It is all a con till someone gets hurt- Full Review of Violets

This is the more in depth review of Violets, Jordan Harper's episode that aired last night.  Of course there are spoilers and I do not own the picture below.

Plot: Jane discovers his own case when art thieves take a life as Jane gets to run an old fashion con.  Meanwhile a lie leads to some hard truths for both Jane and Lisbon.

The Scarf, the Ring and the Painting Not in the Wardrobe:
Jane speaks to the widow at the beginning of the episode and gives her comfort explaining that her husband will live on inside of her.  Of course her talon of remembrance is a painting of her that was special to both of them.  It represents their love, their commitment...and it is what got him killed.  This explains nicely why Jane continues to wear his ring.  It is a symbol of his love for Angela and by leaving it on a piece of her lives on.  He tried to remove it with his date with Kristina Frye but couldn't.  In Fugue in Red his subconscious pretended that he was merely a device to get chicks- for remembering the significance was too painful.  He did remove it once to have his date with Kim.  But it didn't stay off his finger for long.  Now though in this ep he removes it.  That is very interesting because in every other undercover job he has never taken it off.  It wasn't necessary for him to do so here either.  Instead of boyfriend/girlfriend they could have been married.  Surely they could have got some wedding looking band for Lisbon to have on.  But with his con Jane gave himself the opportunity to see life without the ring.  To try it on in a way. 

Jane's talk with the widow at the beginning of the ep and then giving her the painting at the end is huge growth for a man who didn't want to talk to the victims' families before.  See Red Handed for example not to mention mostly every TM ep.  Jane never wanted thanks nor knew what to say to them.  In Red Scare he even tells that widow that her husband is dead and can't know that she is sorry.  Now here he is a changed man staying how the dead live on...it is almost a religious sounding statement. 

Another inanimate object that holds a lot of power in the episode is the scarf.  Jane wears it all the time- the only part of his costume.  Then he is reluctant to let it go.  Not until he sees Lisbon going off on a date with Marcus.  Then the scarf gets thrown off.  The scarf was representing this lie they were living for the con- being a couple.  Jane enjoyed it- he enjoyed being free of his past (the ring), having some fun, being in a house with friends having a party and of course being one half a couple.  It all felt right to him.  He is almost deliriously happy until he realizes that a date is going on.

The Pike of the Problem:
Jordan Harper did a great job writing this character and Pedro Pascal plays his perfectly.  I fully admit I fell for Pike.  When Lisbon rejects him I will gladly take him...if he wasn't a fictional character.  Pike is almost perfect.  Of course for Lisbon that could be get boring (see So Long, Goodbye and Thanks for All the Red Snapper).  But Pike is giving Lisbon something she has always longed for from Jane: the truth.  Lisbon tells Pike on the phone that she has been living a lie all day.  She isn't a couple with Jane and has never been although through the years we have seen how much she loves him.  There is a hint there that she wishes the lie was the truth and it hurts it that it isn't.  Jane can ask out Kim and Krystal and kiss Erika and sleep with Lorelei but he doesn't make a move with her.  She knows that he knows that she cares deeply for him.  By not jumping on that chance during Green Thumb or afterwards she must think he doesn't really love her.  The man wrote love letters for two letters, comes back to the States just to work with her (number 1 on his list of demands) and then...that's it. 

The show has always established that  Lisbon cannot lie, that she is a pillar of trust and thus why a bad actress.  All Jane ever does is lie, it is who he is.  Lisbon accepts that but she doesn't like it.  Especially when just last episode he was still lying to her.  Lisbon can't trust him but she can trust straight forward Pike.   In Green Thumb Lisbon asked Jane to change (see the plane scene) but he hasn't.  This mirrors Angela asking Jane to stop playing fake physic (see Redemption) but he didn't and Angela and Charlotte lost their lives.  Lisbon could be the second woman Jane has loved and lost because he couldn't stop being who he is.

The Meta and the Painting:

If Jane doesn't make a move then Red John wins again- he takes the life Jane could have had with Teresa.  Red John might be dead but his presence still lingers.  Jane met Lisbon because of RJ, there will never be any getting around that.  Their whatever is forever linked to the killer. 

All of Jane's other women have been nothing like Angela (killer, killer/serial killer lover, fake physic).  Only Lisbon is like Angela- a good woman that loves Jane despite his faults and doesn't like playing people for the mark.  Getting together with Lisbon is almost a betrayal while that ring is on his fingers because those other women were meaningless.  Lisbon wouldn't be.  So I love how the painting ties into this theme.  Jane is in love with someone he can't have (Lisbon) and the only way he can express that is through things (undercover missions, ponies, letters). 

But now that Jane took off that ring he might be ready to start moving on, finally letting go of the pain and realizing that he deserves Lisbon and she deserves him.

Other Things:
-Everyone knows that Jane and Lisbon have something brewing except Jane and Lisbon.  Eventually that dam has got to break.

-Closed Case Pizza was a nice bridge between the old and the new.

-Kim had to have a sexy dress to play the face.  Lisbon though didn't...who was she trying to seduce?  Very interesting that Jane choose that dress for her.

-We have seen Jane mad and sad but I have never seen him heartbroken until that last scene.

-I said this in the quick review but everyone was brilliant and having fun.  This was a great way to make the new characters more multidimensional.

-Jane has established the new characters as family already like teaching Wiley so much.  Jane has changed and it shows.



I won't tell you that there is no new ep next week.