I was happy with the way The Mentalist ended its first season. It didn't go overboard with a season finale cliffhanger scenario with someone in a coma, an explostion, or someone vanishing, it just had a case end and the characters learn something from it. Sure, the episode focused on Jane's nemesis Red John, so there was more urgency and importance to the plot. But he was never caught (though we did learn some facts about him, which will lead nicely into next season). What did everyone else think?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
5-20-2009 @ 5:56PM
Jimmie Lou Lummus said...
I really enjoy the Mentalist. Now, I have a new favorite show, after I had to give up my favorite, CSI, when they used a very poor replacement for Grissom.
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6-14-2009 @ 6:51PM
Andy said...
'Fight Club' is exactly what went through my head for a moment while watching that last episode. However, i really hope they dont go there with this show.
Maybe i missed somthing, but did Red John killed his wife and child because he was annoyed at Jane for being a fake? Didn't he leave a note saying something like "You don't need to be a psychic to know whats behind the door"? Sounds likely to me it could even be someone taking revenge for something he said when he was pretending to be a psychic, although that is quite a boring outcome. The note sounds as if he's against the whole Psychic thing.
I think that some people might be looking to deep into it. The Blind Woman would be a suprise ending, but i think some are looking for the most suprising, the most unlikely because thats who it usually is.
Back to the Fight Club split personality version. It seemed like it could be until the last episode, i suppose he had been in a mental hospital etc. The murder of your family can obviously make you insane, but it just doesn't seem possible that he could murder all these people without anyone close picking anything up. Also Red John Vs Jane is a personal thing and , if Red John was Jane, why would he go after himself? Obviously he's insane but just doesn't sound likely to me!
5-20-2009 @ 6:21PM
bc said...
I like that Lisbon is continuing to catch on that Jane is not entirely sane. The charm and puckish humor is a veneer he presents the world, but he really wants to join his wife and daughter, and whether that's after he gets Red John or as a means to get Red John doesn't matter, as long as Red John dies.
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5-20-2009 @ 6:33PM
Edward said...
I am glad that CBS is moving Mentalist to a new day and time. I can actually watch it next season!
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5-20-2009 @ 7:26PM
James said...
It might be time for a DVR. Not trying to sound like a jerk or anything.
5-20-2009 @ 8:11PM
bruce said...
I was confused because nodoby was found to be hallucinating and was then diagnosed with a major neurological problem. Isn't that how all TV shows are supposed to end their seasons?
How tricky of them.
After a whole season of Mentalist, one thing I don't get is why everyone on the team constantly calls Lisbon "Boss" all the time. Yes boss, sure boss, no boss, okay boss, I'm on it boss... it's just weird. Yes I realize Lisbon is the head of the team (though she's not the head of the CBI), but that's not the point. And it's not just one of them, it's everyone other than Jane (who is not a CBI employee). Rigsby, Van Pelt, and Cho - they constantly refer to Lisbon as "boss" and never call her anything other than that.
I've never heard Lisbon insist on being called "boss" and it would be quite strange if she were to do so. Many responses don't even call for a name. How about just "sure thing" instead of "sure thing, boss" or "sure thing, Lisbon"?
I thought this was just a quirk at first to introduce the characters and their chain of command, but now that the first season of the show is finished and this "boss" stuff has remained just as consistent in the last episode as it was in the first, I'd like to know why. Is it done intentionally or is it just lazy script writing? Is it meant to be ass-kissing and if so, why? What's the deal?
Does anyone in real life, in a white-collar job, constantly call their boss "boss" and make sure to say "boss" every chance they get? I'm not being anti-authority here, I just find it odd and unrealistic. At this point I find it so unrealistic and artificial that it's grating on my mind every time I watch an episode of this show.
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5-21-2009 @ 1:36PM
Jim said...
The "boss" moniker is a relatively common phenomenon in plainclothes law enforcement, where supervisors do not possess unique titles to differentiate them from the rank and file. It's been my experience that it is a term of affection and respect. All that said, I don't know how the show's writers ended up using the term. Hope that helps.
6-04-2009 @ 8:32AM
YoshieB said...
Alright, sorry for replying here though apparently one can't make comments on older pages...
http://www.tvsquad.com/2009/01/07/the-mentalist-red-johns-friends/#comments
I had gotten to the second paragraph you wrote:
"Okay she had a vial of the victim's blood? What does that prove? She took it from the murder scene - which she admits. How does that make it more likely than not that she was the one who committed the crime as opposed to her son?"
When I stopped reading and attempted to reply, finally giving up and coming here. Hopefully, since it's Mentalist related, it's not breaking the posting rules.
As you recall, the son was found behind a locked door with the body. Since the police arrived with him still in the room, they would have marked it off as a crime scene and let no one through, including the mother.
The only way for her to have acquired the vial of blood, then, was either when she killed her or long before then, which is very unlikely.
Now it's possible that the mother and son were in on it together, so that the son would lock the door after the mother kills the girl and takes her blood, but that doesn't make sense since the mother's reasoning behind all of this was simply to send her boy to prison to whip him into shape, then take his place later. (Mind you, this explanation doesn't make much sense to me. What mother with her kind of mentality would go through all that effort to sculpt her son into a particular kind of man, only to lock herself away so she can't see him flourish?)
