Rizzoli & Isles 6×14 – Murderjuana – Recap

In Rizzoli & Isles 6×14, the murder of the week takes place at Boston’s illustrious Pot Palace. Cut to Maura getting high and Jane getting taser-happy. What? Read on for our recap.

It’s not sneaking – Jane has a key!

When the Pot Palace’s owner and security guard are locking up for the night, the guard notices the parking lot camera is down and goes to investigate. He opens the door, two masked robbers burst into the shop, and shots ring out.

Cut to Maura’s house. Our favorite M.E. is up late making tea and writing in her journal when she hears a noise and nervously goes to investigate, brandishing the journal like the world’s most ineffective weapon. Hey, in her defense, paper cuts can be a bitch. Also, you can hardly blame her for being on edge after the events of the previous episode, wherein she was abducted and held hostage by a crazy prison psychiatrist with a still-at-large accomplice. Anyway, the noise turns out to be Jane, who’s taken up residence on Maura’s couch. Jane looks adorably guilty when she’s busted, then lies impressively badly for a cop.

Maura: “Jane, what are you doing here?!”
Jane: “Um… I was just… I was just stopping by.”
Maura: “You’re watching us.”
Jane, unconvincingly: “No!”

Jane proceeds to point out that it’s not technically sneaking in if she has a key, and, duh, of course she has a key because they’re D-A-T-I-N-G. (Well, she says the first part, at least.) Needless to say, her protective streak has been in overdrive since the abduction, and Maura’s worried. She mentions that seeing a therapist has been helpful for her and recommends Jane do the same. Of course, she’s up in the middle of the night writing in her journal about her fears, so the therapist’s helpfulness is debatable…

As they arrive at the Pot Palace, Jane and Maura bicker about Jane’s wrinkled jacket and the non-existent bags under Maura’s eyes, and it’s precious. The lighter side of their relationship was missing in the previous episode (there’s nothing quite like kidnapping to get in the way of premarital bickering) but it looks like it’s back in Rizzoli & Isles 6×14. We find out that although the owner of the Palace – Otis – was shot in the head and badly wounded, the security guard not only lived to tell the tale but was also able to kill one of the intruders. There’s a lot of money left in the safe, so what was the motive?

Kent vs. the ceiling fan

Back at headquarters, Kent is fixing the exhaust fan in the basement, and Jane’s delighted.

Jane: “The ceiling is eating Kent. Good.”
Kent: “Be happy I’m not wearing my kilt today.”

Oh, Kent, believe me, I am.

Maura explains that having Kent fix the fan rather than waiting for Maintenance “satisfies the basic male need to fix things,” then asks if Jane wants to do lunch. Jane declines because she has a hot date – just kidding, that’s what she’d have if she’d agreed to go out with Maura. In actuality, she’s meeting with a therapist, but her sessions take place in a park rather than an office because she’s Jane and she likes a 360-degree view of her surroundings. Turns out she meets with this guy sporadically, i.e. a couple of times a year for the past five years. Do some quick math and you’ll determine that the first time she spoke to him more or less lines up with her first encounter with former nemesis Hoyt. This is some epic retconning after years of fans asking why we’ve never seen Jane struggle with PTSD or even mention a therapist, but, OK, I’ll buy it. Executive producer Jan Nash is doing what she can, and better late than never, right?

Back to Jane’s conversation with Dr. Kaplan, which centers on Maura (surprise!). “It’s hard to see a strong woman like Maura crippled by fear and anxiety,” Jane admits. “She’s starting to lose her confidence. She’s second-guessing herself.” Is she, Jane? Is she really, or are you talking about yourself? When Dr. Kaplan tries to steer the conversation in a Janewardly direction, Jane claims she’s fine and walks away – but you can tell she’s really rattled because she leaves her coffee behind.

At the hospital, Christine – the wife of Pot Palace owner Otis – interrupts Korsak while he’s questioning injured security guard Jeff. Christine tells Korsak that she has no idea who would do such a thing to Jeff and her husband, the latter of whom is still in a coma. OK, who else thought she was involved as soon as we met her? Let’s see a show of hands.

Remember Rafael Martinez, a.k.a. that guy played by that actor you may recall from Prison Break? Well, he’s back in Rizzoli & Isles 6×14 – or, more specifically, he’s on loan from a DEA task force focused on a spate of small-town medical marijuana dispensary robberies along the Massachusetts border, and he’s setting up a sting operation to catch the bad guys. Does the BPD want in? Ummm, of course. Does this mean Jane wants to rekindle their brief, weird romance? Ummm, of course not.

“Boston Police – drop it or die”

Cut to Korsak working behind the counter at Smoke Wellesley, a neighboring town’s equivalent of the Pot Palace. He’s good at it – and by that I mean he says “Dude” and “Right on” and “Far out” and generally does a decent impersonation of Shaggy from Scooby Doo. Outside in a car, Jane and Martinez are listening over Korsak’s wire. Martinez takes the opportunity to ask Jane how she’s doing and even inquires if she’s seeing a therapist. I’ve never been his biggest fan, but he’s sweet to be concerned. She admits she’s been having nightmares about chasing a killer who’s always juuust far enough out of reach to obscure his identity – and then a knife comes at her before she can react. Martinez suggests she let someone else carry the burden for a while, and, hello, has he met Jane, because that’s easier said than done.

