Rizzoli & Isles 7×11 – Stiffed – Recap

In Rizzoli & Isles 7×11, a Rizzoli returned, a Rizzoli proposed, and a Rizzoli and an Isles promised to stay close despite the miles. Read on for our recap of Rizzoli & Isles 7×11, Stiffed.

343 nautical miles

Rizzoli & Isles 7×11 begins with Angela trying to get Maura to reveal Jane’s big news about taking the FBI instructor job. Luckily, Maura’s way too good of a girlfriend to steal Jane’s thunder like that. When Jane finally spills the beans, she does so thinking Angela’s getting her greatest wish, but her mom’s reaction isn’t what Jane expects.

Jane: “I’m leaving the force – I thought that you would be thrilled.”
Angela: “I mean, I just never considered that you being safe would mean moving 500 miles away.”
Maura: “343 nautical miles. It’s seven hours and seven minutes via Route 15.”

Maura Dorthea Isles, never change.

Slowly, Angela comes around to the idea, telling Jane’s she’s proud of her and that she’s never visited Washington, D.C. Maura helpfully interjects that the nation’s capital houses “the world’s largest collection of the Bard’s works,” and Jane and Maura proceed to bicker over whether anybody actually says “the Bard” aside from Maura herself. Let’s take a second to note that this is the third-to-last episode of Rizzoli & Isles ever, and I am going to miss all of this. Let’s also note that the last thing Angela says before the opening titles roll is “Honey, you’re the FBI – you can touch anything you want.” Anyone out there keeping score of all the times Angela’s said something that could be construed as her tacit approval of Rizzles? Add that one to the list.

An organy suctiony thing

Over at the scene of this week’s crime, we learn that a family’s effort to bury its late matriarch went horribly awry thanks to the discovery of an extra body in the coffin. “You know, the ancient Egyptians believed that burying them together meant they’d be together in the afterlife,” Maura points out. (Bets on whether she already has a double-wide coffin picked out for herself and Jane?) This time around, though, there’s a comparatively mundane explanation: The dead guy is Sam Mason, owner of the funeral home overseeing the proceedings. Jane is creeped out by funeral homes, but brightens considerably once Korsak brings up the concept of a Viking funeral.

Jane: “A burial at sea?”
Korsak: “Yeah, but they light you on fire first.”
Jane: “I’m in!”

Um, is Maura aware of this? You know she’s already put a downpayment on that casket for two.

When Jane and Korsak visit the funeral home, Mason’s sister Kate, who’s also his business partner, points them in the direction of a woman he’d been secretly seeing, but the woman is actually his broker, not his girlfriend. Turns out Mason was trying to sell the funeral home ASAP – and his broker has no knowledge of Kate at all. Well, that certainly gives the sister motive, and it just so happens that one of the tools of her trade (a trochar, or, in Janespeak, an “organy suctiony thing”) seems like a good match for the weapon that killed him.

Rizzoli bonfire

As Jane and Korsak mull over the crime while getting coffee in the park, the latter mentions receiving an “interesting call” from the FBI. So much for Jane’s decision not to break the news to her colleagues until everything’s final. Korsak seems a little hurt that she didn’t tell him sooner, and she says she was planning to “when I can think about not seeing you every day and not cry about it, which is not now.” Aw, look at Jane admitting she has emotions. “Just so you know, I think what you’re doing is really great,” Korsak tells her. “I’m happy for you. And I don’t want to make you cry, but I’ll miss you,” he continues, his voice catching. Damn, now I’m having emotions.

Caught up in the spirit of breaking difficult news, Jane heads back to HQ, where Maura confirms the trochar was the likely cause of the victim’s mortal wound. Jane thinks the trochar’s gross, but Maura counters that it’s innovative. “How else would you propose draining fluids from a body?” Maura asks, which opens the door for Jane to reveal her plans for a grand Viking send-off. Turns out Maura’s not mad after all, merely amused at Jane’s misplaced yet endearing enthusiasm.

Jane: “Korsak is gonna shoot a flaming arrow at my dead body on a boat. Rizzoli bonfire. I can’t wait.”
Maura: “That’s not really how Norse funerals are done.”
Jane: “Party pooper.”

Additionally, Maura thinks Mason’s murder may be related to the case of Ben Norton, an embalmed murder victim who was dumped in a grave dug for a casket from Mason’s funeral home. Nina’s unable to find a link between Ben and Sam, but Ben and Kate attended the same college. I think we can all see where Rizzoli & Isles 7×11 is going with this. However, when Jane and Korsak break the news that Sam was looking to sell the business, Kate seems genuinely shocked. With 20 minutes of the episode left to go, it can’t be this easy, right?

All in the family

In other news, renegade Rizzoli brother Tommy blows back into town from Chicago with his young son, TJ, and the news that TJ’s mother met somebody else. If you’ll recall, both Tommy and his father were seeing Lydia at one point, which was all kinds of Days of our Lives madness, so I’ve gotta say I’m not shocked by this latest development. Although things aren’t going great for Tommy in the romance department, he does seem to be getting his life together by becoming a certified plumber. Angela says she’s proud of him and invites him to move back to Boston, and he doesn’t say yes but he doesn’t say no.

Meanwhile, Maura’s becoming increasingly involved at her birth mother Hope’s clinic, where she meets the family of a dying baby. Given that she’s used to working with patients who aren’t as… well, alive… her bedside manner needs a little work at points, but her heart’s in the right place. The family prays over her, asking for a miracle – and guess what? One of the aunts in attendance is Rizzoli & Isles’ own post-production coordinator, Mandi Price. Couple that with the fact that actor Jordan Bridges‘ son Orson played one of the mourners at the crime scene earlier in the episode, and Rizzoli & Isles 7×11 is truly a family affair. Did I mention that Angie Harmon’s double Laura Owen reprised her role as Dirty Robber waitress Teri?

