S06.E09: Love Taps

[cooksdelight]

 

The murder of a college student takes an odd turn when Jane and Maura discover he had 32 girlfriends. Uncovering who killed him and why leads them into a world of app developers, virtual boyfriends and relationships built on lies. Meanwhile, Korsak finally introduces everyone to the new woman in his life.

 

[cooksdelight]

I want a fringe jacket so I can do swirls and twirls and swing my arms around like a superhero.

[CarpeDiem54]

I loved Jane's jacket!

Korsak's a little old to have a 30 year old girlfriend. Whatever. She seemed nice and their relationship actually appears to be mature.

[cooksdelight]

Well, you know the old saying... There may be snow on the roof, but there's still a fire in the house. Or something like that.

[rainsmom]

Does anyone else think that app sounded awesome?

 

Just me, huh.

[DropTheSoap]

Surprised no one's made that app. (Maybe they have.)

I thought David Ogden Stiers did a very nice job playing a man who's figuring out the trauma he caused his child.

Nice to see Nina being a badass.

[Badsamaritan]

Nina was a total bad ass & I loved it lol. Is this the first time we've seen her in the field like that?

I also loved all the twirling Jane did in her fringe-y coat, especially the last time in Maura's office. That was too funny & silly & looked like something I would totally do.

Still seeing sparkage with Nina & Frankie. Did he give her some side eye when she & Jane were talking about her cowboy boyfriend? Am I reading too much into it? Don't care, I'll proudly ship them!

Edited because it's Frankie, not Tommy, so then the rest of my post didn't make sense lol!

Edited August 13, 2015 by Badsamaritan

[sinkwriter]

"Jane, you might scratch a cornea with that fringe..."

"Yours too, so stand clear!"

 

LOL.

[Latverian Diplomat]

So, lots of pressure on Maura this week, to patch things up with dad. And then, she is grateful to the meddling Rizzolis afterwards. I was reminded of the Frasier where he and his dad decide to talk (yell) it out like an Italian mother/daughter they know instead of repressing it like WASPs, and it does not go well.

 

I was uncomfortable about this last week, but at least it was just Jane. This week, I did not think they handled it with any subtlety at all.

 

A little bit of looking down our noses at skateboarders this week (kids today) but I admit that trick with the chain link fence gate was pretty satisfying.

 

I think Korsaks all at once approach to introducing Kiki to his friends was not a good general strategy, but it seemed to suit Kiki, and let's be honest, it suits TV writing too.

[Scamp]

I also loved all the twirling Jane did in her fringe-y coat, especially the last time in Maura's office. That was too funny & silly & looked like something I would totally do.

Still seeing sparkage with Nina & Tommy. Did he give her some side eye when she & Jane were talking about her cowboy boyfriend? Am I reading too much into it? Don't care, I'll proudly ship Nommy...or Nimmy...or Tona? Tina? Naw, I have a crazy sister named Tina, don't wanna taint or jinx my ship!

I think you mean Frankie, not Tommy.

Edited August 12, 2015 by Scamp

[mythoughtis]

4 episodes and counting after the one in which Suzie dies - and not one mention of her after the dance party.  I read somewhere that the actress was told Suzie was being killed off so the show could explore grief.  Funny way of exploring it.  Besides which the show just explored the he*l out of grief when Barry Frost died. Yes, I know that was driven by the actor's death.... but they still incorporated it into the show and spent some time very episode of the season on it. 

 

Every episode we are shown Maura doing work that Suzie would have done, yet not one mention that they are short a tech.  Even a throwaway line would be better than nothing.   Meanwhile, we have Tomboy Jane whirling around in a fringed jacket as if she is a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader.  Please tell me again why Jane's homeowners insurance isn't paying for her to rent an apartment and buy furniture, clothing, and personal items?

 

Glad to see an actual Keiki.  Trying to figure out what time they all got off work, if Maura had time to discuss this with Angela,  hang out there and then go to a lecture. 

Is anyone else speculating that we lost Suzie for one of the following reasons (in no particular order of guessing):

 

1  A recurring character that is more popular than some of the regular characters - did someone get jealous?

2.  Did the actress demand a raise?

3.  Did the actress or her manager become difficult to get along with?

4.  Did the actress suddenly become unavailable (we all know this one is not it)

Edited August 12, 2015 by mythoughtis

[cooksdelight]

Maybe the grief will hit them all at once when something happens? Maybe they're keeping it bottled up?

