dongs by Hostess . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Brenda's favorite drink is a "big glass of Merlot". (Episode 1: 2: "About Face") </Li>

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