At the end of the last episode of The Mentalist, the team faced a Red-John related death. TV Guide confirmed that the burn victim whispered “Tiger, Tiger” to Patrick Jane, causing him to freeze up in shock. They reveal that the victim’s quote of a William Blake poem that is a favorite of Red John means that there is most definitely a connection between the victim and Red John.

TV Guide also reveals that Pruitt Taylor will be joining The Mentalist in the December 9 episode to launch an investigation into Jane’s teammates to see if they were involved in the recent murder. Apparently, when the show returns from a holiday hiatus in January, Rigsby, Van Pelt and Cho will all be under investigation.

Beginning in January, "each will fall under suspicion and be looked at during the course of various episodes," teases executive producer Tom Szentgyorgyi. The intense probing will uncover secrets about the team and threaten to destroy the Rigsby/Cho/Van Pelt dynamic.

Will one of the three be found guilty of the murder — and have ties to Red John? "I can neither confirm nor deny — I can't even approach that," says Szentgyorgyi. But he does reveal, "In 2011, the investigation will take a startling turn and the team will change dramatically.”

As for the recent reappearance of Walter Mashburn – don’t expect to see him again anytime soon, unfortunately. TV Guide spoke with Mentalist creator Bruno Heller, who said that we likely won’t be seeing him again this year.

"Lisbon is a very unsentimental character. As she indicated at the end of that episode, she's happy to have a bit of human contact, but she's kind of a lone wolf in that respect. It just shows that there is a softer side to her and she needs love and companionship like anyone else, but then she just moves on," he says.

The Mentalist Spoilers – A Mystery for 2011

In a new episode of The Mentalist tonight, the team will need to solve a triple homicide and Patrick Jane will accept help from a local astrologer when the case proves tricky.  The show's star, Simon Baker, also directed this episode.  Below is a trailer and promo photos for the episode.

Tune in to an all new episode of The Mentalist tonight at 10:00 p.m. on CBS.

PATRICK JANE ACCEPTS THE HELP OF A LOCAL ASTROLOGER TO SOLVE THE PUZZLING CASE OF A TRIPLE HOMICIDE INVOLVING TWO POLICEMEN, ON "THE MENTALIST," THURSDAY, NOV. 18

Episode Directed by Series Star Simon Baker

John Billingsley ("Star Trek: Enterprise) Guest Stars as the Astrologer, Ellis Mars; Heather Tom ("The Bold and the Beautiful") Guest Stars as a Witness, Marva

"Red Moon" - Patrick Jane accepts the help of a local astrologer, Ellis Mars (John Billingsley), to solve the puzzling case of a triple homicide that involves two policemen and the fiancé of an EMT worker, on THE MENTALIST, Thursday, Nov. 18 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Heather Tom ("The Bold and the Beautiful") also guest stars as Marva, a witness.

SERIES REGULARS
Patrick Jane................................. Simon Baker
Teresa Lisbon............................. Robin Tunney
Kendall Cho..................................... Tim Kang
Wayne Rigsby......................... Owain Yeoman
Grace Van Pelt....................... Amanda Righetti

GUEST CAST
Madeleine Hightower................. Aunjanue Ellis
Todd Johnson.............................. Josh Braaten
Ellis Mars................................. John Billingsley
Deputy Woolgar..................... Connor Trinneer
Deputy Hobbs.......................... Nick Warnock
Sheriff Mullery.................................. Chris Ellis
Joe Hunnicker........................... Richard Redlin
Rusty............................................. Bryan Lugo
Marva......................................... Heather Tom
Gregor Hobart......................... John Pirruccello
Bart Kitchen.......................... Mark Engelhardt
Fire Station Captain.................... Brian Cousins

THE MENTALIST

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"Red Moon" -- CBI Consultant Patrick Jane (Simon Baker, right) works with a local law enforcement officer Sheriff Mullery (Chris Ellis, left) to solve the puzzling case of a triple homicide that involves two policemen and the fiancé of an EMT worker, on THE MENTALIST, Thursday, Nov. 18 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Cliff Lipson/CBS ©2010 CBS BROADCASTING INC. All Rights Reserved.

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The Mentalist Trailer & Photos - Solving a Triple Homicide (Nov. 18)

Patrick Jane has managed to amass a lot of enemies throughout the years and one of them is out for revenge on the all new The Mentalist episode airing on Thursday, November 11. When Jane gets kidnapped it's up to Lisbon and the others to find a way to rescue him. CBS has released promo photos and a short synopsis for The Mentalist episode. We also have a trailer for you below.

WHEN PATRICK JANE IS KIDNAPPED, THE CBI TEAM REALIZES THERE ARE MANY SUSPECTS WHO WISH HIM HARM, ON "THE MENTALIST," THURSDAY, NOV. 11

"Ball of Fire" - Patrick Jane is kidnapped and Lisbon and the team go back through years of Jane's casework to find suspects only to realize that almost everyone he's ever dealt with might want to harm him, on THE MENTALIST, Thursday, Nov. 11 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

SERIES REGULARS
Patrick Jane................................. Simon Baker
Teresa Lisbon............................. Robin Tunney
Kendall Cho..................................... Tim Kang
Wayne Rigsby......................... Owain Yeoman
Grace Van Pelt....................... Amanda Righetti

GUEST CAST
Hightower.................................. Aunjanue Ellis
Craig O'Laughlin............................ Eric Winter
Sherry Winger............................. Jessy Schram
Man......................................... Adam Dunnells
CBI Ron........................... John Troy Donovan
SGT. Delamure.......... William Francis McGuire
Harold Keel.................................. Brian Burke
Kittel....................................... Steve Railsback
Mendoza................................... Ruben Garfias
Brenda Shettrick.................. Rebecca Wisocky
Dr. Linus Wagner....................... Zeljko Ivanek

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"Ball of Fire" -- Special Agent Madeleine Hightower (Anjanue Ellis, right), Senior CBS Agent Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney, second right), CBI Agent Wayne Rigsby (Owain Yeoman, center) and Sergeant Delamure (William Francis McGuire, center left) talk with two witnesses who may have seen Patrick Jane shortly before he was kidnapped from a farm stand, on THE MENTALIST, Thursday, Nov. 11 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2010 CBS BROADCASTING INC. All Rights Reserved.

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The Mentalist Preview - Patrick Jane Gets Kidnapped

Currie Graham previously make a guest appearance on The Mentalist in the season 2 episode "Redline".  Rumors were swirling that his character, millionaire Walter Mashburn, would be making a return appearance in season three.  Writer Jordan Harper confirmed the rumors recently on his Twitter account: "I've been told that the cat is out of the bag, so I guess it's okay to tell [the] fans that I said hey to Currie Graham yesterday."

Series creator Bruno Heller told Entertainment Weekly that Mashburn would continue flirting with Teresa Lisbon (played by Robin Tunney) when he made his reappearance on the show.

"As the story unfolds, it seems someone is determined to have Mashburn's blood, and Mashburn is determined to have Lisbon," he quipped. "Someone is going to get their wish."

Graham has appeared on several other television shows, including Men in Trees, Boston Legal, Castle, The Closer, and Weeds.

The next new episode of The Mentalist will be airing tonight, October 14.

Currie Graham Will Be Returning to The Mentalist

Red John returns in the season finale of The Mentalist, "Red Sky in the Morning". We first start out with Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) on a date with "real" psychic Kristina Frye (Leslie Hope). Jane appears to be trying his best at winning small talk when Kristina works her psychic magic on the waiter. She gives him a message that his recently passed mother is fine, and that his uncle says "Roll Tide", a football reference about his favorite team. The waiter is awed, and Jane is flustered and frustrated. He excuses himself to go to the washroom, and we see touching his wedding ring as he struggles to take deep breaths.

Back at the dinner table, he seems about to tell Kristina he can't do this when he gets a phone call from Agent Grace Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti). Back at CBI headquarters, she and Wayne Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) are examining a web alert Van Pelt received--for a video of a murder. The video shows a woman's brutal murder, and ends with the infamous Red John smiley face and a written message: ""I am becoming what I am meant to be/Your children's children will worship me."

Kristina arrives at the office with Jane, and tells Hightower (Aunjanue Ellis) that she feels the woman has been killed recently, and that they'll find the body near water. Jane says he needs to see the crime scene before he'll make any assessment. Rigsby gets a call about a body of a woman found in the Bay Area. Jane's not impressed with the "water" connection to Kristina's conjecture.

Hightower is receptive to Kristina's insights, so Jane takes his boss aside and asks her to leave Kristina off the case. When he explains, "Red John is mine," Hightower agrees. Kristina doesn't need to be a psychic to get the message she's not wanted, so she heads for the elevator. She tells Jane there's no hard feelings, and gives him a kiss on the cheek that surprises him.

Jane heads over to the home of victim Marley Sparrow, and asks the forensics team to give him the room for a moment. As he's looking at the pictures and personal belongings, the head of the forensics team comes in and hassles Jane. He seems unimpressed by Jane's conjecture about her habits and personality, and scoffs that he'll be looking for actual evidence once Jane leaves. After another minute, Jane declares that it wasn't Red John. He asks that Marley's papers be sent over to CBI, and then leaves.

Jane and Lisbon  talk to Marley's roommate Ruth and her boyfriend Dylan. Ruth was out of town for two days snowboarding, and Marley was supposed to join them. Marley apparently stayed to be with her boyfriend, a mysterious policeman Grady Ship from San Francisco. Ruth's never seen him because Marley goes to his house and he always stays in the car when he picks her up. Lisbon talks with Marley's instructor, who says Red John was mentioned by one of the students in her serial killer lecture last semester. The teacher is a little flaky, and doesn't remember who it was, but she agrees to get Lisbon a list of the students in that lecture.

