I'm going to say right off the bat, I love this episode. It's everything a season finale should be. There's a lot of controversy going on all over the internet, but as far as looking at a season finale on a hugely popular cable show, wanting to make sure fans return - Janet Tamaro did her job well. We will be discussing this, debating, arguing, and discussing some more for the next seven months. That's what they want.
Anyone who has read my reviews knows I love Paddy Doyle. I knew this was gonna be a good episode just for the Maura/Doyle relationship. I wasn't disappointed. There is an entirely different side to Maura that comes out with him. It's fascinating watching the transition. I hate that he may die. Not only cause I love Doyle but because it makes it that much harder for Jane and Maura to come back together. I'm really hoping he survived.
I love the new relationship between Maura and Constance. I hope they have Bissett under contract to come back for some more episodes. I'm really interested in seeing that relationship progress. Loved when Maura told Doyle "That's my mother." My brother was adopted and "our" mother will always be his mother. The fact that she didn't give birth to him doesn't matter at all.
We see throughout this episode the accumulation of the strong friendship that has grown over the last two years between Jane and Maura. Jane is the first one Maura calls. Jane stops everything and races to the hospital, then doesn't want to leave. Maura is her first thought in the morning when Jane wakes up with Dean. That's what makes the ending brilliant. In one moment that's shattered and we all fear it can't be put back together. Brilliant!
On to Dean. I am not a Dean hater, I could take him or leave him, but I really hope they don't follow the books. (Jane and Dean are married in Tess Gerritsen's novels.) Coming in and out is fine with me if there's a purpose and not just boy-toy. Definite purpose here. If he hadn't shown up things would have been different. It's Jane who yells "Gabriel no!" When he's about to shoot Doyle. From what I can see he betrayed Jane's trust and that will definitely come into play. She needed to trust him and his betrayal could cost her Maura's friendship. Oh yeah, there will be hell to pay.
Now Doyle should've ran, or dropped his gun after Dean shot him. It was stupid to raise it back up. It was pointed at the cops and that is what cops are trained to do. Gun pointed at you - shoot! Jane went on instinct. I got that and I do not hold it against her. Look at how upset Jane was when she ran to Maura and Doyle. She didn't want to shoot him. But all Maura could see is her father dying, a man she didn't realize she loved until that very second, and it was her best friend who took the kill shot. Wouldn't anyone be angry? Maura is angry at the people who shot him, angry at herself for pushing him away when now there may not be time to have a relationship... Maura is angry and I get why. She's angry at Jane. I get it. It's not unrepairable. She will not be angry forever. Wounds heal. If he lives I predict it will take a shorter amount of time for Maura and Jane's friendship to mend. If he dies, it's still doable, just a longer timeline.
They have to work together and that helps in mending fences. When forced to face the person day in and day out, to be reminded of what made you like them in the first place, it helps the wounds heal faster.
Looking at it from a strictly television aspect, I think the chemistry between Angie and Sasha is so strong that it'll be awesome to see the darker side of that relationship. Especially coming from Maura. The sparks will be fantastic!
Also on the completely practical and logical side of things, the show is called Rizzoli & Isles. Although angst between them can be played out for a while, they are the lead characters and will have to come back together. That's only logical if TNT hopes for at least three more seasons. Season three will be angst driven, at least for part of it. We can be pretty sure of that. But it will resolve, and in most cases friendships become stronger.
Major kudos to Sasha Alexander for an extraordinary performance. All over Twitter people were passing around the tissues. I tweeted it last night and still mean it: If she doesn't win an acting award there is no justice in this world!
Angie Harmon embodies Jane Rizzoli and the more subtle aspects of her performance in this episode was wonderful to watch.
To Sasha, Angie, Janet Tamaro and all the cast and crew: Thank you for a great second season. I can't wait for the third!
Is it July yet? ;)
I completely agree with you, I loved this episode too. I spent a good 3/4 of the episode with my hand slammed over my mouth, muttering 'Oh my God' & 'No' over and over. There were so many emotions flying around on the screen and in my head, I applaud Janet's talent.
ReplyDeleteI'll be very upset if Doyle dies, because I love the dynamic he brings to Maura's character. And John and Sasha are amazing to watch on screen.
I'll admit that I cannot stand TV show Dean, my skin just crawls when he shows up. lol
I can't wait to see how they go about resolving the huge rift that suddenly opened up and swallowed everything in the last few minutes. I have no doubt that it will be resolved. Watching Sasha and Angie play through all the emotions that will entail is going to be truly amazing to watch each week.
Sasha does deserve major props for this episode, she was stunning from beginning to end. July can't come soon enough!!
I loved this episode because of being about Maura. It was all about Maura!
