Rizzoli & Isles: The Complete First Season

Tough, Boston Tough...
The good news about "Rizzoli & Isles: The Complete First Season" is that it gets Angie Harmon (Law and Order) and Sasha Alexander (NCIS) back on network TV. The better news, depending on your tastes in police procedurals, is that it plunks the two of them down as mis-matched buddies in the middle of a rather dark, gritty crime drama.

Angie Harmon is Jane Rizzoli, a tough, driven Boston detective who survived an earlier and nearly fatal encounter with a serial killer named Charles Hoyt. She was saved by her old partner, the recurring character detective Vince Korsack (an excellent Bruce McGill). The edgy Jane has some unresolved trauma issues and a mother (Lorraine Bracco) waiting for Jane to settle down with a nice guy and start making grandchildren. Jane would rather be just one of the guys. Sasha Alexander is Dr. Maura Isles, Chief Medial Examiner, organized, strait-laced and often hilariously socially awkward. The two are an unlikely buddy team, but their teamwork...

Readers Beware
First, this is an excellent series and I love the chemistry between the actresses. However, readers be warned that this is not exactly the Rizzoli & Isles in the books and liberties are taken. That said, it's an interesting show and Angie Harmon is a joy to look at and I do like how they played up the quirky side of Maura Isles. Honestly, it's worth reading the books as well as watching the show. Having read the books I did not feel that the show wasn't worth my time.Looking forward to the next season on dvd.

Great Series!
I love love love this series. This series brings in the human element that is missing from your long standing hits like Law & Order: SVU and all the CSIs. Not only is all the crime drama there, the scientific aspect, but we also have the human element...the characters' personal lives. I believe this is what makes this a hit show. Jane's match making Ma, Jane's little bro trying to be like his big sis, Maura and Jane's friendship, etc. You get to see all the past experiences in their lives and how they've been affected: Frost's absent Navy Admiral Dad, Korsack's multiple divorces, Jane's unwanted obsession by a serial killer, Maura's abandonment issues from her adoptive parents.

The chemistry between Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander is fluid and natural and comes through so easily onscreen. It's rare to have that type of natural connection between the actors/actresses on a show and TNT has definitely found it in these two ladies.

This is one of the few...

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