S06.E04: Imitation Game

[cooksdelight]

The murder of a notorious thief sends Jane and Maura into the world of art heists and forgery and forces Jane to tango with an F.B.I. Agent who has a keen interest in her case. There's also a new man in Angela's life.

[Bastet]

The basic storyline gave me flashbacks to Remington Steele, but this was a fairly enjoyable episode.  The FBI agent was another “I’ve seen that actor somewhere” for me, but I didn’t catch his name to look him up.  I’ll have to watch the later airing.

 

Does Angela even listen to herself when she complains about wanting to keep her private life private?  And, just as Angela sometimes has a point, Jane is reasonable to resent the fact the mystery boyfriend’s daughter gets to have dinner with them, but Jane can’t even so much as know the man’s name.

 

Again with the lack of explanation for Jane’s morning presence at Maura’s place.  Just say they carpool or something, show, because this is getting distracting.

[Bastet]

No, but thank you for a name to look up.  It turns out I knew him from ER and an episode of Cold Case.

[shapeshifter]

And once again the writers think the viewers will feel smart if the detectives are stupid. I knew it was a forgery from the first moment Maura said the word "gesso," if not earlier. And there was very little cobalt (or any) blue in the picture. And the art crimes database was open to the public last I checked--though that was at least 10 years ago, so maybe not any more. Argh.

Maybe I'm more annoyed than most because recently an old master-style portrait I donated to my place of work was stolen, and when a professor who had been using the room was queried about when the painting was last seen, he was surprised I had painted it (not my day job) and suggested I could make more money forging art than I am paid by our mutual employer. Probably, but I have no business sense and could never sleep in a prison.

The plumbing plot was pretty pointless.

Wasn't there a cute line about a dog? I kept dozing off.

Bastet, did you watch White Collar? Sharif Atkins, who played Agent Jones, played tonight's Fibbie...

Too bad they didn't make it a cross-over instead of just type casting. Was there supposed to be a flirtation between him and Jane? Edited July 8, 2015 by shapeshifter

[l star]

I'm beginning to think they have some kind of unofficial group breakfast arrangement happening. Everybody gets dressed then breakfast and car pool. Good god. Boundaries Maura! There doesn't have to be a man there to tell them your open door doesn't mean come and go constantly. But haha at Maura's guesses for Joann. Personal trainers and waxers can be affordable but no way is Angela making enough at the Dirty Robber for a personal shopper. I loved how the minute it got serious, Jane kicked Maura out. So she could then make herself busy while they had their conversation four feet from her, practically yelling. Rational expectations, Maura. Please.

 

Jane is ridiculously nosy, to the point of being invasive. She still has awhile before she reaches her mother's level though so Angela can fuck off on those judgments. The only reason I had any sympathy for Angela was because of Jane's 'what if he has a record'. She'd have known a million negative things about him by the next day- things that Angela didn't know because she didn't need to yet- and call it watching out for Angela. I wouldn't want that pressure on a brand new relationship either.

 

I know Jane's issue with the FBI was supposed to be PD prejudice against the FBI but she just came off petty to me. He didn't even seem to be the stereotypical TV fed. Flippant and not overly forthcoming but not distracted by turf wars. And if Jane didn't even know about the art crimes database she needed all the help she could get.

 

I like how consistent Maura's love of, and knowledge of, art is. She should be, given that she is the daughter of an artist. I actually kept expecting that to come up sooner. She's rich, passionate about art, and the daughter of an artist. Of course she donates money to art museums. Her horror at Jane scratching that painting was totally deserved. What the hell?!?! And just because she saw her 'competition'?! Insane. I knew what was coming as soon as Jane saw Burns but I laughed that even knowing Jane was taking advantage of her infallible manners to get rid of her, it still didn't occur to Maura that Jane would do that. Because it was insane. Jane bugged me a lot this episode but that really bothered me.

 

Otherwise- the plumbing plot really didn't do anything besides emphasize Nina's crush on Frankie, make Angela look ridiculous, and let Frankie show some commendable sense. Which I guess is relevant enough to be on this show but I could have skipped it. Much like that way too long beginning scene with the awful family. Angie Harmon is crazy beautiful but I didn't like that white dress. Not beside Maura's black one and not when she was trying to be inconspicuous to scratch freaking paintings.

[LisaM]

The only part of this episode that I liked was Susie Chang and Nina bringing the Wet Vac to Frankie at the bar.

[Good Queen Jane]

Maybe I watch too many procedurals, but the ending seemed anticlimactic to me. I kept waiting for it to turn out that some rich collector had faked both the burning of the painting and the suicide of the forger. Occam's razor indeed!

