Burning Down the House: A Review of Fire and Brimstone

All that anger and wailing you heard from the coasts of California to the busy streets of Hong Kong, yes, was fans upset that this episode was postponed a week.  I have never seen such a flurry of anger from not only online fans but local stations and regular people I know.   I guess people really do love The Mentalist.

Of course there are spoilers for the episode if you have not seen it and the picture is owned by CBS and Warner Brothers and I beg them not to sue me.

Plot: With the final clue in hand, that Red John has a three dot tattoo on his left shoulder, Jane comes up with a master plan to bring the five remaining suspects together at the place it all started- his Malibu house- in order to reveal his family's killer.

The Jisbon of It All:

I have said it before but I will say it again- I'm not a shipper of anyone.  I was once one for CSI and it broke my then young heart in two.  So I proclaimed I would never ship.  That doesn't mean I can't enjoy shippy scenes though.  But I am fine with letting the creator taking the proposed couple where he/she wants to.   So I viewed the sunset scene as a more neutral third party and I will tell you this- it was as shippy as hell.

First off you don't film a scene like that with a romantic backdrop and imagery and not have it be viewed as shippy.  If Cho and Rigsby had played out those words I would have said that maybe Rigs married the wrong one.  Jane and Lisbon are friends, they have been for some time, but there was more than friendship there.  Is it a romance?  No, not quite yet but the scene foreshadowed that it could be, that as the sun sets on the Red John storyline, the sunrise might bring new hope, a new day and possibly a new love.

Was Jane being genuine?  Yes, he was.  This was his goodbye to Lisbon.  He doesn't know if death or jail awaits him.  For once he takes off that mask he wears and shows the real Jane that is lurking below.  He is grateful for her, for all that she has done, for all that she represents.  It is the most honest we as the audience have even seen him be with himself.  The hug is genuine, too.  He fully pulls her to him, the man who doesn't like to be touched and holds on for dear life to his anchor in the storm.  His eyes closed tight, willing himself to do what has to come next but not wanting to let go, he then, and only then takes the phone from her jacket.  The hug didn't have to last that long but it does because he needs to feel for once.

After the hug he plants the mask back on his face for a few minutes but he can't hold it for long for as he drives away the tears begin to fall.  Tears he has only let fall for his wife and daughter before.  Jane usually can control his emotions  (even when drunk) but this time he can't because he has let Lisbon into his heart and she has changed him.  He always thought saying goodbye would be easy but it becomes the hardest thing he has had to do.

Both Simon Baker and Robin Tunney were excellent in this scene.  Baker let us in to what Jane was thinking and Tunney had Lisbon crying (!) and overjoyed that he actually did care about her.

For me the scene wasn't ruined by Jane's ditching her.  It is what Jane has to do because either he puts Lisbon in harms' way by having her here (physically and job/jail wise) or he worries that she might actually let him kill Red John.  We all know how honest Lisbon is and how much of a horrible liar she is.  But Jane can't read her in the attic scene.  He wants to believe she is lying (he needs her to be his beacon of truth and good) but she doesn't seem to be lying.  My personal opinion, Lisbon doesn't want him killing RJ but if RJ tries to kill them...then legally she can kill him.  Thus, in her mind, they all win.  But for Jane it wouldn't be a win because he needs to be one doing the killing.  Jane thinks his revenge will bring him peace that it won't.

Another great scene is Jane answering Lisbon's phone call.  He has to know it's her but still he picks up.  He even says he's sorry (Teresa what have you done to Jane).  He tries to tell her he'll be okay, she begs him to stop, he says goodbye knowing his white knight is trying to come to save him. Maybe part of him hopes that she will make it in time.

The question of why neither of them ever pushes forth their feelings for each other has been brought up before.  For Jane he doesn't feel worthy of Lisbon's love.  He is full of self hated, self loathing, and he's got her on a pedestal of angelness.  He wants the best for her and he knows that isn't him.  His self hated makes himself want to hurt and denying the pleasure of true love is another cut to the body.  The women he has chosen to be interested in were either killers (Jennifer Sands, Erica Flynn), frauds (Kristina Frye, Brooke from Miss Red), needy (Sophie) or slightly psychotic (Lorelei) .  None of them represented the strong, goodness that was his wife, Angela.  The only one that comes close is Lisbon.  So Jane must deny himself the pleasure of anything more from her.

