"Throwing Down the Gauntlet" provided layers of guilt coupled with plenty of humor to make for an entertaining, if not perfect, Rizzoli & Isles.

A blast from her past. Maura's search for her biological mother made for a tearful reunion, but it was a one sided affair. The meeting of Maura Isles and Dr. Hope Martin was memorable partly because - as Sharon Lawrence mentions in this exclusive interview - their resemblance is remarkable.

But normally stoic, rational Maura was buffeted from tears to elation and back again as she worked through the highs and low of this reunion. One moment she's thrilled to meet the brilliant, compassionate woman with whom she shares her DNA and the next she's devastated when Hope refers to Maura's father as evil. Ouch. It's hard not to take that personally.

Sister Winnie and Jane the Hellion. I could just imagine how much trouble precocious little Jane Rizzoli got into at a strict Catholic school as a child. It was almost as amusing as watching this smart, tough detective cower and hide when she ran into the nun who terrorized her. 

Thanks to Sister Winifred we know that Jane was a frequent visitor of detention and her middle name is Clementine. Oh, Clementine. Frost will never let you live that down.

Plus it seemed that the good Sister had Jane reverting to her second grade self because who still has peanut butter and fluff sandwiches? I don't think I've seen one of those since the second grade.

Mary Poppins the crack dealer? Honestly, who gets an anonymous phone call that their 60-year old nanny is a crack dealer and doesn't question it? Did Mary Poppins have some questionable history we didn't know about? That plot point seemed a bit odd.

However, that someone had torched the victims hands was intriguing and it was a good segue to bring in Dr. Martin but what were the odds of having not only a 15th century gauntlet available but a blow torch on hand as well?!? The combination made for an unusual murder.

On the downside, that photo of the assistant as a camp counselor was pretty lame. It looked as though someone had cut his head out of one photo and pasted it on there. The show could use someone a little more adept at Photoshop.

A May/December romance.  Eww! When Giovanni made his move on Angela I... I don't even have the words. Never has a mom hug felt so icky. Giovanni is good for a laugh every now and then but a little goes a long way. I hope they use him sparingly from her on out.

I expected more to come of the story of Angela's new love of politics. Unfortunately, it was only used as a way to introduce the character of MacGregor. I suppose school lunches will stay as lousy as they've always been.

So who would you like to see more of next week? Dr. Hope, Sister Winifred or the love starved Giovanni?

C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.