Rizzoli and Isles – There Be Ghosts

By: Kelly Kearney

This week’s episode of “Rizzoli and Isles” dipped into its supernatural vibe. With old ghost stories and double homicide at a local hospital, the Boston PD has their work cut out for them.

Murders, Mice and Leaky Roofs

When the episode opens, Boston is in the midst of a storm. The weather is dark and brooding, a perfect back drop for a horror movie style impalement. In what can only be described as what not to do in a horror movie, a patient is creeping around an unlit hospital cancer wing that appears to be under construction. She seems to be checking out a possible noise when all of a sudden an unknown assailant grabs her, impaling her with some sort iron rod, and leaves a white rose next to her body. The victim is Jenny Tate, a chemotherapy patient, and nobody in the hospital saw her wander off leaving no eye witnesses to her murder. Jane (Angie Harmon) and the team are on the case and the weather is proving to be a huge inconvenience. It seems Jane’s new house has a leaky roof (on the first floor of a two story townhouse) that is putting her in a saltier mood than usual. Maura, (Sasha Alexander) who’s always trying to lighten her BFFs mood, has been concentrating on Hope’s (Sharon Lawrence) offer to work for her all the while attempting to get Jane into a dress for a mystery writer’s conference the two are attending. It seems Maura has always had the desire to be a writer and she’s in serious fangirl mode for this conference. Speaking of fangirling, Kent (Adam Sinclair) has a kind of obsession of his own. Apparently the Scottish doctor has been trying to convince Frankie to tag along with him to a concert. Frankie, who doesn’t spend nearly as much time as his sister down in the morgue, doesn’t know Kent that well and isn’t exactly looking for a new concert buddy. He’s been ducking the assistant M.E. around the police department, especially when he found out Kent’s little hobby… mouse taxidermy.

Mystery Writer or Mysterious Suspect?

After the rather eye opening conversation into Kent’s rodent taxidermy (he dresses them up and puts them in football poses) Korsak (Bruce McGill) and Jane interview a woman with possible information on their hospital murder. Samantha Caspary (played by ex-Bond girl Serena Scott Thomas) is a mystery novelist who’s in town for the writer’s conference and came not because she has information on the murder, but because she has a ghostly theory. She seems to know some of the broader details of the crime such as the impalement and the white rose, but she’s more interested in interviewing Jane than offering information that could help the case. She claims she knows who committed the murder and the culprit is a ghost. Jane, who’s always been a realist, doesn’t seem thrilled about this ghost theory yet listens to the writer’s story about a patient, Hannah Rose, who died at the hospital and who’s angry ghost came back to enact vengeance by killing several people including a doctor with whom she impaled on an iron post. Samantha heard about the hospital murder and saw the connections to the old ghost story and assumed the police would want to know the similarities. There’s a catch though, Samantha’s been trying to access the hospitals archives for information about the ghost killings and so far has had no luck. She’s hoping for some quid pro quo. She gives Korsak and Jane the information about the ghost murderer and they give her a peek into the hospital records.

Working the Case

In between Maura’s excitement about famed writer Samantha Caspary, she tells Jane their victim Jenny Tate was receiving chemo therapy at the hospital, but was on her way to remission thanks to a new combination of experimental drugs. The drugs were not the cause of death and while they can leave you disoriented, it’s seemingly doubtful Jenny fell onto the iron rod and died accidently. It seems the killer placed the white rose in her hand, post mortem, causing the thorns to leave a scratch. The victim was definitely murdered and the team has very little evidence to tie in a suspect. The person who seems to have the most information about this case is Samantha Caspary and she uses her knowledge to manipulate Maura. Maura has always dreamed of being a writer so when Samantha praises her short stories and mentions passing it on to her publisher, the M.E. is beyond thrilled. Speaking of thrills, it seems that ghost story Samantha mentioned is alive and well and the hospital wants no part of it. The story of Hannah Rose nearly caused the hospital to close back in 1905 and they do not want that ghost rumor circulating again. Patients tend to steer clear of suspected haunted hospitals, but Korsak promises to remain discreet with any and all records. That’s when the two detectives find another body. While searching the area where the previous murder took place, they find Jenny Tate’s chemo doctor dead along with the signature white rose. It looks like the vengeful ghost has struck again, but Jane is more than suspicions of Caspary and reminds Maura to be careful around her new literary mentor.

