Rizzoli & Isles Season 6

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

Traditionally television has afforded people a reasonably accurate insight into the current disposition of our society. The fascination with crime goes back for centuries it was only natural that one of the first major genres to take hold of TV was the police procedural. Quite frequently is combined with another popular entertainment; the buddy movie. The result was stream of television crime dramas a pair of mismatched cops goes after the criminals bring them to justice. Usually it’s a pair of men but in 1981 the increasing infusion of women in the workplace traditionally male jobs was acknowledged with a female crime-fighting duo, ‘Cagney & Lacey’. Six years ago in 2010 and other female dynamic duo were introduced to the American public, ‘Rizzoli & Isles’. This series not only combines the above-mentioned genres but as another one that has recently become doctors popular but nearly mandatory, the use of forensic science and criminal investigation. To achieve this titular pair that you very diverse areas of specialties; Detective Jane Rizzoli (Angie Harmon) of the Boston Police Department and the chief corner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Dr. Maura Isles.

Rizzoli is one of the best detectives on the homicide squad, hailing from a working-class family while Isles is an exceptionally brilliant and inquisitive medical doctor whose family has wealth and societal status. Many shows would have exhibited a degree of wear and tear over the course of six seasons this series is an example of what resourceful writers and actors accustomed providing performances that shine even in the ensemble cast. Basically this comes down to malleability in cast and crew that makes it possible to inject changes to the inherent structure without adversely affecting the series in its entirety. Will that has been established it should be noted that the first episode of season six is one that is eventually used in almost every single police procedural television show ever, one of the principal characters becoming involved in a shooting rest suddenly the perpetrators gun disappears. The target of such a stress producing storyline is Jane’s younger brother and fellow detective and homicide, Frankie Rizzoli Jr. (Jordan Bridges). Typical of the series propensity for balancing home life work Frankie is also moving into a new apartment just as his mother; Angela (Lorraine Bracco) has become fixated on getting rid of the ratty old chair.

A considerable part of what works in the series is demonstrated in this juxtaposition of incongruous conundrums is facing a full-blown internal affairs investigation while having to deal with an exceptionally busy body mother. In order for series remain robust over any significant period of time the writers must face the necessity of cast changes, characters naturally leave while others enter and have to find their place in the rhythm of the already established relationships. Maura is the epitome of efficiency and accuracy in performing her official duties, traits that carry over into her personal life. She is accustomed always been the smartest person in the room but a partnership with Jane and having moved into her guest house has had a softening effect on the character. This season she is challenged by a new assistant, Kent Drake (Adam Sinclair), a fellow polymath and inherently gifted forensic scientist who has served time working in Afghanistan. This addition not only provides a new viewpoint among the characters but it also allows the storylines to touch on topical concerns that strengthens the audience’s ability to relate to the series, it stories and characters. One thing that is hardly ever addressed in the police procedural show is that the characters do, by necessity, while older. All series such as ‘Law & Order’ routinely made changes of the cast through promotions, deaths and routine moving on, in most cases the pairs remains fairly stagnant.

One specific character in the series, Detective Sgt. Vince Korsak (Bruce McGill), a decorated investigator was reached the age where retirement is quite possible. Fred pertaining to his off-duty life encompasses him purchasing a bar and grill, which also offers a place of employment for Angela, and seeking the services of a life coach, Kiki (Christina Chang) was progressed unseen and enigmatic modernizing influence on Korsak by this time not only has screen time but is his fiancée which brings the ladies of the show into the perennial ritual of planning a wedding. The series that maintain a few ongoing villains over drives the main characters is not so much a seasonal ‘Big Bad’, but instead the series relies heavily on an episodic nature with each episode providing an extremely interesting and unique case to solve. Once again is not so much an attempt at being completely unique but the storylines tends to depend on a vantage point that offers a different viewpoint for the audience to enjoy. The ever popular favorite, the witness with some medical condition is presented as prosopagnosia, a neurological condition where the patient is unable to discern the differences and faces, so call face blindness. Obviously this is something very inconvenient for detectives when the only witness to a crime exhibits the symptoms of this disorder. Another quirky episode the murder victim du jour belong to a fright club, a group whose specific purpose is to give an adrenaline rush by manufacturing exceptionally frightening situations. Keeping up with the medical and legal issues of the times is another murder of a security guard in a medical marijuana dispensary.

Naturally some of the edibles provided by the establishment by find their way to affecting the normally level headed Dr. Isles. When a storyline requires such consistently heavy subject matter as murder a touch of levity Ultimately this is a delightful pairing of two friends from opposite ends of the social spectrum; blue-collar and privileged. In the city such as Boston where Irish and Italian ancestry dominate the city the basic composition of the characters backgrounds and the resulting personality traits this works in a very entertaining way. I have been a fan of the series to six years and during that time I have watched many similar shows come and go without providing a lasting impression. In the case of ‘Rizzoli & Isles’ is still has a place on my list of shows that I tend to watch each new episode immediately and rather than placing it on my ever present backlog of what to watch. In some ways is difficult to explain that there is an undeniably likable quality about this series that seems immune to the normal abatement. Good news for all the fans of the show it has been approved for seven season cliffhanger at the end of this season will have a chance for resolution.

-Douglas M

DVD Wholesale Main Features :   

Actors: Angie Harmon, Sasha Alexander, Jordan Bridges, Idara Victor, Bruce McGill
Producers: Bill Haber, Jan Nash
Format: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
Language: English
Subtitles: English, French
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
Number of discs: 4
Rated: NR – Not Rated
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Release Date: June 7, 2016
Run Time: 792 minutes