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Rizzoli & Isles: The Complete Fifth Season  Review by Suzanne Lanoue 6/1/15

I'm so glad to get this because I fell behind last season, so this is helping me catch up! I normally watch this show religiously. In fact, I have all of these episodes on DVD, that I recorded from my DVR, so now I won't have to fast-forward through the commercials, and I get all of these great extras as well! Yay!

One of the things I always love about this show is that the stars are two strong women (three if you count Lorraine Bracco, who plays Jane's mom, Angela). When this show started, that was rare on TV. Now we have a lot of shows starring strong women, like "How to Get Away with Murder," "Scandal," "The Good Wife," "Nashville," "iZombie," "Madam Secretary," and "Mysteries of Laura." Only that last one is a cop, however. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" also has strong women, but it's more of an ensemble show like "CSI" and "NCIS" et al. I hope the trend continues.

The other thing I love about this show is that it has lots of humor as well as drama.  Usually when a show has too many things going on at once, it's very uneven or hard to watch. This one successfully juggles three types of storylines: the murders the cops solve; the romantic personal lives of Maura and Jane; and their family lives (particularly Jane). Somehow the writers manage to juggle all three, much like the way the women in the show juggle work, romance and family, and with plenty of humor.

After five seasons, it's still great and going strong! I enjoyed the features on the DVD, although there aren't too many of them. In case you didn't know, cast member Lee Thompson Young (Detective Frost) committed suicide in August, 2013, so they had to kill off the character as well. They finally dealt with his death in this season. In the second episode, "...Goodbye," they say goodbye in a very poignant way. I'm sure it was very sad for the cast, and it was sad for us, the audience, as well.

If you've never watched this show before, you can watch this DVD with no problem. You won't be too lost. The murder mysteries are self-contained, and the family and other stuff is pretty easy to pick up. However, I would still advise you to go back and watch the first 4 seasons as well. It's an excellent show. The show returns Tuesday, June 16 at 9/8c on TNT! Official Site

MORE INFORMATION:

SEASON FIVE OF TNT’S #1 SHOW

RIZZOLI & ISLES

IS SET FOR RELEASE ON DVD JUNE 2, 2015,

FROM WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Four-Disc Set Includes All 18 Episodes from the Show’s Fifth Season

Plus Never-Before-Seen Bonus Material

BURBANK, CA (February 25, 2015) – Get set for another exciting season of the chartbusting, suspenseful hit cable series Rizzoli & Isles, with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s (WBHE) release of Rizzoli & Isles: The Complete Fifth Season, available June 2, 2015. Angie Harmon (Law & Order) and Sasha Alexander (NCIS) return to solve Boston’s most complex murder cases in the fifth season DVD release of TNT’s top-rated series. This must-own release will feature all 18 season five episodes, plus never-before-seen extras. Rizzoli & Isles: The Complete Fifth Season will be released in time for the series’ sixth season premiere on TNT. This title will retail for $39.98 SRP. Order due date has been set for May 5, 2015.

Based on the best-selling crime thriller books by Tess Gerritsen and executive produced by Jan Nash (Without a Trace), Rizzoli & Isles focuses on tough-as-nails Boston police detective Jane Rizzoli (Harmon), who has an uncompromisingly brash and beautiful bull-in-a-china-shop approach to both cases and life, and the brilliant medical examiner from a privileged background, Dr. Maura Isles (Alexander), who may be the best-dressed science nerd in New England. Together they are close friends and complete opposites who solve some of Boston’s most notorious crimes.

In Rizzoli & Isles: The Complete Fifth Season, Jane and Maura continue to work together to solve the city’s most puzzling cases, including, investigating the murder of a mother who is killed while jogging in a park and, when a seller of rare books is killed, Jane and Maura are drawn into the world of Keltic writings as they investigate his murder. The team’s detective skills are also put to the test when they discover the mummified remains of a woman, and Jane and Maura investigate the death of a man who died suspiciously in a bathtub filled with ice during a heat wave. Season five is loaded with several more exciting new cases and action-packed adventures no Rizzoli & Isles fan will want to miss.

In its fifth season, Rizzoli & Isles remains a top ratings performer, delivering over 8 million Total Viewers per episode and ranking as the #1 scripted drama on Basic Cable season to-date among Total Viewers and as the #1 series on TNT.*

“Rizzoli & Isles offers the perfect blend of thrilling police procedural and moving family drama. At the heart of it all is Jane and Maura’s extraordinary friendship, which drives the show and is one of the reasons this series stands out from many other crime shows on TV today,” said Rosemary Markson, WBHE Senior Vice President, TV Brand Management and Retail Marketing. She added, “We are delighted to release another captivating new season of this outstanding series on DVD.” 

In addition to Harmon and Alexander, the series stars Jordan Bridges (Rushlights, Mona Lisa Smile) as Frankie Rizzoli Jr., Jane’s younger brother who is now following in her footsteps as a detective; with Bruce McGill (Lincoln, Law Abiding Citizen) as the seasoned and lovable Detective Vince Korsak, Rizzoli’s former partner who was initially hurt to find Jane partnered with Frost; and Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos) as Jane’s nosy but warm-hearted mother, Angela Rizzoli, who moved into Maura’s guesthouse after her recent divorce and works at the coffee shop inside the Boston Police Department. 

Rizzoli & Isles is produced for TNT by Ostar Productions in association with Warner Horizon Television. Developed by Janet Tamaro (Sleeper Cell), the series is executive produced by Bill Haber (TNT’s Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King), Michael Katleman (Memphis Beat, Life on Mars) and showrunner Jan Nash (Without a Trace, Unforgettable).

*Source: Nielsen Galaxy Explorer, Live+7US AA%: excluding repeats, specials & <5 TCs; Season to Date = 05/26/14-10/26/14.

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES

•          Stepping Through the Stunt: The Burden of Proof Bridge Sequence featurette

•          Gag Reel

•          Deleted scenes

18 (1-HOUR) EPISODES:

Season 5

The Credits

About Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) brings together Warner Bros. Entertainment's home video, digital distribution and interactive entertainment businesses in order to maximize current and next-generation distribution scenarios. An industry leader since its inception, WBHE oversees the global distribution of content through packaged goods (Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD) and digital media in the form of electronic sell-through and video-on-demand via cable, satellite, online and mobile channels, and is a significant developer and publisher for console and online video game titles worldwide. WBHE distributes its product through third party retail partners and licensees.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

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Page updated 6/1/15