Rizzoli and Isles - Two Shots: Move Forward , Dangerous Curves Ahead and Cops vs Zombies - Reviews

Rizzoli and Isles Episodes 701-3


The return of Rizzoli and Isles is bittersweet as this is the final season of this procedural drama.
Jan Nash certainly wants to go out on a high note and with this solid start picking up directly from the cliff-hanger ending of season 6, it looks promising for the rest of the season.
Both episodes flowed well into the other as the tension mounts to capture and find enough evidence against Alice Sands. Alice, who is somewhat of a chameleon and hides her tracks very well causing tempers to fray.
Meanwhile, Dr Isles suffers more than one blow after the shooting the outcome which am sure we will see continue to unfold.
The end result by the second episode we could all see coming and proves Jane will do anything within her power to protect those close to her.

The first episode we had Jane in pursuit of who we assume is Alice Sands. The wedding party has all taken cover apart from Frankie who leaves a wounded Nina in Kent’s hands and Dr Isles who seems to have cut her head. Frankie stops Jane from following the shooter into a dangerous situation and the area is called to be secured.
Back at the Dirty Robber Nina is off to hospital after taking one in the shoulder and Maura seems to be suffering from a concussion. (I don’t know if like me you were confused as to how Maura was injured, I will come back to this later).

Back at BPD, everyone is trying to find some evidence to prove Alice was the shooter, we also learn Nina is in surgery.
Doctor Isles passes out but after a trip to the hospital, she downplays it as a concussion but they want her to go back for a scan. Jane seems unconvinced she is ok and makes her promise to take it easy or she will arrest her.
I for one was a bit surprised that the scan wasn’t done straight away.

With Kent running around after Maura and upstairs Korsak and the others trying to find a lead Janes frustrations get the better of her and she goes in front of the camera’s to taunt Alice. Not the smartest move and Korsak loses his temper with her.

Things seem to get worse when they realise they have no evidence to attach the shootings to Alice, however, they uncover her escape route and realise this must be where she smuggled the drugs.
The street gangs aren’t going to talk to the police but one runner does give them enough evidence to know where to look.

Maura is having Kent run around for her with the aid of a bell but when she keeps forgetting things she goes back to the hospital. We all know she is hiding something from Jane and suspect a conversation before the end of the episode.

Alice sends Jane a message asking her to meet but they all suspect this is a diversion and with the physical evidence collected from the runner they suspect she is in another part of the tunnels. They organise a search and no surprise it is Jane who finds her. Alice surround by her street runners throws a gun and telling one of her gang members to shoot the others giving Jane no choice but to shoot him. This gives Alice time to flee and once again showing her lack of regard for anyone else.

At Janes new place (remember the professor friend of Maura’s who was going away) Jane knows her best friend is hiding something from her, I loved this scene and once again shows how well these two actresses know each other and their characters, every action, and look is spot on as Maura reveals she has had a bleed in the temporal lobe due to the fall( again the confusion over her injury at the beginning wasn’t really addressed) she is having gaps and forgetting things. Jane assures her they will get through it.

The final scene of the episode features Jane Rizzoli asking a priest in confessional to forgive her for what she is about to do.

The next episodes start's with a young girl crying in a car then it goes over a railing.

At Janes new place, you guessed it we are in the kitchen, Maura notices Jane's table is covered in pictures of Alice Sands. She tells her she needs a break while at home from the case. In the scene, Maura jokes to Jane about her health but Jane as always gets her back.
Jane is following a lead as Maura gets called to the accident seems Frankie has a new job as well in the accident investigation team. I am not going into much detail of this case as it was defiantly a B storyline. Frankie investigates any suspicious causes but ultimately he is left with the sad truth the girl killed herself due to pressures of college. Frankie doesn’t tell the parents the truth but lies saying it was an accident. We also see him and Nina getting closer which had started to develop in the last episode. We learn Frankie ended things with his girlfriend and even though Nina is a bit reserved at first they do get together.

The main story is still the hunt for Alice with the drug unit’s help Jane and Korsak are looking for any leads . They also find a lead with the drug unit but when they are forced to shot him they think the trail has gone cold until they uncover his frequent visits to a deli. They find Alice and arrest her but with no evidence, the judge lets her go.

Maura also reveals her condition to Kent when he notice’s her naming a vein incorrectly and asks for his help.

On the news, Alice seems to be keen to discredit Jane for going after her .Jane knows they need some physical evidence a hunt is on for the gold Plymouth that she was in when she shot the state trooper. Jane notices a quarry and the state police find the Plymouth and bring it to them.

They find the trooper blood in the back seat (guessing it sprayed far) and a partial print, in fact, three partial prints which they put together to get a whole that belongs to Alice Sands.

