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RIZZOLI & ISLES Pilot Episode Early Review

Rizzoli & Isles

I had an opportunity to take an early look at the pilot episode for TNT’s new original series, RIZZOLI & ISLES, which premieres on Monday, July 12, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) and I wanted to share an early review on the show.

Here is TNT’s official summary on Rizzoli & Isles:

RIZZOLI & ISLES follows Boston detective Jane Rizzoli (Harmon) and medical examiner Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander), complete opposites and good friends who solve crimes and bust some of Boston’s most notorious criminals. Growing up at opposite ends of the economic spectrum, the two remain strikingly different from one another in many ways.

Jane, the only female detective in Boston’s homicide division, is a tough and gutsy cop who doesn’t let her guard down (except with Maura), dodges her overprotective mother and is better at basketball than her brother. Maura, meanwhile, is usually more comfortable among the dead than the living. She is always impeccably dressed in designer duds with a steady, sometimes icy temperament. And she is working on curbing her tendency to diagnose the people she meets – including her first dates.

Jane and Maura often find themselves working together as both use their brilliant minds and expertise to figure out the “who done it” as well as the “how done it” of Boston’s most complex cases.

Well after watching Rizzoli & Isles‘ pilot episode, I have to say that this official description is a bit misleading. I was expecting to watch an engaging duo of crack investigators taking on tough and complex cases and solving them in an original way. What I got instead was one of the most unoriginal and boring procedural episode that TNT has ever greenlighted.

The story in the pilot episode was extremely predictable as we are treated to a gruesome yet very unoriginal crime that is masterminded by some evil clown who has had a previous encounter with Rizzoli. This storyline has been done so many times in so many other procedurals that I am surprised it made it in the pilot episode. This came off more as a filler episode that you find in a seasoned show and not in a new show that hasn’t found its audience yet.

Unfortunately, the lead characters aren’t fairing any better. Yes, we get to see that Rizzoli & Isles are indeed friends and also opposites; however their chemistry is not very apparent in the pilot, and we don’t really understand why these two are friends to begin with. Plus the pilot episode was very centered on Rizzoli and we had very little screen time with Isles. Quite frankly, based on the pilot alone, the show should be called “Rizzoli & Sometime Isles“. Now please bear in mind that I say this being a very big fan of both actresses and in particular of Sasha Alexander who was absolutely brilliant in NCIS. However, my love for these two actresses could not save them from being just too dull and boring to watch.

Ultimately, based on the pilot episode , there are two things that can be done to make Rizzoli & Isles go from a must watch show. The first thing is strengthening the chemistry between the two main characters; without that, what’s the point of calling the show Rizzoli & Isles? The second aspect to correct is coming up with more intriguing crimes to solve; if the viewer has seen it before on another show, then it has no place on this one.

Now, I don’t want to put you off from watching the show. After all, fellow TV Bloggers over at Small Screen Scoop and TVaholic liked the show so there may be an audience for this. Furthermore, I am personally ready to give Rizzoli & Isles a couple more episodes before making a final decision on its fate. If it turns out that this show is better than I expected, I will gladly give it the thumbs up as I previously did for Warehouse 13.

So don’t forget to tune in Monday, July 12, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) for the premiere episode of Rizzoli & Isles to make up your own mind. When you do, let me know what you thought of it by leaving a comment below.

By | May 30, 2010 | 13 Comments
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  • Mary

    In the Tess Gerritsen novels Jane Rizzoli is the main character. Maureen Isles is there as a consultant of sorts. Later on in the series eventually learn more and more about her, but still not as much as with Rizzoli. I can understand you being hesistant to watch some more episodes and it seems to me that they’re trying to make a show about every novel that has it’s share of fan base. I’ll give the show a go because I love the series, just like I gave Woman’s Murder Club a go(which also starred Angie Harmon). The way I see it is that it can’t be worse than they other shows that clog the crime drama genre.

    • http://www.daemonstv.com/author/eric/ Eric

      Appreciate the perspective, Mary. I am hoping that in this case, they depart from the format of the novel and make these two into the pair that they deserve to be.

  • Brendan

    Darn. And I was really looking forward to this series. I loved Sasha Alexander in NCIS. Why do amazing actors always end up with sucky scripts? I hope it gets better before they cancel it.

  • Annoyed

    This is a COMPLETE rip-off of Bones, only with two female characters. “More comfortable around the dead than the living?” Umm, that’s Bones. A brilliant, but socially incompetent science-type, paired with a tough cop that follows instincts over science. BONES.

  • Annoyed

    This show looks pathetic, vapid, played out, and completely predictable. Just tune in to Bones, to see what this show will be like.

    • http://www.daemonstv.com/author/eric/ Eric

      @annoyed: as much as I didn’t like it, I don’t think that it’s a Bones ripoff. Give it a chance: You might like it.

    • Tempe

      Dear Annoyed,

      As a fan of the show Bones, the book series Bones was the inspiration for by Kathy Reichs,and Tess Gerritsen’s novels including the Rizzoli and Isles books, I have to say that Temperance Brennan of the show and Maura Isles of the books do share some similarities, so give em a break.

