The Mentalist – How convenient that the bomb had a digital timer!
This weeks presented us with another one of those Mentalist episodes where they fooled you by doing the obvious thing. You get your mind all set to figure it out another way, because you think they won’t go the route of making one of the possible victims the culprit, but then they do and it kinda screws you up. And you slap your head and say I knew it all the time!
Because you did … sort of.
The Mentalist should stay blind for another episode or two
I’ve started this post three different times. I kept changing what I wanted to write about as the latest episode of The Mentalist (”Bloodshot”) went on.
First I was going to talk about how predictable it was that Jane was going to become blind at some point. It’s usually one of the things a TV hero has to go through, one of the plot devices you see in everything from M*A*S*H (Hawkeye) to Mannix (Mannix). It happened to Harry on Night Court and Alexander Scott on I Spy. Even Lassie was blind in an episode if I remember correctly. I’m sure at some point we’ll see Jane unable to walk, a relative come out of the woodwork accused of murder, and an episode where Jane and one of the other CBI members are held hostage during a bank robbery.
You know what The Mentalist needs? More lesbians and sword fights
Sure, I could talk about how obvious the identity of the killer was on last night’s episode of The Mentalist. But I’d rather talk about lesbians.
One of the plot twists in the episode was the fact that a couple of the Real Housewives of Sacramento County were lesbians. Rigsby and Cho caught them in bed together at a hotel. Of course, this scene probably would have had a little more effect on viewers if it hadn’t been shown 300 times during the past week in promos for the show. I guess this is one of those moments when it pays not to watch a lot of television. That could have been a cool twist out of nowhere, but if you saw the promos, you saw it coming. I wanted to see more of these women and learn more about the whole lesbian thing. I always want to know more about the lesbian thing. This show needs more lesbians.
The Mentalist – Spinoffs, guest stars, and why Jane should be more like Columbo
Hey, if Patrick Jane can make random observations during an investigation, I can make them in a post.
1. This week’s episode was one of the most entertaining of the series so far. Lots of humor and personality mixed in with the murder stuff. It also gave us two ideas for spin-off shows. There was a quick shot of the coroner’s truck outside of the murder scene, and it said “Napa County Coroner.” Wouldn’t that be a great name for a new CBS show? “Tonight on Napa County Coroner, Dr. March makes a shocking discovery during his investigation of a socialite’s murder; also, Sara goes to a wine tasting!” That could be the next top show for the network. The other spin-off idea could go to the sleazy pick-up artist. He called himself “The Woman Whisperer.” That could be an interesting show too. He solves crimes with the help of women. Much like Dr. Doolittle used animals.
The Mentalist – Fake art and real murder
(Season 1, Episode 13 – “Paint It Red”)
“Jane doesn’t get sick, Rigsby doesn’t date because he’s in love with you, and the Kings aren’t playing tonight.” – Lisbon, to Van Pelt
I loved the start of this episode. When the Pittsburgh Steeler player made that last interception and sealed the game for … oh, wait, that wasn’t The Mentalist, that was the freakin’ football game that ran past 10 PM, thereby screwing up my recording of this episode. That’s what’s wrong with DVRs.
This was one of those episodes where you play Spot The Guest Star. Hey, that’s Commander Shelby from Star Trek: TNG and Guiding Light! Wait, isn’t that Helen Bishop from Mad Men? Yeah, that’s Wings Hauser from … everything! They’re all middle-of-the-road when it comes to how well-known they are, so it’s not as if the killer was obvious from the casting choices. Except who the killer was became obvious for other reasons.
The Mentalist – Abner, Abner! Did you see that?! Abner, Abner!
(Season 1, Episode 12 – “Red Rum”)
Patrick Jane is one of the weirdest characters on television. Think about it, he usually has a smile on his face and says wiseass things, even to parents who have just lost their son. It’s almost as if he does whatever he wants, acts however he wants, and just basks in the glow of the admiration from witnesses and the other members of his team. In real life, you’d want to punch him. In TV land, he’s the hero.
This episode has the team trying to solve the weird murder of a teen boy in the woods. Was it his jealous brother? Was it the witch? Was it one of his parents? Was it the jerky football coach? The best friend? Well, it was one of those people.
The Mentalist – Jane finds the key to Red John (almost)
(Season 1, Episode 11 – “Red John’s Friends”)
“He is Man.” - bloody scrawl on victim’s wall
Well, you knew that they weren’t going to catch Red John tonight, right?
Here we are, halfway through the season and the first new episode of 2009, and it’s a big Red John story. Most of the episodes of The Mentalist have centered around a murder case that has nothing to do with the murders of Jane’s wife and child, but this one had a murder case that was related. Not only did we get a murder mystery that Jane had to solve, we also got a classic locked room puzzle. How was the girl murdered from a locked room with windows on the bars if the guy next to her in bed didn’t do it? And how is this murder connected to Red John?
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