Grade: B+

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FOX News pundit Bill O'Reilly guest stars on tonight's episode of Rizzoli & Isles, and the story The Factor is following is Jane's case. When a Boston community reformer is shot down by gang leader "Little T," Boston PD has a single witness to the crime, and they're keeping a tight watch on him. But when he turns up dead, the remaining evidence in the case is threatened to be nullified, as it was discovered through a confidential informant whom Detective Korsak (Bruce Gill) refuses to name to the court.

Speculation runs rampant that Korsak constructed an imaginary informant out of desperation to finally put Little T behind bars, but Jane (Angie Harmon) refuses to lose faith in her friend and partner. Meanwhile, O'Reilly's book tour visit in Boston has put Jane's mother (Lorraine Bracco) into a starry-eyed tailspin, desperate to meet the man with the "Irish blue eyes" and enlisting Maura (Sasha Alexander) into her crusade to "badge" her to the front of the autograph line.

The writers continue the winning combination of telling police drama stories through the framework of interpersonal relationships, many of which happen largely outside the scope of the job. While Korsak's motives are completely plausible to the viewer, leaving everyone to wonder just how far he'd go across the line to put a bad guy behind bars, the episode peppers the plot with quirky, less-believable (and thus probably more realistic) extras like Stanley's (Alan Rachins) OCD-like management of the department cafeteria, Mrs. Rizzoli's schoolgirl crush, and Maura's concern over her Galapogos tortoise's eating habits. Top this off with a mystery unraveled with a surprising revelation, and TNT can chalk up another winning episode for the Rizzoli & Isles franchise.

Rizzoli & Isles, "Can I Get a Witness?" kicks off a string of new midseason episodes, Monday, November 28, 10pm|9pmc.