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The Mentalist’s new boss lady could shake things up

It's going to be fun watching Patrick Jane get his new boss to drink the KoolAid. He's brought Lisbon over to the dark side; now he's got a new challenge.

- Season 2, Episode 17 - "The Red Box"

This episode of The Mentalist was full of some really great Jane moments and a monumentally interesting new boss lady. Let’s get to her first — could it really be that someone was one step ahead of Patrick Jane? Something tells me he’ll come out on top in this battle of wills with his new boss, because Jane won’t let Lisbon get fired, nor will he tone down his antics. It will be a fun ride watching Jane get Madeleine Hightower to drink his KoolAid, but drink it she must for the show to continue entertaining the viewers. We know that Jane respects her, as he acknowledged this when she figured out that Rigsby and Van Pelt were together. That only makes Jane want to play even more….

Now, onto Jane’s fabulous antics in this episode:

  • smelling the corpse’s fingernails
  • making himself a sandwich at the crime scene (although he pretty much does that at every crime scene)
  • spraying Lysol into the tea to mimic the scent of the victim’s tea to out his lover
  • catching his and Lisbon’s tail
  • knowing Slocombe was faking the country accent to poorly hide his British accent

I’m glad they haven’t lost the bit where Jane connects with a family member of the victim. This time, it was particularly poignant because Slocombe knew of Jane’s past and that he too had lost a child to a murder. And Slocombe knowing that Jane would let him walk away to seek revenge on his son’s killer. Adding in the awkward not-hug (Slocombe: “I wasn’t going to hug you.”) was perfectly Jane … socially inept, unable to make an open, honest connection because he’s hiding behind that wall he’s built.

One of the great moments was not the obvious whodunit … I knew it was going to be Rigsby’s friend the moment we met him, and I just get so disappointed when I’m right. I want to be wowed by the reveal and that doesn’t happen too often on The Mentalist. It’s a good thing they’ve got all those other great moments going for them, and a potentially interesting new boss too.

What do you think — are you going to enjoy Madeleine Hightower strong-arming Jane and Lisbon?

Photo Credit: Michael Becker/WB

8 Responses to “The Mentalist’s new boss lady could shake things up”

April 3, 2010 at 1:38 AM

isn’t Simon Baker British?

April 3, 2010 at 9:12 AM

I believe Aussie….

April 4, 2010 at 12:28 AM

He is Australian, and I would argue that it was lemon scented Pledge in the tea… :D That being said, I like the new boss well enough. I don’t buy for a second that she’ll actually be able to do anything about Riggsby and Van Pelt, or send Lisbon packing, but I am still curious to see her try.

April 4, 2010 at 9:58 AM

I’ll give you your Pledge, and agree that she won’t be successful, so she’ll start drinking the KoolAid — or leave! — just like Lisbon. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!

April 8, 2010 at 10:24 PM

hATE THE NEW BOSS…SHE IS SO TIGHT ASSED ABOUT NOTHING. THE UNIT IS CLOSING CASES AND SUCCESSFUL SO WHY IS SHE RUBBING EVERYONE THE WRONG WAY.

April 10, 2010 at 9:22 PM

What a great episode of my favorite show, The Mentalist! Agent Hightower was very interesting addition and might be introducing the idea of the end of Lisbon. Another great article on The Mentalist – The Red Box.

April 10, 2010 at 9:28 PM

Just went and read the article … pretty interesting, but I don’t think it holds weight. I could be wrong, but it seems the writers have invested a lot on the relationship between Lisbon and Jane, and whether or not you like Robin Tunney or her character, the development between the two has been enjoyable and very well done. I think they’re going somewhere with this (although I suppose they could be setting up for Red John to kill Lisbon) so I don’t think the end of Lisbon will be Agent Hightower.

April 14, 2010 at 10:07 PM

How politically/racially correct. A fairly young/tight assed black mujer to be boss. Probably will go over well in Philly!

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