Rizzoli and Isles - Imitation Game - Review:Anatomy of a painting

Rizzoli and Isles Episode604-Imitation Game
Written by Katie Wech
Directed by Steve Robin

Rizzoli and Isles this week enters into the world of Art, well counterfeit art and the end result may leave us all suspecting this story may not actually be over yet.

The opening scene we have a family stuck in a traffic jam behind a lorry , the teenagers are in the back arguing when the father turns to stop them he accidentally hits the lorry in front knocking a not very secure old freezer . A body fall’s out onto the hood of the car, not the most effective way to stop the kids from arguing but it worked.

Once again we are in Maura’s kitchen. Jane Rizzoli (Angie Harmon) is snooping for food and finds some fried chicken. Angela Rizzoli (Lorraine Bracco) walks in saying its rude to take other peoples food but Jane rationalises this as she says it’s her Mum’s. We all knew Maura would not have that in her fridge. Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander) walks in and instantly gives Jane the look, 'are you really eating fried chicken for breakfast?'.. So where did the fried Chicken come from? Jane interrogates her Mum again, pretty much like last week. We know she has a new man, she won't name him but we do learn his daughter cooked her chicken last night.

Jane: “I wonder if I should have her followed”
Maura: “Well you already seem like your about to place that chicken leg under arrest”
Jane: “It’s an accessory”

The phones ring and we head into the opening credits.
Four episodes in and I love these little kitchens scenes though it makes me wonder has Jane given up her apartment if not well she really should and just live at Maura’s.

Arriving at the crime scene Jane is still unhappy her Mum is keeping her new man from her, she asks Maura to snoop.
Soon we are at the body, Korsak mentions the victim has no id but has a very nice suit which Maura says is italian but isn't Armani… fun fact from Maura, seems Giorgio Armani spent two years at medical school. Of course Jane wants the fashion police to stop and discuss the body.( I am sure this is a nod to Sasha Alexander who has been on two episode of the fashion police )
He clearly has been shot in the head at close range. Elsewhere other than the freezer he was in. We learn the lorry picks up items of waste, it was on his route. Korsak sends crime techs to where the freezer was picked up.

Frankie gets roped in via his mother and Korsak to sort out the plumbing at the Dirty robber, seems when we thought Frank Sr fixed it back in season 1 it wasn’t great . Yes we all remember how all of sudden his character went from not so bad guy to complete …well you get the idea now it seems his plumbing was rubbish too.

Jane is in the morgue with Maura; Dr Isles is trying to be subtle when she tells Jane a certain other agency is interested in the body. Like Maura I couldn't think what would rhyme with FBI.
You know Jane and the FBI investigator are going to butt heads,they first introduce themselves he is Agent Nate Burns (Sharif Atkins,whom I last saw in Guardians of the Galaxy ). They are soon joined by Maura, obviously wanting to keep the peace .I liked during this scene Maura keeps looking at Jane like can I tell him this. Begrudgingly some information is shared. Seems we have a dead thief on the table.


Jane and Korsak turn up at what they were told was the point the driver picked up the freezer that housed our victim. Unfortunately it seems he was lying so after further interrogation from Korsak we find out he picked up the freezer behind an abandoned warehouse for the money and it wasn't on his regular route. Evidence is found at the warehouse.

At the Dirty Robber Frankie convinces Angela he has fixed the plumbing, we are not convinced.

Jane and Korsak study the crime board, they seem to think the thief has stolen a valuable work of art based on the evidence found at the real dumping site.

Jane goes to see Maura who has found paint among other things on the suit of the victim. She works out which museum he visited from the shape of a sticker mark. Her complaining to Jane if she had gone to the crime scene photo exhibit with her she would know this, made me laugh. Girls less bickering there is a murder to solve. Anyway if the Boston Museum had been robbed no one called the police.

A trip to the Museum leaves Jane and Korsak frustrated due to a very unhelpful curator who is flapping around getting the museum ready for a benefit that night.

Back at BPD the FBI Agent Burns has something helpful, seems the reason the museum curator didn't want the police snooping is his security system has some flaws. So maybe our thief stole something without them knowing?

It seem at the Dirty Robber Frankie has fixed the plumbing, no wait for it……. avalanche of water, you guessed it he hasn’t.

After a nice shot of Maura and her keep calm and buy shoes mug Jane walks in.
Maura has results on the paint and the analysis shows it is new paint. Nothing in the museum is new and nothing would be high a price as the 10 million dollars they seem to think this high end art thief would steal. Jane deducts that it may have come from a forgery and that is why no art has been reported stolen. How would they know what to look for? The paint was blue, cobalt blue so they need to find a painting with a lot of blue in it. Maura is a member of the museum so yes they have an in. Guess they are attending the benefit tonight.

At the benefit Rizzoli and Isles are all dressed up and try to find the painting but the real hard work seems to be walking in those dresses, it did make for some amusing moments in this scene. However Jane defacing what could have been art was priceless.

Frankie is in a mess, the Dirty Robber is flooded but lucky for him Susie (Tina Huang) and Nina ( Idara Victor ) come to his rescue with a wet vac .

Korsak the next morning interrogates the two, well we know Maura can't lie but Jane is having trouble coming up with a plausible story. It seems the paint sample she managed to get was the same and she did not deface a piece of art but in fact a forgery.

Now the curator is more cooperative as the fake painting is taken away.

The anonymous donor had several offers to buy the painting but due to sentimental value did not want to sell. Perhaps someone chose to get the painting a different way?

Back at the BPD crime lab Maura has dismantled the painting and had it x-rayed. We discover it was painted over another picture which tends to happen as an older canvas makes the picture appear authentic. Someone very skilled must have done this. Jane and the FBI guy pop back and forth with each other. It could be a forger who got greedy and killed the thief or art collector who wanted what he couldn’t have.

Nina is on the case to discover what the original painting was to determine where it might have come from. This may give them possible suspects. We learn that Susie graduated from Art School so Nina enlists her help and together they discover who it was painted by and where it was sold to . Way to go Ladies…. will we have a new sub show Holiday and Chang?

Agent Burns comes in and they tracked down the art lover who offered the donor a high price for the painting, a search of his plane found nothing. They have a list of the employees who would have had access to the painting and one did not show up for work.

At his residence we see some picture wire in the fireplace, surely he did not burn a 10 million dollar painting. They track him to his boat but it appears he has taken his own life it’s the same calibre gun as the bullet in the head of the thief. Case closed… for me it seemed to be a bit to convenient or leading us to believe this. Who knows maybe the painting will appear again?

Final scene at the dirty robber Frankie seems to have fixed i….t but no this is Frankie we are talking about and Jane uses her detective skills and plumbing knowledge( perhaps she should have fixed the pipes) to work out Frankie got in a plumber she also sneaks up on Angela and finds out her new man’s name Ron.. No not Ron Macdonald, maybe next week we will find out his surname.

This episode though sketchy with the art heist storyline in parts was still an enjoyable episode. It tends to lean more towards the comedic than serious side. The Rizzoli family drama is like a carry on film in parts but it pulls us away from the crime a little bit too much at times.

Next week the promo look’s intense and I hope it delivers.

About the Author - Zandarl

Zandarl a Writer and avid TV and film buff ,once described as a wilful hedonist, has travelled all over and lived in the states for a short time. Now based in the UK she attends cons when able and meets stars from her favourite shows .Her first start in fandom was Xena and since then has admired tv shows that portray strong women. Her current favorites being Rizzoli and Isles and Once Upon a Time as well as anything comic book related. A regular movie goer she watches most genres but never ask her to watch a horror movie.

Recent Reviews (All Reviews)