The CBI team gets together to compare notes on the case. It turns out Marley's boyfriend isn't a cop, and the real Grady Ship had a connection to one of Red John's associates. As they're talking, Jane notices Kristina on a muted TV. She's appearing on a talk show, and Jane reads the captioned words on the bottom of the screen. He's horrified as he sees that she's talking about Red John, claiming to understand him and asking him to seek help. Jane runs out.

Back in Hightower's office, she and Jane try to get Kristina to understand that she's put herself in danger. Jane is incredulous that she doesn't see the similarity between her actions and his own past talk show appearance that got his wife and child killed. Kristina is calm, saying that Jane was lying but she was telling the truth. She feels confident that she's in no danger. Jane wants 24 hour protection for Kristina, and Hightower arranges it.

Recap -- The Mentalist 2.23 "Red Sky in the Morning"

The Mentalist, "Blood Money", opens ominously in Old Town, Sacramento on a darkened street. We see a woman being followed into a shadowy alley by a man in a hooded sweatshirt. Turns out that woman is Grace Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti), and she meant to meet the man in this alley. They talk in circles for a minute, and it's clear she wants to hire him for something. When "Mr. Black" tells her she'll have to "say it out loud", she finally holds up a picture of Rigsby and says she wants him killed.

36 hours earlier: CBI agents Wayne Rigsby (Owain Yeoman), Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney), Van Pelt, and consultant Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) are at the scene of a murder. The victim is ADA Kelly Flower (Rachel Montez Collins). Her nightgown is ripped, but it's not due to assault, it's from her crawling across the floor before being shot point blank. When Jane questions the concept of working harder to solve the crimes of their law enforcement coworkers, Lisbon says it's a deterrent to anyone thinking of trying the same thing. Jane disagrees, saying it's pure revenge--which he personally has no problem with.

There's no sign of forced entry to the Flowers' home. When the husband Jayden (Dwayne L. Barnes) arrives, he breaks down in agony while Jane watches his reactions carefully.

Back at CBI headquarters, Madeleine Hightower (Aunjanue Ellis), Kimball Cho, Van Pelt, and Rigsby meet with ADA Marc Odenthal (Stephen Spinella). He offers to help them go over Flowers' current cases, and lets them know she was working on the big Hank Draber drug case.

Flash over to the Port of Sacramento, where Van Pelt and Cho arrive to talk to Draber (John Kapelos) and his group of personal henchmen.

Meanwhile, Jane and Lisbon interview Jayden Flower, the distraught husband. He says that he and his wife loved each other, but they had a fight the night she died. He was upset about her long hours for her "career maker" Draber case. He went to the movies to cool off.

While they are talking, one of the contractors working on the Flowers' home renovations appears to let Jayden know that he's covered the exposed roof with a tarp. Jane asks the man, Cale Sylvan, a complicated question about flash water heaters. Sylvan answers the question easily. Then Jane points out that Sylvan is standing in the blood stain on the floor. The man steps away, but seems unperturbed. Outside, Jane tells Lisbon that Sylvan's lack of emotion proves he is a sociopath, and quite possibly a murderer.

Back at the waterfront, Cho and Van Pelt talk to Draber about his possible involvement in killing ADA Flower. Draber's mother, an elderly wheelchair-bound woman he dismisses as sweet but senile, happily scratches off lottery tickets while they all talk. Draber says he's not the type who would ever get his hands dirty killing an ADA.

Rigsby does some digging and lets Jane and Lisbon know that Sylvan turns out to have several different identities, all with possible murders attached. It appears Jane is right, that not only is Sylvan a killer, he's a serial killer. Lisbon puts Cho and Jane on a stakeout, where Cho settles in with a good book--Wuthering Heights. Jane doesn't just want to sit around, so he gets out of the car and tells Cho he's going for a walk.

Recap -- The Mentalist 2.19 "Blood Money"

The Mentalist episode "Aingavite Baa" begins with the new boss, Special Agent Hightower, asking for volunteers to collect some intel. Rigsby and Van Pelt volunteer, but she assigns Cho and Van Pelt. As the two agents cruise a neighborhood picking up trash bags for evidence, Van Pelt gets neurotic over Hightower's decision to keep her and Rigsby apart. As Cho and Van Pelt get ready to leave the neighborhood, a woman stumbles into the beams of their headlights, looking disoriented and bloody. When they rush to assist her, she dazedly asks if they can help her find her shoe.

Jane arrives with the ambulance, and gets the details from Van Pelt while the mystery woman is treated. She has amnesia, caused by a head wound from a bullet. Van Pelt guesses that since she only had one shoe on, she hadn't been able to get far, so the crime must have happened nearby. Jane concurs.

Jane approaches the mystery woman on the gurney, holding her hand and using some soothing meditative techniques to help "draw out" her pain. When she's more relaxed, Jane asks her simple questions, hoping to tap into what memories still remain. She remembers being in a room that was cold and dark. With prompting she recalls added details: she was lying down, the floor had dirt and straw, and smelled like horses.

Lisbon arrives, and the team heads to the closest set of stables nearby. They wander around in the dark building with flashlights, until Jane cheerfully announces there's a light switch. The team is horrified when a flip of the switch illuminates three dead bodies in one of the horse stalls.

At the hospital, a doctor informs the CBI team that their Jane Doe was only grazed by the bullet, but it was enough to knock her unconscious. The team guesses the killer must have just assumed she was dead when he put her in the stall with the others. The mystery woman should get her memory back, but the doctor isn't sure how long that will take.

Back at CBI headquarters, Hightower calls Lisbon, Rigsby, and Van Pelt into her office. She tells them that she doesn't always like the rules, but she has to follow them. Rigsby and Van Pelt have one day to decide if they want to break up their personal relationship, or break up their work partnership. After the two leave, Hightower lets Lisbon know she'll be writing her up for not handling the issue earlier.

Jane can see the three are upset when they return to their own workspace, but none of them want to discuss it. Lisbon asks for an update, and learns that two of the three victims have been identified as Janine and Mitchell Langham. Neighbors claim the couple was last seen going for a hike 100 miles away. This older couple was shot from close range, but the young male victim and the amnesiac mystery woman were both shot from far away. Jane suggests that the Langhams were collateral damage: the two people shot from far away were the targets, and the Langhams may have stumbled onto the crime scene at the wrong moment.

Fingerprints identify the third victim as Leonard Railton, who lived on a nearby Native American reservation and had a criminal record of minor offenses. Lisbon takes Jane along to meet with Railton's only emergency contact--his parole officer. On their way to the elevators, Jane tells Lisbon she needs to let go of some of her hostility towards Hightower or she's going to explode everywhere. Lisbon snaps that she hopes he's next to her when she does. Turns out this is exactly what Jane is afraid of.

Rigsby and Van Pelt share a quick moment, and Van Pelt is panicking about what they will do. Rigsby does his best to calm her, telling her they'll get some wine and discuss it calmly that evening.

Recap -- The Mentalist 2.18 "Aingavite Baa"

Tonight on The Mentalist, "Red Herring", we begin with a $100,000 Best Chef competition at the Westing Resort. We see Chef Jeffrey Barge in the kitchen with his sous-chef Eliza. Jeffrey is barking out orders as the staff gets his meal presentation in order. Jeff is sweating profusely and drinking a lot of water. When he goes out to the judging panel and audience to discuss his creations, he suddenly collapses. We see his blurry view of the world as people crowd around him, calling for a doctor.

Next up the CBI are at the scene, so we know Jeff didn't survive. Though it's not yet determined to be a murder, one of the competing chefs is the daughter of a senator, and several high-powered phone calls means Lisbon is on the case. The team talks first with the event coordinator Duesterberg, who had earlier gotten into a fistfight with the victim. The fight was over missing truffles, a $1000 ingredient Jeff had paid for himself and wanted Duesterberg to replace. Duesterberg referred to Jeff as a "genius" and said the fight was "an accident".

Scoffing at the genius remark, Jane takes a bite of the dead chef's work and proclaims it too salty. He checks with the coroner, who's examining the body, and gets him to look inside the victim's mouth. There are definite signs of poison. "Bad tasting food, bad taste buds," Jane explains.

Rigsby, who had also been eating the event food, looks ill as he puts his plate down. Chef Jeff died from ricin poisoning, however, which takes several hours to manifest. Lisbon orders the team to look into what Jeff may have eaten before the competition and check for the poison.

Cho talks with the other chefs in the competition, trying to find out who may have wanted Jeff dead. The chefs start to turn on one another, and eventually Cho discovers that Chef Ludo stole Jeff's pricey truffles. "I didn't steal them," Ludo protests. "I rescued them from a terrible fate."

Lisbon and Jane talk with the victim's wife, Abigail. Turns out the two have been separated for some time, and she claims not to have seen him for months, due to his drinking problem. The victim's brother Kevin interrupts the interview to tell the detectives that Abigail is a scheming liar. He says that Jeffrey had started a program and been sober for 2 weeks. Jane surmises that Kevin is angry because Abigail inherited the business and the money.

Abigail then confesses that Jeff called her at 12:30am to apologize, but she didn't listen and hung up.

We next join Rigsby and Jane in Jeff's hotel room at the site of the contest, and it looks like it's been ransacked. Rigsby thinks someone's been looking for something, but Jane guesses that Jeff did it himself. He notes the closed drawers and the punched mirror and thinks Jeff had a bout of self-loathing. Coupled with his recent aggressive behavior at work and then tearful calls to his wife, Jane thinks it indicates a relapse. He checks the apartment for hidden alcohol and discovers a bottle of gin in the toilet tank. Rigsby tests it and finds it positive for ricin.