They still have Alice under surveillance and Jane leads the charge back to the deli but Alice is not going without a fight and she is holding a young boy hostage . She taunts Jane wanting her to kill her saying it will ruin her. ( again floored logic as the boy is a witness)
In the end, Jane is forced to shot Alice to stop her killing the young hostage.
I liked the way Annabeth Gish played the Narcissist Alice Sands . She never came across as crazy just cold and cunning.

We couldn’t end the episodes without a scene in Jane’s new pad and Mauras discovering a chest with some very interesting items inside. The two of them talking, however, throwing up the names of random guys, isn’t going to help them through this but supporting each other as always will.



When a kid's torch light comic book reading is disturbed by what appears to be two zombies fighting you can forgive his mother for not believing him but as the camera pans out on the street below we are left with a gory sight.
Next morning we are back in the kitchen this times Maura’s , she seems to be doing some light reading on mental disorders when Jane arrives to inform her she doesn’t have one. As we know Maura likes to be prepared for anything. Angela is carrying a backpack on wheels which is loaded with books seems she is doing the G.E.D. Jane didn’t realise her mother hadn’t graduated high school Her study buddy made me smile. Maura is more amused than Jane, however.

Jane and Maura arrive at the crime scene and even though the makeup looks realistic the victim seems to have died from a blow to the head.
While Maura admires the handiwork of his makeup Korsak shows he was a pickpocket as he had several wallets on him. Seems there was a struggle and he ended up across the street.

Frankie is interviewing the kid eye witness who seems to know a lot about zombies and they certainly weren’t Scooby doo comic’s he was reading. Korsak finds a pass on the victim for you guessed it Zombie Con.

Jane clearly doesn’t want to be at Zombie con and Frankie to no one’s surprise thinks it is cool. As Jane puts it she is a homicide detective she does not see the appeal to being dead. I am with Jane on this one.

At the autopsy, Kent says he may have found a cause for Maura’s condition the blow could have highlighted something. Maura seems fine as she notes the zombie victim may have hit his attacker before his head struck the sidewalk which was what killed him.

At the con security said seven wallets had been reported stolen four of which had been found on the body which Nina identified who they belonged to. The other three victims they haven’t located the wallets. All were at zombie con the time of the murder.
Jane asks Nina to check for any activity on the stolen wallets credit cards. She also notice’s her mug she left at Frankie’s on Nina’s desk which Frankie claims he is using. Not very smooth Frankie and Nina kind of does have a glow about her.
Frankie wants to keep things quiet but we all know Angela knows so good luck with that one.

Social media alert shows a video of girl tackling the pickpocket but it seems her wallet was returned she thought she lost it and he was just grabbing her ass. She says she was at zombie con at the time.

Jane asks Maura to tutor Angela in maths as she is struggling.

Seems Christine’s (the girl in the media video) wallet was on the victim when he was killed as some blood was on it.

Frankie is eager to get in costume to be in a zombie line up. The kid recognises Frankie as well Christine isn’t identified as the other zombie.
So why was her wallet returned when we learn none of the others were it seems to be connected to her but doesn’t appear she is the killer.

One of the other victim’s cards has been used though he claimed he hadn’t had his wallet back.

Maura has another slip and she wonders if there is more going on. You can see how she is struggling in this scene,as Maura's mind is who she is.

Another pickpocket, who was caught using the stolen credit card, says a guy with a limp followed the victim outside he figured he was someone who he had pinched his wallet and was going to teach him a lesson.

Maura finds evidence of synthetic skin which had transferred during the fight usually used by burn victims.

Jane asked Christine if she knows of anyone. Seems it’s her building's gardener that matches the description.

Maura is troubled and explains the possible cause of her condition to Jane a surgery could help or make things worse so she hands Jane her resignation in case . Jane refuses to believe it will come to that.

Nina has something and it would seem the suspect is now going after Christine. They prevent anything bad from happening and Jane realising he is troubled talks him down off the roof.

While Jane is trying to relax after a hard day at the robber the zombies invade thanks to Korsak giving out business cards at the con before they can start dancing she pulls the plug.

All round this was designed to be a lighter episode in comparison to the last weeks and it succeeded. We had some very cute moments from Nina and Frankie and the relationship seems to be blossoming. You have both Angela and Maura fighting their insecurities in different ways. Jane is the grouch this episode but understandable and beneath it all, she is worried about her best friend.

What were your thoughts on both of last weeks and this week's episodes?

Do you feel these have given an indication of how the series will proceed ?

Please post in the comments below

About the Author - Zandarl

Zandarl a Writer and avid TV and film buff ,once described as a wilful hedonist, has travelled all over and lived in the states for a short time. Now based in the UK she attends cons when able and meets stars from her favourite shows .Her first start in fandom was Xena and since then has admired tv shows that portray strong women. Her current favorites being Rizzoli and Isles and Once Upon a Time as well as anything comic book related. A regular movie goer she watches most genres but never ask her to watch a horror movie.

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