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Jane: This is Red John. Lisbon: How can you tell? Jane: Because when it's him I can feel it.
December 17th, 2011 5:22 AM
stunning episode, I was blown away.The Mentalist keeps getting better.
My father is a psychiatrist and I asked him about this, and he said he had seen quite a few cases of amnesia occurring in patients who had had a dangerous injury or accidents like a fall or something.
So it's not really far fetched..
The scene where Jane's memory comes back, the anguish on Lisbon's face and the way Jane was stood silently swaying..wow!
The Mentalist keeps getting better and better,can't wait for the next one.
December 17th, 2011 12:38 AM
To those questioning the amnesia angle of the story... In my line of work I have helped to treat several people who have obtained temporary amnesia after suffering a physical trauma if they have suffered another major psychological trauma earlier in their lives. Case to point, I have been involved in the treatment of a lady whose two children died in a house fire who then suffered temporary amnesia after having a major car accident four years later. She had no idea that her children were deceased. It does happen so it's not actually that far fetched at all...
December 17th, 2011 12:14 AM
I'm pretty sure it's wrong. I think the murder pushed Jane out of his psychic business but I think that what made him a better person is his wife and child. Don't forget that he was helping the police too before his family got murdered.
I fail to see how the murder could have magically turned him into a better person.
Rank: Regular Character
December 17th, 2011 12:03 AM
Great. The red herring was funny. I suspected a con when he was with Cho. I expected it was a long con when he was leaving with Tamara. Tunney's good at expressing herself through subtle facial expressions. Loved Van Pelt's expression after Rigsby told her Jane wanted to sleep with her. Jane at his worst still cares about kids.
December 16th, 2011 10:33 PM
I'm with some of the others expecting a long con at the end - firefighters in the club makes me think the writers wrote that in as a red herring - the red herring in the pocket in the firehouse scene was a double entendre. I thought it was a clue to the long con. But it was actually a clue that all the other clues to the long con were red herrings.
Confused yet?
December 16th, 2011 5:43 PM
Absolutely stunning episode! We have now seen what PJ was like before he met and married Angela. No doubt he started changing his sleazy huckster ways out of his love for her. I doubt she would have married him otherwise. What was to love? I think that over the few years they were married, because of Angela's influence as well as his daughter's, he lost most of that sleazy huckster stuff, with only his love for money and public adulation remaining. And that is what set the stage for his wife's and daughter's murder. Now he suffers for that, and not just that, but in remembering what a sleazeball he used to be. No wonder he is full of self-loathing. I'm wondering what else there is in Jane's background that would be interesting to know. Example: what happened to his mother? Did she die and was he somehow feeling the blame (such as, she died in childbirth)? More guilt. He seems to need a mother, as suggested by his somewhat endearing childlike behavior at times. Angela performed somewhat
December 16th, 2011 5:40 PM
Outstanding episode. Simon Baker was excellent acting as both sides of Jane. I loved how Lisbon stayed with him and believed in him. It was very sad when he remembered but it had to happen.
December 16th, 2011 4:29 PM
Simon
Baker is a wonderful actor. He is able to make us laugh, mourn, surprise, trick, love it. But above all able to define a character, giving many layers.
December 16th, 2011 4:27 PM
Great review! @Keith Vlasek: I was going to say the same thing about that flashback episode. In another episode where Jane and Lisbon exit a roadside fruit shop on one of their trips, he tells her that he needs her to know that she can trust him before making her do the ‘trust fall’ into his arms. I believe Jane is a good person and the amnesia brought out all the negative traits he detests in himself. Re: Cho’s question – ‘Do you even like us?’ - that question could also be asked of Cho, Rigsby and Grace. I don’t think Grace and Rigsby really like Jane, but I think Cho respects him and admires him to some degree – the two men are akin in that they both keep their true caring natures close to their chest. …which brings me to Jane’s chest :). It was a highly emotional scene, and we got to see a little more of Patrick Jane than we’re normally privy to – which of course was the writer’s intent – to expose the vulnerable Jane. Agree with wolfshades – t
December 16th, 2011 4:07 PM
I echo the praise of this episode. Clearly this is the sum of excellent parts, starting with being WELL WRITTEN. It was then taken to the next level by strongly acting the complex emotional subtleties (especially Robin Tunney; WOW!) to which both all the actors, director & editor need to excel. Everything in this medium is collaborative; it's STUNNING when it works. The only weakness of this episode was the tired and fallacious trope of "amnesia," but credibility always takes a hit somewhere just to get a story rolling. I forgive that when it gives us this. Nice review.
December 16th, 2011 4:02 PM
Now that the shark was jumped (last episode) it appears the writers are really desperate to try to make the show interesting again. They IMHO are not succeeding..
