Despite its many flaws in the show, I still found “Rizzoli & Isles” to be enjoyable enough. Is it as engaging from episode to episode? Not quite, but the performances from the cast do at least make me want to see future episodes at some point. Hopefully season four will have improved things on the story front while still moving the characters forward. The DVD has some OK, one-time viewing, features while the audio/video transfers are more than adequate.
“Rizzoli & Isles” The Complete Third Season (2012)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Crime, Drama, Mystery, Comedy
Warner Bros. | NR – 631 min. – $39.98 | June 11, 2013
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Various
Writer(s): Tess Gerritsen (novels); Janet Tamaro (creator)
Cast: Angie Harmon, Sasha Alexander, Jordan Bridges, Brian Goodman, Lee Thompson Young, Bruce McGill, Lorraine Bracco
DISC INFO:
Features: Featurettes, Deleted Scenes, Gag Reel
Number of Discs: 3
Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Subtitles: English, French
Region(s): 1
THE MOVIE – 3.25/5
The TNT series “Rizzoli & Isles” doesn’t exactly break new ground in terms of crimes presented but instead of the buddy cop and friendship between its two leads. Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander have great chemistry with one another that almost makes up for sloppy editing and poor story arc transition.
At the end of the second season, in a confrontation with mobster Paddy Doyle, who is Maura’s biological father, Rizzoli shoots him before he could a chance to do the same to her. Of course Maura is royally pissed and it would seem the Rizzoli and Isles team has come to a head. The third season opener has the pair bitterly sniping at one another to the point where Rizzoli forces her own mother, Angela (LORRAINE BRACCO), to choose sides which is difficult given Isles is just as much family as her own daughter.
However, the bickering soon begins to wane especially with Paddy, when asked by Maura, admits he would have shot Rizzoli. By the third episode, the partners are back in action and new season plotlines begin to emerge, namely Maura’s biological mother Dr. Hope Martin (SHARON LAWRENCE), who was told Maura was stillborn. This bit of story, after two episodes, is kind of swept to the wayside until later in the season where a different arc begins: Jane’s younger brother, Tommy (COLIN EGGLESFIELD), had been involved with their father’s, Frank Sr. (CHAZZ PALMINTERI), new girlfriend and now said girlfriend, Lydia Sparks (ALEXANDRA HOLDEN), is pregnant. Cue sappy/cheap music and we got ourselves a good old fashioned daytime soap opera…
Other than the soap opera aspects, be it with Maura’s mother or who is the baby’s daddy, the season still has plenty of corpses cropping up for Detective Rizzoli and Dr. Isles to investigate, often placing one or both in danger. Now, as much as I enjoy this series, the crimes can be on the laughable side, it’s not quite on the “CSI: Miami” level but it’s getting close. Heck, one episode seemed to heavily borrow from an episode of “Criminal Minds” in which a suspect made women look like dolls.
Still, for all the problems “Rizzoli & Isles” has with its focus and editing, not to mention the stop and go of its
subplots, the central reason the series succeeds, and continues to draw decent ratings for cable television, is for its characters and their interactions. Not only are Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander perfectly play off one another, the supporting cast also can carry their own weight. Lorraine Bracco (“The Sopranos”) provides the heart in R&I’s personal lives; Bruce McGill (Lincoln) is the senior mentor role; Lee Thompson Young (Friday Night Lights) is fun as the brain child of the group and often butts heads with McGill’s Korsak; and Jordan Bridges playing Frank Rizzoli Jr. seems to get a larger role within the group often pairing up with Detective Frost.
Episodes:
1. What Doesn’t Kill You
2. Dirty Little Secrets
3. This is How a Heart Breaks
4. Welcome to the Dollhouse
5. Throwing Down the Gauntlet
6. Money Maker
7. Crazy for You
8. Cuts Like a Knife
9. Home Town Glory
10. Melt My Heart to Stone
11. Class Action Satisfaction
12. Love the Way You Lie
13. Virtual Love
14. Under/Over
15. No More Drama in My Life
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.5/5
As with the previous season sets, season three comes with a matted side-sliding slip cover. Inside is a small pamphlet with episodes and synopsis’.
Disc One:
Unaired Scenes (3:38) – Obviously for time constraints, some scenes had to be cut. Three scenes are included but nothing of note.
Disc Two:
Team Players: Frost and Korsak (3:37) is a look at the on-screen comedic chemistry and energy between actors Lee Thompson Young and Bruce McGill. The featurette has comments from show creator Janet Tamaro and the respective actors.
The Detective and the Doctor (3:37) focuses on the relationship between Rizzoli and Isles and the game-changer that was the season two finale and season three opener and the following episode.
The Rizzoli Clan (4:24) – Here we get a look at the Rizzoli family from Jane, her mother, two brothers and the scumbag father. It features the highlights from the season as well as your usual sound bites talking about the characters.
Maura’s Journey (3:23) is about Sasha Alexander’s character and her development this season finding her biological mother.
Disc Three:
Crafting the Shifting Worlds of “Rizzoli & Isles” (9:23) is more interviews with the cast and crew talking about the different elements that comprise the show from drama, comedy and mystery.
Personnel Files (TRT 12:08) are some more mini-featurettes on the main characters.
Also included is a Gag Reel (4:19).
VIDEO – 4.0/5
Arriving on DVD from Warner Brothers, “Rizzoli & Isles” season three comes with a suitable anamorphic widescreen transfer that is probably close to its original broadcast look on TNT as possible for standard def. Colors look nicely balanced and the dark levels show no major flaws.
AUDIO – 4.0/5
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is quite strong especially for the opening sequence but evens out throughout the episodes. Dialogue levels and other parts, like on-screen action, are primarily centrally located while some minor ambient noise, as well as the generic television score, make use out of the rear channels if only minimally.
OVERALL – 3.0/5
Despite its many flaws in the show, I still found “Rizzoli & Isles” to be enjoyable enough. Is it as engaging from episode to episode? Not quite, but the performances from the cast do at least make me want to see future episodes at some point. Hopefully season four will have improved things on the story front while still moving the characters forward. The DVD has some OK, one-time viewing, features while the audio/video transfers are more than adequate.
Brian Oliver, The Movieman
Published: 06/24/2013