‘Rizzoli & Isles’ season 7, episode 2 review: Shifting (Alice) Sands
We imagined that the story of Jane’s infamous stalker Alice Sands was going to come to a close at some point during the final season of “Rizzoli & Isles,” but after watching the second part of the premiere Tuesday night, we were left with one single reaction: Who anticipated the moment coming so soon?
Alice was a woman in many ways about attention and control; she constantly wanted to have Jane worried about her, and also worried about who she could take away from her. In the end, the one last stroke and the final move she had was to force Jane into a position where she would kill her … and with that, Alice is gone. The nightmare is over, or at least the part of it where she is alive and terrorizing her. Here is the unfortunate side of the story: There are so many other ways that someone can haunt you, and through Jane’s final scenes of the episode, you could see that. She’s a woman who has excelled at her job, but her job has in turn take its toll. She’s lost a baby, sacrificed a personal life, and in the end, had to pull the trigger.
In the end, we wonder if the end result of this series is her deciding that she is ready to move on.
We’d say that the show is probably dropping the ball somewhat, as brilliant as they’ve been with Jane, in making it clear precisely what is going on with Maura health-wise and some of the stakes she faces. Maybe that in turn is a result of her not wanting to disclose said information herself, but mapping out her own situation, and soon, would be appreciated.
With these serious matters befalling our main characters, allow us to at least stop and toot the horn for a minute of Frankie and Nina, who may be now giving things a go courtesy of the end of part 2. Was this incredible convenient / predictable? Sure, but when you’ve invested so much in these characters and their lives, we are more than fine with getting a little predictability in the end. While this two-part premiere had its fair share of issues, we’ll at least give the writers and actors credit for figuring out a way to move forward structurally from Alice Sands, while still allowing the aftereffects of what happened to linger for some time still. Grade: B+.