The Mentalist Review: Manipulating a Monster

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Just when he thought he'd gotten a brief reprieve, Jane was revisited by his monster of an enemy on "Always Bet on Red." The episode brought Red John out to play once again, as he continued to taunt our hero.

Special Agent Susan Darcy believed that Red John was dead - and why wouldn't she? Jane had shot and killed a man he claimed was the murderer, a man he'd spent years hunting. Why would she think he'd gotten it wrong?

Catherine Dent on The Mentalist

But he had, and the only person he trusted with that information was Lisbon. At what cost to them both, though? 

You could almost see Jane's sanity start to fray around the edges as he watched the recorded stalking of Darcy. Then, he set up an innocent man to take the fall for Panzer's murder just to get Darcy off the case. Yes, Tom Maier was dead, but he wasn't a killer. 

It's a twisted and dangerous game. Jane's sliding down a murky moral slope and he's taking Lisbon along with him. He may have told her that deniability was her best friend but Lisbon's no fool. She knew exactly what he did, whether he said it or not.

The murder of the week was unimpressive, or perhaps I was so enthralled by the Red John story that I didn't much care who took out the attorney.

The best part about that story was that it brought Summer back. Cho's face positively lit up when he was with her. He actually looked possessive when she walked away with that mobster. And Summer certainly wanted to spend more time with Cho. I think she'd even have eaten the mushrooms on her pizza if that's what it took.

Summer noticed that Cho's back pain was still an issue. He's been popping pills for months. At some point that's got to come back to bite him. I only hope that Summer is there to help when it does.

Rigsby was in the background for most of this episode, but Van Pelt's best moment took place when Colette told her she didn't believe Lawrence could hurt Alton and she replied:

 Don't be naive. Men lie... and kill. | permalink

Yeah. She's still got some issues to work through.

When Jane set Red John on Panzer he let the tiger out of the cage. Now Jane's dancing as quickly as he can to protect the people around him.

She's cute. This is going to be fun. Eerie. How long until the taunts become more serious.  As Lisbon said:

 You manipulated a serial killer. There's going to be consequences. | permalink

So... how long will it be before Red John goes after the one person Jane really cares about? Indeed, how long until Red John targets Lisbon?

Always Bet on Red Review

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C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.

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The Mentalist Season 4 Episode 11 Quotes

Van Pelt: So who wanted this guy dead?
Lisbon: He was a divorce attorney. Who didn't?

At least he was dead when, you know...the shark ate him.

Lisbon