5-20-2009 @ 9:09PM
kate said...
I really like this show, but I always know who the murderer is from the first moment they take the screen. I had the sheriff pegged the moment I saw him. It's kind of annoying- I'd like to be surprised too. The only one of the season that actually surprised me was last weeks, the kid at the camp. How about everyone else?
Oh, my theory is that Red John is the blind woman. Too convenient, too helpless, red hair and there was a teacup at the end. Just a thought. Maybe I'll be surprised this time.
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5-20-2009 @ 10:35PM
ron said...
kate, I was thinking the same thing! It seems like it's always the first guest star with a speaking part who did the crime.
And, yes, I agree about the redhead. It is entirely plausible that "Red John" is female. In fact, it almost seems like a taunt from "Red John" to pretend to be blind and even have her calling card "smiley face" on the wall.
Having said that, I, too, will be disappointed if the blind redhead is revealed to be "Red John."
5-20-2009 @ 11:20PM
kate said...
Well, Ron, here's hoping!
5-21-2009 @ 2:28AM
Creep said...
Why did you have to go and say that? It makes sense. The teacup, the face on the wall, the visual impairment (which easily instills sympathy instead of suspicion... though Jayne is suspicious of people in wheelchairs it seems). Yeah, it sounds about right. Damnit. I hope they resolve this plot thread soon if this is the case.
5-20-2009 @ 11:57PM
brittany said...
I love this show! The finale was great, but with Jayne shooting the guy in the end made me think that he (Jayne) was Red John. The way the sheriff's first words after being shot was Red John and him laughing was suspicious, but it also sounded like he said "Reggie.." also. I can see calm quiet Jayne having a dark twisted maniacal second personality. It would be a shocking but disappointing twist. I really like Jayne.
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5-21-2009 @ 7:55AM
Jason said...
Good theory. I thought about this too, that he could be in some sort of Fight Club scenario with himself.
Best episode of the season.... maybe next year they'll be smart and pair this with Medium.
5-22-2009 @ 5:49PM
Jamie said...
I watched it online a second time - I don't think Jane can be Red John because he's in the basement when a shadowy figure closes the trapdoor and flees the building. I did worry he might be the first time I saw it. I think the sheriff was laughing at him because he knew he was Jane's only link to Red John, and Jane himself had destroyed it. So Red John got another one-up on Jane.
5-21-2009 @ 12:54AM
Brenda said...
I hope they catch Red John soon. I don't want this show to end up like "The Profiler" where the spend the whole series trying to catch "Jack of all trades" that killed Sam's husband.
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5-21-2009 @ 5:11PM
bruce said...
You really think they won't wait until the end of the series to catch red john?
Of course they will. We have not yet encountered Red John, and while I do think it will turn out to be a woman (no particular reason, just to make it more of a surprise/twist), we won't learn who it is until the end of the series. It will be like Monk and who killed Trudy.
We're certainly not going to find out in the first episode of season 2, which is what it sounds like a lot of posters here are thinking.
5-21-2009 @ 11:02AM
Mich said...
I actually like how the season finale played out. Colour me clueless, but I didn't catch on that the sheriff was the guilty party -- I guess I was too caught up in finding out exactly how far Jane would go in his quest for revenge. And even he has his limits, it would appear, after shooting the suspect who was aiming to kill Lisbon and/or Mya (sp?).
While I liked the reveal the fact Jane and Lisbon had a plan all along, it would have interesting to see how the plan came about. They also did a good job of adding a bit more to Cho's character. Too funny how the woman was trying to fix him up!
All in all, I thought was a good way to end the season and leave us waiting for more come season 2. :)
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5-21-2009 @ 12:38PM
collin said...
When I watch this show, I can't believe NBC cancelled Life. Granted, I have no idea where the Life writers were taking the show at the end of this season, but I can't believe the network cancelled Life.
Now, onto The Mentalist (whose producers should grab the superior Life writers since they're now unemployed). WHY is it that these producers/writers/"Bosses" wait until the LAST episode to unleash Red John?
All season long, we're treated to the lamest plots while getting away from the reason why Jane is working with the CBI (duh... Red John). Why, even an episode ago we saw Jane wrack his collective braincells to reveal... a teenage killer at a summer-camp for troubled teens.
Oh, this show is not clever.
Having said that, it was interesting to see Jane lose control while investigating Red John. I agree with the original poster above that it seems that Alicia Witt could be Red John, but I'd always thought that the writers would pull some "schizo" card and have Jane realize that HE was actually Red John. Probably as he's about to deliver the death blow to Lisbon...
Just like the show Life got the death blow... argh!
(But seriously, it was a good episode)
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5-21-2009 @ 8:28PM
Mich said...
Seriously? Jane as Red John? I really don't see the show gonig there, simply because there seems to be -- especially after the finale -- much evidence to the contrary.
As for when all will be revealed about Red John, Bruno Heller has said that will be a series ender, not a season ender.
And I like that this show isn't a big, complex, heavy drama. I get enough of that with "Lost", thank you. ;-) But to each his/her own!
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