Rizzoli & Isles 5x12 Burden of Proof Review

It’s summer finale time for Rizzoli and Isles, and of course, that means the obligatory “Jane in peril” story, complete with a cliffhanger ending with Jane doing something stupid (or heroic?) to put her life in jeopardy, and Maura standing nearby & worrying, but unable to do anything.

I guess they addressed my ‘ho-hum’ diagnosis with Maura’s “being unoriginal can have its advantages” comment. I guess the only ‘advantage’ would be that I don’t feel the need to write a full review of this episode!

I blame the over-abundance of meaningless cliffhangers on the original installment of Dallas, and the “Who shot J.R.?” concoction in the 1980’s that actually had everyone chewing on their knuckles & talking about it all summer long – and that was way before internet and social media! Fast-forward into the 21^st century, and that concept has become extremely overused - on all of the dramatic shows - to the point where it doesn’t become ‘drama’ anymore. Now it’s just “ho-hum, another title character in jeopardy, which she’ll come out of with barely a scratch” scenario.

One reason I stopped watching CSI after so many years is because every storyline somehow ended up with a “CSI in peril” plot, turning the show stale. I really don’t want Rizzoli & Isles to go down that path too.

Let’s put it in perspective for this show:

- Season 1 ended with Jane shooting herself in front of BPD headquarters.

- season 2 ended with Maura yelling at Jane in anger not to touch Paddy after she had just shot him

- season 4 ended with Jane saying she was pregnant

- season 5 summer finale (this episode) ends with Jane jumping off a bridge to rescue a guy who had just fallen off after reaching for her.

That’s just the finales, and not taking into account the in-season ‘title character in peril’ stories:

Jane vs Hoyt, Jane/Maura vs Hoyt, Maura/Tommy held hostage by Paddy, Maura vs Dennis Rockmond, Jane/Maura’s car accident & trek to avoid ‘Sensei Matta’ in the woods, Jane getting kidnapped by Dominic Bianchi, Frost/Tommy/TJ trapped in the collapsed building, Maura arrested for murder, Korsak kidnapped by Dr Nolan, Jane takes a bullet & helps Tasha avoid a killer… all in less than five full seasons.

The cliffhanger for this episode – Jane jumping off the bridge – I blame on Angie Harmon. During a webchat a couple seasons ago, Angie was asked what would she like to see Jane do that she hadn’t done before, and Angie answered – “jump off a building.” So, I’m guessing this is the writers’ version of making that wish come true.

We all know how the story will end – with Jane being the hero and rescuing the guy. Even if she doesn’t actually rescue him, she’ll make it to shore and be the hero once again, just for trying and jumping in after the guy. Because Jane’s always the hero. Just once, I’d love for Maura to be the hero in a situation like this. It would make me grin from ear to ear to have the winter episodes begin with Maura being the one to rescue both Jane & Paul from the water in some way.

I also question why Nina didn’t go with Jane & Maura to the bridge. After all, Nina is more of a cop than Maura is.

So far, Season 5 has basically been all about Jane. If it weren’t for the “Maura finally has a boyfriend who doesn’t want to kill her” storyline, or the “Maura is such a great and supportive friend to Jane” storyline, Maura would basically be non-existent in any of the episodes. A couple episodes ago, we found out that Paddy was going to be transferred to a prison in California. There goes any hope for continuation of that great dysfunctional father/daughter storyline to continue any time soon. Hope, Cailin, and Constance have also been sorely missing from any type of story that deals with Maura’s family. I love the darkness & dysfunction of Maura’s family in comparison to Jane’s. I think the Paddy Doyle storyline brought a bit more ‘meat’ to the show and gave it a bit of strength and maturity. Sometimes the fun & fluff of the Rizzoli family can be a bit too much of sugar overload, especially since the cases are usually never ‘meaty’ themselves. All I ask now is that they don’t bring in another serial killer. That, like ‘Jane or Maura in peril’, is also extremely overused.

Anyway…

Let’s get back to a few more points from this episode:

Jack in a flowered kimono – that is SO wrong! That is one image I’d really love to erase from my brain right now. “do the man a favor, buy some jammies.”  But what about the jammies that Jane was supposed to bring over for Maura in the last episode when she was begging Maura to turn on her AC and let her stay overnight?

Maura preparing herself to meet Jack’s teenage daughter – with all of the time that Maura has spent around Jane, her family, and co-workers in the past 4+ seasons, and how easily she interacts with them now, we seem to have forgotten that ‘awkward around people’ Maura from the beginning of the series. We’ve gotten a little bit of that as Maura has gotten to know Jack, but now we see it come back in full force with the prospect of Maura meeting Allie. I somehow knew that Allie would be more like Maura than the kids Maura talked to at the cupcake stand.

Jane vs Nina in the pro-bling vs no-bling debate –

J: It looks like Hello Kitty threw up on My Little Pony.

N: nothing wrong with a little bling (shows Jane her purple blinged out phone)

J: Is that…you…well, you know…in… that bling is quite tasteful, you know, in this context…I find that I am pro-bling

N: you’re pro-bling?

J: bring…on the bling

N: I could do your phone

J: would you?!

If there’s one thing the show has gotten right this season, it’s the addition of Nina. First of all, they didn’t ‘replace’ Frost with a regular detective. Secondly, they gave Nina a little bit of an uplifting personality, not a dry, standard, by-the-book personality. I can’t wait to get more of her back story.

One scene that did intrigue me in this episode was Jane vs Korsak in handling the sensitive issue of looking at a county prosecutor as a suspect:

J: you keep saying ‘okay’ and to me it seems…

F: like the opposite of ‘okay’

K: I want to ask a question that I don’t really want to ask…do we suspect him?

J: well, we can’t rule him out, not until we talk to him

K: I need to caution you against jumping to conclusions too early

J: okay

K: I’m trying to protect our relationship with a neighboring prosecutor’s office. Paul Wescourt has a sterling reputation, and is by all accounts a good guy.

J: good guy who cheats on his wife

K: we are investigating a homicide here, we’re not blowing up people’s lives. I know, going easy on a suspect for political reasons is not your style.

J: that’s one way to put it.

K: hence my concern. … about your ability to control your face.

J: I have excellent face control. (Frankie chuckles) even with lying, cheating husbands.

Rarely do we get to see Jane & Korsak with opposite points of view. I like how Korsak used his words carefully in that conversation. It also made me realize that, in previous seasons, this would be a scene that included Lt Cavanaugh, who would have been the one saying Korsak’s lines.

I always love when we get reminders that Jane is a plumber’s daughter – this time, she gets to take apart the toilet handle.

K: sometimes I forget that you’re a plumber’s daughter.

J: you know, I never thought I’d say this, but…thank you, Pop. This handle does not belong with that toilet. They’re two different brands.

K: maybe the landlord replaced it.

J: yeah, but newer handles are usually plastic or stainless steel. This one’s brass.

I’m also curious as to Vince’s question to Maura about the Dirty Robber. It makes me think that he’s interested in buying the place. It would be kind of like Chicago Fire, where three of them own ‘Mollie’s’ and much of the gang hangs out there frequently. And it’s about time that Jane & Maura are at ‘their’ booth again at the Robber!