Rizzoli and Isles premiere was the shortest TV movie I’ve ever seen

Since Leverage burst onto the scene a couple of seasons ago, I’ve been keeping my eye on the TNT original series debuts. Rizzoli and Isles caught my eye for a number of reasons: nothing bad is ever set in Boston (yes, I may be a bit prejudiced….), I’ve read a couple of Tess Gerriten‘s books (which the series is based on) and enjoyed them and — I admit it — I had to get a look at Angie Harmon in her new role as Detective Jane Rizzoli.

Seriously Angie — what were you thinking? You pretty much just played the same role in the failed Women’s Murder Club series, so I had to see what freshness you thought you could bring to regurgitating the same role. Yeah, not much. Not to say Angie Harmon was bad, she was pretty likable and believable as Rizzoli … in fact, it was the least of the problems I had with this series premiere.

I loosely call it a series premiere, because what I watched was really more akin to a TV movie, albeit a very short one (44 minutes or so….). Rizzoli, tough lady cop, befriends Isles (Sasha Alexander), a forensic pathologist with a personality disorder (Bones, anyone?) — though she’s a snappy dresser. I found the “buddy” angle a bit forced and there were more than a few lesbian overtones there, even though they were vying for the same handsome FBI agent.

Pardon my huge digression — the reason it was a TV movie was because everything was resolved. Seriously. Everything. What I thought they were setting up as a season-long, or even series-long story arc was over by the end of the episode, and there are so few points left for continuation that I fear we have another bland procedural on our hands. I’d love to be wrong; I’d love it if somehow The Surgeon could continue terrorizing Rizzoli from his prison cell, or better yet, escape (again) and taunt her in much the same way as Red John taunts Patrick Jane on The Mentalist — except more often.

More than likely, than won’t happen. Billy Burke, who played the FBI agent that Rizzoli and Isles simultaneously drooled over, is only listed as a guest star for the pilot, so we won’t even get that dynamic back. And there’s not a lot that’s good about the regular characters, yet. I always say “yet” because I’m not generally a fan of pilots and the cast hasn’t really had time to establish relationships, create chemistry and make the characters their own — it’s only one episode, after all. But here’s what’s weird for me:

• Rizzoli’s mother, Angela (played by Lorraine Bracco), is totally miscast. She’s far too young to really be her mother unless we find out there was a teenage pregnancy involved.
• The chemistry between Rizzoli and her brother Frankie was a bit off for me as well. I totally didn’t get that he was her brother at first, and then I was like “ewwww” because they were a little too cozy.
• Rizzoli’s partner is the stereotypical newbie who pukes at murder scenes and can’t go into the autopsy suite.
• No wait — Rizzoli’s ex-partner is the stereotypical senior guy, jealous of and disgusted by the newbie all at the same time. Folks, it’s a contest for the most stereotypical partner … who’s going to take it….
• Total nitpick: I hate the title. All I can think of is Cagney and Lacey and I can’t help but think they are trying to capitalize on that, since there aren’t a whole lot of female buddy shows made … you think there’s a reason for that?

Like I said, it’s very possible that Rizzoli and Isles just needs some time to find its footing before becoming a thing of greatness. Rumor has it that the first season of Bones was nothing to write home about … that’s when I abandoned it (still regretting it now…).

Check it out for yourself and see what you think. Rizzoli and Isles premieres on Monday, July 12 at 10:00 on TNT.

Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Jul 01, 2010 @ 11:00 EST5EDT