Rank: Staff Member
December 16th, 2011 3:04 PM
I have to echo Nixenkind on C. Orlando's review - very well written. I can see how Cho would say that it took the murder of Jane's family to make him a better man, even though I disagree with him.
This episode is one of those works of art that requires each viewer to bring his or her own interpretation to the character of Jane, based upon one's own experience. In my case, my view of him comes from a belief that each person is made of multiple layers. "Kind hearted" and "narcissistic" are only two of many potential aspects of Jane's personality. Like any of us, there are many many more. Only the less experienced and more myopic individual would conclude the either/or, or "black vs. white" approach.
As for the scenes, there were a great many in this episode that warranted a five star rating: the scene where Jane's colleagues first see Jane being worked on after almost being drowned: the worry on their faces cracks their usual stoic facades. Or the final scene, where the an
December 16th, 2011 1:28 PM
I felt that this is the worst episode yet. The show is now so unrealistic it is a joke. In the old days it was semi believable some of the stunts he pulled but this. I thought he was faking his condition to gain some time of investigative advantage but instead we have a classic soap opera.
Rank: Staff Member
December 16th, 2011 1:13 PM
To no no no no no:
Yes, sometimes "oopsy" happens when you write at 2am, even when you reread. Thanks for the catch. It's been fixed.
Rank: Recurring Character
December 16th, 2011 12:51 PM
When they've shown Jane's past life in previous episodes, he seemed to have a conscience -- like when he was hit by the baseball, he hesitated on the healing crystal and had to be shoved into it by his father (and he was criticised also for giving more information than the con required in the audience setting -- sorry, don't remember details, but the implication was a veering from his father's kind of cons to conning people via his own discovered method that was actually helpful to them. Also, he has been supportive of Lisbon, and even said in the truck trailer left in Mexico, that he would always be there for her. I just sort of believe that Jane has been drawn as a character who has always had a conscience to where he could go to work for the police, whereas his old man was totally good for nothing and could never have worked with the police, but at least was the example in front of Jane so that he didn't grow up to be his father.
December 16th, 2011 12:04 PM
"would have been very convincing if Lisbon hadn't of known"
SERIOUSLY?
"HADN'T OF"...?
DID WE HAVE AN OOPSY AND FORGET THE VERB 'TO HAVE' THIS WEEK?
December 16th, 2011 11:35 AM
Excellent review....this episode was interesting, to say the least, seeing Jane back in his con-man persona. He's done it a couple of times over the past two years, but it was always staged....I kept expecting him to laugh it off in the end, saying he fooled everyone...I really thought he would do it, too, but the fact that he was really (possibly) in the an amnesic state blew me away -- what a way to end it! And it was he perfect vehicle for Lisbon to let down her guard and show the world her love for Jane! On that note, is this the end of the first half of the season and now we'll see reruns on all our shows for the next month, or what? It seems like they all ended with cliff-hangers this week. It was great seeing
December 16th, 2011 11:14 AM
Your review is wonderful! You express everything I felt with better words! I just felt Lisbon's pain and at the end, Jane standing at the door...It was heartbreaking..
December 16th, 2011 10:23 AM
It was a wonderful episode. The review I found is brillant: a true description of the meaning of the episode. In some forums I find that the connection between the episode and the review is science fiction. Congratulations
December 16th, 2011 9:47 AM
Wow, what a beautifully and eloquently written review, befitting of the intricate themes of this episode. As Lisbon contends to Cho's quote that you used, 'that person was always inside of him the murder just brought it out,' for me also it is about nature and nurture. None of us are born evil nor good but with the capacity to do both. True, like Jane some of us are blessed with gifts that shape our personalities. Here those gifts through the nurturing of Jane's father, moved towards sinister ends but were supplanted by the healthy and loving nurturing of his wife and subsequently his daughter.
Lisbon understands that this fugue state has sent him back to a point before his wife's nurturing and therefore he is in need of some means to bring about that good inclination. Though she does not know what key, secret or ingredient his wife possessed, she hopes that she might find at least one way through friendship, one that would circumvent having to fill his heart with sadness at r
December 16th, 2011 3:26 AM
the thing about the old patrick jane is that we only see the bad parts- how he manipulated people. but he was obviously a loving husband and father as well. i do think the death of his family made him a better person, but i don't think he was ever a bad person, we just see the less savory parts
Rank: New User
December 16th, 2011 3:18 AM
Lots to say about this one, but- You, my dear C. Orlando, just said it so beautifully, I'm out of words for now. I second everything you wrote. Brilliant review, congratulations!
As to your question: Yes. I do believe Patrick Jane is a better man. I'm with Lisbon there.