Rizzoli and Isles...

[fajrdrako]

The new show du jour that I watched while exercising my arm: Rizzoli and Isles.

I liked it better than Covert Action, and will probably watch more. Two problems, though.

First problem: the protagonists are a homicide detective (Jane Rizzoli) and a police medical examiner (Dr Maura Isles), played respectively by Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander. Nice looking women. But to my eyes, they look like actresses, not cops.

So what does a cop look like? Helen Mirren looks the way Inspector Tennison should look. Sarah Shahi looks like a cop in Life and so does Stana Katic in Castle - it'd not that beauty is a hindrance. Anna Torv as Olivia Dunham in Fringe convinces me one hundred per cent that she's a professional law enforcer. Gillian Anderson as Scully. Keeley Hawes in a bunch of shows. Martha Plimpton as Sheriff Mathis? Absolutely.

But Harmon and Alexander? They aren't quite there in their portrayal. I have to work at suspending my disbelief.

The other problem: Rizzoli is a protagonist who will, on a stakeout for a serial killer, get out of the car and wander around the woods alone in the dark with a flashlight, calling her partner's name because he went for a pee and is taking too long. And she knows the serial killer is targeting her specifically.

Later on, a plausible but unknown man lures her into a van at the crime scene. Of course it's the killer. I knew that. Why didn't she? How'd that halfwit with no survival skills make it to the rank of detective, anyway?

The show gets points for passing the Bechdel test. I think I'll quite enjoy it, if I can get used the protagonists, and not mind our hero's low IQ.

Rizzoli's relationship with her mom reminds me of Stephanie Plum in the Janet Evanovich novels, which isn't a bad thing.