S05.E09: It Takes a Village

[maraleia]

 

The team's skills are tested when the mummified remains of a woman are found; Jane tries to recover from a devastating loss.

 

[Bastet]

I'm hoping Jane's foster parent idea lasts about as long as it does on every other show - one episode.  We finally get rid of the stupid pregnancy storyline, only to move into this?  I'm sure in the final ten minutes a terrific home will magically become available for the girl, and Jane will realize it's for the best.

 

Maura wanting to foster her might be more believable, but whatever - can we please get back to Jane and Maura just solving crimes and being friends?!

 

From the promo, I'm expecting this to be a cavalcade of clichés, but last week's episode was enjoyable in spite of its tired tropes, so I'll wait and see.

[IndependentMind]

Jane will feel guilty about losing the baby because she never wanted it in the first place. So she tries to make amends by now offering to foster this teenager.

 

I would not be surprised if this whole drama now this time about losing the baby to go on the rest of the season. We had the first half about her being pregnant, the second half will be about feeling guilty. It's a Jane Rizzoli Show not "Rizzoli & Isles".

[starkresilient]

Yay another Jane centric episode! We haven't got any of these lately! -_-

Edited August 10, 2014 by maraleia
capitalization

[craziness]

Didn't Maura look into becoming a foster parent during the baby at the spa episode (Maura and Jane in the mud baths)? I think I remember that (or maybe its from a fanfiction)???? I think that Jane couldn't qualify as a foster parent as long as she lives in her 1 bedroom condo. Maybe she'll have to move in with Maura?

[anstar]

Angie Harmon tweeted last week

Our two new girls @JazSinclair & @IdaraVictor were absolutely brilliant tonight. Welcome aboard & thank you for a great episode!

 so I guess both new actresses are sticking around..

[IndependentMind]

Idara is sticking around for sure because she is Frost's replacement. But I am surprised about the other girl. But I guess I shouldn't be because now that she lost the baby, there has to be a reason for Maura and Angela to help Jane. Its all about Jane and her drama.

[Latverian Diplomat]

I'm not sure how old Tasha is supposed to be. She's in high school right? I would think she's demonstrated enough self-sufficiency to go for emancipation, but the show probably wouldn't go that way, and in Massachusetts that's particularly difficult:

 

"Unlike several other states, Massachusetts does not have a formal procedure for a minor to ask the court for an order of emancipation. For this reason, there are no formal guidelines for a court to follow."

 

from: http://www.masslegalhelp.org/children-and-families/emancipation

 

That said. She's a dream foster kid. Healthy, stays out of trouble, motivated student who wants to go to college, took good care of herself even when on her own. I should think there would be zero difficulty placing her with someone for whom fostering was a, shall we say, less spontaneous decision?

[MortysCleaningLady]

So happy the adoptive parent was the nurse!!!!

and I loved the baseball bouquet!

[Sabs]

Once again, I was surprised with how much I liked this episode.  I was horrified when the miscarriage spoilers came out, and I have to say I was teary eyed when she asked Maura about the baby, but I really appreciated how it didn't focus on that.  A miscarriage is a brutal horrible thing, that hits way too close to home, and I didn't want to be miserable for/with my favorite TV ladies.  I was overjoyed to Jane smiling with Tasha, and the sweet way Maura (and even Frankie) was taking care of Jane made me smile in spite of my sadness. 

Although I have to say, Angela's miscarriage confession fell flat to me.  Instead of coming across as supportive, I don't know... I'll think about it some more and maybe I'll be better able to explain what was off about it in the morning.

[pennben]

 

Once again, I was surprised with how much I liked this episode.

 

Me too.  I gave up on this show awhile ago because I thought it became ridiculous.  Then, I was bored last week and watched and thought to myself, this seems okay.  Watched this week and had the same reaction.  Then noodled around here a bit and found they changed showrunners.  Aha!  What a difference that can make.  I think I'm back for now.

[CatMomma]

 

and I loved the baseball bouquet!

One of the reasons I love this show. 

