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Jane: This is Red John. Lisbon: How can you tell? Jane: Because when it's him I can feel it.The Mentalist Clips
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Jane: This is Red John. Lisbon: How can you tell? Jane: Because when it's him I can feel it.
October 1st, 2011 10:56 AM
The issue I'm still wondering about is in the Season 3 finale, LaRoche killed the shopkeeper who was arrested after strapping a bomb to Lisbon. It appeared that LaRoche planted a gun in the backseat of the car with the suspect and then claimed that the guy had a gun and so he had to shoot him. They haven't made any mention yet as to why he did this.
October 1st, 2011 8:52 AM
Somebody else beside me remembers The Profiler. Talk about stealing plots! The killer in that series was named Jack of All Trades! Jack and John. There was also a red herring in which they thought they caught the real Jack, but he was just a pawn. Sound familiar? Jack also had a woman who was sympathetic to him and helped him. Sound like the psychologist that mysteriously disappeared that was sympathetic to Red John? Think she will be back as an accomplice?
Within the plot line of Red John, it makes sense that he would not risk meeting Jane directly and would send a pawn. After all, he is this mysterious, super-intelligent killer who knows Jane so well. But I am tired of these super-intelligent killers, like Hannibal Lechter, who outsmart the police and are ten steps ahead.
Anyway, Jane crossed a line when he killed Red John. It makes it very difficult to maintain sympathy for this character, now that he is a cold-blooded killer, which runs counter to past episodes when he was afra
Rank: Recurring Character
October 1st, 2011 4:41 AM
@maddie
yeah well actually you can, if you only did one killing and they catch you before you did more which you were totally planning, then technically yo are not a serial but if they didn't catch you would have become one, that's what i meant. and when did i ever say that Patrick not having a life is the unrealistic part? it's the REASON that Patrick is not having a life that strikes me as unrealistic.
a lot of people agree they are just not bothered by it or they like it, i just have a diff opinion.
and nobody will be able to prove to me that that pair of sociopathic fruitcakes in the first ep of the season didn't kill anybody before, they changed their name and made their past disappear for a reason.
October 1st, 2011 12:36 AM
@farsia2010 i get that you want him to have a life, but that doesn't make the storyline unrealistic. and none of the people you mentioned are serial killers. they're just people who were manipulated by red john, who happened to be violent. and you can't be on your way to a serial killer- you either are or you aren't
Rank: Regular Character
September 30th, 2011 6:57 PM
As long as it's done well, I don't mind the RJ storyline continuing or ending. Very entertaining episode. Triggering a fight, the secret meeting, taking down Hafner by using a con, hypnosis, a mole, and finally getting Lisbon reinstated-wow! Jane /Lisbon have great scenes. Grace's hair looked great at therapy. Grace can at least joke about what happened -that's a good sign. Too bad LaRoche is leaving. I wonder if we'll see Hightower again.
September 30th, 2011 4:38 PM
Why not keep the Red John story line open. I loved how Jane manipulated everyone until he got his team back. I didn't like how the new but temporary team leader treated Rigsby,Cho and Grace. I'm gled he is gone. I was surprised that LaRoche all of a sudden was leaving and all huggy with Lisbon. I always thought he was part of the Red John gang. The Mentalist is an excellent show and I look forward to the episodes each week.
September 30th, 2011 3:11 PM
Wow! Talk about speedy justice! Jane was arrested, held in prison, tried and acquitted before the guy he killed was buried and Lisbon's arm had healed. Good thing he won that million so easily in the poker game. The show is a comic book. It's a good thing Simon Baker is so watchable.
Rank: Extra
September 30th, 2011 3:08 PM
I've always had this feeling that LaRoche is Red John, don't know why, perhaps because his character is such an enigma. Vince is a good actor, liked him in Deadwood and Constantine.
Rank: Recurring Character
September 30th, 2011 1:38 PM
@maddie
yes because ordering somebody kills clears him of the responsibility. and my prob is not that Jane doesn't have a gf, it's that he doesn't even have a possibility to have one, his past is not only haunting him, it's his present. he is like a walking dead man and he has no chance at healing and as much as any girl likes a tortured soul of a guy, i just want him to be able to live instead of exist in this semi coma state. he puts up a great front but he can't even get himself a place to live because in his mind he still lives in that room that he found his wife and daughter dead. and what do you mean no serial killers working for him, just psychos? that arsonist that got burned in the CBI he was definitely on his way to be one and the last one that Jane killed was a pair of maniacs and who knows how many people they have killed and maybe "work for him" is the wrong phrasing but work with him definitely fits the bill. Cult or no cult, he manages to find them somehow, do they adve
Rank: Recurring Character
September 30th, 2011 12:55 PM
I wondered during the season opener why they did not bring in the blind lover to check the dead man to see whether he was Red John, but I got sidetracked before I mentioned it. I think that she was telling the truth. The man is not Red John. That disappoints me, somewhat. I'm also kind of tired of Red John. However, if the show moves on to Jane having a relationship, and no Red John, it will just be another police show. Red John HAS to be alive, or this program loses its individuality.
I still note no mention of Hightower and her fate, after the shootout in the cabin. I would like to know what the plan is for her character.
I was delighted to see the fat creepy man leaving. He is some kind of weasel, and there are already enough of them on this show.