The team gathers the chefs together and Jane accuses Ludo of spiking the gin. He protests, and then Jane calls out the tattooed chef Hannah. Apparently she looked the most relieved when he accused Ludo. Under interrogation, Hannah confesses that she bought the gin in an effort to get Jeff drunk, so he would lose the competition. She insists that she didn't have anything to do with the poison.

Recap -- The Mentalist 2.15 "Red Herring"

The Mentalist episode, "Blood In, Blood Out" begins with the flip of a coin. Jane has flipped a quarter 20 times, and each time its landed heads. Rigsby is forced to pay up $20, and is frustrated when Jane won't give up the secret of his skill.

Lisbon notices a woman at Cho's desk, who turns out to be his girlfriend, Elise. Lisbon and Rigsby happily introduce themselves, and then Elise asks about Jane. She's startled when Jane shouts "Over here!" from the couch. Elise says hello, then whispers to Lisbon that she thought he'd look scarier. "He's resting," Lisbon answers.

Cho comes in and Rigsby tells him they were about to get to the embarrassing questions. "And that's why were leaving," Cho replies. When Cho's phone rings, Elise tells him she'll meet him at the elevator.

The call is from a Detective Sharon Florey, from the Oakland PD homicide division. Cho thinks she wants CBI help, until she informs him they have a victim with Cho's number on his phone. When Cho hears the description of the Asian gangbanger, he tells her he'll be right over.

Jane knows something is up when Cho bails on a date to go visit a crime scene. Cho declines his offer of help, but when Cho arrives on the scene, Jane is with him. Det. Florey tells them the victim was shot three times in the back, but it didn't appear to be a robbery. He still had his phone, money, and a slip of paper with numbers on it. Jane takes a look at it after Cho.

There's a tiny blip in Cho's stoic demeanor when he uncovers the body. He tells Florey that the man is David Seung, a member of Cho's old gang, the Avon Park Playboys. He adds that the only next-of-kin is Seung's grandmother.When Florey asks what Seung's been up to, Cho replies that he hasn't seen him in 13 years. He says the phone calls were Seung leaving messages, asking for help. Jane is surprised that Cho didn't reply. Florey tells Cho they're "good", and he quickly leaves.

Not deterred, Jane questions Cho as they walk to the car, wondering if Cho and Seung were friends. "We were best friends," Cho replies numbly. "He was like my brother."

The next day, Cho walks into the CBI office to find Rigsby still trying to figure out how Jane flipped the quarter heads so many times. "You're not getting enough sex from Van Pelt," Cho says. Rigsby jumps up. "We don't talk about that," he insists tersely.

Just then an older Asian woman enters the office. She calls Cho by his first name, Kimball. It's Seung's grandmother. She tells Cho that while Seung was in prison for 12 years, she told him about Cho life changes, and that Seung looked up to Cho as a role model. She claims that he left the gang, and that he wouldn't lie to her about that. Cho tells her that he knows Seung lied to her many times. When she begs him to help find the killer, Cho refuses, saying the Oakland PD will take care of it.

Recap -- The Mentalist 2.14 "Blood In, Blood Out"

The Mentalist episode "Redline" opens at Zenith Motor Gallery in Marin County, California. It's a posh sales event for high end clients, and the salesmen are working hard to get the guests into luxury sports cars. One young salesman opens the trunk of a car to illustrate its roominess, and is horrified to find the body of a woman inside. "Liselle..." he murmurs in shock.

The CBI team investigates, identifying the woman as Liselle Douglas, 28 years old, with signs of blunt force trauma. Van Pelt reports that Liselle was last seen working late the night before, and a security sweep at midnight had revealed the alarm system hadn't been activated. The coroner estimated Liselle had already been dead by then. Jane makes one of his usual inappropriate comments about the "new car smell" in the trunk. Lisbon orders Rigsby and Van Pelt to have the body removed from the trunk and examined.

Jane and Cho walk over to interview the witnesses, talking first to salesman Brad Elias. Jane scoffs when Elias says they were like a family at Zenith Motors. Jane says they were more like a gladiator pit, fighting over commissions, "a seething mass of primal hostility and mistrust." Elias protests, but when Jane tells them Liselle's client list is in the upstairs breakroom, Elias and all but one of the other salesman race upstairs. Jane tells Cho he's just eliminated the remaining salesman as a suspect, because he's too honest to profit from murder, and therefore too honest to murder. The salesman agrees.

Jane and Cho next interview the owner of Zenith, Oliver Westhoff. He lets them know that he was "pissed" when Liselle didn't show up to work that day, and it was lucky salesman Kinsey stepped up to host the event. He explains that he wants the cutthroat atmosphere with his employees, as it contributes to their 100 million in sales. Every six months there's a competition, where the winner gets a Rolex and the loser "gets a new job." Westhoff asks what to tell his clients about when they'll reopen, and Cho replies, "Tell them a woman is dead." When Westhoff protests that it's a service business, Jane jabs, "And when sharks stop swimming, they drown?" Westhoff isn't pleased.

Westhoff takes them to the break room to meet James Kinsey, the top salesman, and the man who discovered the body. He says he left Lyselle working at 8:30pm the night before. When Jane rifles through the refrigerator and grabs a container of soup, Kinsey warns him that it's his. Jane closes the refrigerator, but tells Kinsey that he can tell he resented Lyselle, even though she was no threat to his standing. He guesses it's because she got sales using her looks. "Sex sells," Kinsey admits, with his permanent salesman grin. After Cho questions him, he admits he asked Lyselle out but got shot down, due to her having a "wannabe rock star" boyfriend.

After Van Pelt gives Lisbon the address of Lyselle's boyfriend Jeff Sparkhawk, Lisbon sits her and Rigsby down for a chat. They're stunned when she coolly tells them that she has to report their relationship to Employee Services, and that one of them will be forced to transfer.

Lisbon then goes out with Jane to Sparhawk's apartment. On the way down the hall, Jane tells Lisbon he understands that she's upset about Van Pelt and Rigsby, and her fear that she may have made the decision out of "jealousy and resentment." Before Lisbon can protest, they hear what sounds like a gunshot. Lisbon draws her gun and Jane gets out of the way while she enters the apartment.

Lisbon finds Sparhawk shirtless and smashing a guitar into bits. She puts her gun away and orders him to put down what's left of his guitar. Jane offers to go and make tea.

Sitting down in the kitchen with Lisbon, Sparhawk says that he breaks things when he's sad. Jane says it's more like guilt, self-pity, and a little excitement. Sparhawk confesses that Lyselle was working a job she hated to support him while he tried to get somewhere with his music. Lisbon asks if there was resentment in the relationship. Sparhawk says they fought like any other couple, and admits to some jealousy over the rich guys hitting on her at work. He says they even gave her gifts, but she returned them or got rid of them. Jane then points out a valuable painting on the wall. Sparhawk says Lyselle kept it so they could use it to pay for their wedding.

Recap -- The Mentalist 2.13 "Redline"

The Mentalist "Bleeding Heart" begins with Agent Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney) and consultant Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) being interviewed by a camera crew in the CBI office. Both look uncomfortable, but Jane seems extremely uncomfortable, and after being asked why there's no such thing as psychics, Jane leaves the interview. Lisbon isn't happy with the camera crew either, but the bureau's PR rep lets her know that they need to do some polishing of their public image after the devastating deaths of Bosco and his team inside the CBI building.

Lisbon allows the crew access to the office and bullpen, but not the crime scene. The team is investigating the murder of the mayor's aide, who was found when the mayor herself broke ground in front of the cameras for a new development project. When they interview Mayor Melba Walker Shannon (Sharon Lawrence of Privileged and NYPD Blue) and her assistant Wilson (Firefly's Sean Maher), Jane notices immediately that the mayor seems uncomfortable talking about the victim. When he presses, the mayor asks them to leave.

A possible perpetrator of the crime is an environmental group led by a man named Jasper. Though they've burned down buildings on protective land and other drastic measures, they haven't committed any murder in their past history. Rigsby and Cho pay a visit to the foreman on the building site where the aide's body was discovered, but while they're questioning him, the trailer gets firebombed and the door jammed. The foreman is injured and Rigsby and Cho barely make it out with him before the place burns up. It's clear to them that Jasper is escalating in violence.

Further investigation leads the team to suspect that the mayor was being bribed to approve projects on previously protected lands. Though the mayor's assistant initially said the murdered aide didn't have any kind of a social life, the mayor tells Jane and Lisbon that the victim had a secret lover, one who gave her a topaz pendant. Jane surmises that the aide was good-looking enough to have had more than one lover.

Back at the CBI office, the documentary continues. Asked by the video crew why he doesn't like being filmed, Jane tells them "You're stealing my soul." Cho turns the tables on the reporter Mike (Roark Critchlow), interrogating him instead of the other way around. After a series of questions about his career choice, Cho evaluates "So, you're ambitious, but you haven't gotten very far." Rigsby chuckles behind his computer. Reporter Mike is not happy. Cho smiles.

After a particularly bad episode with the cameraman, Lisbon drags Jane in to find out what his problem is. After all, he should be the one most comfortable in front of the cameras. Jane explains that the last time he was on camera, it didn't turn out so well. Lisbon probably should have realized sooner that his showmanship is what led to the death of his family, and she instantly regrets admonishing him. Jane apologizes to the cameraman and reporter, however, and offers to take them to lunch. While they are having a quick bite, a van pulls up and masked men with guns pull Jane into the vehicle and drive off. The cameraman unfortunately only has a taco in his hand, and no camera to capture the event.

Jane is blindfolded and led to a cabin in the woods. His blindfold is removed and he's confronted by the masked men, one of whom he surmises is eco-terrorist Jasper. Jasper wants Jane to carry a message that he's not the one who committed murder or attempted to kill the detectives. Unfortunately Jane reveals that he's figured out Jasper's identity--the mayor's assistant Wilson. Perhaps I just know Sean Maher too well, but I had this figured out from the first moment I saw Jasper--and it was confirmed when he spoke. Jane had it figured early, too, from body type, mannerisms, patterns of speech. "Who else says 'in actuality'?" Jane taunts in his usual way.