[Texasmom1970]

Now I have to look up the actress playing Kiki she looks so familiar it's driving me nuts. Love that Korsak is happy even if she does look on the young side for him.

I really enjoyed watching Jane twirl and act crazy in the fringe jacket. It totally seems in character for her.

Yeah, so glad they let Nina out of the office. I am not condoning police brutality but I really wanted Jane to smack that lille smart ass skateboarder, they were trespassing I do believe!

Edited August 13, 2015 by Texasmom1970

[Bastet]

Now I have to look up the actress playing Kiki she looks so familiar it's driving me nuts. Love that Korsak is happy even if she does look on the young side for him.

 

It's Christina Chang (who is 44).  I don't recognize any of her credits, but she's been in a number of things.

[LisaM]

Really liked the Kiki meeting the friends scene. She and Korsak seem good together. Definitely better than the possibility of Angela and Korsak.

 

I miss Susie Chang. Still hoping that it was her twin who was killed off. :)

 

Jane twirling in that fringe jacket annoyed me.

 

ETA: It has been bugging me all day as to where I've seen the actress who plays Kiki before. She played Deacon's girlfriend on Nashville - the one who had the affair with Teddy.

Edited August 13, 2015 by LisaM

[Bastet]

Jane in the jacket amused me because she was doing it to torment fashionista Maura.  If she'd really been that excited by it, I'd have been annoyed.

[shapeshifter]

The Fun With Fringe scenes made me LOL. Even if there was direction for Angie Harmon and the twirling was in the script, she totally went with it and made it hysterical.

I also loved Jane and Nina bonding over the imaginary cowboy. Very light hearted, believable, and enjoyable.

I loved Jane's jacket!

Korsak's a little old to have a 30 year old girlfriend. Whatever. She seemed nice and their relationship actually appears to be mature.

Christina Chang is 45. Bruce McGill is 64. Not sure what ages their characters are supposed to be, although I think he's playing his age since they had all that retirement talk. My main problem with the age difference was that earlier in the episode there was some harsh light on Bruce McGill's face that made me think he had aged 10 years since the last episode and seriously wonder about his health.

Back in the 70s I had a fringe jacket. I still miss it, but fringe no longer fits my image.

When Angela was giving Korsak advice at the bar, it occurred to me that it would have been much better if they had made Lorraine Bracco's character a barkeep in the beginning instead of just Jane and Frankie's mom. It would have given her a reason to be aware of everybody's business. I guess they just figured it out a little late.

[l star]

I thought David Ogden Stiers did a very nice job playing a man who's figuring out the trauma he caused his child.

He and Sasha were great together. Even when they were both clearly upset, it was still very clear where Maura learned her self-control and sense of decorum.

 

I really liked that they had Maura's father genuinely have no idea the depth of the problem. When he realized that Maura had never talked to her mother about it, even after he and Constance had worked things out, it as like the shades fell. That doesn't make Maura's pain any less valid, but it does make the storyline and Arthur deeper and more human. I also liked that unlike with Constance, the relationship was not quickly repaired. This one shouldn't be.

 

One thing I think was very clear though was that Maura was waiting for her father to make the first move which is an excellent callback to the dynamic a child has with a parent. She knew she had to meet him if only to get the paperwork, so as much as I loved the 'I thought you were going to talk to him', 'so did I' exchange, her continued avoidance was really just pretense. Once he tried to talk, she spilled the problem. Then tried to avoid again when she clearly wanted to go the lecture. Her comment about not knowing what to do without the anger was so sympathetic to me. Figuring out an adult relationship with a father she hasn't been close to since she was a child will be very hard. I also loved that they reconnected over an old shared interest, an anthropology lecture. That was perfect.

 

I really wanted to know why she had to sign all those papers though. And I want to know more about the family trust. Are we talking like generations of wealth in the trust? Or is this something her parents set up? Is this a charitable trust? Is this Maura's inheritance? Is this the source of all those houses in Europe? Inquiring minds, show!!

So, lots of pressure on Maura this week, to patch things up with dad. And then, she is grateful to the meddling Rizzolis afterwards. I was reminded of the Frasier where he and his dad decide to talk (yell) it out like an Italian mother/daughter they know instead of repressing it like WASPs, and it does not go well.