 

Good to see you again, Agent Jones/Burns! I hope you stick around for a few more episodes.

[St. Claire]

It was good to see Sharif Atkins on my TV, but it just seemed wrong to have him be an FBI agent dealing with a white collar crime and not have him be Jones. He could have dropped some remarks about talented forgers (i.e., Neil Caffrey) that only viewers of of White Collar would immediately pick up on. 

[BooksRule]

Maybe I watch too many procedurals, but the ending seemed anticlimactic to me. I kept waiting for it to turn out that some rich collector had faked both the burning of the painting and the suicide of the forger. Occam's razor indeed!

 

I know!  When they found the guy dead I kept waiting for Jane to hear a noise and chase someone who was hiding somewhere on deck (and do many suicides actually shoot themselves right in the middle of the forehead?  I would think it would be -- ugh!  --either one side of the head or through their mouth).  I was like 'that's it?'.

 

I couldn't remember Sharif Atkins' name, but I recognized him from other shows, mainly as poor Dr. Gallant on 'ER'.

[cooksdelight]

 

I couldn't remember Sharif Atkins' name, but I recognized him from other shows, mainly as poor Dr. Gallant on 'ER'.

 

Thank you, it was driving me nuts as to where I'd seen him before.

[Scamp]

I know Jane's issue with the FBI was supposed to be PD prejudice against the FBI but she just came off petty to me. He didn't even seem to be the stereotypical TV fed. Flippant and not overly forthcoming but not distracted by turf wars. And if Jane didn't even know about the art crimes database she needed all the help she could get.

Remember Jane's on-and-off relationship with FBI Agent Gabriel Dean? (Seasons 1 & 2)  She's entitled to view the feebs with suspicion.  And why would a BPD homicide detective know about the FBI art crimes database?  

 

 

[jaytee1812]

Would someone as educated and pedantic as Maura not know that the 'w' in Berwick is silent? That really bugged me. 

 

It was a good episode, nice to see Sharif Atkins again. 

 

I love Susie and Nina together, they make a good team. I'd watch a Susie/Nina/Frankie spin off. 

[DropTheSoap]

Agreed on Sharif Atkins - nice to see him. I haven't watched White Collar, though, so those comments would be lost on me. I wouldn't mind if he became a recurring character.

 

Doesn't Angela have her own refrigerator in the guest house? Seems like that's where she'd be keeping leftovers.

 

I agree that the ending seemed rather weak. "Oh look, we found him, he's dead. The end." 

[cam3150]

Bastet, did you watch White Collar? Sharif Atkins, who played Agent Jones, played tonight's Fibbie. My mom said they must have hired him 'cause he was familiar with art forgery lingo. Hee! Too bad they couldn't have named the forger after Neal Caffrey.

Oh my goodness. I watched every episode of White Collar and still could not place where I had seen that actor before. I knew I had seen him in a similar role, just could not place it.  Man, the writers wasted a massive golden opportunity casting him for an art forgery plot line and not somehow referencing Neal Caffrey.  That would have been fabulous.  

 

Angela just gets on my nerves and I wouldn't mind at all if they phased her out.  I just find her entire presentation very grating. I love the actress but the portrayal of the character is just...she's just so dang immature, it's easy to see where Jane gets it from.  

[craziness]

Thank you, show runners, for not letting the FBI guy be Gabriel Dean. I hated his character (though he is much better in the books).

I have no spoilery info, but based on the ending (burned original painting, forger dead by suicide (with a gunshot directly through the forehead), not seeing the husband of the woman who donated the painting) I think this case will be revisited in a future episode. Maybe another stolen piece of art, which will lead to finding the real painting in the possession of the real owners who were out to get the insurance money ... but this is just speculation. I just thinkk that Jane's line about she likes it when they close the case, not when the bad guys do it for them (or whatever she said) was foreshadowing that this case isn't really closed yet.

[Black Knight]

I agree, craziness. This isn't over yet.

 

Actually, what I was expecting all through this episode was to learn that Agent Burns was in fact not a FBI agent at all but the one behind everything. I still think that's in play, that he was posing as a FBI agent in order to keep tabs on the investigation and make sure they didn't get on his trail. It would explain his lack of contributing anything concrete except something that the forgery operation would've needed to have, the maps showing the security cameras. Everything else was just "Yeah, I looked that up on the FBI computer and nothing came up." Sure. He was weirdly laid-back, content to just watch Jane investigate. Plus, that line he had to Jane about wanting to tell her something if he didn't get a chance later...

