First Watch: Rizzoli & Isles by Tina Charles

I'm not someone who likes to be negative so when I don't like a show it's difficult for me. So I'm happy to report I really enjoyed the pilot for TNT's newest crime show Rizzoli & Isles. The two leads know their way around a crime drama. Angie Harmon plays tough Boston detective Jane Rizzoli. Harmon's best known for her three-year run on NBC's Law & Order as ADA Abbie Carmichael. But she has also starred in ABC's Women's Murder Club and let's not forget she cut her investigative teeth as the Hoff's detective partner on Baywatch Nights. Meanwhile, Dawson's Creek alum Sasha Alexander is arguably best known for playing Special Agent Caitlyn "Kate" Todd on the first two seasons of CBS' NCIS. She's the super smart very fashionably dressed medical examiner Maura Isles. All I can think about is the fact that Sasha is "Ducky" on this show. Well, if Ducky were a woman who wears lots of designer clothes and Louboutin shoes. This girl has never heard of Casual Friday.

One of my litmus tests for any new show is the chemistry of the cast. And right away, I'm enjoying the friendship between Rizzoli and Isles. The two are opposites of course: Rizzoli's no frills, one of the guys, and takes the tough cop thing to heart. She definitely seems a little damaged. She has her family around, but as we learn in the pilot she's the target of a serial killer (or two). This guy had gotten the best of her before so she damn well wasn't going to let him get away this time around. Plus, even though Jane's allergic to dogs, she ends up adopting a stray which I guess will serve to help bring out more of her feminine side. We definitely find out much more about Rizzoli in this episode. Hopefully we'll find out more about Isles soon. She's intriguing. Much like Jane, Maura's beautiful and she's smart. Really, really smart. Like reeling inane facts off the top of her head smart. Her inner nerd is offset by her outward model-type looks. She dresses to the nines for every occasion. Like I said, I'm curious to learn more about her background. I mean, she also has a giant tortoise as a pet. Sasha and Angie work well together and I think they'll gel even more as the series continues. Right away Rizzoli and Isles sort of show interest in the same guy (FBI Agent Gabriel Dean), but it's clear Rizzoli is more in need of companionship than the coroner. And Isles helps the flirtation between Jane and the visiting agent progress.

The case is personal for Rizzoli which makes it kind of interesting. What I did love is that for much of the episode the males in her life (her brother, her cop colleagues, even FBI Agent Dean), rally around her and want to protect her from the serial killers who are after her. But in the end, Rizzoli's forced to save herself. I really liked that. At this point, I just really want to learn more about Dr. Maura Isles so hopefully she'll be quickly incorporated into the show even further. This show has the makings of a keeper. I'm going to record the series on my DVR. The cast chemistry has lots of potential, although the dialogue doesn't always seem to snap, crackle and pop. The show tries a little too hard to make the characters quirky but things should settle as the series continues. And I'm curious as to how all the cases are going to play out. But I'm definitely on board for the foreseeable future. It won't be a weekly blog, but if something big happens or I want to highlight one aspect of the show, I'll post a new column.

Cast Notes

Other cast members include: Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos), Bruce McGill (MacGyver) and Lee Thompson Young (Jett Jackson, Smallville, FlashForward). Marisa Ramirez (General Hospital, Miracles, Mental) plays Harmon's neighbor. I'm unclear as to whether she'll continue in that capacity. Bella's dad on Twilight plays the FBI agent in the first episode and he shares a nice chemistry with Harmon's Rizzoli. I love Billy Burke in the Twilight saga so I hope his character comes back at some point. Michael Massee plays one of the killers. He almost always plays a villain, he's really good at being creepy. Supernatural fans will recognize him as Kubrick, Gordon's partner in crime in both "Bad Day at Black Rock" and "Fresh Blood."

Random Thought

• With the presence of Sasha Alexander, I couldn't help play connect the dots between NCIS and Rizzoli & Isles. All I could think of when Dr. Isles said she had to take a trip to Quantico for a different case and the investigation started involving a military green beret is that maybe NCIS could help out or something. They threw around words/terms like "National Security" and "soldier" and "Chairman of the Armed Services Committee." What was I supposed to think? First episode and I'm already looking for a crossover! Earlier, Jane and Maura were trying to decipher a clue and the jumbled up word ended up spelling out Theodore Bundy. You know who played Ted Bundy in a TV movie, right? NCIS' Mark Harmon. Okay the NCIS comparisons end there.

Ratings Update

Rizzoli & Isles had a huge debut. According to tvbythenumbers.com, R&I became "cable's #1 commercial-supported series launch of all time" reeling in 7.6 million viewers. Congrats, TNT!