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Friday 14 December 2012

The Mentalist 5.7 "If It Bleeds, It Leads" Review

 A group of cyclists stop to take photos by the sea as a car comes crashing towards them and goes off the edge.  A man drives up and goes to the driver in the car, she asks for help and he glances at her bag and then suffocates her with his hand.  Er, didn't they get any prints off her face, or did their autopsy not reveal anything like this.

Patrick (Simon Baker) arrives and is perturbed for being called out here for nothing, just a car accident, before which he asks Cho (Tim Kang) how easy it is to break into a maximum security prison.  He replies to his question and reminds him of the obstacles in his way, such as electric fences, so it's pretty much unbreakable.  He then notices the absence of a bag in the car, as well as a half eaten cheeseburger, which rules out suicide.  SO they need a CS tape.  He then walks off saying "my work is done here."  He is coming up with ideas to break Lorelei out of a Federal prison.  SO he's not much help this week, though he does manage to crack the case at the end.

So the address Munn gave him last episode, Cherry Picked was the Federal prison and Cho later tells Lisbon (Robin Tunney) what Patrick asked her.  Then again it shouldn't be big news where Lorelei is being held since it was the FBI who took her, thus it would be a federal prison somewhere close by.

The Vic was Cassandra Flood (Jennifer Peo) a journalist at a TV station as IDed by Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) (stuck behind her desk) and she came up with many stories, most recently one about space travel, before that she investigated a black market ring for stolen cars.  Lisbon takes Patrick to the TV station.  Whilst she's talking with Cassie's boss, Ryan (Amir Arison) shows them a threatening letter Cassie received.  No one took any notice of these since they get plenty.  He wants to put Lisbon and Patrick on air as they are young and "good looking" but Lisbon refuses.  A backdown from last ep when she wanted to go on air but Brenda said she wanted Patrick instead.

Patrick walks off as he usually does and notices the blonde weathergirl and her interaction with newsreader Ed Hunt (Ted McGinley).  There's friction between them as he's lost his glasses and his assistant should be getting him a spare pair.  Note glasses being a big clue for later.  Outside Patrick feigns to know who she is Tara, (Mircea Monroe) the weathergirl.  She asks him if he wants an autograph but he doesn't.  He questions her about Cassie and how she and Ed were sleeping together and how she would take over by getting an anchor chair, after she also slept with Ryan.  When Lisbon shows up, he tells her how Tara wanted Cassie's job "She was conniving and used sexuality to get ahead." Continuing, "hell hath no fury like a slut outskanked."  Oh my, Patty using such words and such language too, where as over the four years he hasn't done anything like that.  Not to mention getting slapped again.  Lisbon can't help laughing cos he kind of deserves it and replies she hopes "that hurt!"  Which it did he responds.

Cho and Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) go to the garage and yes these two engage in yet another chase, though not very far (fast becoming the Flack and Danny from CSI:NY.)  Arresting Richard Yuntz (VJ Foster) who claims he was going to the loo, yeah what he had to to run there.  Van Pelt gets a sketch artist to work on a sketch of the man from the CS, whilst Lisbon attends a press conference attended by Ed for the launch of bidding for a seat on the Volker (Henry Ian Cusick) express flight into space.  Ed knew Volker from their time on the Dakar rally and all three were at a museum event as he shows them a photo.  Cassie was doing a story on Volker and he had agreed to it.  Lisbon wants to be introduced.

Volker was interviewed on the show and he seems to be one of those so smooth, smarmy rich men who can get away with anything, including murder.  Think Walter Mashburn but with criminal tendencies.  He gives her his card with his personal number and his assistant, Amanda (Rhea Bailey) comes to fetch him.  Now there was a turn up for the books, his assistant Amanda had a Brit accent whilst Henry Ian Cusick was putting on a fake US accent.  Patrick meanwhile drives out to the prison, telling the guard he's got an appointment, but no one gets in cos there are no appointments.  He even shows the guard his face, bold as brass and his car.  He then drives away to the electric fence and throws a bush into it, when Lisbon calls him to get down here and do his job.   He also tells Lisbon the prison break question was just hypothetical.

Once again we find Patrick plotting in his attic, there's also a bed there for him to sleep there as plotting takes up most of his time at least where Lorelei is concerned.  He tells Lisbon again that she's the only one who can help him with Red John.  Notice how he hides his secret file under his mattress, as if Lisbon couldn't get to it later anyway, if she wanted to.  Van Pelt finds Cassie had reserved a motel room near where she went off the road in the names of Mr and Mrs Flood, but she's not married.  The man, Steve Burman (Jeremy Glazer) is brought in and tells them about a story Cassie was working on, how Volker killed off a whole tribe in the Amazon since they objected to one of his geo thermal projects.  No one believes he would eliminate a whole tribe, but yeah he would.  Thus Cassie's bag was missing as she would have had the evidence in it.  Well why the bag? She could have carried a case in the car boot or something, or not have it with her at all.

Lisbon takes the sketch to the airport to show Volker and he denies seeing the man.  Amanda gets a little flustered and drops some papers, showing she knows something.  Lisbon tells him, "I wouldn't expect a man in your position to get his hands dirty."  A police joke.  Lisbon later goes to see Amanda at her apartment and she tells her about volker and what she overheard.  Lisbon wants Amanda to testify later on and will offer her protection then, what about protection now, cos the look Volker gave her at the airport showed she was a certain goner!