 

While I love the relationship between Maura and Jane, I hope this is the end of "a very special Jane episode, with a murder tacked on..."

[anstar]

and I loved the baseball bouquet!

At least now we know why Maura's reaction to the ruined ball last week was so subdued.  She knew it was no big deal.

I guess Tasha isn't joining the show after all. Sneaky. 

[Bastet]

As soon as we met the nurse, I knew they'd played a game with the "What does it take to become a foster parent?" promo and was so relieved I could just sit back and enjoy the episode.

 

I still think it was overkill to make Tasha so unbelievably perfect, and given her seemingly endless capabilities they sure didn't do a good job of explaining why she'd suddenly implode upon being placed in a group home when she'd been able to thrive on the streets. 

 

Even though I'd have still preferred a scene in the opener in which the pregnancy turned out to be a false positive, I like the low-key way in which the pregnancy has been handled and now finally resolved. 

 

Angela was less annoying to me this time around, although I could have done without the "me too" miscarriage story.

 

Not that I want to see Tommy, and I know the show's hands are tied, but his absence was a bit glaring.

 

They should have tossed in reference to contacting Casey, but this show is so far removed from reality that I can't bring myself to care. 

 

On with the normal show, please!

Edited August 13, 2014 by Bastet

[IndependentMind]

I do think that so far, the show has been written better and that Jan Nash is more meticulous about details than Janet ever was.

I do like this episode. The miscarriage was more subtle than I expected.

[starkresilient]

Even in hospital Jane can manage to have the most screen time. I love her but season 5 just seems to a Jane Fizzoli show with others as side characters. Maura was again in the back smiling and just helping but nothing more.

 

I love the baseball bouquet and the way they resolve the foster home thing tho

[IndependentMind]

Korzak and Maura should work together more:)

[LisaM]

As soon as I saw that Francie from Alias was the nurse - and that she kept showing up in multiple scenes - I knew that she would be the foster parent. Nice fakeout with Jane though.

 

I agree about Korsak and Maura having great chemistry together.

[Sabs]

I think I figured out what bothered me about the Angela confessing her miscarriage scene.  It didn't feel like she was supporting Jane, or offering her a shoulder to cry on, or a listening ear.  She didn't reassure her she'd be there for her (which in my opinion is totally out of character) and she almost came across as angry instead of sad.  I know she was trying to be less invasive, trying to give Jane space to process, but it just seemed so different from how she usually acts.  And it put the focus too much on her.  But that is just my opinion.  Maybe some of you can point out what the scene positively added to the episode.  I know Jane is trying to figure out how she feels, so maybe it was just a heavy handed way for someone to lay out what she is "supposed" to feel, like she asked at the end of the episode- "How am I supposed to be doing?"

[ButterQueen]

I thought this was a boring episode. I forgot about the murder---too much Jane.

[anstar]

she almost came across as angry instead of sad.

Maybe she was, a little, but would never dare to show it.  Jane refused to take care of herself, blew off doctor's appointments, and constantly put herself directly into the path of danger, and Angela was worried about it.  She was overbearing in her worry and got smacked down for it, but the feelings weren't unreasonable, just the behavior.  Now maybe Angela wants to be supportive, because she loves her daughter and knows she's hurting, but still can't help feeling a little angry?  <shrug>

[/armchair psychology]

[Latverian Diplomat]

Going to put my nerd hat on here:

 

One might have gotten the inspiration for suicide by hemlock from Plato's account of Socrates' relatively placid death. But I had also heard that hemlock poisoning is actually quite painful (and therefore a poor or even suspicious choice for suicide). Apparently, it may depend on exactly what one means by hemlock, and a few other considerations:

 

http://www3.nd.edu/~plato/bloch.htm

 

I feel like this was a missed opportunity for Maura to nerd out a little on the subject. :-)

[Sabs]

I agree about the hemlock thing, Latverian Diplomat.  Another thing I noticed was about Maura's "geek" comment on the ancient Egyptian mummification process- the fact she shared about the nose hook was so basic that my third grader said "I knew that Mom!"  Usually her facts are so adorably out of left field that they make me want to look them up.  It was a bit disappointing to not be regaled with something new and unusual.