Meanwhile Lisbon is used to being the one in control of relationships.  She broke up with Greg, didn't have things go anywhere with Bosco, took Mashburn to bed clearly in control.  Lisbon, has shown on screen, some control (all the guys have crushes on her) over her old partner Bobby, Ray Haffner, JD, the drug dealer in Pink Tops, Scott in Red Gold...the list goes on.  The only man she doesn't have control over is Jane.  She can only guide him and change him to a degree.  While Lisbon has been the heart-breaker in these other relationships she is the one who gets her hear tbroken with Jane.   The pull he has over her must be so scary to a noted control freak who lost at a young age someone she loved very much.  Lisbon has always been reserved in her emotions because if she "doesn't lock it all down" she's afraid of what will happen, what will she feel.  But Patrick Jane has managed to break down those walls within her.

Thus Jane and Lisbon are each others perfect match though circumstances (his self hated, her fear) lead them not to be together.  As much as The Mentalist has been about the search for Red John it is also been the story of these two and their ever changing world because of knowing each other.  Jane once told Lisbon he would always be there to save her and Lisbon countered that she didn't need saving.  Alas both of them were wrong because they are actually there to save each other.

The Themes Unite:

The episodes this year have had themes of love, fear,  hopes and dreams and the price of revenge.  In this episode Ken Woodruff does a wonderful job bringing all those themes together.  There is the love of trying to save one another (Jane and Lisbon), the fear of being near death (Baker did a lovely job portraying Jane's nervousness waiting for the suspects to show up), hopes and dreams (one of Jane's hopes might come true- RJ dead but at the price of losing a dream of a new life), and the price of revenge (his life in exchange for revenge).   These themes are Jane's journey and I think post- Red John life is going to be very interesting to see.

The Usual Suspects:

The whole ep had a different, more movie like feel.  Big shouts to John Showalter for the direction, Blake Neely for the music that set the scenes and Jimmy Gadd for the editing that was movie magic like.    The guest actors did such a wonderful job keeping us guessing whom might be Red John.  I particularly was glued to the set when  the great Reed Diamond as Ray Haffner was taking to Lisbon at the diner.  He seemed genuinely upset that she thought he could be RJ.  Then there was the wonderful Malcolm McDowell having his Bret Stiles conduct his "resurrection".   This was further proof that RJ was once a member of Visualize and took some of their methods to form his own religion and create the power hungry evil, Tyger, Tyger organization.  So when Red John marked Lisbon the way he did he was telling us that he was about to be resurrected.  Hmm. Was he going to make Jane think he was someone else, have Jane kill that person like he did Carter and then RJ come back as a different serial killer or a RJ copycat?  Maybe he was just going to end the game with Jane did and be a new person who didn't kill anymore.  Maybe we'll find out.

I have to give bravos to Drew Powell who keeps giving me the chills (and he is a super sweetheart on Twitter), Michael Gaston as Bertrum who was owning every scene he was in and Xander Berekley whose intense look at Jane had so many layers of meaning.  The show really choose great actors to be RJ suspects.


Other Things:

-Lisbon doesn't need her contacts on her phone to call Jane.

-The image of the two phones on the seat together symbolized the Jane and Lisbon relationship well- so close but yet still apart. 

-Stiles hoping that Grace didn't marry Rigsby was very funny (poor Rigs) and was a nice connection to the ep where Grace was enchanted by Stiles.

-A nice touch having Jane take out the gun that Max Winters gave him.  Not sure why he didn't use it for Tim Carter but...that is a nick-pick.

-Every time Simon Baker enters that room with the smile face fans are treated to seeing one of the best actors of any time (he truly is) work his mojo.


Next Week:

-Jordan Harper gets to play with RJ and if the ep is half as good as his short stories or his other TM eps we are for a treat.

-Two more eps to go before the big reveal.

-The conclusion of this chapter, beginning of the next.

-Rockmond Dunbar makes his first appearance.