While Jasper tries to decide what to do now that Jane knows his identity, Jane tries to talk his way out of his own possible murder, saying he can help Wilson. He succeeds in getting Wilson to a near state of hypnosis, when they're suddenly interrupted by a loud shout that the house is surrounded by law enforcement personnel. Jane urges Jasper to stay calm. When Lisbon and the cops burst in, Jane is alone and restrained and Jasper has escaped out of a trap door. Jane is impressed that they found him so quickly, and Lisbon is insulted that he thinks they can't function without him.

Back at the CBI office, Jane surprisingly tells the team that Wilson is the killer and that they should be able to capture him at his house. Reporter Mike asks if they can get the arrest on camera to help wrap up their piece on the CBI, and Lisbon relents. As they surround the house and wait for a warrant so they can storm the place, Mike starts questioning Jane about the reasons why he joined the CBI. Jane uncomfortably explains about the death of his family, then turns it into a discussion of love and love lost. Suddenly his questions to Mike seem very pointed, and we realize that while Wilson/Jasper was a lover of the murdered aide, so was Mike. Jane guesses that Mike has the topaz necklace that he gave to the victim, and that he'd been hoping to plant it in Wilson's house to frame him. As the cameraman keeps filming, Jane pulls the pendant from Mike's pocket, then Cho arrests him. Jane takes the cameraman's tape for evidence.

After questioning, Mike confesses that he'd been begging the aide for information about possible corruption in the mayor's office--that the scoop could make his career. She wouldn't tell him a thing, but then one day he discovered an expose she was writing about the mayor. Jealous and enraged at her cutting him out of the story, and pushed over the edge when she started mocking him, he killed her.

Jane remained true to his word to help Wilson. Due to the way he handled things, Wilson is able to cut a deal with the DA in exchange for information about the mayor's corruption.

As the team meets in the office, Rigsby and Van Pelt make an announcement. After seeing how secrets destroy people's lives, they've decided to let everyone know that they're lovers. "No you're not," Lisbon insists, stunned. Jane tells them it was obvious, and Cho says half the building knew. "The only one who didn't know is the person who's glaring at you right now," Jane teases. Lisbon is upset because now she has to "do something". Rigsby and Van Pelt apprehensively wait to see what she will do, along with the rest of us.

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PHOTO: Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, Robin Tunney as Teresa Lisbon, The Mentalist "Bleeding Heart" screencap, c2010 Primrose Hill Productions, Warner Bros. Television, CBS.

Mini Recap -- The Mentalist 2.12 "Bleeding Heart"

We begin The Mentalist "Rose-Colored Glasses" with Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) and Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) canoodling in the CBI break room. They quickly break apart just before their boss Lisbon (Robin Tunney) arrives to tell them there's a double murder to investigate in Rancho Rosa, where "the local sheriff is in over his head".

As Lisbon starts to head off with Rigsby, Van Pelt stops her and mentions that she's been promised more time in the field. Lisbon agrees and tells Rigsby to take office duty on this one. Van Pelt is thrilled, and quickly asks Rigsby if he's okay with this. He replies that he is, but we can see he's a little unsettled by it.

Van Pelt joins Lisbon and Jane (Simon Baker) at the crime scene. A couple in their thirties, Selby and Jana Vickers, were found shot in the chest in their car. Jane spots a bottle of liquor in the back seat, while Lisbon informs him that it's a local lovers' lane for teenagers, and that the sheriff thinks it's a simple robbery gone bad.

When Van Pelt remarks they're too old to be necking, Jane asks "There's an age limit on that?" Van Pelt quickly remarks that their clothes aren't dissheveled, which Jane agrees with. He also notices a piece of paper tucked into Mrs. Vickers' dress. It's a price tag, noting that the dress was $800. Jane has an "a-ha!" moment. He conjectures that they were going to something where they wanted to impress people, perhaps relatives or people from their past. Mr. Vickers needed a drink of Scotch just to take the edge off.

He has Van Pelt guessing for the occasion, until Lisbon insists he get to the point. Sighing with disappointment, Jane turns and asks the sheriff for the name of the local high school. The next scene begins with a shot of a banner, welcoming the Rancho Rosa High School Class of 1995 to their reunion.

Lisbon and Jane enter the reunion, where Lisbon is immediately confronted by a drunk attendee, who calls her "Stephanie" and swoops in for a kiss. Lisbon tells him she'll arrest him if he does it again. "Sorry, I had to," he says. "You've always been the one." Lisbon lets go of her gun and heads into the party with Jane. As they survey the crowd, Jane says with a smile, "High school. Best years of your life, eh?"

At the greeter table, current high school student Tess tells them to pick up their name tags and reunion books. Lisbon identifies herself as CBI and asks if the Vickers were expected. Tess confirms they were, and also for the next day's homecoming picnic and dance. Lisbon asks to see someone who would know the Vickers, and Tess points them over to the reunion committee chair, Willa Brock.

Jane teases Tess, asking if they looked old enough to be reunion attendees. "Everyone over 21 looks the same to me," she chirps. "Tactful and evasive," Jane compliments, "You're going to do very well in life, Tess." Tess giggles happily as they move on.

Willa and another former student, L.J., let Lisbon and Jane know that it was surprising that Selby Vickers was going to attend the reunion. He had attended previous reunions, most likely due to his expulsion from high school years before, for a "prank". Selby apparently dragged "socially-challenged" Derek Logan into the girls' locker room, blindfolded him with his own underwear, tied him up naked, and took his picture and posted it all over the school.

Recap -- The Mentalist 2.11 "Rose-Colored Glasses"

Tonight we got a dual episode of The Mentalist with "Throwing Fire." The episode begins at Sloop Academy, a training camp for up and comer baseball stars. One of the academy's founders is discovered dead in his Zen garden, killed by several blows from a baseball bat. As Jane, Lisbon, and Cho begin their investiation, the team continues practicing. A stray ball hits Jane and knocks him out cold, causing him to drift into memories of his father Alex (played by Nick Chinlund).

The flashback begins with a circus duo act of father and son, with young Patrick Jane playing the "boy wonder" who can "see" objects even with a blindfold on. Emboldened by his success identifying an audience member's cigarette case, Patrick does one of his well known readings of the woman, guessing the case belonged to a recently deceased grandmother. After the performance, Patrick's father chides him for going off the script, and tells him there's no sense in a con that doesn't bring in the cash.

Jane eventually comes to, and being Jane, refuses medical care. Throughout the episode he acts even more strange and flakey than usual, with occasional fainting spells. The investigation continues, however. Lisbon and her team discover that the victim Sloop had adopted the Zen lifestyle to cope with the accidental death of his 3 year old son.

Rigsby and Van Pelt track down Sloop's unstable ex-wife, who is sleeping with one of her former husband's players, and who has never gotten over her son's death. They find her drunk and morose at her son's grave, holding a gun and prepared to commit suicide. Van Pelt speaks very movingly of her sister who selfishly decided to take her own life without considering others. She manages to talk Mrs. Sloop down enough to get the gun from her safely. Later, Rigsby asks Van Pelt about it, and she says she doesn't have a sister. Rigsby goes along with the idea that she made it up, but he's definitely thinking that she may mean she doesn't have a sister anymore.

Jane accuses Sloop's partner Freddie (Jude Ciccocella) of being greedy and killing Sloop for financial benefit. He's not sure if Freddie is guilty, but Freddie's angry response and attempted physical attack on Jane show that he's capable of enough anger to murder. Lisbon and Cho interview the players, all of whom say that Sloop was a great mentor and that none of them had a reason to kill him. Jane sits outside with some of the parents and players, and Snake's father tells him how helpful the academy is. They discuss how professional teams now want kids younger and younger, and it's important to get the aspiring players signed before you're they're considered too old to play.

Throughout the investigation, Jane has more flashbacks, remembering how his father upped their confidence game. Alex tells young Patrick that he spent a lot of time and effort finding their next mark--at a hospital. Patrick is excited until he sees an elderly woman pushing a young girl in a wheelchair. He questions his father about the morality of stealing from a dying girl. His father tells him that they won't make any difference in the girl's imminent death, but they'll give her a few days of hope. Patrick participates in the scheme under pressure from Alex, and the two promise the sick girl the use of a "healing" crystal to remove all of her tumors. The grandmother pays $10,000 for the crystal, but Patrick doesn't stick around to watch the transaction. He feels too guilty, but his father thinks his tears were part of the performance, and gives him $100 for his part in the con.

After rounds of interrogation, Mrs. Sloop confesses to getting drunk and going over to see her husband--who was "asleep" and wouldn't talk to her. Lisbon realizes Sloop was already dead when she found him, and the realization is what snapped the last of her sanity. A landscaper points out player Scotty in a line-up, whom he saw arguing with Sloop the night of his death. Scotty confirms he was there, and it shocks his overbearing father, but Freddie intervenes before the interview gets any further. Later, Jane tells Lisbon that security footage should show the two star players, Snake and Scotty, practicing on the field when Sloop was killed. Lisbon is frustrated that they're running out of suspects.

Jane goes back to the academy, where the players are about to try out in front of professional scouts. Jane talks to Scotty and Snake, telling them he knows they're innocent. He also gives them a pep talk on not selling their souls, not even to their fathers. He speaks from experience. The boys want to know what his talent is, and they're skeptical when he says he reads minds. Jane plays a trick on Scotty, "guessing" his birthday and writing it on a baseball (in truth he secretly etched it in after Scotty told him the date). He asks Snake to try it as well, but Snake seems uncomfortable and says they have to head out onto the field.