 

I was uncomfortable about this last week, but at least it was just Jane. This week, I did not think they handled it with any subtlety at all.

I was okay with Jane pushing Maura to see her father (though grabbing her phone to text him was across the line) until she actually met him at the park. It's hard to know what to do when you have a friend who is confused and in pain because she wants something but justifiably doesn't want it at the same time. I don't blame Jane for pushing her to just give it a shot while she could and stop agonizing over it. Maybe because that's the last we heard of it from Jane, but I didn't have a problem with anyone pushing her until Angela. But Angela sucks so that's not exactly shocking.

4 episodes and counting after the one in which Suzie dies - and not one mention of her after the dance party.  I read somewhere that the actress was told Suzie was being killed off so the show could explore grief.  Funny way of exploring it.

I'm wondering if they cut some scenes. No one would bring Suzie up but Maura or possibly Kent Drake. Or more specifically, Maura to someone else in the lab like Drake. While his excuse is that he is barely on, some of the morgue scenes have felt a little off in a few eps, like maybe they were cut too abruptly or were missing a connecting scene.

The Fun With Fringe scenes made me LOL. Even if there was direction for Angie Harmon and the twirling was in the script, she totally went with it and made it hysterical.

I also loved Jane and Nina bonding over the imaginary cowboy. Very light hearted, believable, and enjoyable.

Complete agreement on both points! This episode had some great humor.

 

I liked Kiki but they seemed more like father and daughter than a couple. And I'm not just saying that because of their ages. I kept waiting for her to say 'Dad, you know your doctor said not to eat that.' Or 'your Dad's told us so much about you!'. I saw absolutely no romantic or sexual connection between them at all.

 

I felt bad for that college kid that Korsak insulted as they walked out of the victim's dorm room. He was helpful and decent to them. The book line wasn't the brightest but I still thought the 'knuckleheads' comment was unwarranted, especially where he could still hear.

[Scamp]

Having spent far too much time on the R&I Facebook page this week, repeatedly explaining Maura's birth and adoptive parents, I suddenly realized the mass confusion there could have been easily prevented.  (BTW, I was joined by several others.)

 

This is my solution:

 

"The writers should have started us off with a quick recap of Maura's four parents and their impact on her life. She could have reminded Jane as they had their morning coffee. Instead, half the comments here [on Facebook] are from confused viewers."  

 

 

[Clanstarling]

So, lots of pressure on Maura this week, to patch things up with dad. And then, she is grateful to the meddling Rizzolis afterwards. I was reminded of the Frasier where he and his dad decide to talk (yell) it out like an Italian mother/daughter they know instead of repressing it like WASPs, and it does not go well.

 

I was uncomfortable about this last week, but at least it was just Jane. This week, I did not think they handled it with any subtlety at all.

 

A little bit of looking down our noses at skateboarders this week (kids today) but I admit that trick with the chain link fence gate was pretty satisfying.

I'm not fond of the patch things up pressure either, and I thought at one point that Maura would stick to her guns, ultimately. On the other hand, they did do a good job of setting up a situation where misunderstanding on the father's part led to the years of not speaking about it. Life works a little better when you have a scriptwriter. :)

 

I would rather my kids/grandkids knew their rights, so the skateboarders didn't bother me at all (though the Reddit reference was a bit of a dig - still there is actually some good stuff on Reddit). Police shows do have a tendency to paint people who know their rights as being somehow in the wrong. It is the norm on cop shows to imply that anyone who asks for a lawyer is guilty of something. I think it's a bad message to send, and it annoys me. 

 

While the skateboards were, indeed, trespassing, it's not like they were endangering anyone other than themselves. None of my kids were skateboarders, but plenty of kids zip down the roads in our hilly town and I wish they'd go someplace isolated than down our streets, which is the norm. The "no trespassing" signs in cases like this is more for the property owners to avoid liability if anyone gets injured on their property, at least so I was told by a woman who had this exact issue (skateboarders on her vacant property).

 

Maybe the grief will hit them all at once when something happens? Maybe they're keeping it bottled up?

I like your optimism.  I don't share it, but I like it.

Edited August 15, 2015 by clanstarling

[BellaLugosi]

When did Korsak & Kiki start dating? I know Angela was pushing it but I can't remember him actually saying he'd asked her out. 

[pennben]

 

I was reminded of the Frasier where he and his dad decide to talk (yell) it out like an Italian mother/daughter they know instead of repressing it like WASPs, and it does not go well.

