Ever since Rizzoli & Isles burst into our small screens
with that "I am Shipping Up to Boston" theme song, I have been a fan!
Now after all these years, Amazon Prime gave me a chance to re-live the series.
I love watching shows that depict women being each others' allies than the ones
that pit them against each other as plotting, conniving vamps! And this series does just that,
nurtures true friendship between a detective and a medical examiner while they
solve crimes in Boston. It is a good show, it has a lot of positive aspects to
it, I am sure if you google, you will read plenty of good reviews. So I decided
to focus on the "what is wrong" as I usually do! Well hey, I made
bullet points and all! Read on.
(image credit:
https://www.amazon.com/Rizzoli-Isles-Complete-First-Season/dp/B003VN2HN6)
While the show is a treat to watch, re-visiting it has made
me realize that a few story arcs and lines wouldn't stand a chance on TV today. Especially with the entertainment industry in the west making strides
towards driving away traditional narratives for women and ensuring problematic
story lines are snipped early, a show like Rizolli & Isles would have had
to make changes too. Let me explain what I mean.
1) It looks like the writers felt that the only way to
immediately draw attention to the show was to include gay connotations
between the two main characters in the very first scene of the pilot. And this
continues as a trope throughout the series making you wonder if they are really
gay. Spoiler! They aren't! Using this angle for the sake of gimmick and
attention is just so wrong.
(Image credit:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/skarlan/rizzoli-and-isles-is-the-gayest-non-gay-show-on-television)
2) Jane being "one of the best detectives in Boston
PD" chases this guy, Casey throughout 2nd and 3rd season while he shows
complete disinterest and begs her several times to leave him alone. Why an accomplished woman would want to be with a guy who is that detached is beyond my comprehension. PS: Apparently, it is care and "not being able to make love
to her" (cheeziest, most cringe inducing line in TV history) that is
masquerading as detachment. Mmkhay! . I don't know about you but that's not a
good representation to me.
(Image credit:
http://aprilmaynjune.weebly.com/tv-series/rizzoli-isles-on-season-break)
Besides problematic themes, the show has natural abilities
to annoy you in a few places.
1) The fact that Rizzoli rushes everyone around her when
they are trying to do their work right. She is rushing Maura, she is rushing
Korsak, she is rushing Frost, you wanna just "shush" her! (By the
way, she hates "shushing"). It's always, "Come on Maura, what's
in the DNA already!", "Have you found anything yet on the victim's
mobile yet, Frost?" while she is not doing much of her work in my opinion.
(Image credit:
http://rebloggy.com/post/angie-harmon-rizzoli-and-isles-maura-isles-sasha-alexander-jane-rizzoli-rizzles/86406538851)
2) Dr Isles isn't given enough credit for all that she does
with less screen time and there is literally no mention of her genius in some
episodes where she cracks cases with her knowledge of everything. I remember an
episode where she spots where Jane is trapped by looking at the radiator in the
room she is locked in, another one where she helps herself and Jane get out of
danger by slurring Morse Code in her hazy state. Give this girl an award for
her genius already.
(Image credit:
https://www.fanpop.com/clubs/rizzoli-and-isles-shippers/videos/29602948/title/just-put-hands-on-jane-maura)
3) Jane is always meddling in people's relationships. She
insists Maura talk to her birth mother, talk to her step sister (even after the
said sister wants to banish Maura from her life), she wants lieutenant Cavannah
to "go ask himself" how her mother is doing (after he breaks up with
the mother!), she is sending signals to Frankie about Frost's mother being gay
in front of Frost, she is just an unstoppable meddler.
(Image credit:
http://rebloggy.com/post/angie-harmon-rizzoli-and-isles-maura-isles-sasha-alexander-jane-rizzoli-rizzles/60081887228)
4) I am realizing my annoyance towards Jane seems to be
endless. She generally isn't very nice towards Maura. Her irritation at Maura's knowledge of "useless information", at Maura's refusal to
arrive at something before she has done a thorough examination aside,in one
particular episode she forces Maura to perform a surgery on her brother despite
Dr Isle's continual stance that she has never operated upon a live human. In
another, she is angry with Maura for trying to keep herself away from a threat
of legal action (by not revealing confidential information related to Rizolli's
family), that's just emotional blackmail!
(Image credit:
http://rebloggy.com/post/angie-harmon-rizzoli-and-isles-maura-isles-sasha-alexander-jane-rizzoli-rizzles/60081887228)
4) What's more,entire Rizolli family is employed at Boston
PD and stays at Dr Isle's house. They are not only doing detective work, they
are also serving at the cafe! They are raising babies at Maura's house, and
getting some action in the guest house, etc.
(Image credit:
https://wifflegif.com/gifs/19042-rizzoli-and-isles-lorraine-bracco-gif)
Ok, I will stop here. All rantings aside, the show is surely
worth a watch! Beautiful Boston, creative criminals, smart detectives, easy on
the eyes main characters, it IS fun. You
should totally give this a try especially if you like a detective and their unusual side-kick solving crimes in a big city.
(Image credit:
https://just-fan-of-series.skyrock.com/3107164053-Fiche-serie-Castle.html)
Oops, wrong picture! Although, if you replace this cast with
those from Rizzoli & Isles, you have the same series! I will save that for
another post.)
(Imge credit:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/270427152598246507/)
