-This was a good episode of The Mentalist. Now if it were any other show having what is a deemed a "good ep" would be a mark of excellence. But The Mentalist is not any other show, it is always a piece of classic literature come to life. This ep wasn't exactly in that frame of episode thus it was "good" and not the usual omg, wonderful, brilliant.
-People will always claim that procedurals are always about the case and how it is solved. This isn't true. Viewers, fans, everyone watch for the characters. A case can be predictable, boring but fans will still love it if it has great character moments. The characters and what the actors bring to those roles make the episode elevated to greatness. One of the major problems with the episode was the lack of character interactions. Jane was mostly on his own, doing his own thing when he wasn't with Kim. One of the hallmarks of the show, that makes it different from the rest, is that interaction between Jane and Lisbon. There doesn't need to be any shippiness for fans to go wild over a scene between this two. See for example Lisbon telling Jane he was driving her nuts as he runs out of earshot in Crimson Ticket or Jane and Lisbon discussing his happy memory in Red John's Rules. Without a good amount of Jane and Lisbon working together time-something was off about the show.
Without Rigsby/Cho or Rigsby/Van Pelt (and sometimes Cho) moments to make the lack of the two main characters...the episode felt even more flat I'm afraid to say. Now Cho and Lisbon working together was great. Lisbon and Kim were hilarious and awesome together. But it wasn't enough to make many memorable moments.
-Another problem with the episode was Jane being jerky. Jane wasn't working with anyone in the FBI and was rude to Kim at the beginning of the episode. He didn't bother any with Lisbon and wasn't kind to Cho. Honestly, I would have liked him more happy and thankful about the return of his couch, too. A Jane who goes it alone when it isn't about Red John (that was understandable and any father who has his child murdered can become a jerk to coworkers and have it be excusable) doesn't work. Jane is a wonderful, complex character but he needs his crew so he doesn't fall into "jerkdom".
-On the positive side kudos to Brianna Brown for a nicely crazy killer performance. Another set of kudos to Emily Swallow who is doing a great job of making Kim more likable. Tim Kang was great as usual and it was nice to see Cho solving pieces of the crime. Of course bravo must also fall to Robin Tunney as well who made her Janeless Lisbon a real, powerful, awesome, funny, smart woman. It was our Lisbon with new shades showing.
-Also on another positive note I liked how the show is more serialized and each week leads to something new and the now the intelligence showing of the rest of the FBI instead of just brilliant Jane.
This is only one episode in over a hundred that I have called good, next week we might (hopefully) have a more Green Thumb ep which was not only brilliant but combined all the best elements of the show.
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