(S01E14) "There's no business like Cho business." -- Patrick Jane
I'm not quite sure how The Mentalist does it. At the beginning of every episode, I want to think that it's just a typical procedural and that nothing really sets it apart. Usually, it is Simon Baker who wins me over and makes me think differently. However, tonight it was all Cho.
We started off with Cho questioning Walcott about his wife Claire's murder. When the weasel threatens Cho's job if he doesn't give the name of Claire's lover, saying that he can have Cho's job with one phone call, Cho deadpans, "That's impressive. The best I can get with one phone call is a pizza."
Now, I never thought I'd see Cho as a swinger, but that was one hell of a makeover Jane gave him, wasn't it? And what a surprise, he was a natural pickup artist. I think, for a moment, I might have even been convinced that Cho was having a little fun with the role. And reminiscent of Jane connecting with the families involved with the case, we see Cho connecting with Katie, talking her through her misery in love. Sure, he tells her to seek psychiatric help, but it's Cho doing his Cho thing.
Other things worth mentioning:
- How could Jane have thought that comparing women to accordions would be a compliment?
- Jane does it again with his pulse reading, but he took it to a whole new level when he used Natalie's pulse as the divining rod to find the hidden pictures of Claire and Fricke.
- Next to Cho, Jane's face-flick to Walcott was the best scene in the episode. Can you think of a worse way to degrade someone in front of their cigar-smoking, liquor-swilling buddies as they are demanding respect?
- Jane always gets personally involved, and he just can't let the case go without throwing the drink in Fricke's face and telling him what a dope he is when a good woman like Katie loves him so much.
- This was a really interesting case. I can't say I was surprised by who the killer was (he did that "shifty" thing so I knew there was something going on), but there were a lot of twists and turns, and I wasn't thinking that I knew who did it and why through the entire episode.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-11-2009 @ 2:17AM
Pamela said...
Best line: "messy women make good lovers" Patrick. Love this show.
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2-11-2009 @ 6:23AM
Brent McKee said...
But yet again we're shown the devotion that Jane still maintains to his late wife and daughter. At the end, when the two women come over and asked if he was lonely, he said he was married. In his mind he still is and maybe always will be married. It's sad and touching at the same time. His life ended with theirs; the only difference is that he's still walking around.
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2-11-2009 @ 8:56AM
Rob Walley said...
This show is so good it is probably a season away from being great! The characters are just now starting to break out from the background and shine. Cho is certainly the best of the crop yet...and I'm betting it get's even better. Jane is a terribly complex character that effectively hides behind the whimsical exterior and I agree that the closing scene at the bar will produce many a story thread for the future. If you aren't watching this show now...start!
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2-11-2009 @ 10:17AM
John said...
I like how they show Jane still greatly misses his wife by having him get extremely angry at Walcott for not missing his wife, and angry at Fricke for neglecting a woman who loves him.
Also, Cho was awesome. His pick up lines sound like he's interrogating the women. And when Cho whispered to the girls to get them to leave, and the guys upstairs were laughing and wouldn't tell Van Pelt. That was great.
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2-11-2009 @ 10:47AM
jag said...
This was the first show I could pick out the killer as soon as I saw his character. He was always shifty and looked guilty.
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2-11-2009 @ 11:25AM
Franklin said...
I'm glad Cho got to shine in this episode and I hope there's more Cho in store for the future. One thing I like about Cho is during interrogations he reminds me of Joe Friday with his flat, just-the-facts-ma'am style. Really, in everything he does he's got more than a little Joe Friday in him, but you never saw Friday trying to pick up women.
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2-11-2009 @ 11:43AM
StillBash said...
It's so funny how you re-discover these actors in movies from the past.
I saw "Two weeks notice" yesterday and the guy playing Cho (Tim Kang) is that representative Sandra Bullock's character has an interview with to get away from Wade Industries whom she asks "When Dr. Mr. Wade call?" and Kang answers "Mr. Wade didn't call" etc. etc., one of the funniest scenes in the movie. Actually Tim Kang's second entry on his IMDb page after a role on "The Sopranos".
Love the guy, raw gem with his deadpan delivery back then and now finally front and center with more of the same :-)
Great episode, loved it. Those guys from "Lie to Me" aren't even getting close to what "The Mentalist" delivers.
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2-11-2009 @ 11:44AM
StillBash said...
make that "representative of another company". Makes it a bit clearer :-)
2-11-2009 @ 12:34PM
Toby O'B said...
Deleted my copy from the DVR before I remembered to go back and check the credits, but was that Kellee Stewart from 'My Boys' as one of the women interviewed about Lover Boy?
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2-15-2009 @ 12:06AM
La-Di-Dah said...
Cool. The used a word on than "red" in the title, "crimson," which still sticks to the idea, but opens up their options. Very neat.
Best moments: Cho and husband-of-dead lady facing off, face flick and "I'm married."
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2-16-2009 @ 12:50PM
Savage Insight said...
I'd like to drop by and say a few pointers
Much of what they say on the show is true and works, but not as cleanly as some might take them. This is, after all, TV. It takes some extra awareness to figure out which and when and what.
As for the Accordian, it *is* a compliment, but only in the sense of Jane's interlude.
Guys *are* toasters. I admit that. We're everywhere, have one mode or function, one button, and that button tends to have us get fired up, mad, or hot and excited.
Women however, make music, are flexible, and takes tremendous skill to "play" since every person can be, and only if treated with respect.
You can abuse a toaster guy all you want; chances are, it'll still spring up, and spit back what you put in.
But an accordion lady, that takes some class and style. She has an inherent history with each song, inspires dreams, and again, takes respect, love, skill and attention to know what buttons to press.
Compared to a toaster, it's a compliment.
If Jane's getting "personally involved" that's because he's always into doing the right thing: tuning in, and deepening being human.
That's what the "tricks" and skills of a mentalist rely on. Humanity.
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