Patrick gets onto the case and tells Lisbon he'll meet her at the station along with Cho, he has to stop at the optometrist first, obviously to get a pair of glasses to fake the ones for Ed he keeps losing.  Patrick goes on air according to a script he's discussed with Ed but goes off point, as Lisbon tells Ryan "he tends to do that."  He asks him if he denies being at the Dakar rally with Volker which he doesn't and also if he denies knowing how to tamper with brakes as he did on Cassie's car.  He then days he found his glasses in the car but Ed lets slip at not wearing glasses, then makes a run for it.  He didn't mean to kill Cassie but only scare her.  He tells Cho he didn't know she would drive off the road.  Volker manipulated him into killing her.  But they don't have any proof against him, so Volker will go free.

Lisbon calls Amanda but she's being killed by Voler's goon and when they arrive at the apartment they see her hanging.  Lisbon can't bear to stay there and Cho and Rigsby have tot get her down.  She sits on the steps outside and Volker tells her Amanda left a suicide note on her e-mail, blaming Lisbon.  Lisbon tells him she will get him and he tells her that her job is at risk, putting his hand on her knee.

Later Lisbon has a meeting with Richard Kirkland (Kevin Corrigan) at her office and he explains he's from Homeland Security.  That she shouldn't work on getting Volker as he will be taken care of.  He also invites her to coffee which she agrees to.  Yes that Kirkland from the limo with Alexa Shulz in 5.5 Red Dawn.  He then passes Patrick in the hall, calling him by name.  Patrick: "Do I know you?"
Kirkland; "No, but I know you." Aggh, a Red John moment if ever there was one.  Then again he probably won't turn out to be Red John, cos that'd be too easy.  As we recall, "he is many..."probably.  Why is Homeland Security looking into Volker (for his 'crimes' abroad and thus a threat to them here) and why has Kirkland shown up now?  As for his knowing Patrick that was an ambiguous answer, he could know him from the FBI, Red John or other sources.  Red Dawn was a significant ep since it was the 100th of the show so there could have been an intro to Red John.

Patrick distancing himself from this case again but he has some words for Lisbon about him not always being around, "I can't promise I'll always be here to help you Teresa.  There may come a time when you may have to do this all on your own.  I want you to be prepared."  Is this some sort of an indication that he may be caught trying to get Loelei out, or that he may succeed on that front and disappear with her until the Red John saga comes to a head.  That something 'bad' may happen to him.  Setting up all sorts of scenarios here.  Reassuring Lisbon she did this job before he arrived so she can carry on doing it when he's gone.  Ironically or not, the 100th episode also being a nod towards how the team got together and Patrick got to work for them and Lisbon needing his help.  Now she may not have him around especially at a most crucial crossroads as she too has an enemy to chase in Volker and perhaps she may need Patrick even more now.

Also noticeable was the growing use of  "Teresa" by Patrick.  He never used to do that, well hardly ever but he now does that plenty of times.  Alluding to a growing fondness for her, or more seriously romantic affection.  She wants him to do his job and not stray into his own personal vendetta constantly.  Her reply "I'm prepared to punch you in the face on my own."  An extension of seeing Tara punch him earlier on, but then he's been punched by plenty. She's frustrated by Patrick for not listening to her and going off on a tangent, arguably his own tangent of chasing Red John and breaking out Lorelei.

So now Lisbon gets a nemesis of her own, her very own Red John in the form of Volker.  That we got to see the killer from the outset (Columbo's plot point, the killer was always shown and the viewer had to figure out how the crime was committed.)  Thus it had to have been someone else who was the criminal mastermind.  Volker has killed "women, children babies" as she tells Amanda, as has Red John, including Patrick's family.   Volker didn't want Lisbon to feel he was offended by her, as Red John indicated to Patrick he was offended after Patrick was on TV.  Cho mentions Ed was "manipulated" into 'killing' Cassie, just as Red John is a master at manipulation and getting other people, his acolytes to do his bidding for him.

As for Patrick, didn't he look great on the TV, so very natural, going back to his days of being a "mentalist." He looked back at home there, so very comfortable.  Let's go to commercial.  Red John was probably watching, another reason why Kirkland made an appearance.

Patrick's use of "sly minx." SO funny.  Lisbon wanting Patty to get make-up before going on air! Patrick calling her ""so tough" in her determination to get Volker.  His quote of "gives me goosebumps..."  So many laughs to add to the seriousness of the episode too.  When Kirkland said he knows Patrick why wasn't he more curious as to know why and from where etc?  He just walks away engrossed in his file.  Yes he's engrossed with Lorelei, to the point of obsession in getting her out, but he just doesn't acknowledge Kirkland, it's just water off a duck's back to him.  Even if he wasn't interested in the case, he still managed to come through in the end, though he was no help in pinning anything on Volker, didn't like that, but if someone says he knows him, wouldn't he be interested in knowing more.  I would!

Robin's new hairdo looked good and Patrick/Simon's 'quiff' keeps changing in every scene! Ha.  I hope The Mentalist does get at least another season since it can be downright intriguing at times, as most of this episode showed!  can't wait for the next one, which will be our last one for the year and then we'll have to wait at least another two months before the remainder!!




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