Jane pursues him, insisting on performing the trick. Snake's father intervenes, saying the boy was born in 1992. Jane seems perplexed, saying he'd guessed it was five years older, the age of Snake's brother. Snake's father gets angry and goes to attack Jane, but Cho is there to protect Patrick. Jane accuses Snake's father of killing Sloop when he discovered Snake's real age, and Snake's father confirms it. He only went to talk to Sloop, but got angry and hit him with the bat. In order to get the father to give himself up quietly, Jane asks Freddie if Snake can try out anyway. Freddie agrees, saying the boy will get a lesser position, but it's still worth a shot--for twice his fee. Snake's father agrees, and is arrested while his son watches in shocked horror.

After all the excitement, Jane once again slumps down to the ground. Scotty tries out, doing well and striking out a player. His father still berates him for not doing better, and says he'll go to make the deal with the scouts. Having taken Jane's advice, Scotty tells his dad that he's hired a professional agent to make the deal for him.

Lisbon tells Jane it's time to see a doctor, but he continues being stubborn, insisting there's nothing a doctor will do for him. He acts a little woozy at the top of a flight of stairs, and Lisbon hurriedly moves to grab him--and then there's the trademark Jane grin. He's only messing with her.

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PHOTO: Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, The Mentalist "Throwing Fire" screencap, c2009 Primrose Hill Productions, Warner Bros. Television, CBS.

Mini Recap -- The Mentalist 2.10 "Throwing Fire"

On tonight's episode of The Mentalist, "A Price Above Rubies", something phenomenal happened: Patrick Jane didn't have all of the answers. This gave Lisbon plenty of smug satisfaction, especially after he terrified her in the show's opening scene.

Cho and Lisbon start off The Mentalist in formal  wear, making nice at a charity banquet to one of the CBI's benefactors, Esther Doverton (Dey Young). Jane takes the stage, supposedly to represent the CBI with some magic tricks and mind-reading. After tossing an egg into the air--and invisibility--Jane announces he's dropping the act in order to "transform [their] consciousness." He then launches into a speech, about the cruelties and injustices of the world that are going on while they stand around and sip champagne. Lisbon is worried as the room falls silent, but Jane manages to turn the guests' guilt and discomfort into a show of solidarity and charitable contributions. And then he asks one of the guests to check his pocket--where the egg has presumably turned into a chick.

When Lisbon confesses she was scared about his speech, Jane replies: "Oh please, like I don't know how to work a fat crowd of suckers."

Meanwhile, as the suckers are sipping champagne, a thief is robbing the Doverton jewelry store. Mrs. Doverton's husband Carl interrupts the robbery unexpectedly, and is shot multiple times. Mrs. Doverton gets a call at the banquet that her husband has been shot, and Lisbon and the team are on the case immediately.

Lisbon and Jane interview Mrs. Doverton's nephews, Tom (Callard Harris) and George (David Monahan). George is surprised that the high security safe was broken into. Jane gets prickly with them, trying to discover if the men are jealous of their aunt's boyfriend of four years becoming their business partner. They seem uncomfortable and annoyed, but claim that Carl has been a big help to the business.

Van Pelt checks into all the security cameras from the store, lot, and traffic lights. She gets a license plate of the vehicle, and they track it to a criminal safecracker--Doyle Murphy (Michael Sidisin, Jr.). Jane thinks it's too easy--that robberies so well-executed are rarely done by one man. He suspects that Carl is Doyle's accomplice, but Lisbon isn't ready to believe it.

Van Pelt and Rigsby go to find Murphy at a nearby motel. On the way, Rigsby and Van Pelt discuss the secrecy of their relationship. Rigsby thinks Jane knows about them, and Van Pelt feels that maybe it's not a bad thing for people to know. Rigsby tables the discussion for when they're not on a job.

They question the motel manager, who says Murphy had a visitor in a cowboy hat and flashy truck earlier that day. Van Pelt and Rigsby go in to the room and find Murphy dead in the closet, gunshot wound to the forehead and the murder weapon resting on his chest. Ballistics show it's also the gun that killed Carl. There're no diamonds, no prints.

Jane hypnotizes the motel clerk to get a better description of Murphy's last visitor. Rigsby and Van Pelt go to pick up the suspect, Donny Culpepper (David Warshofsky). Culpepper claims Murphy was his ex-brother-in law, and that Murphy owed him money for a stint in rehab Culpepper paid for. Culpepper says he went to the motel, but that Murphy wasn't there.

Lisbon grudgingly confesses to Jane that they've discovered Carl has a criminal past and has been living under a pseudonym, dodging $90,000 in alimony he owes his wife. Mrs. Doverton claims to have known all about it, but Jane knows she's lying. The team also finds store footage of Tom Doverton talking to Murphy, though he denies knowing the man. Jane gets the Dovertons and Culpepper at the same elevator, hoping to see a note of recognition between them. He gets no recognition, but earns a death threat from Culpepper and Lisbon's ire for letting Culpepper go.

The coroner arrives, handing the team a large diamond she found in Murphy's abdomen. Jane tries to crush the diamond with a fire extinguisher to prove his hunch that it's a fake--but it isn't, and it ricochets around the room and is lost. Jane is sheepish, but happy the diamond didn't fly out the now cracked window.

Jane surmises that Tom Doverton may have met Murphy in rehab, so they visit the clinic. Jane searches the director's office while Lisbon distracts him. Jane discovers that George Doverton was actually Murphy's sponsor during rehab. Jane and Lisbon return to the jewelry store to pick up George, who claims he only lied about knowing Murphy to spare his aunt the embarassment of his addiction. As they're leaving the jewelry store, George receives a ransom note that claims their aunt has been kidnapped.

The CBI helps the Doverton brothers with the ransom call, instructing George to keep the kidnapper on the line as long as possible so they can trace the call. George does stall him, but when he says he doesn't have the diamonds, they hear their aunt being shot. Upset, George runs out of the room. Rigsby gets the trace and leaves to pursue the caller. Jane tells Tom to stay put, and he leaves Tom alone with the phone, which soon rings again. Nervously Tom picks up the phone, and it's the kidnapper, saying he knows Tom has the diamonds.

We then see that the caller is Jane, and he forces Tom into a confession that he helped steal the diamonds and murdered Murphy to keep the loot for himself. Mrs. Doverton is stunned that her nephew is a thief and a murderer. She leaves the CBI office and returns to the hospital to visit her husband Carl, who is coming out of his medically-induced coma. Jane beats her there, interrogating Carl and getting him to vehemently exclaim how much he loves Mrs. Doverton and that she's the best thing that ever happened to him. It's Jane's good deed for the day, as Mrs. Doverton overhears, and knows at least that she doesn't have to be suspicious of her husband.

Back at CBI headquarters, Rigsby finally finds the lost diamond under a desk. Jane teases both him and Van Pelt with the idea of stealing the diamond, telling them it's nothing but pressed carbon to him and he wouldn't tell anyone if they took it. Rigsby and Van Pelt are stunned and a little tempted, and we don't actually see if they decide to keep it or not. As usual, Jane stirs up trouble.

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PHOTO: Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, Robin Tunney as Teresa Lisbon, The Mentalist, "A Price Above Rubies", c2009 Primrose Hill Productions, Warner Bros. Television, CBS.

Mini Recap -- The Mentalist 2.09 "A Price Above Rubies"

Tonight's episode of The Mentalist, "His Red Right Hand" saw the return of Patrick Jane's nemesis Red John and plenty of shocks for the audience.

"His Red Right Hand" begins sweetly enough, with Rigsby and Van Pelt sharing a moment cuddling in bed before they're both phoned separately by Lisbon. They arrive at a cemetary building, where a dead and frozen man has been found naked--his modesty preserved by a carefully arranged bouquet of yellow roses. While on the scene, Jane gets called by Bosco, who tells him to come see him as soon as he can.

The CBI returns to the department headquarters, joining Bosco's secretary Rebecca as she's bringing coffee to her boss. The coffee is soon spilled, as Rebecca discovers Bosco and two of his agents gunned down in his office. Stunned by the bloody crime scene, Jane stands immobile as Lisbon tries to revive Bosco, only spurred into action when Lisbon shouts at him to help. The building is locked down; Bosco is revived on scene by paramedics and taken away in an ambulance.

Lisbon sends Van Pelt and Rigsby to interview people in the building and check the security cameras. Jane still seems to be in shock, but then he tells Lisbon that Hicks is missing. The team investigates, and finds he's not at home and his car is gone. They interview Rebecca, who tells them Bosco's team was close to making arrests in a drug cartel case. Van Pelt is stunned when she and Rigsby discover there is missing security footage; that the cameras were disabled during the crime.

While Lisbon and her team investigate the cartel leads, Jane insists on pursuing their original frozen man case. The victim turns out to be a Dr. Towlan Morning, and Jane goes to the hospital where he works. Lisbon and Cho follow. On the way in, Jane becomes agitated when he sees a vase of yellow roses by the door. Approaching the doctor's office, Jane first sees the telltale Red John smiley face on the wall. He also finds Agent Hicks, dead on the desk.

CBI boss gives a press conference about the agent's deaths, and has a meltdown when asked to describe his "feelings". He says he's tired with the press and their horse's assery, and that they have no idea what the fine agents of the CBI go through each day. "I feel sad, you moron," he tells the reporter, before ending the conference. Lisbon commiserates with him after, assuring him that he told the truth.

Through further investigation, the team discovers that Bosco had a lead on one of Red John's mistakes--a missing victim named Carter Peaks. The body was found at a construction site, and Bosco hoped there would be DNA evidence to help them find Red John. Lisbon and Jane head down to the Cloverville morgue to collect the body and evidence, only to be told that an Agent Roho from their division already picked up the body. Asking the man on duty that night for a description of the agent, Jane realizes it's Rebecca--Bosco's secretary.

