so predictably easy to please
Some months ago, I heard that TNT was going to air Rizzoli and Isles. I was enraptured by the premise: WOMEN COP PARTNERS!!! And really, they should have had me at "women cop partners," because hi, this is me.
But there were some promos that were painful, and some really scathing reviews, and I was quite busy right when it started airing, so I figured I'd wait a little bit and see how the buzz was before checking it out.
There has been decidedly more Rizzoli and Isles buzz on the flist the past few weeks, most of it positive, so I was already leaning in the direction of checking it out once I caught up on Leverage (which I have now done, incidentally). Then this past week on Lie to Me, Gillian and Zoe had a conversation. It wasn't a Bechdel Test-passing conversation, but it still made me kind of embarrassingly happy, and it definitely made me think, "why is Cal even there? why isn't this the Gillian and Zoe show?" (not the first time I've wondered that). This was my indication that my standards for these things are really extraordinarily low: women talking to each other outside the presence of a man. Even if Rizzoli and Isles is dreadful, I figured I'd still get a lot of that.
Well, I've now watched the pilot ep, and it's a pretty mediocre show in most respects, BUT THERE ARE WOMEN WHO LIKE EACH OTHER!!!!!!!!!!! And that's refreshing enough that I'll take a whole lot of mediocre writing and predictable plotting. Hopefully I'm not spoiling anyone too much to say that I was also pleased that she saved her own damned self, but my favorite thing of all was the reaction to Mr. FBI Guy. Mr. FBI Guy is set up as someone both Rizzoli and Isles are attracted to, yet each of them ultimately blows him off to spend time with her girlfriend instead. BE STILL, MY HEART!!!
I'm a little indifferent to the strong femslashy subtext at this point. On one hand, yay lesbians on my TV!!! But on the other hand, I'm also REALLY on board with the portrayal of a close friendship between women that is not also a sexual relationship. Because let's face it, most of us are not sleeping with our best girlfriends, and that fact does not in any way devalue those relationships. But if Jane and Maura want to sleep with each other, I think I could get on board with that, as well.
And the buzz seems to suggest that the show possibly gets a little less mediocre as a show? C'est possible? Is it too much to ask for there to be women who like each other AND tolerable writing???
But there were some promos that were painful, and some really scathing reviews, and I was quite busy right when it started airing, so I figured I'd wait a little bit and see how the buzz was before checking it out.
There has been decidedly more Rizzoli and Isles buzz on the flist the past few weeks, most of it positive, so I was already leaning in the direction of checking it out once I caught up on Leverage (which I have now done, incidentally). Then this past week on Lie to Me, Gillian and Zoe had a conversation. It wasn't a Bechdel Test-passing conversation, but it still made me kind of embarrassingly happy, and it definitely made me think, "why is Cal even there? why isn't this the Gillian and Zoe show?" (not the first time I've wondered that). This was my indication that my standards for these things are really extraordinarily low: women talking to each other outside the presence of a man. Even if Rizzoli and Isles is dreadful, I figured I'd still get a lot of that.
Well, I've now watched the pilot ep, and it's a pretty mediocre show in most respects, BUT THERE ARE WOMEN WHO LIKE EACH OTHER!!!!!!!!!!! And that's refreshing enough that I'll take a whole lot of mediocre writing and predictable plotting. Hopefully I'm not spoiling anyone too much to say that I was also pleased that she saved her own damned self, but my favorite thing of all was the reaction to Mr. FBI Guy. Mr. FBI Guy is set up as someone both Rizzoli and Isles are attracted to, yet each of them ultimately blows him off to spend time with her girlfriend instead. BE STILL, MY HEART!!!
I'm a little indifferent to the strong femslashy subtext at this point. On one hand, yay lesbians on my TV!!! But on the other hand, I'm also REALLY on board with the portrayal of a close friendship between women that is not also a sexual relationship. Because let's face it, most of us are not sleeping with our best girlfriends, and that fact does not in any way devalue those relationships. But if Jane and Maura want to sleep with each other, I think I could get on board with that, as well.
And the buzz seems to suggest that the show possibly gets a little less mediocre as a show? C'est possible? Is it too much to ask for there to be women who like each other AND tolerable writing???