We only have 2 days remaining between now and the Season 3 premiere of The Mentalist! We will FINALLY be able to resume receiving our weekly Patrick Jane fix! My goal here is to ensure that we all go into the Thursday evening premiere sufficiently prepared. 
Synopsis: The Mentalist is based primarily on the day-to-day cases and lives of team members of the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney, The Craft) and her team of agents have one case in particular that receives the majority of their attention: the capture of a serial killer referred to as “Red John”.
The pilot episode begins with a consultant named Patrick Jane (played by ultra-gorgeous hunk Simon Baker) being assigned to work with the CBI on their cases. He brings to the CBI his skills of Mentalism (he’s a former “fake” psychic) and an incessant vengeance toward Red John, because his wife and child were two of Red John’s victims. In fact, bringing down Red John has become Jane’s only quest and purpose in life.
What we saw last season:
Season 2 of The Mentalist was lacking in character development as compared to Season 1, but it definitely gave us some great character additions.
Sam Bosco (Terry Kinney, Oz) was great as the replacement lead agent on the Red John case. He took it over from Jane and Agent Lisbon, much to Jane’s chagrin. Bosco and Jane began Season 2 as quite the bitter rivals. During Episode 8, Bosco was killed by his secretary, Rebecca, who was a pawn of Red John and Jane ultimately got the Red John case reassigned to him. Bosco was a great addition, and it was sad to see him killed off. Also, Bosco and Lisbon’s flirty interactions were the only sign we got that Lisbon isn’t completely asexual.
Madeleine Hightower (Aunjanue Ellis, True Blood) was brought on as the new chief of the CBI after Virgil Minelli (Gregory Itzin, 24) retired. Even though she initially comes across as abrasive, she began to gradually soften toward the team as Season 2 progressed. She talks tough, but her bark is definitely worse than her bite. For even she is not resistant to Jane’s charms. Hightower and Jane appear to have a mutual respect for one another that neither of the two seem to have for anyone else on the team.
Kristina Frye is one minor recurring character that has left a HUGE mark on the show. A psychic first featured in a Season 1 episode, Kristina (Leslie Hope, 24) entered the last two episodes of Season 2 mostly remembered by every Mentalist fan as either “that evil witch who made Patrick Jane cry” or “the sweet woman that allowed Patrick Jane to finally get some peace and closure”. (In Season 1, Kristina claimed to have a vision of Jane’s dead wife in which Jane’s wife told her that their daughter never woke up during the murders and was never scared, which made Jane cry after Kristina left)
She returned in the two-part finale of Season 2 and her relationship with Jane was better this time around. In fact, Jane even appeared to develop a little crush on her which resulted in the two going out on a date. Ultimately, the two butted heads over Kristina’s “supposed” (per Jane) psychic powers and how she was using them dangerously to draw in Red John. She disappeared without a trace in the final episode of Season 2, so viewers are entering Season 3 wondering what exactly happened to her. Was she kidnapped by Red John? Was she a plant by Red John? IS she Red John?
Red John – Patrick Jane came “face to face” with him for the first time in the last few minutes of the final episode of Season 2. In this episode, we sat in shock while Red John actually saved Jane’s life by protecting him from a trio of Red John copycat killers. We realized during the eerie moments of Red John’s monologue, in which he was wearing a mask to hide his facial identity, that Red John is just as obsessed with Jane as Jane is with Red John. How long can these two continue with this cat and mouse game?
Also of note is the fact that Red John was privy to a conversation that Jane and Kristina had at a restaurant during their short-lived date. Very noteworthy, indeed! But what does it all mean??
What we would LIKE to see this season:
I feel that beginning to flesh out some of the characters a little better would be a remarkable place to start. We could use a few more details about Jane’s late wife and the time he spent in therapy before he joined the CBI. It would also be great to learn more about Lisbon’s relationship with her brothers, Cho’s girlfriend, etc…a lot of pieces were left undeveloped during Season 2. I think viewers would feel more of a connection to the recurring minor characters if there was more of a consistent flow from episode to episode. For now, these characters appear to be filler, overall.
I know that there’s no exact science to what makes an episode great in the viewers’ eyes, and the writers/directors aren’t doing a bad job. I just ask for more continuity. Let’s see Cho having a quick phone call with his girlfriend, or Lisbon interacting with a family member every now and again.
There are four things that I’m hoping we will see take place by the end of Season 3: 1) the Kristina Frye/Red John storyline is wrapped up, 2) we feel a deeper connection to the main characters, 3) Walter Mashburn (Currie Graham, Raising The Bar) is brought back as a fun, but superficial love interest for Lisbon and buddy for Jane, and finally, 4) that Jane and CBI agent Amanda Van Pelt will begin to draw closer to one another (I’m a consummate Jane/Van Pelt shipper…please don’t choose to be a hater). Even if it’s not Van Pelt, I just want to see Jane get some form of lovin’ on the show…is that too much to ask? 
What we will definitely see this season: (if you wish to skip this, scroll down to “END POTENTIAL SPOILERS” section)
*** POTENTIAL SPOILERS ***
Based on all of the previews and spoilers we’ve seen thus far, we know that both Van Pelt AND Lisbon will have love interests, at least temporarily. This is probably more filler, but sometimes these “love interests” are good for opening up the relationship dynamic between the more important, recurring characters.
It also would appear that the Red John/Kristina Frye “kidnapping” situation will possibly be wrapped up as early as Episode 3! I don’t want to get my hopes up, but Kristina Frye’s character is set to appear in the 3rd episode.
Another great appearance in Episode 3 will be our favorite Patrick Jane nemesis/creepy cult leader, Bret Stiles (Malcolm McDowell). Even if there is no direct tie-in between all three characters – Kristina Frye, Bret Stiles, and Red John (possibly in name only) – they are all definitely making some sort of appearance in Episode 3, which is the one episode I’m anticipating with the most fervor!
Also, my wish for more insight into Jane’s family dynamic will come true, as his brother-in-law (Kevin Rankin, Friday Night Lights) will appear on one of the early episodes! We have learned from Season 3 spoilers that there’s bad blood between Jane and his brother-in-law which should give us some good stuff to work with moving forward.
There is also said to be an accusation toward Chief Agent Hightower in regard to some sort of crime of complicity. Who she’s complicit with in said crime remains to be seen, but my money is on Jane.
*** END POTENTIAL SPOILERS ***
So get your after-dinner snacks ready, Mentalist fans, our show will be returning this Thursday, September 23, at 10pm (EST) on CBS! In the meantime, enjoy CBS’s Ultimate Look Back at The Mentalist, and also a Sneak Peek at Thursday nights premiere episode of Season 3!
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[...] I believe the writers are listening to me, readers. In a previous Mentalist post of mine entitled “Gearing Up for The Mentalist season premiere…”, I stated in my “What We Would Like To See This Season” section that I wanted to see [...]