With her insider access, Rebecca was able to disable the cameras and get close enough to Bosco and his team to shoot them with a silencer gun (while announcing "Red John Says 'Hi.'" Lisbon and Van Pelt catch Rebecca in Bosco's hospital room, trying to finish the job, and Van Pelt nicely slams Rebecca face first into a wall. Lisbon is contemplating shooting the maniacally grinning Rebecca when Bosco wakes up to ask what's going on.

There's heavy police and S.W.A.T. protection as they bring Rebecca in to the CBI. They put her in a room with Jane. They sit in silence for awhile, then Jane asks one of his usual innocuous questions about music. Rebecca doesn't fall for it, telling him she knows all his tricks. Jane tells her she is nothing but a useful object to Red John, that he is not a good man. Rebecca counters that Red John is "on a mission of love and enlightenment. Without death, there is no life, without dark there is no light." She tells Jane he is a perfect example, that when his family was murdered, he finally saw the world for what it truly was.

Jane assures her that she will one day regret what she's done and open up to him. But he asks her to explain why Red John had her murder Bosco's team when he already had the body and the evidence. In a chilling moment, Rebecca tells him that Red John thought he would understand, that he killed the team so Jane could have the case back. "He wants you back. And it's what you wanted to, isn't it?" Jane's slight smile is hard to read, but then he becomes serious and ends the interview.

While she's being transferred, someone passes her in the hall and slaps a poisoned substance onto her hand. She dies instantly, removing the last link they had to Red John.

Back at the hospital, Bosco gets Lisbon to tell him the truth about his condition--he's lost too much blood and probably won't make it. He tells Lisbon he loves her--that it had to be said. She reciprocates, but it seems they both know he means it more intimately than he does. Bosco asks to talk to Jane, and tells him that he will catch Red John. And that when he does, he shouldn't arrest him, he should kill him. Jane replies "That's the plan." He then whispers something else which Jane leans down to hear, and he then he's gone.

Lisbon returns to the office, only to find that their boss Minelli has decided to retire. It's clear that the loss of four agents has been too much to bear. Lisbon is upset, but she understands, and hugs him goodbye. Back in the office with her team, they drink the last of Bosco's secret stash of tequila. While Rigsby quietly leads them in a verse of "Amazing Grace", which was played at Bosco's funeral, Jane slips away to immediately dig into the Red John case.

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PHOTO: Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, The Mentalist "His Red Right Hand" screencap, c2009 Primrose Hill Productions, Warner Bros. Television, CBS.

Mini Recap -- The Mentalist 2.08 "His Red Right Hand"

The big news tonight on The Mentalist episode "Red Bulls" is that Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) and Agent Sam Bosco (Terry Kinney) work together on a case. The episode begins with a tense scene involving Bosco's team, busting into an abandoned house they believe houses a kidnap victim and her captors. Guns drawn, they rush into a crowded room--populated by Agent Teresa Lisbon's (Robin Tunney) CBI team, including Jane. After a tense moment of adrenaline and demanding to know what the other is doing there, Jane finally gets them all to lower their guns.

Turns out Lisbon and her team were asked to investigate a report of a dead body in the abandoned house. The body turns out to be a young man who had been kidnapped years earlier. CBI boss Minelli (Gregory Itzin) agrees with Jane that the coincidences are too great between the two kidnap cases, and orders the two teams to work together. Bosco is, of course, furious at having to work with Jane and the hostility extends through both divisions.

Bosco, Jane, and Lisbon visit the family of the kidnap victim, Mia Westlake (Marissa Skell). The only relative is Mia's sister Verona (Meredith Monroe) and her husband. The Westlake sisters have a considerable fortune they inherited from a wealthy grandfather. Verona is the self-professed screw-up, and isn't sure how to handle the kidnapping. While Lisbon and Bosco ask the usual questions, and try to find a connection between Mia and the first kidnap victim, Jane observes the couple and their lawyer. He also finds their baby crawling behind the furniture, and the nanny is hastily called in to retrieve her.

Jane is his typical blunt and straightforward self, and warns Mia against drugging herself into oblivion during the crisis--because she'll regret being absent later. While Bosco is ordering Lisbon to get Jane out of his sight, Mia's husband Duncan orders Bosco to throw Jane off the case. Bosco apparently hates being told what to do more than he hates Jane, and tells Duncan the CBI will do whatever they need to, with Jane. Mia then calls Duncan off, saying Jane was right about what he had said. With a smile, Lisbon leaves Jane and Bosco together to work on another lead.

Since the proof of life video showed a man's hand with a recognizable Mexican gang tattoo, Bosco takes Jane over to meet with some of the gang members and interview them. Jane is nervous at first, until he realizes one of the gang members is an undercover agent that Bosco knows. Jane is not surprised when they find no link between the gang and the kidnapping, and gives Bosco a hard time for pursuing an empty lead just to show Jane what "real" cops do.

Meanwhile, Rigsby (Owain Yeoman), Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti), and Bosco's man Hicks (Dominic Hoffman) follow up on a gang of drug dealers who've taken up kidnapping to make faster cash. Van Pelt warns Rigsby to wear a Kevlar vest, but he refuses because Hicks isn't wearing one. Van Pelt is frustrated with all the macho posturing, which continues as they move through an apartment building, questioning the inhabitants. While Hicks and Rigsby are bickering, Van Pelt reopens an apartment door to give a potential witness her business card, and ends up with several rounds pumped into her chest.

Saved by the vest, Van Pelt urges Rigsby to go after the shooter. He and Hicks hunt the girl down through a maze of buildings, and Rigsby eventually shoots and kills her just as she's about to shoot down Hicks. There's new respect between the two officers, but Lisbon argues with Bosco about taking responsibility for the animosity that nearly got Van Pelt killed.

While the team is distracted, Rigsby sneaks into the ambulance to check on Van Pelt, and he tells her he loves her. Van Pelt thanks him sweetly, then smacks him for not wearing a vest. Her way of saying she loves him is apparently letting him know she doesn't want his ego getting him killed.

The specific amount of the ransom for Mia Westlake makes Lisbon and Jane think there might be someone on the inside who knows the status of their bank account. Their suspicion gains credibility when they discover that the woman who shot Van Pelt was the first kidnap victim's girlfriend.

As the time for the ransom payoff looms, Lisbon and Jane try to convince Bosco to use one of Jane's unorthodox ideas. It's clear from the previous kidnapping that Mia will be killed the moment they get their money. When Bosco refuses, Jane appeals to Verona, telling her that someone close to her is in on the kidnapping. He points out Verona's lawyer, and Verona immediately attacks her, creating a commotion.

Jane retreats to another room with Lisbon and Bosco, who actually was in on the plan. They watch the hidden video of the room containing the ransom money, waiting to see who turns up to check it out. The nanny suddenly appears, taking the transmitter out of the suitcase and then disappearing upstairs. The agents follow her, and overhear her making a phone call to her partners, letting them know the money's on its way. The agents arrest her, and use her phone to trace the call back to its source. Mia is rescued, and reunited with her sister Verona.

Afterwards, Lisbon and Bosco share a drink and mend fences over their earlier arguments. Bosco tells Lisbon he's enjoyed working with her again, and they share a few meaningful glances. Later on, Bosco approaches Jane and concedes that he was wrong--that though Jane isn't an officer and never will be, he offers a valuable perspective. He then gives Jane the file on Red John, and asks for that perspective. He expects grateful thanks, but instead he gets a pointed request from Jane for the whole file. It's clear these two don't fully trust each other just yet.

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PHOTO: Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, with Terry Kinney as Agent Sam Bosco, The Mentalist "Red Bulls" screencaps, c2009 Primrose Hill Productions, Warner Bros. Television, CBS.

Mini Recap -- The Mentalist 2.07 "Red Bulls"

Tonight on The Mentalist, "Black Gold and Red Blood", Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) once again defies people's expectations. After Agent Bosco (Terry Kinney) discovers the bug that Jane planted in his office, he has Jane arrested. As usual, Jane isn't remorseful in the least bit and doesn't seem to be all that fearful about jail time. Turning down Bosco's deal to quit the CBI, Jane heads off to the penitentiary. Not considering himself a cop, Jane refuses protective custody and gets put in with the general population.

Once we get a look at Jane's murderer roommate, if we weren't already thinking it, we get the idea Jane may have made a serious error. After all, Jane is very pretty and not at all violent, which is not the best combination in prison. Though Jane makes friends with his cellmate with a little psychotherapy, he realizes he may have been a bit naive when his cellmate informs him everyone knows he's a cop.

Of course, though Jane is pretty and non-violent, we forgot that he's also a little crazy. With absolute fearlessness, Jane confronts the other prisoners head-on where he both confuses and seduces them with his usual "psychic" charm. It's not long before he's playing cards with the top dog, and offering him hypnosis to get rid of his drug problem.

Meanwhile, back at the CBI headquarters, Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) and Cho (Tim Kang) try to appeal to Bosco to let Jane go. When that fails, they join Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) in urging Lisbon (Robin Tunney) to use her influence over Bosco. Lisbon denies having any sway over Bosco, despite her team's assurances that he's in love with her.

The CBI's case in "Black Gold and Red Blood" involves two feuding families, both with claims on a patch of land that can be drilled for millions worth of oil. The Hines family, a modern day Romeo and Juliet joining of the two families, reside on the disputed property. When the husband turns up dead from a gunshot wound, the CBI are called in to investigate.

