Rizzoli and Isles
Sep. 13th, 2011 03:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arduinnaI am so far behind on posting about so much tv, and generally have this linear thing in my head where if I haven't posted about something I meant to, I can't post about anything else, because it has to wait in line.
But I'm cutting that line to say two things about last night's Rizzoli & Isles.
First, they nearly lost me early on, when we saw Hoyt in the hospital bed and they did that incredibly awkwardly placed, incredibly-inappropriate-argh pan over to The Surgeon by Tess Gerritson -- which is the book the series is based on. Argh argh ugh ugh UGH DON'T DO THAT! If they'd done that in the first episode, I probably never would have watched again.
But then they got me back completely later on, when Maura was explaining the different shivs she'd recovered:
Maura: "It's kind of like Project Runway."
Jane: *tilted puzzled face of wtf*
Maura: "You know - they all go to the same jail, and are given the same materials to work with, and each of them comes up with their own individual shiv design."
*dies*
Okay, also a third thing, significantly more plot spoilery.
I am boggled that Jane killed Hoyt, wow. I wasn't expecting that; I thought once she had the scalpel up over her head, she'd stop, especially since she'd slid far enough out of pure-reaction mode to be able to talk. But I can totally see why she couldn't stop, and go her for ending her own nightmare. I do love that they've never downplayed what Hoyt did to her; she survived it, but it fucked her up, and she knows it and just copes as best she can. (I really liked her frustrated, almost cranky, "Now I'm gonna have nightmares for MONTHS" after she talked with Hoyt.) She didn't kill him and walk away, she killed him and collapsed, clearly still freaking out, too freaked out even to go check on Maura, which really worked for me.
Especially since it also made perfect sense to me that the only way she could break her fear conditioning was when Maura was threatened (I mean, I think it would have worked if it had been anyone Jane loved, but Maura in particular is someone Jane specifically protects). The emotional tones all through that scene just really worked for me.
Unrelated to Hoyt, it's also sort of fascinating that Jane basically has three partners in this show, and pulls it off with practically no tension now. Korsak and Frost have come to an accord (which seems to boil down to them agreeing that they're both Jane's de facto partner, even if Frost is the partner of record), and everyone's fine with Jane haring off to work with Maura at the drop of a hat. If anything, her actual partner, Frost, is the least partner-y, but they don't ignore that; he knows that not having been there for Hoyt's first attack on her has shunted him to the outside, and is working on getting around that.
I really like this show, even though there are parts I could do without (like Jane's blood family - I'd rather they were occasional mentions than regular recurring characters; they make her world feel so tiny, and the show is Rizzoli & Isles, not "Detective Jane Rizzoli"). But the partnerships, and friendships, and teamwork, that I like. Also the fact that in most eps, something gets quietly called out and looked at without things turning into a Very Special Moment, whether it's Jane's disbelief at being called hysterical, or her matter-of-factly pointing out to Korsak that "Gypsy" is a racial slur, then adding that "fortune-teller" is, too (and Korsak looking baffled, but shutting up). And the fact that Maura is a cheerfully sexual person and no one thinks she's a slut for it.
I'm less thrilled with the way the show dances around how close Jane and Maura are and coyly pulls back again -- either go there or don't. But otoh, two women! Who are actual friends! Even though they're different! And it's clear that while Jane is strongly attached to both Frost and Korsak, Maura is who she loves best, and wow, man. Of her three partners, the one she's seriously most likely to wind up in bed with is the other woman? Awesome.
But I'm cutting that line to say two things about last night's Rizzoli & Isles.
First, they nearly lost me early on, when we saw Hoyt in the hospital bed and they did that incredibly awkwardly placed, incredibly-inappropriate-argh pan over to The Surgeon by Tess Gerritson -- which is the book the series is based on. Argh argh ugh ugh UGH DON'T DO THAT! If they'd done that in the first episode, I probably never would have watched again.
But then they got me back completely later on, when Maura was explaining the different shivs she'd recovered:
Maura: "It's kind of like Project Runway."
Jane: *tilted puzzled face of wtf*
Maura: "You know - they all go to the same jail, and are given the same materials to work with, and each of them comes up with their own individual shiv design."
*dies*
Okay, also a third thing, significantly more plot spoilery.
I am boggled that Jane killed Hoyt, wow. I wasn't expecting that; I thought once she had the scalpel up over her head, she'd stop, especially since she'd slid far enough out of pure-reaction mode to be able to talk. But I can totally see why she couldn't stop, and go her for ending her own nightmare. I do love that they've never downplayed what Hoyt did to her; she survived it, but it fucked her up, and she knows it and just copes as best she can. (I really liked her frustrated, almost cranky, "Now I'm gonna have nightmares for MONTHS" after she talked with Hoyt.) She didn't kill him and walk away, she killed him and collapsed, clearly still freaking out, too freaked out even to go check on Maura, which really worked for me.
Especially since it also made perfect sense to me that the only way she could break her fear conditioning was when Maura was threatened (I mean, I think it would have worked if it had been anyone Jane loved, but Maura in particular is someone Jane specifically protects). The emotional tones all through that scene just really worked for me.
Unrelated to Hoyt, it's also sort of fascinating that Jane basically has three partners in this show, and pulls it off with practically no tension now. Korsak and Frost have come to an accord (which seems to boil down to them agreeing that they're both Jane's de facto partner, even if Frost is the partner of record), and everyone's fine with Jane haring off to work with Maura at the drop of a hat. If anything, her actual partner, Frost, is the least partner-y, but they don't ignore that; he knows that not having been there for Hoyt's first attack on her has shunted him to the outside, and is working on getting around that.
I really like this show, even though there are parts I could do without (like Jane's blood family - I'd rather they were occasional mentions than regular recurring characters; they make her world feel so tiny, and the show is Rizzoli & Isles, not "Detective Jane Rizzoli"). But the partnerships, and friendships, and teamwork, that I like. Also the fact that in most eps, something gets quietly called out and looked at without things turning into a Very Special Moment, whether it's Jane's disbelief at being called hysterical, or her matter-of-factly pointing out to Korsak that "Gypsy" is a racial slur, then adding that "fortune-teller" is, too (and Korsak looking baffled, but shutting up). And the fact that Maura is a cheerfully sexual person and no one thinks she's a slut for it.
I'm less thrilled with the way the show dances around how close Jane and Maura are and coyly pulls back again -- either go there or don't. But otoh, two women! Who are actual friends! Even though they're different! And it's clear that while Jane is strongly attached to both Frost and Korsak, Maura is who she loves best, and wow, man. Of her three partners, the one she's seriously most likely to wind up in bed with is the other woman? Awesome.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-13 10:03 pm (UTC)Alas, I have no icon.