‘Rizzoli & Isles’ season 6, episode 12 (summer finale) review: Taking on the latest Jane – Maura twist

We admit that when dealing with any sort of finale like what we had on “Rizzoli & Isles” Tuesday night, we tend to compare it very much to what we consider the gold standard of such episodes: The “Dexter” season 4 finale, arguably one of the most dramatic and intense episodes of TV we’ve ever seen. Also, the death of Rita (if you haven’t seen it yet, we have to stop the spoiler alerts somewhere) was one of the most stunning reveals we’ve ever seen.

Therefore, we’re at least pleased to say that the summer finale of the TNT drama on Tuesday contained a twist that was on a similar level of greatness, at least in that we did not anticipate through almost the entire hour that Maura could be the target of anything. We get it that there needed to be a way to get at Jane without hitting her directly, but we were right with Angie Harmon’s character: Angela seemed to be the mark.

The episode as a whole was for the most part excellent beyond the twist (even if we wouldn’t say it matches the aforementioned “Dexter”), especially when it comes to selling the intensity and the sense of danger throughout. There was such a sense of rampant paranoia that even if you thought Jane was going to be safe, looking at how the entire story played out from her vantage point was fascinating. You could understand the lack of trust she had with everyone around her.

Are we disappointed with how not every other mystery, including the murder case, is tied up? Not really, since we figure the writers are saving something for later. Episode Grade: A-.

Oh, and if you really care about our “Dexter” rambling, we’re going to have a piece over the next few days that you are going to want to check out.

Want to see some more news when it comes to “Rizzoli & Isles”? Then be sure to head over here, where you can get some further speculation for what is coming up next on the series! Also, you can sign up here to get some more TV updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: TNT.)