Jane is at the crime scene, and meets all the players before his arrest. The team interviews the victim's wife Donna Hines (Erin Cahill), her father Dooley Gerber (William Russ) and step-mother Sandrine (Ashley Jones). After the victims' father pulls a knife on the Gerber family at the crime scene, they pull him in for questioning. A "freedom" fantatic, he tells Cho about the oil and blames the Gerber family and the corrupt government for his son's death.

While Lisbon is hoping Jane is learning a lesson from his stint in jail, Jane is simply up to his old tricks. Cho brings him a file on the case, including the victim's journal that contains numbers and names, and an entry of "Vultures!" After an idle vulture factoid from his new inmate pal gets him thinking, Jane calls Cho and asks if he can interview Donna Hines' brother. When Cho declines, Jane takes a different tactic. He phones Roddy Gerber (Eric Laden) ahead of Rigsby's visit, riling him up so he'll punch Rigsby when he arrives. Rigsby arrests him, so he ends up in the same ward as Jane.

Jane discovers from Roddy that his hunch was correct. Hines had discovered endangered species turkey vultures on the property--which would have meant it was protected land and couldn't be drilled. Roddy beat Hines up to get the location of the birds, so he could kill them, but he claims no involvement in Hines' death.

Jane then asks Lisbon to visit him so they can be in the visiting room when Roddy's father visits. Questioning Dooley, Jane is surprised to find that he seems innocent of the crime as well. Lisbon is frustrated that Jane is still up to his usual antics and doesn't seem to have learned a thing in prison.

What she doesn't know is he's about to go even further. Determined to break the case himself, Jane feigns illness and takes advantage of a guard's fear of mice to escape prison. He heads over to the Hines' farm and confronts the family, after phoning Bosco to let him know where he is. He shocks Donna and her father with the revelation that her husband was having an affair with Dooley's wife Sandrine--evidenced by her glitter makeup turning up on both men. Hines wanted to break off the affair and confess it all to his wife. Sandrine demanded he keep quiet, and when he refused, she shot and killed him.

The police arrive just in time to arrest both Jane and Sandrine, who can't believe she was frightened into a confession by a wanted man. Back at CBI, Bosco tells Lisbon that Jane's sentence will now be even longer. Outraged by Bosco's stubborness, Lisbon insists he drop the charges. Her influence over him seems to be blackmail, however, for whatever happened when they worked together 8 years ago. Bosco is stunned that Lisbon would risk both their careers on Jane, and he relents.

Back at headquarters, Jane thanks Lisbon for getting him out. He guesses that she had something on him, perhaps because he killed a criminal and she kept quiet about it. Lisbon denies it, but looks very uncomfortable. Jane seems almost as surprised as Bosco that she cashed that chip in for him. Lisbon hopes that her sacrifice might make him temper his behavior in the future, but Jane just laughs it off with his trademark grin. But we know he realizes what a big moment this is, what she's done for him. We also didn't miss his throaway line about how lovable Lisbon is, and she didn't miss it either.

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PHOTO: Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, The Mentalist "Black Gold and Red Blood" screencaps, c2009 Primrose Hill Productions, Warner Bros. Television, CBS.

Mini Recap -- The Mentalist 2.06 "Black Gold and Red Blood"

The Mentalist "Red Scare" begins with architect Alan Foster (David Kilde) working alone, late at night in an historic home. He hears a noise, then sees flashing lights behind a set of French doors. He moves closer, the doors open, and we see a shocked and frightened look on his face.

The next scene begins with Foster's body on the ground, dead after falling--or being thrown--out the upstairs window. The CBI team arrive on the scene, and thus begins the spooky Halloween ghost story installment of The Mentalist.

Deputy Nick Fisher of the local small town police informs the CBI that they've never had a violent crime before. All the players, even the deputy, seem suspicious as the plot moves on. Agent Lisbon (Robin Tunney) brings in a local thief who was on the property stealing construction tools the night of the murder. The thief saw Foster's wife Lillian (Christina Chang) in her car outside the house that same night.

The home's previous owner, Victoria Abner (Frances Fisher), still lives in town. Descended from the original owner, she couldn't afford to pay the tax bills, and thus was forced to sell. Abner's nephew Drew (Michael McMillian) is staying with her, using his skills as a paralegal to help her with the tax bill difficulties. Though initially grateful to sell, Victoria later accuses Foster of "stealing" her family home, and gets into a physical altercation with Lillian Foster over it.

Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) gets Deputy Fisher to confess about a local ghost story, which involves the original home owner dying in the same manner as Foster. He's said to haunt the place, and Lillian tells the CBI that her husband had been hearing moans and strange noises at the house.

Jane finds the local historian, Philip Raimey (Ron Canada) who tells him that there's also a rumored family fortune hidden in the house. He gets Agent Cho (Tim Kang) to ask the Abners about the ghost and treasure. Victoria acknowledges both, but says the family gave up hope of ever finding anything years ago.

Meanwhile on "Red Scare", Jane, Rigsby (Owain Yeoman), and Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) work on figuring out how the killer got into the house without setting off the alarm. Jane freaks Van Pelt and Rigsby out by pulling the ghost routine on them. Turns out the original owner put an old-fashioned speaker system in the house, a sliding glass panel, and buttons to affect the electrical--all the basic smoke and mirrors needed for a fake haunting.

Jane then sends Rigsby and Van Pelt down an old bootlegger's secret passage, to see if they can find a way out to the outside--where Jane will be looking for a door. The passage is a little dark and spooky, which brings Rigsby and Van Pelt closer together--and eventually the surges of fear and relief lead to Rigsby confessing his love for Van Pelt. He's just about to kiss her when Jane flings open the outer hatch that leads to the tunnel they're in.

With a little more digging, the team discovers that the Raimey recently purchased an old letter that gave a clue to the original owner's treasure. This was why Victoria was suddenly so anxious to get her family home back. Jane and Lisbon get all the suspect together in the house while Jane deciphers the clue, which leads to a box...with another clue.

Lisbon pretends to be fed up with the whole treasure hunt and chases them all out, ordering the team to lock up the whole house and not let anyone in. This way the only person who can get in to try and pursue the latest planted "clue" will be the person who found their way in the last time. It turns out to be Victoria's nephew Drew. After a lifetime of hearing about his ancestors' fortune, he wanted his own piece of the pie. He tried to scare Foster away, but the architect didn't scare easily. He found Drew hidden in the house and in a panic, Drew struck and killed him. To cover up the crime, Drew threw him out the window and tried to blame it on the home's ghost.

Back at the CBI headquarters, the team celebrates another case solved. While the others are enjoying pizza and wine that Jane pours, Van Pelt drags Rigsby into another room for a make-out session. She tells Rigsby to follow her out to her car once they're done at headquarters. When they rejoin the group, they ask Jane about the key he really found in the home's hidden box. He tells them it led to a secret stash of the owner's wine collection, bottles worth perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars. The team all stare into their plastic tumblers and then take appreciative drinks of their "treasure" wine.

Hopefully Mrs. Foster or Victoria won't find out.

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PHOTO: Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, The Mentalist "Red Scare" screencaps, c2009 Primrose Hill Productions, Warner Bros. Television, CBS.

Mini Recap -- The Mentalist 2.05 "Red Scare"

The Mentalist season two opener, "Redemption", begins with Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney) and Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) arriving at a crime scene in a department store. The police officer briefing them thanks them for helping the homicide department out on their case load, and then proceeds to mock Jane for "that ESP crap".

Of course Jane always takes any criticism as a challenge. The officer shows them the body of a 34 year old man, and tells him that store security was able to gather up all of the people in the area at the time of the murder. Jane kneels down by the body, literally sniffing around the crime scene. Asked tauntingly by the officer if the victim told him whodunit, Jane replies with a list of facts about the victim--including that he was a ladies man, went after moneyed cougars with moderate success, and played the guitar--not well. Jane decides his "non-creative job in a creative field" was not worth killing over, that the crime was probably romantic, and he asks to see the suspects.

Follow the link if you're looking for the quick and dirty "Redemption" mini recap.

On their way down the escalator to the furniture department, Lisbon warns Jane to take it down a notch--or three. Jane agrees, but we know he won't. It's clear he's confident and in a hurry to get this over with. Jane announces to the witnesses that the murderer could be among them, and that he'll find out who it is. He dismisses two witnesses as being innocent, though Lisbon quickly tells them they need to stick around for a statement. Jane goes around the room asking questions, including a store employee named Neil. When asked what his biggest mistake was, he answers, "My first marriage."

After a few more typical Jane questions from nowhere and bizarre banter with the suspects, Jane invites the ire of a woman in business clothing, Mandy, who has a "very important husband". In his usual confrontational way, Jane calls her "Mrs. Grumpy and Entitled", tells her that her diet pills are messing with her head, and that her husband's Modesto clout means nothing in the big city of Sacramento. When the police officer starts to intervene, Lisbon stops him, and Jane announces that Mandy will lead them to the murder weapon.

Happy that Jane will end up looking like an idiot, Mandy humors Jane and allows him to take hold of her wrists and start leading her around the room. Viewers should remember that Jane pulled a similar trick on agent Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) in the previous season of The Mentalist. This time, however, Jane's not only watching Mandy's reactions, he's watching those of the other suspects. Everyone follows Jane and Mandy around the room, and are startled when Jane finds a box of heavy crystal glassware--one piece which is covered in blood.

A horrified and stunned Mandy protests her innocence, and to everyone's surprise, Jane agrees that she is. He explains to the skeptical officer that he used Mandy as a decoy, to lure the real killer into giving directional cues. He reveals Neil, the man with the bad marriage, as the murderer. Neil protests, but Jane launches into his guess about the scenario--that his second wife cheated with the victim, but he forgave her. Then the victim came in and taunted Neil and made him feel small--at this point Neil takes off running, and the police attempt to catch him.