ReplyDeleteTalking about Jane shot I guess she didn’t actually realize what happened and it was something mechanical, something she does every day. And her look in wide-eyed astonishment when Maura screamed confirms it. She probably didn’t even thought about Maura/Paddy relationships and how much it can matter for Maura. Maybe even Maura wasn’t aware about it. She is such a complicated and quirky person and it tell her from Jane who have common family with common relationships inside it. Small Maura grew up in distance from her adoptive parents (especially from her mother), I mean spiritually. She justifies and loves them for sure but I believe also blames them deep in her soul. Now she has her real dad who doesn’t just say these nice words ‘I care about you’, she saw that he will protect her at the cost of his own life. I think it was the one that touched her heart.
I am sure Constance will be ok and hope Paddy will not die. He brings so many inherent researches, new emotions and feelings into Maura’s life! She just needs this man in her life.
Sasha was amazing this week. Just awesome! She absolutely overstepped the limits of Maura’s character in contrast to all we saw before.
Kelly thank you for the great http://sasha.xenite.net/ and this blog. She deserves every word of love that she gets from her fans also like that. She is incredible!
After initially watching this episode, I was so emotionally wound up that I actually didn't like the episode. Mostly, the emotional response was driven by the final moments...the rift. After viewing it a second time, I've changed my mind. I actually thought it was a fairly good episode, in that Janet got exactly what she was aiming for...an emotional response.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as Constance was in the hit and run, the episode went from just another R&I episode to an all out emotional slug fest, especially for Maura. And it almost never let up. The reintroduction to Patrick Doyle was perfect. This character always seems to raise the bar for Sasha and she rises to it with her acting. I aboslutely love this character and what he brings to the R&I world.
With respect to Dean, I really don't like his character in the series. To me, he just doesn't seem to bring anything to the series or brings anything out of Jane. Well, strike that. She complely acts out of character with Dean in this episode. With Casey, it just seems a little more natural, with Dean, it seems forced. At least that is what I see.
I agree in that the fact that Dean betrayed Jane's trust is a huge blow to their relationship. I don't see how he can make amends especially, like you said, he was the catalyst in the shoot out that forced Jane into a position to shoot Doyle. He might have said he didn't follow Jane to the warehouse, I'm not sure how he can justify just showing up. I can't wait to hear the reasoning for that. It doesn't help that Dean just said "Drop your weapon, Doyle." then immediately shoots Doyle.
I saw something a little different with the Jane/Doyle shootout. I saw Frost then Jane raise their weapons. I think I saw Doyle raise his gun, slightly out of shooting range of the two officers, and (I don't know the correct term, but..) uncocks his gun. At least that is what I seem to hear and see. Jane, if she believed her partner or she was under attack, then of course her actions are justified. I would have thought maybe, since she kind of "knows" Doyle, that she would have given him a warning first. But since he shot at Dean, all bets were off. I know I'm flipping back and forth on this.
Because this is such a huge or should be a huge impact on Jane and Maura's relationship, I would hope that the mending of this friendship takes more than one or two episodes. This is a biggie and should not be brushed under the dead persons table. The level of trust is shattered and Jane has to work hard to repair Maura's trust and faith in her. Maura has to work through all the emotions from the situations that she has been thrust into just in this last episode. Great acting material for both actresses. The possibility is there for a great season 3. it's up to Janet and the writers to take advantage and really capitalize on the groundwork that has been laid down.
I agree with you regarding Sasha's performance in this episode. Probably her finest performance, if not one of her top performances.
As much as the fandom might have hated Janet for what she had done to the characters, she did succeed in getting everyone so emotionally involved to the point of writing reviews, writing their displeasure, etc. If people weren't that emotionally invested in the characters, they would have just gone along for the ride without responding so vocally.
Many things angered me about this episode all of which has already been stated. For me this episode was the perverbial straw that broke the camels back. This season as a whole was very disappointing. I thought maybe 5 out of 15 episodes were good. These are not good odds to maintain an audience. I think that perhaps this years book ends had to do with Jane being the hero in ep1 but clearly a fall from grace in ep15. I get that concept and even applaud that idea, but like so many things this season it was not executed well. It feels like they create this drama but never really deal with any fall out. I am afraid I don't really trust the writers to appropriately deal with this fallout from the drama they created. Usually season 3 is a pivitol season in most series. It is literally a make or break year. If they don't turn this ship around, deal with these issues, have consistency and continuity of characters and storyline, this show will not see a season 4. This will be a shame as the only palateable reason to watch is for the unparalleled and amazing talent of Sasha Alexander. She is the only bright spot in an otherwise horrible episode and overall lackluster season.
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