      As you typed, ““More comfortable around the dead than the living?” Umm, that’s Bones. A brilliant, but socially incompetent science-type, paired with a tough cop that follows instincts over science. BONES.” Perhaps you read one or more of the original Rizzoli and Isles series by Tess Gerritsen (I suggest starting with the first- The Surgeon- which also deals with the serial killer mentioned in the pilot, so it makes a good background read) before you pass judgement. That is EXACTLY how Gerritsen wrote those characters- whereas Temperance Brennan of the Bones TV Show is more or less made up by the producers- Kathy Reichs’ Temperance Brennan is very different. Brennan of the book is very socially competent and still brilliant, middle aged and divorced with a college/graduate school aged daughter PLUS she is actually involved with her cop partner, not to mention the books are set in Canada and North Carolina.

      Besides, considering Brennan is a forensic anthropologist who works with bones in a lab and Maura Isles is in fact a medical examiner, you’d think they would be more comfortable around dead people than alive ones.

    • Tempe

      Sorry, had a bunch of typos here:

      Dear Annoyed,
      As a fan of the show Bones, the book series THAT Bones was the inspiration for by Kathy Reichs,and Tess Gerritsen’s novels including the Rizzoli and Isles books, I have to say that Temperance Brennan of the show and Maura Isles of the books do share some similarities, so give em a break.
      As you typed, ““More comfortable around the dead than the living?” Umm, that’s Bones. A brilliant, but socially incompetent science-type, paired with a tough cop that follows instincts over science. BONES.” Perhaps you SHOULD read one or more of the original Rizzoli and Isles series by Tess Gerritsen (I suggest starting with the first- The Surgeon- which also deals with the serial killer mentioned in the pilot, so it makes a good background read) before you pass judgement. That is EXACTLY how Gerritsen wrote those characters- whereas Temperance Brennan of the Bones TV Show is more or less made up by the producers- Kathy Reichs’ Temperance Brennan is completely different. Brennan of the book is very socially competent and still brilliant, middle aged and divorced with a college/graduate school aged daughter PLUS she is actually involved with her cop partner, not to mention the books are set in Canada and North Carolina.
      Besides, considering Brennan is a forensic anthropologist who works with bones in a lab and Maura Isles is in fact a medical examiner, you’d think it makes perfect sense they would be more comfortable around dead people than alive ones.

      To sum up, please be more (if not fully) informed before passing judgement.

  • Tempe

    Eric,

    It seems like you are writing as someone who has not read the books this series is based on. I would suggest to anyone who’s planning on giving this show a try to at least read the first book in the Rizzoli & Isles series, The Surgeon, as it provides good background on both characters and plot, seeing as the serial killer dude they deal with in the pilot is the Surgeon. In The Surgeon, Rizzoli is the main character, and Isles is a smaller one, pretty much supporting role. Isles doesn’t come into the spotlight until the following novels, especially The Sinner (the third, the second is the Apprentice, a direct sequel to The Surgeon). That’s probably why the pilot was more centered on Rizzoli.

    Now I’m not sure how much of the novels will make it to the screen in terms of characters and personalities (I means Bones, which I am a huge fan of, is nothing like the books) but from I’ve read, it seems they’ve at least taken the basics. So, The Surgeon still makes a good background read.

    Without background, I guess the The Surgeon serial killer does seem like just another killer, but The Surgeon of the book is a very dark and disturbing killer indeed- especially when Isles almost becomes his next victim.

    • Tempe

      Whoops sorry, it’s been too long since I last read the first couple of novels- Isles doesn’t show up at all until the second book, the Apprentice, and it’s Rizzoli that almost becomes one of the Surgeon’s victims in the sequel.

      By the way, the Keepsake which I’m reading now, the second latest Rizzoli and Isles (There’s a new one I don’t have yet) is very much centered on Isles.

    • Tempe

      Last comment, I swear.

      From the plot summary it seems like they took the plot from the sequel to The Surgeon– The Apprentice– and reworked it into a tv episode.

  • HEIDI

    I HAVE EVERYONE OF THE BOOKS AND I WAS DISAPPOINTED THEY DIDNT START WITH THE SURGEON CAUSE IT WOULD HAVE MADE A LITTLE BETTER OF A BEGINNING. PLUS I DON’T FEEL THE ACTORS PORTRAY THE CHARACTERS IN THE BOOK AT ALL. LOOKS WISE EHH OK BUT ATTITUDE NO WAY!! PLUS JANES PARTNER IS NOT BLACK OR YOUNG OR SKINNY IN THE BOOKS THAT I REMEMBER!! SO FAR NOT TOO HAPPY WITH IT SEEMS HOW IM A HUGE FAN!! BUT I WOULDN’T GET WORKED UP OVER THE TITLE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IS. PLUS THE SHOW NEEDS A LITTLE MORE GORE IN IT FOR MY LIKING SEEMS HOW THATS HOW THE BOOKS ARE THEY DON’T LEAVE ANY DETAIL OUT

  • kevana

    I totally disagree I think it was an awesome episode and I think that this show will be very awesome also. The pilot was a great way to start off this season.

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