[FavFable]

Jane will feel guilty about losing the baby because she never wanted it in the first place. So she tries to make amends by now offering to foster this teenager.

 

I would not be surprised if this whole drama now this time about losing the baby to go on the rest of the season. We had the first half about her being pregnant, the second half will be about feeling guilty. It's a Jane Rizzoli Show not "Rizzoli & Isles".

Has the show runner mentioned when the Isles part of Rizzoli & Isles is going to get a storyline? As a Maura fan I am so disappointed.

[shapeshifter]

A miscarriage is a brutal horrible thing...

Who had the line about missing something/someone Jane had never even known? Other than that, I agree with the poster from a previous thread that it would have been better if it had been a false positive test, especially after the loss of Frost.

But I guess they didn't want to (or couldn't afford to) sacrifice the cute scenes in previous episodes about Jane's nausea ad nauseam.

Based on the Tweet about 2 new actors, I'm guessing Mini-Maura/Tasha will have at least some cameos.

This is a little creepy: This page is showing an add for adoption with a cute little pink and a cute little blue sneaker. After putting 3 unplanned pregnancies through college without paternal support, I'm just going to hoard all my spare change in an effort not to be a bag lady when I retire, thank you very much.

Edited August 16, 2014 by shapeshifter

[Sabs]

I agree, a false positive would have been better.  Or if she hadn't even taken the test yet.  THey didn't actually show the positive pregnancy test at the end of last season.  The only way I'll be completely okay with the pregnancy/miscarriage story line is if it leads to something meaningful, although I have no idea what that would be....

[mythoughtis]

I think Angela was attempting to treat Jane like Jane would want to be treated.  She told her that 'it would be Ok',  and let her know that it happens to other women too.  Telling Jane about her own miscarriage let her know that Mom would actually understand(for once).

 

Personally, I dislike the common use of 'it will be OK' at times of death and great injury... because it is meaningless.  The dead person isn't going to come back to life as we know it, not all injuries heal completely, etc.    What the person really means is that 'you will feel better in time and be able to go on with YOUR life'.

[starri]

Am I the only one that thought Jane got over the trauma of losing her baby awfully quickly?

 

I mean, I know you can argue that her actions since she found out she was pregnant indicated that she was at best ambivalent about becoming a mom, but that was an issue that the show never felt it needed to raise.  She seemed to accept it fine, even if she wasn't as excited about it as her ever-annoying mother was.  But then she had one scene with Maura, one scene with Angela, and sort of half a scene with Frankie that were a little heavy, and then they cap off the episode with her drinking beer and eating pizza like everything is fine.  It really left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

I mean, I think the show is stronger for not going down the baby route, but honestly, I would have expected her to feel the weight of the world, especially as it came so soon after losing Frost.

 

With all that said, Merrin Dungey was pretty great.

[Bastet]

There's no right, or universal, way to react to a miscarriage and I have two friends who said they were afraid to discuss it with anyone because they weren't as upset as people deemed they should be -- it was a loss of potential, not of an actuality, and it made them sad but they knew these things happen and they could try again.

 

I liked Jane's low-key reaction to being pregnant, and I liked that her reaction to the miscarriage was in the same vein.  She's still processing, and I'm sure there will be ups and downs, but for that moment, surrounded by the people she most cares about, engaged in one of her favorite pastimes, life was good. 

[DXD526]

Jane has a habit of brushing off these big life events as if they were mere trifles. How jarring was it when she was almost killed by Hoyt, wound up instead killing him basically in hand-to-hand combat, then went to a party? Most people would need to wind down a bit after that, but not our Jane!

[shapeshifter]

True, @DXD526 . Jane is, after all, a fictional character.

[Sabs]

Am I the only one that thought Jane got over the trauma of losing her baby awfully quickly?

 

I don't think she is over it.  She's just in a bit of shock.  Not sure how to feel.  Numb.  She hasn't truly processed it yet.