‘Rizzoli & Isles’ season 7, episode 12 review: Is the show setting up for the perfect end?

Tonight, “Rizzoli & Isles” aired its penultimate episode, and if you looked on Twitter, you’d see that reaction seems to be VERY divided among many fans.

We want to spend a minute or two right now discussing what seems to be the most polarizing element of it: The relationship between Jane and Davies. The problem that we have with the relationship is not so much the idea of Jane getting in a new relationship. The issue is that it arrived so late in the game that it feels like an afterthought, and in the end, we also feel like it is rushed. With more time, we’d have a little bit more investment in what was going on here.

This episode had its procedural elements sure, but we feel like it is more about setting up the endgame. Maura has Paris on the mind, while Frankie and Nina may now have a honeymoon ahead like nobody’s business thanks to the drawing. These are all nice endings, and we appreciate that the show is spending more than an episode setting those up. The one thing that we wish we had to go along with it was a more epic conclusion to the criminal side of things, some sort of heir apparent to everything that we had with Alice Sands. We like to see our crime shows go out with a little bit more of a bang.

In the end, we find ourselves largely at odds as we enter the final stretch of “Rizzoli & Isles” as a series. While of course we’re happy for the characters and we do get a sense of warm fuzzies knowing that they’ll be happy, we feel like the pacing just isn’t quite right. Some stories are too fast (Jane’s), others are too slow (the rest of the PD). Maybe the finale will restore a little equilibrium. Grade: B-.