Is Rizzoli & Isles the next Xena Warrior Princess?

 

 I say yes. Maybe. But Rizzoli has some pretty big boots to fill.


OK, so Angie Harmon will probably never be doing scissor kicks and I doubt Sasha Alexander will ever be crowned Queen of the Amazons but just give me a minute. The two shows have a few things in common. One of them being a strong lesbian following. And since Xena left the air in 2001, TV hasn't been the same. The L Word did not count.  The L Word was a soap opera. Xena was an action show about two friends who happen to be women and who might be lovers. Replace Xena's sword and chakram with a gun and a badge and it’s pretty damn close…if you squint a little. OK, maybe kind of close. Sexual tension, girl rescuing girl in peril, tongue in cheek innuendo. The potential is all there. And of course, Angie Harmon is no Lucy Lawless but who is? Besides, Angie recently declared on The Chelsea Handler Show that she loves the gays. That's something. Right?


Here are 5 reasons why Rizzoli & Isles might be the next Xena and Gabrielle.

1. Two strong female leads. What is an action show without two heroes? OK, so to call R&I an action show is a bit of a stretch. It’s a cop show. A buddy cop show. And the two buddies happen to be women. And it never hurts when the buddies are easy on the eyes. And like to get into bed with each other. And go
to gay bars.  Speaking of which…


2. Subtext. Yes, the S word. Xena fans know it well. But in Xena's case, it took one full season for subtext to really emerge. But once the producers realized fans were reacting to it, they amplified it. By the end of XWP's 6 season run the subtext had become main-text.
Rizzoli & Isles is not wasting any time. I won't name all the R&I subtext moments from season one here (there isn’t enough room) but type 'Rizzoli and Isles subtext' into Google and spend a few hours going through the results.

It’s doubtful that R&I will ever jump the shark and give its lesbian fans what they want. Or at least what they think they want. Good sexual tension only exists when there isn't any sex going on (just ask the
producers of 'Moonlighting'). But even if the two leads were lesbians, angst and flirting
is way more fun than an actual relationship. On TV, anyway.



3. Fan Fiction. There are plenty of R&I fanfic stories populating the web. Some are more graphic
than others. R&I itself reads like a tag line for a new Uber XWP fanfic story. The tall, dark, butchie detective and the smart, quirky, femme medical examiner team up to fight crime and form a strong bond along the way.

4. YouTube Videos. There are at least a dozen fan made videos on YouTube of R&I being cute and hot together set to songs like "My Life Would Suck Without You", "Falling For You" and "More than a Friend". And while R&I has a long way to go to match XWP’s hundreds, maybe thousands of fan videos online, it’s a start. Fan videos don't lie. Which brings us to number 5.

5. The Fans. I guess number five is more of a summary. There is an often ignored fan base out there waiting for a show to love and relate to. Though I cannot personally relate to murder victims and autopsies I can
relate to the bond two women share trying to navigate all of life's obstacles. And whether the obstacles include the Irish Mob or Gods and Monsters, friendship endures. And the R&I fanfic and fan videos are evidence that there are a lot of us out there. The fans have spoken.


While there will probably never be Rizzoli & Isles conventions and costume contests (although a Rizzoli Halloween costume wouldn't be a bad idea this year) there is something to be said for how quickly R&I has become a fan favorite among Xena fans.

So let's hope the subtext continues and the writers keep toying with our Xenite emotions in Rizzoli
& Isles season 2, coming this summer. It’s nice having another 'girls that kick ass and then take baths together' show on the air again (the bath part is wishful thinking).

Cat Crimins

 Let us know what you think? Is Rizzoli and Isles the next Xena? Are we forgetting an action show with lesbian subtext?

Show some Rizzoli love with our Boston Homicide softball jersey!