The last time we had a Red John centric episode, it was action-packed. I felt like the team was here, there, everywhere and there was one more layer to the action every moment. Not so with tonight’s episode, which was really slow for me until the last 20 minutes or so.
I know that Red John is a series arc, not a season arc of The Mentalist, so I wasn’t expecting too much to be revealed, but after all was said and done, I went from thinking “lame cop-out” to “decent reveal.” There were a few things about the way the ending played out that worked for me, and made it believable.
I was so frustrated when I thought that Jane was fooled by that sheriff. I kept telling myself, in my infinite attempts to keep an open mind, that Jane’s judgment was clouded by his thirst for revenge so he was off his game. I felt so much better when they revealed that Jane and Lisbon didn’t really argue, that they knew it was the sheriff and they were setting him up. Whew, much more Mentalist.
So now we know that Red John had an accomplice, Orville Tanner, who got caught and died in prison. Oh, and that his son was a complete whack job (you don’t find peaches under apple trees). And we may be just a little closer to having an identity for Red John, though I think Roy Tagliaferro probably isn’t his real name. I’m also wondering what we are to make of the blind woman’s complete trust in this guy. Are we looking at a Ted Bundy type? It will be fun to learn more about Red John as the series goes on.
Just a few little mentionables:
What do you think? Did The Mentalist‘s season finale live up to your expectations?
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on May 19, 2009 @ 22:41 EST5EDT
Bravo–most excellent scripting and cast show, and I was VERY happy with it’s first year and thrilled to see a different twist on the crime genre being done here. Let alone the overall feeling of fun being generated by not only the whole cast, but Simon Baker especially. His smile alone is priceless.
Now, if they just leave it in the same time slot for next season so I don’t have to lose any more sleep trying to stay up to watch it…..oh well, I guess that is what TIVO is for!
Thanks for the great year to the cast and crew of The Mentalist and thanks to Clickclack for the super reviews.
Is it fall yet?????????
*POST AUTHOR*
Heh, I know, it does seem a long wait, doesn’t it? ;-)
We actually learned about Orville Tanner back in episode 11 (Red John’s Friends). He was the guy that Jared Renfrew knew in prison (“a friend of a friend of Red John’s”) and the CBI team discussed Tanner’s murder trial in the episode. He had claimed at his trial that he had an accomplice named Red John but nobody had believed him.
*POST AUTHOR*
Ah, thanks. The name didn’t ring a bell, but the situation does; thanks for refreshing my memory!
I was bored. I like the one-shot episodes better. I like the humor. This was just… I don’t know, I simply don’t like angry Jane. I don’t like serious. I don’t like the frowny-smiley.
This episode seemed to set up the Jane is Red John theory.
The sheriff at the end seemed to be putting a finger over his mouth to say shhh.
And jane silenced the only witness, and dropped his guard around the sheriff.
It seems highly possible he has another personality or a sibling doing the dirty with him only knowing sub-conciously
The big deal with Jane killing the Sheriff is that he chose Lisbon over his only link to possibly finding Red John. That’s my take on it.
This has got to be the most ‘fun’ crime/procedural on TV, and that’s what sets it apart from its the others out there. Not to say that it doesn’t deal with the heavy stuff, too, but it gets the banter and the quirk just right.
Red John is the brother of the twins! Soft voice, straight hair, tall, …and did you see him look at Jane when his sister was restored to him and his parents? And by the look on his face, Jane knew.