Throughout this week’s The Mentalist episode, I had a nagging song playing in the back of my head. You all know “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim,” right? Well, Patrick Jane may be all smiles and sunshine, but you don’t want to mess with him either. If you’re on his wrong side, you’ll be had, big time. Even if you’re on his good side, he’ll find a way to get you, somehow; maybe he’ll buy you a pony for your birthday or something.
It stems from the sheer brilliance of Jane; he’s always several steps ahead of the best of them (except Red John, so I can’t wait for the finale, “Red John’s Footsteps”), just like he was with the “grieving” widow and the golfing mobster boss this week.
My favorite episodes of The Mentalist are the ones where Jane figures it all out and concocts an elaborate plan to “out” the murderer, like he did this week. Let’s start with the mobster.
Sure, it was lots of fun for Jane to play with Battaglia, winning his trust, then showing him such a lack of respect. But it was all done so deliberately, because for the rest of his plan to work, he had to royally piss off the big guy.
So the prank calls seemed over the top, right? Nope, deliberate again, so that Battaglia would scare the poop out of the widow, Gina, and get her to confess to murdering her cheating husband.
He didn’t do this without first gaining the trust of the misplaced Italian, though, by wooing her with a homemade pasta dinner. That’s the way Jane works: gain the trust, have a little fun, then … BOOM! They never even see it coming. And Rigsby in his hit man sweat suit? Priceless.
The best part? It is so much fun watching Jane do his set-up thing.
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Apr 30, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
Does anyone know the significance with “Red” in every episode name? Or words to that effect, such as Blood.
The red refers to Red John the man who murdered Jane’s wife and daughter.
You don’t tug on Superman’s cape ;-)