Before they get too deep into her feelings, however, there’s some action (thankfully not between the two of them): A robber bursts into the store, but Korsak’s prepared. He counters the robber’s gun with one of his own, along with a stern “Boston Police – drop it or die.” After questioning the robber and an accomplice waiting outside in a getaway vehicle, Jane and the team determine that although they were responsible for the robberies Martinez has been investigating, the Pot Palace break-in wasn’t their doing. In fact, they have an alibi: They were with two girls named Jasmine and Cinnamon at a motel in the hip and happenin’ town of Brockton, Massachusetts. I don’t know about you, but next time I need an alibi, I’m stealing that one.

Back at the precinct, Jane’s falling asleep at work and Korsak and Frankie are worried she’s burning the candle at both ends. Apparently she’s been driving her mom home from the Dirty Robber every night, then crashing on Maura’s couch. Why not just join Maura in the bedroom already? Martinez hooks Jane up with some wireless cameras so she can monitor the house anytime, anywhere, but Angela’s unsure whether the cameras are a positive or negative development. “Does that mean you’re going to start sleeping, or are you gonna watch cameras all night long?” she queries. One thing’s for sure: She knows her daughter. She tries to tell Jane that her and Maura’s welfare aren’t Jane’s responsibility, but Jane’s having none of it.

Kent vs. the ceiling fan, part two

Down in the lab, Maura takes delivery of a random sampling of product that Korsak brings over from the Pot Palace. She reassures him that she’ll be burning it in a controlled environment with proper ventilation to further explore some THC level inconsistencies she picked up on earlier in the investigation, but remember that fan from earlier? After all his posturing, Kent ended up wiring it incorrectly, so he and Maura are soon high as kites. Jane walks in on them laughing helplessly on the floor and tries to keep a straight face when Maura starts searching for corn curls in Jane’s hair. Why in her hair? The only explanation Maura offers is “Corn curls in your curls” before admitting “I have never told you this before but I love…” Could this be the way-overdue admission we’ve all been waiting for? “Glazed donuts,” she finishes. Oh my God, Rizzoli & Isles 6×14, you were so close.

In between lame chemistry jokes that are hiiiigh-larious to Kent and Maura (“Why can you not trust atoms? Because they make up everything”), the team determines that the Pot Palace was selling product with THC levels way outside the government-sanctioned range – or, as Maura Highles phrases it, rather than relying solely on his government suppliers, Otis was “getting his MJ from the streeeeet.” Korsak summarily dubs them “the 420 gang” – a nickname that I really hope will stick – and rationalizes, “It’s a good plan: Sell your own home-baked brownies, cut the government out of it, pocket a bunch of tax-free cash.” There’s just one question: Who’s Otis’ dealer? Nina checks the Pot Palace’s phone records and comes up with a name: Charlie, who’s played by Chad Lowe (LIT-erally Rob Lowe’s younger brother). The team discovers that Otis – or someone else from the Pot Palace – had been buying from Charlie to make up to $250,000 off the books. Maybe money was the motive for the robbery after all?

At HQ, Jane walks into Maura’s office with an enormous box of donuts, another batch of pot (from Charlie’s grow house this time), and a smirk on her face. Maura looks sheepish. “The effects of the inhalation event have passed,” Maura says confidently, but she takes a bite out of a donut anyway, so who can really tell? Jane teases her about being Maura Highles for a little while, then Maura brings up the cameras, saying she doesn’t want to be watched. (I think she doesn’t want their late-night makeout sessions captured on film, but that’s just me.) In an attempt to stop Jane from worrying, Maura shares something her therapist showed her involving a glass that represents life, pebbles that represent the bad things that happen in life, and the fact that even though though it looks like there’s no room for anything else in the glass, there’s still space for water, otherwise known as the good things. “What if somebody takes your glass?” Jane asks. Always so literal, that one. Frustrated, Jane turns to Korsak, who points out that Angela and Maura don’t think the way cops do and volunteers to drive Angela home from the Robber so Jane doesn’t have to. At least she has someone who understands what she’s going through.

Jane in the park with the therapist

Back to the case. Remember the wife who seemed guilty as hell? Turns out she has a bank account in her maiden name that’s linked to a safe deposit box… and there’s $250,000 in it. Apparently she was sneaking in illegal brownies and selling them behind her husband’s back – all while having an affair with the security guard. When confronted, Christine denies the accusations at first, but eventually she admits she and Jeff planned the robbery to fund their new life together. Korsak and Jane find Jeff about to jump off the roof of the hospital, but Jane tases him before he has the chance, then exclaims, “I’ve never used one of these things before – this is great!” Never change, Jane Rizzoli, never change.

Back at the precinct, Jane’s sitting at Frost’s desk under the watchful gaze of Guardian Chogokin. As Martinez approaches her, she puts down the phone and we see her scars (hey, continuity, we missed you!). He asks if she’s sleeping any better and she gives the cameras back to him with the simple statement, “Maura’s allergic to surveillance.” Martinez tells her to call him if she’s up in the middle of the night, and Jane says “I’m not gonna do that.” (Jane doesn’t say “Because the only person whose name begins with ‘Ma-‘ who I’m interested in dating is Maura,” but, you know, she totally could’ve.)

Cut to Jane in the park with the therapist. (This is like a game of Clue.) This time, Dr. Kaplan ups the ante by walking away first, which prompts Jane to admit she’s afraid. “Now we’re getting somewhere,” Dr. Kaplan tells her.

Over at Maura’s house, Jane apologizes for taking Maura’s rocks. “They weren’t really my rocks,” Maura corrects her. “They belong to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.” Gosh, she’s so endearing. Maura admits she shouldn’t have played amateur psychiatrist with Jane, and Jane admits she’s been overprotective because she’s afraid she simply isn’t good enough to catch Joe’s accomplice. “What if you are?” Maura counters. I LOVE THEM. THE END.