All the Rizzoli I need

Over at headquarters, Frankie comes up to Jane’s desk and randomly hugs her from behind. What prompted this sudden display of brotherly affection? He got a call from the FBI and realized his days of being able to do that are numbered. “Can you picture this place with only one Rizzoli in it?” he asks Nina, and Nina has a fairly epic comeback: “You’re all the Rizzoli I need.” I wish the powers that be gave Maura lines like that.

On the subject of the good doctor, when Korsak asks Maura how she’s doing with the idea of Jane leaving, Maura admits, “I’m struggling, to be honest.” Ugh, can’t she go to D.C. too? They must need medical examiners!

Speaking of which, back to the case. Maura rules out the sister as the murderer, as Kate very helpfully belongs to the 10% or so of the population who are left-handed, while Nina uncovers a discrepancy between the number of funerals the home actually performed and the number that made it onto the books. A couple of exhumations later, and the BPD finds a total of four bodies in graves or caskets where they don’t belong (including Sam’s and Ben’s). Maura and Kent determine that the other two victims were killed by someone unskilled at anatomy – i.e. not a mortician – although it does appear Sam did the embalming. It’s then that his rush to sell the funeral home begins to come into focus. “Maybe he was in such a hurry to sell because he knew there were more victims headed his way,” Jane posits. But who, and why?

Together

Jane’s unlikely to figure out the answers over pizza with her brothers, but even Rizzolis need to take a break sometimes. Tommy admits he’s considering moving back to Boston, and when Jane says she’s sorry it didn’t work out between him and Lydia, he says he thinks he’s more cut out to be a father than a husband. “Look at us,” he declares. “Lone wolves.” Uh… not really, buddy. Frankie’s got Nina and Jane’s got Maura, but whatever helps Tommy sleep at night.

You know who’s not sleeping? Maura, and it’s all because of the baby at the clinic (and maybe the fact that Jane’s moving, too). The little girl has a terminal condition, and Maura’s having a hard time accepting that there’s nothing she can do to help. As she explains to Jane, “In homicide, the stakes are high, but not like this.” She’s dreading facing the baby’s family again, but Jane reassures her that her compassion and courage make her the perfect woman for the job. (Or for a similar job in D.C. I’m just throwing that out there.)

Maura: “What am I gonna do when you’re not here?”
Jane: “You’ll pick up the phone, as will I.”
Maura: “It’s not the same.”
Jane: “No, it’s not, but we’ll get through it like we always do.”
Maura: “Together?”
Jane: “I was gonna say with wine, but, yeah, together.”

And then they kiss. (OK, that scene in Rizzoli & Isles 7×11 ended right after Jane said “together,” which means nobody can prove they didn’t kiss. So there.)

Closing the case – and closing the deal

In the BRIC, Nina has a breakthrough: Ben and the two other victims who weren’t Sam all have a modeling agency’s number in their phones. Although they never booked jobs together, their head shots reveal that they used the same photographer, Eddie – and the photographer’s apartment reveals his passion for taking morbid pictures. Jane, Korsak, and Frankie rush to his next shoot, and Jane nabs the guy after a brief foot chase. “You know you’re gonna miss this part, right?” Frankie asks her, and she admits she will.

Once Eddie’s in custody, Jane goes back to Kate to fill in the blanks. Turns out Eddie’s a family friend who Sam always looked out for, and Eddie repaid the favor by threatening Kate’s life to get Sam to cover up his murders.

Elsewhere, Frankie and Nina are on a rooftop with a telescope. Tonight, the Cassiopeia constellation is visible above Boston – otherwise known as the African queen, Nina notes. Apparently she’s fond of myths because they’re filled with “passion and romance and love that spans eternity.” Frankie says he thinks the Greeks had it right about eternity, and proceeds to clunkily but adorably propose. Hey, I always wanted a Rizzoli to propose on this show, I just wasn’t really gunning for Frankie.

A bench in the park

In the final couple of minutes of Rizzoli & Isles 7×11, everyone gathers at the Robber for dinner, and Angie Harmon apparently forgot to change into her Jane clothes. Tommy reveals that he’s decided to stay in Boston (actually, he’ll be moving into the professor-on-sabbatical’s townhouse that Jane’s currently living in), and needless to say, Angela’s delighted. There’s just one problem: Maura’s having a hard time making sense of an apparent miracle that means the baby she’s been caring for is getting better, against all odds. Jane excuses herself and Maura from the table, and nobody blinks an eye because this definitely isn’t the first time they’ve left a meal to head somewhere more private. This time, however, they’re going on a walk to Jane’s favorite bench in the park.

Jane: “Sometimes I like to play a game: What if it didn’t happen? For example, what if my apartment didn’t burn down?”
Maura: “Then you wouldn’t have moved into the professor’s townhouse.”
Jane: “Exactly. And then Tommy and TJ wouldn’t have a place to live that’s close to Ma.”
Maura: “I like this. Do another one.”

I’m gonna go ahead and speculate that this isn’t the first time Maura and Jane have played games together, although I’m guessing they’re more typically confined to the bedroom. Jane’s next example is Maura’s brain injury – without it, she wouldn’t have started working at the clinic, or been able to help treat that baby. Basically, Jane’s point is that everything happens for a reason, whether that reason can be explained or not. “We’re all part of a bigger plan,” Jane explains, which Maura dubs “a very unscientific explanation.” (Then they kiss under the stars, because Frankie and Nina shouldn’t be the only couple who got to do that in this episode. And, hey, Rizzoli & Isles 7×11 ends here, so no one can prove it didn’t happen.)