Network: TNT
Time: Mondays, 10:00-11:00pm
Cast: Angie Harmon, Sasha Alexander, Jordan Bridges, Lee Thompson Young, Bruce McGill, Chazz Palminteri, Lorraine Bracco
Summary: A savage gang that killed an undercover officer now targets Boston homicide headquarters for an attack, with Jane, Maura and Frankie Jr. trapped and fighting for survival.
Review: Wow. This season ended with a bang. Literally.
It took awhile to collect my thoughts after this episode's cliffhanger ending. It's not the most compelling cliffhanger I've ever seen, but the episode as a whole does a pretty good job of making you wish the next season would start today.
There have already been a lot of ups and downs in the ten episodes of season one. From the creepy Surgeon who almost killed Jane (twice) to Maura finding out who her real father is, the writers jam-packed the season with as many plot twists as they could fit into the approximately 7.5 hours of air time. This is a fairly common occurrence for new shows, since the cast and crew are never sure if they're going to get a second season.
This finale was a great ending to a great season. Not only was there a considerable amount of action and suspense to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, but there was also another foray into Rizzoli family politics. Turns out Jane and Frankie have a brother. I've read the first book in the series this was based on, so I remember hearing mention of him, but I didn't remember the full story (or the book never went into it). Without going into many details for those who haven't seen the episode yet, Jane and Frankie aren't happy that Tommy's coming home. For some reason, I really enjoyed the scene where they made that clear to their parents. It's the first time we've seen a "kids vs. parents" situation, and it added a layer of realism to their familial relationship.
Then there was the actual plot of the episode, the shooter who killed an undercover cop attacks headquarters. It's hard to talk about this without giving anything away, but Maura was awesome. She really stole the show for me, but she wouldn't have been half as good without Jane there too. The whole series has been building up this sometimes-awkward friendship between Rizzoli and Isles, and there are times when I was left wondering how they could possibly be so close, but this made it obvious. When Maura was doubting herself, Jane was right there to pick her, and when Jane needed her help, Maura literally saved a life for her. The chemistry has been good between them since the beginning, but this really cemented it for me.
There were only two sticking points for me. The first is that there wasn't nearly enough of Frost and Korsak. They did have one or two scenes (and they do seem to be getting along much better than they did in the first episode), but they were so far on the outskirts of this episode that I actually started to miss them a little.
The other thing was Maura's tortoise. She brings it to work because it's not eating and she's worried about it (which, by the way, was kind of adorable), but it doesn't ever do anything. Normally a random prop or animal that appearance once or twice will be involved in the climax of the story somehow, but I think this was just a desire by the writers to have the tortoise come back for another episode. Which is fine, but it seemed like a loose end to me.
TNT renewed Rizzoli & Isles for a second season after only the third episode, so look for new episodes to begin again in 2011.
Rating:
[5] Excellent
[4] Good
[3] Average
[2] OK
[1] Bad
Time: Mondays, 10:00-11:00pm
Cast: Angie Harmon, Sasha Alexander, Jordan Bridges, Lee Thompson Young, Bruce McGill, Chazz Palminteri, Lorraine Bracco
Summary: A savage gang that killed an undercover officer now targets Boston homicide headquarters for an attack, with Jane, Maura and Frankie Jr. trapped and fighting for survival.
Review: Wow. This season ended with a bang. Literally.
It took awhile to collect my thoughts after this episode's cliffhanger ending. It's not the most compelling cliffhanger I've ever seen, but the episode as a whole does a pretty good job of making you wish the next season would start today.
There have already been a lot of ups and downs in the ten episodes of season one. From the creepy Surgeon who almost killed Jane (twice) to Maura finding out who her real father is, the writers jam-packed the season with as many plot twists as they could fit into the approximately 7.5 hours of air time. This is a fairly common occurrence for new shows, since the cast and crew are never sure if they're going to get a second season.
This finale was a great ending to a great season. Not only was there a considerable amount of action and suspense to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, but there was also another foray into Rizzoli family politics. Turns out Jane and Frankie have a brother. I've read the first book in the series this was based on, so I remember hearing mention of him, but I didn't remember the full story (or the book never went into it). Without going into many details for those who haven't seen the episode yet, Jane and Frankie aren't happy that Tommy's coming home. For some reason, I really enjoyed the scene where they made that clear to their parents. It's the first time we've seen a "kids vs. parents" situation, and it added a layer of realism to their familial relationship.
Then there was the actual plot of the episode, the shooter who killed an undercover cop attacks headquarters. It's hard to talk about this without giving anything away, but Maura was awesome. She really stole the show for me, but she wouldn't have been half as good without Jane there too. The whole series has been building up this sometimes-awkward friendship between Rizzoli and Isles, and there are times when I was left wondering how they could possibly be so close, but this made it obvious. When Maura was doubting herself, Jane was right there to pick her, and when Jane needed her help, Maura literally saved a life for her. The chemistry has been good between them since the beginning, but this really cemented it for me.
There were only two sticking points for me. The first is that there wasn't nearly enough of Frost and Korsak. They did have one or two scenes (and they do seem to be getting along much better than they did in the first episode), but they were so far on the outskirts of this episode that I actually started to miss them a little.
The other thing was Maura's tortoise. She brings it to work because it's not eating and she's worried about it (which, by the way, was kind of adorable), but it doesn't ever do anything. Normally a random prop or animal that appearance once or twice will be involved in the climax of the story somehow, but I think this was just a desire by the writers to have the tortoise come back for another episode. Which is fine, but it seemed like a loose end to me.
TNT renewed Rizzoli & Isles for a second season after only the third episode, so look for new episodes to begin again in 2011.
Rating:
[5] Excellent
[4] Good
[3] Average
[2] OK
[1] Bad
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