Jane is contacted by his brother-in-law requesting his help and becomes caught up in a scam that leaves Jane holding a gun over a dead body as the cops burst into the room.
You ever hear that joke about how show producers watch other shows to get their “original” ideas? Well, maybe the producers of THE MENTALIST and Castle go to the same psychic. Both shows had an episode this season where the main character is “accidentally” suspected of murder. Ah well, it happens in every crime-related series eventually.
Personally speaking, every line out of Lisbon’s or Jane’s mouth not in the presence of the other is wasted dialogue. I don’t care about Jane’s mentalist trickery–which he does very, very little of anymore–and I don’t care about Lisbon’s detective skills. Or her desire to prove she doesn’t need Jane. You could blur out everything else and as long as those two are arguing, everything’s okay by me.
This week we get more Jane back story, met some of his old carnie friends and the brother-in-law who blames him for his sister’s death. Usually, that’s a cliche, but this time Jane did piss off a serial killer by insulting him on television. It’s not like Red John was going to write an angry letter in rebuttal.
At the end, we were treated with a graveyard scene that reminds us Jane has–or had–emotions other than sarcasm and disdain. That was a nice change.
I know it sounds like I’m being down on The Mentalist, but I’m not, I really enjoy this show. Just not because of the cases. You would be hard-pressed to point out any particular case that would stand above the cases of other current crime dramas. Well, maybe Rizzoli & Isles, that show has some awful cases.
On a side note, I’d love to see Van Pelt and Rigsby back together and leave it at that. Nothing steamy, no bureaucracy, just together. Everyone on the show is single, and that just seems weird.
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