Most of the shows that are familiar and well-loved — How I Met Your Mother, Bones, Glee — ended their seasons last May, leaving a giant hole in many people's TV schedule for the summer.
Of course, this was right about when finals ended for most people, freeing them up to watch more television.
This paradox was solved by summer TV programs — shows that run around 10 or 15 episodes beginning in June and July and going on through Sept.
One such show is Rizzoli & Isles, which began its season on July 11th with the episode "We Don't Need Another Hero."
Rizzoli & Isles follows the story of Boston Homicide Detective Jane Rizzoli (Angie Harmon) and the Chief Medical Examiner and Rizzoli's best friend, Dr. Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander).
Each episode follows the cookie-cutter recipe for a generic crime show, and as far as crime shows go, there have been more original ones.
What makes Rizzoli & Isles different is the friendship (though many fans may say there is more than just friendship) between Rizzoli and Isles.
Although the show tries to cover their mundane crime plots with witty banter, they do not always succeed.
Sometimes even well-placed snark and sarcasm from Rizzoli can't hide the fact that the crime and the general premise of the episode was not well thought out or interesting.
Still, it's enough to keep people watching every week, salivating for more, and Harmon and Alexander have incredible chemistry with each other.
The show is rounded out with Frankie Rizzoli Jr (Jordan Bridges), Rizzoli's younger brother and a Boston Police Offier, Angela Rizzoli (Lorraine Bracco), Rizzoli's mother, Barry Frost (Lee Thompson Young), Rizzoli's protective partner on the police force and Vince Korsak (Bruce McGill), a Boston Homicide Sergeant Detective.
The supporting cast brings color to the show and keeps it interesting with their varied personalities, from Rizzoli's well-meaning but slightly overbearing mother to Korsak, who adopts everything from birds to dogs.
Season One ended in Sept. 2010 with Rizzoli shooting through herself to kill a dirty cop who was holding her hostage as Isles watched on in horror. The last shot was of Rizzoli collapsing onto the concrete and closing her eyes and Isles running towards her in a panic.
The audience undoubtedly awaited with nail-biting eagerness for July 2011, almost a whole year later, to find out what happened to Rizzoli.
"We Don't Need Another Hero" opened three months later. Rizzoli mostly recovered from her shooting (apparently, the only thing she did during those three months was
shop using her TV), and at a ceremony honoring her and a soldier who had just finished her tour in the Middle East, the soldier was killed right in front of Rizzoli.
From there, Rizzoli and Isles was back in their cop-ME business.
So far, season two has shown Rizzoli and Isles at a mud bath day spa, Frost's tense relationship with his father, the kidnapping of a teenage girl, Rizzoli's other brother Tommy getting out of prison (for drunk driving) and reuniting with his family, a Revolutionary War re-enactment that leads to a real casualty, witch burnings and an old flame with multiple passports staying with Isles.
In the episode this week, "Gone Daddy Gone," a worker in the mob-run docks of Boston is killed with the signature style of Patty Doyle, an infamous mob boss executioner.
There's only one problem — Doyle is Isles's biological father, and she is not in any particular hurry to have that fact known, nor has she really come to peace with the fact that the man who gave her his DNA is a man wanted for multiple murders.
Throughout the episode, Isles tries to deal with everyone saying that this was "definitely" Doyle's work, and it just gets harder when Doyle himself shows up at Isles's home with a gunman and she is forced to take care of his bullet wound at gunpoint.
Doyle insists that he is innocent and that he is being framed, but Isles can't bring herself to believe him or the fact that Doyle really loves her despite being a cold-hearted murderer.
Although Rizzoli was also featured a lot in this episode (her main plot is that she tries to hide from mandatory department "sensitivity training"), the focus was definitely on Isles and fleshing out her character.
Alexander rose to the challenge beautifully, especially when she snaps at her assistant medical examiner — especially notable because the audience hasn't actually seen Isles truly angry before, nor have they seen her snap at someone.
Beyond the main storyline, the secondary plot involves Tommy (the brother who got out of prison) getting closer to Isles, to Rizzoli's annoyance.
Despite Isles's assurances that they are merely playing chess, Rizzoli clearly disapproves of their growing friendship.
This plotline didn't feel extremely developed, and it seemed to fizzle out as suddenly as it began (the audience was probably as surprised as Rizzoli to find Tommy at Isles's place).
This show has a bad habit of introducing random elements into the show and then forgetting about them.
There are a few storylines and characters who come back (Doyle and Tommy, for example), but for the most part, people come and go as freely as they please.
For example, Isles's old flame from the previous episode appeared out of the blue, stuck around for one episode, and now has disappeared again.
Other than the few main and supporting characters, there really isn't very much tying the episodes, or indeed, the two seasons together, which is a shame.
While Rizzoli & Isles may not be the best example of a crime show, it is a fun, light summer show with an awesome cast and solid dialogue and is worth a peek when there's no studying with which to pass the time.
The next episode of Rizzoli and Isles, "Remember Me," airs on Monday, Sept. 12, at 10 p.m. EST.
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