 

That was such a great episode!!!! It was Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz. I rewatch it every holiday season, Niles was playing Jesus in a play, Frazier and family were trying to pretend to be jewish to appease a new girlfriend's mother, Niles comes out in costume behind the mother, Frazier yells "Jesus!", the dog runs around with a Santa hat, an ill-timed Christmas tree delivery, lot's of farce and ending with the yelling at each other like they saw the girlfriend/mother do to disastrous results.  A classic!

 

Anyway, as for this show, I've been impressed that they've gotten back to being on track as a fun summer fluff show to watch after the disastrous final season of the original showrunner.

Edited August 15, 2015 by pennben

[Latverian Diplomat]

That was such a great episode!!!! It was Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz. I rewatch it every holiday season, Niles was playing Jesus in a play, Frazier and family were trying to pretend to be jewish to appease a new girlfriend's mother, Niles comes out in costume behind the mother, Frazier yells "Jesus Christ!", the dog runs around with a Santa hat, an ill-timed Christmas tree delivery, lot's of farce and ending with the yelling at each other like they saw the girlfriend/mother do to disastrous results.  A classic!

 

Anyway, as for this show, I've been impressed that they've gotten back to being on track as a fun summer fluff show to watch after the disastrous final season of the original showrunner.

Oops, apparently I got the ethnicity wrong. But yes, it can be taken as a very funny lesson about how family dynamics are often the way they are for a reason, and attempts to adjust them can fail spectacularly.

[Scamp]

When did Korsak & Kiki start dating? I know Angela was pushing it but I can't remember him actually saying he'd asked her out. 

She was his life coach and they weren't going to date.  Then suddenly they are dating.  I'm disappointed by this change.  I liked the idea  of a relationship between a man and a woman that wasn't romantic.  As it is, she  looks much too young for him.

[Clanstarling]

I have a vague memory of a discussion about Korsak dating Kiki, but I'm not sure if that was the "she's my life coach, and I don't want to mess it up" talk, or a later one.

 

It does seem weird to date your life coach - although not quite in the same ballpark, it seems akin to dating your therapist to me. I haven't met any life coaches in real life, and the only one, besides Kiki, I've seen on TV was that monstrous one on Nip & Tuck. So they are not high on my list (which could be revised if I ever met one).

 

I don't have any problem with her age. Yeah, she's in her 40's and he's in his 60's - and it's a big gap. But I don't think it's as big a gap at that age as it is when it's a couple in their 20's and 40's. Kiki's had plenty of time to figure herself out.

[BellaLugosi]

Ah ok.  I binge watched the this season, so I thought I'd somehow missed an episode. That's the way I remember it too, he was being encouraged to ask her out, and he wanted to, but he didn't want to ruin what they already had. Then next think I knew he was dating her. 

[vera charles]

They talk about Korsak possibly retiring and lots of police departments have mandatory retirement ages of 55 or 60. So Korsak could conceivably be a little younger than Bruce McGill is in real life. And the actress playing Kiki looks younger than mid-40's, which adds to the perception of them being off, age-wise. I am kind of surprised that they cast someone to play the character at all. I thought she'd always be off-camera.

[Scamp]

Bruce McGill is 65.  Christina Chang is 44.  Huge age gap, in my opinion.  Jan Nash seems determined to pair off her cast heterosexually.  Even if she refuses to go with Rizzles, aren't there any LGBTQ folks In her Boston who could be on the show?

[Bastet]

I am kind of surprised that they cast someone to play the character at all. I thought she'd always be off-camera.

 

I wish she'd stayed off camera; it was kind of a fun quirk to hear of her but never see her.  But, then, what I really wish is she'd stuck with the perfectly logical "I don't date clients" rule and remained his life coach rather than becoming his girlfriend.

[LadyMustang65]

On ‎8‎/‎15‎/‎2015 at 2:04 PM, Scamp said:

She was his life coach and they weren't going to date.  Then suddenly they are dating.  I'm disappointed by this change.  I liked the idea  of a relationship between a man and a woman that wasn't romantic.  As it is, she  looks much too young for him.

We just found this show on Hulu and have been watching it.  This was actually the episode we watched last night.  In an earlier episode, Korsack is talking to Angela about how he and Kiki are going to be talking about ending their client relationship and starting a dating relationship.  So they did set it up.  She's no longer his life coach.