 

Or maybe it's Susie, ha ha. I did think it sort of weird that she suddenly turned out to have studied art, given that Maura is already established as an art expert with a prodigious memory for facts and could easily have filled Susie's role in giving Nina enough facts to do her search. Why did they need to make Susie an expert too? It's not like the actress is a series regular and they have to find her things to do, although I enjoy seeing her. But unless Sasha Alexander was unavailable to film that day, I don't know why it wouldn't be Maura, given that SA is a series regular and they do have to find her things to do and they often struggle with finding more ways to get Maura involved in the cases. This would have been far less forced than other things they've done (like when Jane insisted that Maura make a psychological assessment of a suspect she was questioning because of Maura's heretofore unmentioned one rotation in psychology or whatever it was), since it is part of Maura's established history and her mother is an artist.

 

I'm not really feeling this season so far. I like Nina and I'm glad they made her a regular, but there was something special in the chemistry in the early seasons and it's gone now. Losing Lee Thompson Young's Frost is a big factor, without question, but it's not the only one since they didn't have him last season either and last season worked better than this one has, so far. It's the writing as well. Jane and Maura's relationship feels perfunctory at this point, like they're just checking certain boxes ("start the episode with breakfast at Maura's! be sure to end the episode with a short conversation between them!") without any real depth, and Angela and Frankie seem to be driving all the stories. Maybe the show's just lost steam and is out of ideas.

[Clanstarling]

Maybe I'm more annoyed than most because recently an old master-style portrait I donated to my place of work was stolen, and when a professor who had been using the room was queried about when the painting was last seen, he was surprised I had painted it (not my day job) and suggested I could make more money forging art than I am paid by our mutual employer. Probably, but I have no business sense and could never sleep in a prison.

Wasn't there a cute line about a dog? I kept dozing off

I always thought that if someone could copy a painting as well as forgers do, why wouldn't someone want to buy it, knowing it was not original, just because they liked the painting? Seems like it would be worth good money - just not illegal forgery money. Beats having a poster. The paintings aren't copyrighted. Perhaps you can illuminate me, shapeshifter.

 

The FBI guy's dog was named Flearoy. I laughed at that one.

 

I kept waiting for it to turn out that some rich collector had faked both the burning of the painting and the suicide of the forger. Occam's razor indeed!

I thought it was going to hinge on the woman who donated the painting. I thought that either she had it swapped (then covered her trail) because she was going to divorce the husband, or that he did it because he could sell it (maybe for financial difficulties, maybe to disappear for other reasons.)

 

So did anyone else notice that Jane was intending to make a sandwich, and that she put a drumstick on a piece of bread? Not exactly the sandwich bite I'd look for.

Edited July 9, 2015 by clanstarling

[shapeshifter]

I always thought that if someone could copy a painting as well as forgers do, why wouldn't someone want to buy it, knowing it was not original, just because they liked the painting? Seems like it would be worth good money - just not illegal forgery money. Beats having a poster. The paintings aren't copyrighted. Perhaps you can illuminate me, shapeshifter...

Eh, depends upon how you define "good money." After supplies, framing, and shipping, the "artist" breaks even unless s/he is paid huge sums because it is deemed to be true "art."

 

...The FBI guy's dog was named Flearoy. I laughed at that one...

Yes, it was "Flearoy!" I loved that. Both the name and the casual way he said it. Thanks, clanstarling, as long as you're here I don't need to take notes.

[Scamp]

Or maybe it's Susie, ha ha. I did think it sort of weird that she suddenly turned out to have studied art, given that Maura is already established as an art expert with a prodigious memory for facts and could easily have filled Susie's role in giving Nina enough facts to do her search. Why did they need to make Susie an expert too? It's not like the actress is a series regular and they have to find her things to do, although I enjoy seeing her. But unless Sasha Alexander was unavailable to film that day, I don't know why it wouldn't be Maura, given that SA is a series regular and they do have to find her things to do and they often struggle with finding more ways to get Maura involved in the cases. This would have been far less forced than other things they've done (like when Jane insisted that Maura make a psychological assessment of a suspect she was questioning because of Maura's heretofore unmentioned one rotation in psychology or whatever it was), since it is part of Maura's established history and her mother is an artist.

 

Before medical school, Susie spent a year in Paris studying art.  Remember her dioramas?

Edited July 9, 2015 by Scamp

[Clanstarling]

Eh, depends upon how you define "good money." After supplies, framing, and shipping, the "artist" breaks even unless s/he is paid huge sums because it is deemed to be true "art."

 

Yes, it was "Flearoy!" I loved that. Both the name and the casual way he said it. Thanks, clanstarling, as long as you're here I don't need to take notes.

