The Mentalist: Review of Season 3 Episode 1 – Red Sky At Night

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I’m going to begin by stating with complete confidence and excitement that last night’s premiere of The Mentalist is the best episode of this show that I’ve seen thus far! I was thoroughly impressed!

Before opening credits even began to roll, Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) was bringing us the crazy like never before! Our first image of Jane has him arriving at the scene of a murder. Harvey Dublin (state lobbyist, attorney) is missing, and his limo is parked under a bridge where Dublin’s chauffeur, Pete Russo, lies dead. Jane jumps out of his car, and walks past an officer who is yelling to Jane, “Hey you can’t park there!” Jane’s response? “Sure I can…look”, as he points at his perfectly parked car. And honestly, the funny just keeps traveling upward from there. Don’t get me wrong, there have been a few funnier moments in previous episodes from previous seasons. But there has never been an ENTIRE episode of The Mentalist that generated big laughs throughout much of the hour-long broadcast.

Another thing that seems to be different about season 3 compared to seasons prior is related to the people that interact with Jane. These individuals still have no problem putting Jane in his place for his silly, unprofessional antics. Yet, there seems to be more of an acknowledgement that Jane is still very much needed in their lives. Within the first 15 minutes of the show, Jane offended Gale Bertram (Director of Division of Law Enforcement), had an altercation with Bertram’s right hand man, and later briefly evoked feelings of disrespect toward the family of Pete Russo (the aforementioned dead chauffeur). All within 15 minutes! But instead of those around Jane simply labeling him an arrogant asshole, and being dismissive of him, there seems to be some resolve where Jane is concerned.

As an example, Madeleine Hightower (Chief of CBI, played by Aunjanue Ellis) points out to Jane’s boss (Senior Agent Lisbon, played by Robin Tunney) that Director Bertram STILL wants Jane to work on the Dublin case, even though Jane insulted him. “Jane’s the best asset we have, and Bertram knows it”. Jane also garners Pete Russo’s family’s sympathy within moments by pointing out to them that his own daughter would have been the same age as Russo’s daughter Nadine if his daughter hadn’t been murdered.

I think that biggest impact on Season 3 so far is the fact that it picked up where Season 2 left off. Continuity and consistency go a very long way! We were immediately aware of what was on Jane’s mind during the moments when we would catch him just staring off into space. This causes us to feel a connection with Jane, and our hearts go out to him due to all that we know he has been through. So even during Jane’s moments of brazen arrogance we were constantly reminded, due to consistent references to the events of the Season 2 finale, that the source of this foolish behavior was a very painful place that most have never experienced.

Here are the moments from last night’s episode that I simply must highlight:

Moments that tugged at the heartstrings

Jane sitting upstairs by himself in an isolated room staring off into space. You can tell he’s still mulling over Red John, Kristina, etc…poor thing!!
The scene in Pete Russo’s home where Jane chastises Lisbon for tricking him into working on the Dublin case in front of Russo’s family. When the Russo’s want to know what’s going on, Jane says “inside joke”. Patricia Russo’s new husband points out to Jane that Nadine’s father was just murdered, and Jane’s standing there making jokes? Jane explains the joke: “I have a lot on my mind…Lisbon tricked me into meeting you, Red John murdered my daughter (who’s the same age as Russo’s daughter) and also kidnapped my friend (Kristina)…many things on my mind”.
Jane pointing out to Dublin’s personal secretary that Dublin is probably already dead, which would be a good thing for her since “unrequited love is a terrible thing”. He tells her that she’s a good woman, and deserves a man that will love her back.”
The end of the episode when Jane, while containing his emotion as best he can, explains to Lisbon why he’s pulling away from the team. “Anybody that gets close to me…bad things happen to them”. Lisbon cuts him off, and Jane says “You’re not listening to me”, and Lisbon cuts him off again, telling him that she feels betrayed by his isolating himself from her and the rest of the unit, who she says are a family.

Moments worthy of a chuckle

Jane treating the Dublin case like it’s a city bus or something. “I don’t want this one….I’ll catch the next one”, which was his response to Director Bertram on not wanting to work the case!
When Jane lies to Lisbon about what exactly he whispered in the ear of a beautiful reporter as they were leaving Director Bertram’s office, Lisbon calls him a liar. Jane’s “You’re calling ME a liar?” was great!
Everyone in the CBI van exchanging glances at one another over Agent Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) and his loud (and out of tune) singing to music coming through his earbuds.
Agent Cho (Tim Kang) taking a call from Lisbon while he’s the only member of law enforcement at Mrs. Dublin’s house. While trying to deal with her melodramatic outbursts, he says completely deadpan through the phone, “Is someone coming to relieve me soon”

Moments that evoked a belly laugh

When Jane and Lisbon finally meet up with Cho at Mrs. Dublin’s house, Lisbon asks how Mrs. Dublin is holding up. Cho, in his typically, expressionless voice says, “She cries a lot, then she has to refreshen her makeup, then she cries again. It’s sort of a cycle.”
The entire scene at the ransom drop once Jane arrived was just HILARIOUS! Jane was convinced that the kidnapping was a sham and that no one was actually coming to pick up the ransom money. He wanted to see if the money that was dropped off was real, but Lisbon told him to sit for a few hours in case someone actually came to pick up the money. Jane: This is just silly. Lisbon: (yelling) It’s not silly, it’s professional! Jane: “Professional, Schmessional” and Jane darts over a bench to run from Lisbon and Cho toward the money in the trash can.
Jane’s running style as he made his way to the trash can received many a laugh from me and from my husband as well. My hubby: “Patrick Jane shouldn’t run anymore. Ever.” It’s really funny because Simon Baker is actually very athletic in real life.
Once Jane got to the ransom money left in the trashcan and confirmed it was real, the police instantly drew guns on him and yelled “FREEZE, don’t move!” to which he responded by dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes! (Note: the law enforcement officer that yelled “Don’t Move” is Hollywood Technical Advisor, Karl Sonnenberg, who is a great guy and gives the best updates during filming of The Mentalist)

Overview: The writers appear to be granting the viewers’ wishes this season! So far, they seem to have kept everything that we loved about Season 2 (more humor, more character interactions) and have added a few things that we felt were lacking. We begged for Red John to be a more prominent force across the entire season and it’s already looking as though we may be getting just what we asked for! Executive producer, Bruno Heller, has already hinted that Red John will no longer simply be a case that the team picks up once or twice during the season when he happens to murder someone, or coming after Jane. The first episode appears to confirm this for us. The stakes are starting off pretty high, and having Red John at the forefront of everyone’s mind, even if he’s not actually present during a particular episode is just what I’ve been hoping for!

And an extra big thanks to Simon Baker and Tim Kang for really bringing us the laughs in last nights episode! It’s obvious that Simon Baker has become one with Patrick Jane now. He hit the mark every time! In fact, the entire cast shined, in my opinion. I hope that the upcoming episodes don’t have trouble standing up to such a strong start…they definitely have a lot to live up to!

Take a peek at the preview for next week’s episode of The Mentalist entitled “Cackle-Bladder Blood”.