Rigsby has always been portrayed as something of a Nervous Nellie, so it was not surprising to see him quibble at joining the conspiracy to rescue Lisbon. I still maintain that he is too good for Grace, not the other way
Rank: Guest Star
September 30th, 2011 12:41 PM
Rule number 34: "If you don't see the face of a character who dies -- that person is not really dead."
I have no idea how Sally pulled off her "death" in such a way that she's managed to fool the prison officials and ME, but mark my words, she'll be back.
As for the Red John arc, The Profiler was the first show (at least that I know of) in which the recurring serial killer was caught and then revealed to be the wrong man. It worked all right, but I think the arc remains stronger without such "gottcha" gimmicks. I have to agree with farsia that Red John seems far too capable and all-knowing for a mere human, especially since the number of real-life serial killers with even a a reasonable intelligence runs in the single digits, and the number of real-life serial killers with a truly superior intelligence runs in the low zeroes.
On the other hand, as Con points out, The Mentalist is not a hard-core police procedural in the same realm as something like
September 30th, 2011 12:21 PM
"he's a serial killer that's charistmatic enough to have a cult following, who he puts into high powered places. it's not like that's beyond the realm of possibility" - That's exactly what it's like. How many serial killers do you know of who had plants in the FBI and state police? John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy were loners. Charles Manson had a cult, but his girls weren't very bright. No, I must agree with farsia2010. Red John is too good (or bad) to be true, no matter how willingly you suspend your disbelief.
I'm avoiding the show these days for just this reason, but I will say the man Patrick shot had to have been Red john, because if he wasn't, then Patrick was wrong, and, according to the show's central premise, Patrick is never wrong.
September 30th, 2011 11:45 AM
@con and student of trivia - my sentiments too. Loved this episode!
Rank: Guest Star
September 30th, 2011 11:16 AM
I too am pleased to see the team back together, as was inevitable. The R.J. arc is just a vehicle to move the show, its premise was good and as was mentioned, we need a villain along with the weekly nasty to root for our protagonist, who has now proven himself to be the dark individual we always saw him as. Lisbon has finally accepted that she cannot change him and recognises his strong attachment to her, hence his wreaking havoc with the new team.
What a great moment when he arranges for the two
members to duke it out and then uses his skills to frame the rest of them, even using Bertram to do the deed.
The little comment about time, quoting E. Taylor was primo. Loved it and bringing back R.J.'s blind mistress was a surprise. All in all better than last week's and I'm looking forward to more of the same.
September 30th, 2011 11:16 AM
so your problem with red john is because jane doesn't have a girlfriend? seriously? and what other serial killers does he have working for him? he has copycats, he has psychos, but he's obviously like a cult leader. and he didn't do half the stuff you mentioned- he didn't kill cbi agents, his followers did. it's a lot easier to be two places at once when you have someone else working for you
Rank: Recurring Character
September 30th, 2011 10:35 AM
@maddie
it is not that he only knows things, it's that he knows everything, he has other serial killers work for him (how the hell does he find them all in the first place?), he is busy doing evil yet he is always watching Patrick, he manages to hack into their system, kill CBI agents, never get caught, kidnap people close to Patrick, influence politics and with all that stay absolutely invisible. plus, i would be okay and manage to deal with all this unrealistically elusive villain but i want Patrick to have some attempt at love life and he can't until red john is in the air and he has the vengeance mission.
September 30th, 2011 9:26 AM
I like to think of Red John now as an ideal. It makes the show alot more interesting. There is not one man, but a whole band of followers
September 30th, 2011 9:11 AM
um farsia2010, i don't think red john is superhuman. what's so super human about him? he's a serial killer that's charistmatic enough to have a cult following, who he puts into high powered places. it's not like that's beyond the realm of possibility- it wouldn't have been hard for red john to tell timothy what happened. maybe there isn't one red john! Maybe there are several, and that's why they can never catch him
September 30th, 2011 8:13 AM
Sorry, that should be 'an almost supernatural vibe at times'
September 30th, 2011 8:12 AM
Since when has Red John, or The Mentalist for that matter, been considered a show for 'realism'? Red John is an enigmatic, all knowing, all seeing villain with, almost supernatural at times. This ISNT realistic, you are right farsia2010, but i've always loved it for these same reasons. When I want gritty realism in the cop genre I watch Southland. I watch The Mentalist because I love the characters and their storys, including the red john arc.
Gotta say I agree with everything in this review. I thought this episode was pretty close to perfection really - I even liked the case on top of all the other awesomeness!
Rank: Recurring Character
September 30th, 2011 7:18 AM
Oh for Pete's sake!! i am so sick and tired of this Red John story that i am ready to scream. it's ok being twisty and enigmatic but only up to a point, the screenwriters are are making him downright superhuman, i am thinking that they need a Batman kinda hero to deal with this clearly unrealistic super-villain. it is beginning to feel like and a never ending Da Vinci Code sort of riddle and i for one want some closer already and moving on to the next villain of the season, I want Patrick to actually have a relationship and he can't until he gets red john, it's like this character is stuck in a time loop and there is no getting out and i am tired of it.
i do agree with everything said in the review about Rigsby, Van Pelt and the case of the week. i thoroughly enjoyed watching Jane reek havoc on this team of strangers to get our team back complete with Lisbon leading the charge. Cho was as smileless and great as ever, i just love that character.