What would you call good money which would cover the costs of supplies and shipping? I was thinking that something so good it duplicated a masterpiece would be worth, at a minimum, four figures. And that might even be low. I know nothing about this of course, but I had a conversation with an artist whose work I bought, and while I'd initially thought his price steep (not 4 figures, but also, not masterpiece quality), I realized the price he was asking would be what I'd expect to be offered for a short story - which involved similar artistic effort. To me, an above-board duplicate of a masterpiece should be worth at least the price of a novel (that is, what publishers would pay for a novel, not a consumer).  I do know supplies are expensive - footed our kid's bill through art school. Yikes. 

 

So now Jane's becoming the intrusive person? The last few episodes she's been way too interested in Angela's life. But I guess they're just showing "like mother, like daughter."  They did show she had that inclination before, but it seems heavy-handed these days. I was disappointed in Korsak for taking part in the find out Angela's bf's name - even though he played her like a champ. It would be nice for Angela to have someone her age to talk to.

Edited July 9, 2015 by clanstarling

[kassygreene]

It would be nice if they could tell stories that do not betray their own built-in stupidity.  $842 (-ish) to have a professional plumber fix that mess, traded off against the cost of the bar being shut down for at least two days, and getting and passing an inspection (I like to think that in Boston a business has certain health code requirements before the business can sell food and drink to the public).  PLUS all the other staff had an involuntary unpaid vacation.  Angela remains consistently dumb.  It's still not attractive.  Nor is the inability of any Rizzoli to point out to any other Rizzoli how each of them can dish out but can't take it back...

 

Eh, what do I expect.  Boundaries are not respected in that family either.  Taking someone else's clearly labeled food and eating it is just petty.

[Ohmo]

It was good to see Sharif Atkins on my TV, but it just seemed wrong to have him be an FBI agent dealing with a white collar crime and not have him be Jones. He could have dropped some remarks about talented forgers (i.e., Neil Caffrey) that only viewers of of White Collar would immediately pick up on. 

 

Bolding by me.  I like Sharif, and I'm glad that he's working, but I'm not gonna lie.  His casting in this specific role took me completely out of this episode.  It became a White Collar episode in my head, and it was all sorts of weird to NOT see Neal Caffrey in an episode about art forgery.

 

For those who've never watched White Collar, Neal Caffrey (played by Matt Bomer) was a master art forger.  Viewers saw Neal do many of the activities that Maura discussed with Jane...stretch canvas (correctly) and use older canvases to give credibility to his forgeries.  He and Maura could have a very interesting conversation about cobalt blue.  Neal worked for the FBI, and Sharif Atkins played Clinton Jones, an FBI agent who worked with (and helped keep an eye on) Neal.

 

Rizzoli and Isles and White Collar were/are produced by different studios.  There were no shout-outs to WC in this episode, unless Sharif's casting and the episode title were supposed to be shout-outs.  As someone who watched every episode of White Collar and does enjoy R&I, this episode felt like a cheap knockoff of a purse, like a WC script was altered because this very easily could have been a White Collar episode.

 

I'm glad Sharif got paid, but the "imitation game" wasn't just about the painting in the story.  What this episode mostly did was make me miss White Collar and make Rizzoli and Isles look like a poor substitute.  I should want to be in this story, not want to be replacing this shory with one from another network and studio.

Edited July 10, 2015 by Ohmo

[Bastet]

Rizzoli and Isles and White Collar were/are produced by different studios.  There were no shout-outs to WC in this episode, unless Sharif's casting and the episode title were supposed to be shout-outs.  As someone who watched every episode of White Collar and does enjoy R&I, this episode felt like a cheap knockoff of a purse, like a WC script was altered because this very easily could have been a White Collar episode.

 

I know nothing about White Collar, but I figure it was unintentional; as I mentioned, to me, this felt reminiscent of a Remington Steele episode (minus the similarity in casting).  I'm sure that was pure accident, too.

[Kelda Feegle]

I really hope that this story is revisited - otherwise it was a very lame ending. Please let Rizzoli/Harmon eat a sandwich (or 10) her frame is scarily thin. 

I also noticed it was a drumstick on the bread and did a doubletake.

Please make Angela go away, now, fast, I just cannot abide her.

[Setra]

Maybe I watch too many procedurals, but the ending seemed anticlimactic to me. I kept waiting for it to turn out that some rich collector had faked both the burning of the painting and the suicide of the forger. Occam's razor indeed!

 

Good to see you again, Agent Jones/Burns! I hope you stick around for a few more episodes.

Had it been White Collar, both would have been faked lol.

