The Mentalist tells the story of Patrick Jane played by Simon Baker, a man specializing in studying the micro-expressions of people who became involved with trying to catch a serial killer named Red John. Red John killed his wife and daughter. Since then, Jane has been working with the stupidly named CBI, California Bureau of Investigations, a kind of state police.
Robin Tunney plays Agent Lisbon, who is in charge of the unit. Van Pelt is the new agent on the squad. Rigsby has a crush on her. The Mentalist is kind of like the TNT show Psych, but it’s not a comedy, it’s a drama. I’ve enjoyed this series because it’s light and interesting. I’ve kind of come to despise Criminal Minds.
Jane uses his semi-celebrity and his lack of protocol to solve cases quickly, cases in which the CBI wouldn’t be able to come up with answers without him. Each episode has the color red in its title. The Mentalist resembles the show Lie to Me, which premiered in 2009 on Fox. The Mentalist started on the 23rd of September 2008 on CBS.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
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Jane is horsing around with Lisbon. The team head out to their next case in Marquesa. They found a charred body. The Chief is a vet and served with the deceased Rich Garcia. He was locked in a garage and set afire. The fire was set by a pro with a sophisticated device.
Jane notices something going on between the widow and the Chief. Jane also sees that a real estate agent named Ben was in the same platoon as the Chief and Rich. Jane asks Maddie for help. She’s Rich’s daughter. Rich took down all of his army paraphernalia. She said that he didn’t like talking about that. Maddie knows that her mom is having an affair.
There’s a retarded kid doing odd jobs at the farm. Jane tells the widow that Maddie suspects that her lover was involved with her dad’s murder. She admits that she had an affair. She says that when he came back from the war, he wasn’t her husband anymore. Pillar would never hurt Rich.
A guy named Reese was the last person to see him alive. He says that this is the second guy from the Guard that got killed. He was with the 192nd as well, his name was David Martin. Chief Pillar didn’t mention this.
Chief Pillar’s house is on fire. Rigsby busts the door down and saves Pillar. Pillar is still alive. Pillar was tranquilized. He was dosed just long enough so that he woke up being burned alive. Lisbon sends Cho to talk with the widow Garcia again. Dave was in business with Ben, Rich, and Trey. They had a real estate agency. Dave was a loser, he drank a lot.
They pay a visit to Tommy. He lives in a trailer. He was asked to watch a property. There is an aquifer, an underground source of water.
Rigsby tells Van Pelt that he loves her. She doesn’t want to get involved. He falls asleep. He’s out on drugs. Van Pelt and Cho get shot at by Ben. He’s got a sniper rifle. Once they show the badges, he stops. They cuff him. He says that he didn’t know that they were cops. The accelerant that was used in the fires is found in his barn.
Jane insinuates that they tried to kill Dave. He found a liquid fortune on land that they bought for him. Rich, Ben and Trey wanted what he had. They set him on fire.
Jane wants him released. He tells Lisbon and Ben is their bait. Lisbon lets him go. He tells her that when he finds Red John, he’s going to cut him up and let him bleed to death.
Rigsby thinks that Reese is Martin. They want to check him out. They leave their stakeout watching Ben and go question him again.
Ben leaves his house with a gun when he hears a noise. Reese doesn’t have a wig on, it’s a dead end. Ben is trapped in his barn and he’s doused in the accelerant. Some freak is hiding in the shadows. Dave. He got a lighter in his hands. It sounds like Jane. Jane is posing as Dave. Jane has got his confession. Ben takes a machete and moves forward. They hear a guy screaming outside. It must bet the real Dave. The whole barn goes up.
Cho and Rigsby arrive. They catch someone leaving the premises. It was Tommy. Jane sees through his duplicity. He’s pretending to be a retard. He’s like Keyser Söze and he says that revenge was worthwhile.
Revenge is a poison, revenge is for fools and madmen.
Jane to Maddie
Jane makes them hug and they leave.
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