I don’t know what’s going on lately but I can’t stop re-watching “The Mentalist.” I’ve watched the Lisbon/Jane wedding 18 times over the course of this pandemic. And I’m not even sorry. I loved the show when it was on and it’s been nice to just revisit. I love playing “Spot The Guest Star” and the Red John build up. Now I’m going to try and pick just five of my favorite episodes. The show was on for seven seasons. I thought about picking seven but let’s see how this goes. They’re in no real order though as far as the list.
1. Red John – Season 6 Episode 8
I’m sure you can tell by the title what this episode is all about. Finally, after six season, Patrick Jane has finally unmasked Red John. If I had more space on my list I’d add the previous two episodes as well. It’s a really great three episode build to the final showdown. I imagine there was a lot of pressure to get the Red John wrap up right and I feel like they nailed it. After 10 years of announcing “I’m going to kill Red John,” Patrick did just that. I have to wonder if anyone watching back then was surprised by it. I think some of us were 50/50 on it but I never had any doubts. I was more curious about how he was going to do it. In order for Patrick (and the show) to move on, it had to be done. There was no way he was going to find happiness again without this step.
2. Blue Bird – Season 6 Episode 22
Finally, after waiting years to hear it, Patrick confesses his feelings to Lisbon. All it took was for some other dude to propose and for her to attempt to move to D.C. but hey, some of us need a real kick in the ass. Plus it’s just a fun episode with a classic Jane prank and Cho being 100% clueless about what’s going on. The speech he delivers to Lisbon on the plane is just amazing and heartfelt. Simon Baker did a great job of really bringing it to a scene that a lot of fans had been hoping would happen. And then, THEN, they finally share their first kiss while he’s being held for storming a plane in the first place. I can’t think of anything more perfect for those two.
3. Red Dawn – Season 5 Episode 99
I love when a show does a flashback episode to the early days. “Bones” has an episode like that and “Red Dawn” is The Mentalist’s. It goes back to before Patrick was a consultant, instead he was just a broken man trying to get answers to the murder of his wife and child. But it does a great job of showing his skills. He annoys someone at the CBI enough that he gets punched in the face and he uses that to help him gain access to the Red John files. By the end of the episode everyone is impressed and he’s offered the job. What I like about this episode is that it shows Jane as not very confident. When the series starts, the team is already a team, and Jane is already this “smarter than everyone in the room” guy. But not here. He’s still someone dealing with a horrible trauma.
4. Brown Shag Carpet/White Orchids – Season 7 Episode 12 & 13 (2 Hour Finale)
This might be cheating but oh well. Everything I love about crime shows happened in these two episodes. We have a weird serial killer, Patrick having to pretend to be a Physic again, a proposal and a wedding! That’s a lot for only two hours but they made it happen and made it work. Patrick having to make the rounds as a fake physic is such a great call back to his past, plus it puts you on edge a little bit. He has to use all his skills to get out of this pickle but of course Lisbon comes to his rescue, which then leads to such a sweet proposal. It’s not a shock that Patrick has a way with words, we’ve seen it for years at this point, but when it comes from the heart it just hits differently. Another scene that I love is when Lisbon and Cho go dress shopping. The fact she asked him for help just warms my heart, and then he nails it?? Amazing. Then later we have Lisbon in a wedding dress pointing a gun at a murderer? CHEF KISS. It was the perfect wrap up the series. I’m not always someone who’s down with a Happy Ending but knowing that Patrick found love again and gets to be a father for a 2nd time? *sobs*
5. White As The Driven Snow – Season 6 Episode 15
In this episode Grace is kidnapped by a past suspect and Rigsby has to try and keep it together in order to find her. What I love about this episode is we see how far Grace and Wayne have come. They’re both extremely strong people who have come miles since the Pilot episode. Grace doesn’t just sit around and wait to be found, she tries to save herself. We have Patrick and Wayne teaming up to pull one over on the suspect and man, even I was fooled during some of it! I should have known better but it’s refreshing when a show can keep you guessing a little bit. Rigsby has always loved Grace and it just really shows here. I mean, he was shot numerous times and was still able to save her. And you can’t go wrong with an episode that has a classic Jane set up.
I’m actually surprised that I had so many favorites happen later in the series. While at the time I was sad to see the show end after only Seven seasons, in hindsight it made sense. Once you wrap up the Red John story line, there isn’t much more to do. The entire premise of the series was Patrick Jane getting revenge. They did a great job though of keeping it interesting and adding new members to the team, and even changing locations from California to Texas. I’m not sure the quality of the show would have lasted if it went on for another season or two. As far as the list goes, I can think of a few more episodes I probably would have added like “Red Badge” and “Red Sky in the Morning.”
I had fun coming up with this and I might do it for other shows I love! It’s been hard coming up with post ideas and well, these are easy enough to put together and it’s always a good time to revisit favorite shows. Did you watch “The Mentalist?” If you did, give me some of your favorite episodes!