[andromeda331]

It was good to see Sharif Atkins on my TV, but it just seemed wrong to have him be an FBI agent dealing with a white collar crime and not have him be Jones. He could have dropped some remarks about talented forgers (i.e., Neil Caffrey) that only viewers of of White Collar would immediately pick up on.

 

From the moment he stepped on screen I kept waiting for shout outs. I know its a different show but it was so weird to have him talk about the crime and art, forgeries and not mention Neal if not by name then just mentioning a guy he worked with. Also, Sharif you are one very hot guy.

 

I never considered this was possibly being set up for another episode. I was confused as to why he'd kill himself it seemed like an odd thing for an art forger to do. Even if he did kill someone. But never even thought of it being set up for something else. You guys are really good!

[Badsamaritan]

Not gonna lie, I liked the vibe between Jane & Sharif Atkins' character. I did see a lil bit of sparkle and I liked the way he teased her. I wouldn't mind seeing that explored so I hope he comes back.

[shapeshifter]

Not gonna lie, I liked the vibe between Jane & Sharif Atkins' character. I did see a lil bit of sparkle and I liked the way he teased her. I wouldn't mind seeing that explored so I hope he comes back.

I agree except: Don't all of Jane and Maura's lovers have terrible fates?

[pennben]

 

I have no spoilery info, but based on the ending (burned original painting, forger dead by suicide (with a gunshot directly through the forehead), not seeing the husband of the woman who donated the painting) I think this case will be revisited in a future episode.

 

I just watched the episode and came to post exactly that.

 

 

I still think that's in play, that he was posing as a FBI agent in order to keep tabs on the investigation and make sure they didn't get on his trail. It would explain his lack of contributing anything concrete except something that the forgery operation would've needed to have, the maps showing the security cameras.

 

Precisely! I expect there is more to come with him and this case.

 

The "suicide" did it for me.  How often do folks who commit suicide shoot themselves directly in the middle of the forehead.  That seemed off.

 

My guess, and it is just that, is that the husband of the woman who owned the painting is involved and he recruited the FBI art specialist to help him pull the heist and split proceeds.  Why else have a throw away line about a government worker not having the money to own such a valuable painting?  It must have killed him to repeatedly reject offers of up to $40 million.

 

Time will tell.  Fun episode.  This show, under the new show runner, while still just summer fluff, has truly bounced back from the depths of awfulness that made me drop it under the old show runner.

Edited July 12, 2015 by pennben

[Badsamaritan]

I think the Atkins character really is FBI. Didn't he have his own vest when they busted in one place, and got them some info from a check the FBI did for them?

And maybe he comes from money or something. That would be different for Jane. Family money, well educated but with a healthy perspective on it all. I just don't want somebody who names their Schnauzer Flearoy to be a bad guy lol!

[l star]

Doesn't Angela have her own refrigerator in the guest house? Seems like that's where she'd be keeping leftovers.

 

I agree that the ending seemed rather weak. "Oh look, we found him, he's dead. The end." 

But if Angela kept anything restricted to the guest house, she couldn't draw any attention to it or use it as an excuse to dig into everyone else's lives.

 

I actually liked the ending. It was quick and easy but it was also much less satisfying than this show usually requires. It wouldn't hurt this show for its detectives to be a little less happy at the end of cases sometimes. Now that you guys have said it, I can see them revisiting this case though. No thank you, if for no other reason than I have no interest in seeing Jane fixated on a case again. If it had been Korsak or even Frankie, I would be all for it. But I did not like Jane at all during this case.

I'm not really feeling this season so far. I like Nina and I'm glad they made her a regular, but there was something special in the chemistry in the early seasons and it's gone now. Losing Lee Thompson Young's Frost is a big factor, without question, but it's not the only one since they didn't have him last season either and last season worked better than this one has, so far. It's the writing as well. Jane and Maura's relationship feels perfunctory at this point, like they're just checking certain boxes ("start the episode with breakfast at Maura's! be sure to end the episode with a short conversation between them!") without any real depth, and Angela and Frankie seem to be driving all the stories. Maybe the show's just lost steam and is out of ideas.

I'm not feeling it either and I agree the change in focus is a huge part of the issue. Last season, it was unbalanced because it was all about Jane. This season it's shifted to the supporting characters. And unfortunately, not Korsak. With the addition of the new morgue character and his back and forth with Maura, I had hoped things would be better. Jane has the cases and her family, Maura would have her own work storylines to balance out her also getting Jane's family. So far though, the storylines just haven't meshed for me.

[Lillybee]

I thought that that the FBI agent didn't look a day over 16/