Experimental Drugs and Murder

Korsak and the team question Jenny’s husband about phone calls between his wife and Dr. Morgan. It looks like the two were possibly having an affair when they discover a motel in New Hampshire that the two victims stayed in together. Mr. Tate (Corey Sorensen) denied his wife’s affair and told Korsak that Dr. Morgan was trying to save his wife’s life. The hospital where the two victims died wouldn’t allow the experimental treatment to be administered due to liability. Jenny and Dr. Morgan went to New Hampshire where the treatments were allowed. That’s why there were so many phone calls between the two and the motel log showing both of their names. It was merely a coincidence that Jenny’s husband happened to call Dr. Morgan on the day Jenny was killed. Korsak and Jane assumed the two were having an affair and their deaths were caused by a jealous husband, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. On top of that, Dr. Morgan died from the very medication found in Jenny’s IV bag from the scene of the crime and according to Maura there’s still about 150cc of missing meds that could kill at least three more people. A concentrated dose of this medication would result in immediate death and the murderer must be aware of it. This rules out anyone working on the construction of the hospital and Dr. Morgan himself, so who would have that knowledge and a grudge against the hospital? Is this really a vengeful turn of the century ghost or is there someone who’s wants the hospital to be shut down for good? Maura and Samantha head to the hospital to view the past records. Now, normally a famous novelist wouldn’t be asked to collect evidence in a murder investigation, but this is “Rizzoli and Isles” and if they allow their M.E. to interview suspects they’ll surely allow a celebrity writer to peruse evidence. After all, she’s convinced Maura that her research skills would be helpful so the two look for clues in the ghostly murder. Unfortunately for Maura, her new mentor manipulated the situation for her own career. She used Maura’s desire for writing as a way to get closer to the hospital files and really had no interest in helping the Boston P.D. solve their case. She was more interested in helping herself to information surrounding Hannah Rose’s death than and then stealing their contents for her work.

Listen to Your Mother and Go Play!

While the team is busy hunting ghosts, Frankie (Jordan Bridges) is getting ear full from the women in his life. Both his girlfriend and his mother told him to go with Kent to the concert. Frankie thinks he’s weird thanks to his kilt wearing and dead rodent obsession, but Angela (Lorraine Bracco) tells him to get over it. She reminds Frankie that when he was younger she had to force him to make friends and Kent, being the new kid on the block, needs some male bonding. Frankie doesn’t seem to thrilled, but agrees to give the assistant M.E. a shot. I mean, it’s about time he has a friend that’s not his sister, her best friend and his mother. Some male bonding will do the younger Rizzoli some good. While Frankie is ready to make new friends, Maura is feeling foolish about being tricked by her new friend Samantha. She did; however, find some interesting clues about Hannah Rose. It seems there was no record of a ghost or murder in 1905. Hannah and the others died from typhoid fever and their distraught doctor killed himself. If there was no record of the ghost killings at both the hospital and library archives, then how did Jenny and Doctor Morgan’s murderer know about the white rose linking it to the 1905 deaths? The murderer must have stolen it. When Nina (Idara Victor) discovers a presumed dead man named Joseph Mason recently visited the archives it more than raises suspicion. Most dead people don’t check out 111-year-old news articles. Mason is the key to the key to this case and Nina finds out he had a caregiver and that caregiver’s wife died of cancer. Her stepson James (Rocky Marquette) works maintenance at the hospital Jenny and Dr. Morgan died in. James motive to kill was an easy one, jealousy. The experimental chemo drug that was saving patients like Jenny didn’t work for James’ mother. He went to work every day watching success stories while grieving for a mother who wasn’t as lucky. Dr. Morgan was killed for being the doctor who failed to save James’ mother and Jenny was just collateral damage. Korsak and Jane find James at the scene of the crime ready to inject a fatal dose of the drug into the neck of the hospital receptionist. Of course, again since this is “Rizzoli and Isles,” Jane saves the day when James runs towards her, dressed like the killer from the movie Scream (sans ghostly mask) with an iron rod.

Literary Dreams and KISS

With the case solved, Maura and Jane head to the writer’s conference where Samantha apologizes for her manipulations and offers to give the M.E.’s work to her publisher. Jane, ever the protective BFF, throws some shade at Samantha for hurting her friend with loosely veiled threats of police violence. With what’s happening in today’s world, using police violence as a joke was probably not the best idea, but be that as it may Jane always has Maura’s back. After a brief cameo by “Rizzoli and Isles” creator and novelist Tess Gerritsen, our favorite duo head to the Dirty Robber for the traditional drinks and happy ending but not before Kent, Frankie and Angela return from their KISS concert. We know it was a KISS concert because Kent is dressed in full KISS make up. That’s right, he’s an official member of The KISS army. Who knew the stuffy Scott was a fan of 70’s metal? The case has been solved, Maura might have her eye set on a new career and Frankie and Kent made friends. Not a bad ending to a completely creepy and random episode of “Rizzoli and Isles.”