What I’m Watching: Rizzoli & Isles

Rizzoli & Isles: Season 2, Episode 2 “Living Proof” (B)

Perhaps I was a bit too enthusiastic about this show’s return last week, but I think that’s because the premiere was a much stronger episode than this show usually offers. The spa trip at the start of this episode was amusing, and it turned out to be quite convenient that Maura was there to be able to save the baby while the mother unfortunately didn’t make it. With the father at sea and the mother not actually the biological mother, things got plenty complicated as the adoptive parents showed up in addition to the biological parents. The addition of another nurse and a con man that plays doctor and adoption lawyer made things even messier, but I suppose there’s a greater value to these storylines for the way that they impact our main characters and help to draw out some of their less prominently-displayed traits and interests. Maura’s maternal nature is one instance of that, as is some form of relief for Angela, who had way too much time on her hands. Angela’s yard sale at Jane’s house proved quite entertaining, and I most enjoyed the fighting over the action figure from Maura, Barry, and Frankie. Frankie shadowing Vince is an interesting way of incorporating an otherwise tangential character more directly into the regular plot. I enjoyed seeing the differences in the way the detectives work, with Barry accusing Vince of old-school probably cause tactics while Jane just strolls right in without even bothering to make up any kind of reason.

What I’m Watching: The Closer

The Closer: Season 6, Episode 14 “Living Proof: Part Two” (B+)

This two-part holiday episode really proved to be quite deadly, but there’s just something so wonderful and entertaining about the cast that makes it all work so well. While they’re always funny and never short on one-liners, what we don’t always get is the incredible teamwork that makes them such an effective bunch. In this case, we have the carefully-scheduled trickery on the part of Brenda and the rest of Major Crimes, determining that the killer isn’t covered by spousal privilege because he’s not actually married, and, as they have done before, clearing him of one charge so that he gets cocky and all but admits to another. Supplementing all of this deadly Albanian cleansing we have some great humor from the Johnson parents. Their cordoning off of the crime scene when their RV was burglarized was quite funny, and I enjoyed their very serious reactions to the whole affair. It’s absolutely brilliant and entirely hilarious that the burglary was actually Fritz’s Christmas present to Brenda, which of course served to convince the Johnsons that they should in fact stay in Atlanta rather than picking up and relocating full-time to the West Coast. Ending on the image of the entire Major Crimes group, plus Pope, Taylor, Raydor, and Dr. Morales eating together was a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed the fact that Dr. Morales was the one who volunteered to do the carving, and that he put his glove on before doing so. We still have one more episode to go this season, and I’m looking forward to it as always.

What I’m Watching: The Closer

The Closer: Season 6, Episode 13 “Living Proof: Part One” (B+)

Alas, here we have one of the only Christmas episodes in recent years to actually air the week of Christmas, giving its urgency an added oomph because the celebratory national holiday is actually upon us this Friday. And a national holiday it does seem to be rather than a religious one, because all of the members of Brenda’s team are taking advantage of the time off to get away to exotic locales – like Italy – or just to spend time with their families. It’s entertaining to see Sanchez in an elf’s hat and to hear Flynn summarily dismissed from gift-wrapping duty, and I was also amused by the pitches the various team members gave as to why their plans were deathly important. The episode had a rather violent opening, with some angry Albanian chatter and someone being flattened by a police car, and having the bad kid as the suspected killer was intriguing too. I wasn’t prepared for a “to be continued” cliffhanger because this show so rarely (if ever) does those, but I suppose it does make sense since they just weren’t able to solve the case in time. Captain Raydor’s presence is fun, as is having the Johnson parents in town. I can’t quite imagine them sticking around all the time, but it is funny to hear Fritz and an otherwise nostalgic Brenda try to think of excuses, like raising the security alert in the United States, to convince her folks not to relocate from Atlanta to Los Angeles.