Lisbon chastises Jane as displays fall and glass scatters and Neil eludes the police. Jane shrugs and says the case is closed, but he looks mildly surprised and makes a quick getaway when they hear shots fired and screams erupting from the chase.

So Jane starts The Mentalist "Redemption" off with a bang. Or several bangs. But in the next scene, Jane's confidence takes a hit in the CBI boss Minnelli's office. It's clear they're being chastised for Jane's usual lack of decorum in their latest case. Jane defends himself by saying they were in a hurry to get back to the Red John case. This opens the door for Minnelli to tell Jane and Lisbon that they've been running "too hot" on the Red John case and that Jane is headed for a "terminal screw-up". He also accuses Lisbon of being grateful to Jane for saving her life, and therefore cutting him too much slack.

Enter Agent Sam Bosco, who Minnelli announces is taking over the Red John case. Lisbon and Jane protest, and Lisbon asks that her team be allowed to finish what they started. Bosco, who Lisbon has worked with previously, tells her bluntly that they're not even close to solving it and a fresh pair of eyes is needed. He tells Jane that the pain of losing his wife and child is clouding his judgment. Jane is for once at a loss for words, and he quietly leaves the office. Lisbon soon follows.

Recap -- The Mentalist 2.01 "Redemption"

This week on The Mentalist, episode "Red Menace", the CBI investigate the murder of a lawyer, Gordon Hodge, who has only one client--a biker mob called the Sinner Saints. Lisbon (Robin Tunney), Rigsby (Owain Yeoman), and Jane (Simon Baker) interview the wife and son, who don't seem to know much about Hodge's shady clients, though they do enjoy the lavish lifestyle those clients provide for.

Jane and Lisbon go into the lion's den of Sinner Saints and question their leader Von McBride (Mark Pellegrino). They discover that Hodge was living the Sinner part of the biker lifestyle, partying and doing drugs. Since Hodge dodged a conviction on a drug bust, Lisbon and Jane fish with the idea of his being an informant on the Sinner Saints. McBride doesn't buy it, and doesn't bite when Jane suggests there might be another informant. McBride doesn't ruffle easily, even when an irate woman storms the bar and calls McBride a murderer.

The CBI work to track her down, eventually getting McBride to confess she's been harassing him because of charges he murdered her brother--charges Hodge got him out of. After they learn that the woman, Felicia Gutherie (Molly Price), vandalized Hodge's office and stalked him at his home, she becomes the number one suspect. Though she admits that she hated Hodge for making her brother out to be a monster in court, she denies being the lawyer's murderer.

Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) also discovers through phone records that Hodge was having regular conversations with McBride's girlfriend Diamond. Van Pelt takes Lisbon along on a high speed chase to catch the fleeing biker girl. Turns out Diamond's in fear for her life if McBride discovers the affair, or if she gets labeled as the informant. She says the only other person who knew of her fling with Hodge was Hodge's wife.

Lisbon interviews the wife, who says she kept quiet because she didn't want her son Lucas to have to deal with any more scandal. Jane takes Lucas out for a driving lesson and a chat, and finds out that Lucas spoke with Felicia when she came looking for Hodge, though he doesn't have much to say about the meeting. He admits his dad was difficult, always on his cell phone, but he loved him, and so did his mom.

Cho (Tim Kang) and Rigsby stake out Felicia's house, to see if she tries to dispose of any evidence that she's the killer. They're forced into a stand-off when the Sinner Saints show up to get revenge on Hodge's supposed killer. Rigsby, whose father was a criminal biker, has even more reason to hate biker gangs now--but he and Cho use the threat of legal and gun violence to get them to back off.

Jane and Lisbon join Cho and Rigsby at Felicia's house, and Jane pokes around looking for evidence. He gets Rigsby to go look in the trash can, and Rigsby finds one of Hodge's missing cuff links. Lisbon arrests Felicia and brings her in, but Lisbon's surprised that Jane has invited Hodge's wife and son to CBI headquarters to meet them. Confronted with Felicia's arrest, Lucas gets upset and refuses his mother's urges to leave.

Under the pressure of doing the right thing, Lucas confesses that he killed his father in a rage after a culmination of hurts, including discovering his father was still having an affair. His mother helped him cover up the crime. Lisbon then confronts Jane, realizing that he planted the cuff link to make an innocent woman look guilty. Jane feels the end justify the means, because Lisbon needed evidence to arrest Felicia, and he knew he needed Felicia arrested to push Lucas into a confession. He does admit that Felicia deserves justice, however.

The last scene in "Red Menace" is Jane calling McBride to a shadowy meeting outside the bar, which gathers the interest of the other gang members. Jane tells McBride he has the identity of the informant in an envelope he's brought, and hands it to him. He disappears into the darkness just as McBride's gang comes out. They take the envelope and see it contains money, and believe that McBride is the informant. As they drag him off to exact punishment, Jane walks past a pick-up truck with a watchful Felicia inside. Not exactly legal, but it's definitely a form of justice, and more evidence of Jane's permanent place in the grey areas of ethics.

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PHOTO: Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, Robin Tunney as Agent Teresa Lisbon, The Mentalist "Red Menace" screencaps, c2009 Primrose Hill Productions, Warner Bros. Television, CBS.

Mini Recap -- The Mentalist 2.04 "Red Menace"

Tonight on The Mentalist, "Red Badge", we find out more background on how Lisbon (Robin Tunney) and Agent Bosco know each other. When a paroled pedophile named McTeer is found murdered, Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) and the CBI team find out that he was originally caught by Lisbon when she was a San Francisco police department inspector--and Bosco was her boss. Lisbon was written up as a hero in the papers, with quotes of praise from Bosco himself.

The hero turns to possible villain, however, when Lisbon's print is found on the murder weapon. CBI boss Minnelli takes Lisbon off the McTeer case and gives it to Bosco. Though she initially denies involvement, Lisbon subsequently confesses to Jane that she actually has no recollection of Tuesday--the night the murder took place. After a disturbing meeting with the father of one of McTeer's child victims, a rattled Lisbon agrees to take a polygraph over the McTeer murder.

Just as Lisbon's about to testify in the trial of an embezzler/murderer she took down, Minnelli arrives to tell her she's failed the polygraph test and has to turn in her badge and gun. Now visibly shaken, Lisbon goes to the department shrink she was avoiding in the last episode. He tells her he can help her relax and do better on the next polygraph. Lisbon then confesses that her father had alcoholic blackouts and did terrible things that he didn't remember. She's worried the same thing has happened to her, and that she might have actually committed the murder. The psychiatrist tells her that he can't help her until her memory comes back. Angry and upset, Lisbon goes to Jane.

Jane is successful in hypnotizing Lisbon, but when it gets to Tuesday night, Lisbon still can't remember anything that happened. Jane is confused by this development, but assures Lisbon they'll figure it out. Meanwhile, Rigsby (Owain Yeoman), Cho (Tim Kang), and Van Pelt do some work of their own on the case, angering Bosco. But they discover that McTeer had a cell mate "Dog" for two years that turns out to be the fiancée's brother that Jane and Van Pelt met at her house.

Cho and Rigsby grab Dog at his house and scare him into telling the truth. He confesses that he was paid $10,000 anonymously to lure McTeer to the alley where he was killed. He never saw the shooter and doesn't know who it was. Back at the department, Bosco confronts Lisbon about her team interfering in the case. Lisbon goes crazy and has a complete meltdown, ending up throwing her chair through her office window.

We next see Lisbon at home, dancing around with pills and booze scattered on the table next to her gun. Cut to the department and Minnelli expresses concern over Lisbon's condition. Though Jane tries to sound confident that she's fine, Minnelli can see that Jane's worried, which concerns him even more.

Back at Lisbon's home, the doorbell rings. She opens it to find the department shrink. He comes in to check and see how she's doing, and is alarmed by the pills and alcohol--but even more alarmed by the gun she's waving around. Lisbon seems to have had a complete breakdown. She talks about all the built up feelings of anger from her job, and how she probably did kill McTeer.

The psychiatrist then starts to urge her to remember the murder, and he seems to be prompting her with the details. Lisbon starts visualizing the scene, but when he mentions the sign with the cross, Lisbon suddenly drops out of her hysteria. She tells the shrink coolly that no one but the killer could have known about it. Turns out that the whole thing is a trap that she and Jane set, from the meltdown on. Once Jane found that Lisbon had no memory even under hypnosis, he knew she's been drugged. This pointed to the psychiatrist, who'd been paid to get Lisbon's fingerprint and drug her during their sessions--as well as commit the murder himself.

The rest of the CBI team, meanwhile, followed the money trail and discovered that the extortionist/murderer that Lisbon had been set to testify against had been behind the whole thing. In the last scene, Agent Bosco tells Lisbon that he's glad she'd been cleared, and then they come to an unspoken agreement about what would have happened if it had been her after all--it seemed that Bosco may have covered up the truth if it had been her, but that's just my interpretation.

Jane arrives with donuts for Lisbon and Bosco leaves. Jane, amused, tells Lisbon he never realized Bosco was in love with her. Lisbon scoffs at this, but as Jane leaves, he peeks back at Lisbon for a moment with an indefinable look--it starts with one of Jane's serene smiles and then fades into a more uncertain, perhaps regretful gaze. Lisbon is oblivious, and the episode ends with her happily straightening her office to get it back in order after her mock meltdown.

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PHOTO: Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, The Mentalist, "Red Badge" screencap, c2009 Primrose Hill Productions, Warner Bros. Television, CBS.

Mini Recap -- The Mentalist 2.03 "Red Badge"

What better way to show the irreverent nature of Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) than to start off The Mentalist "The Scarlet Letter" with a yawn. Apparently sleeping through Lisbon's (Robin Tunney) briefing in the car, Jane awakens to find the CBI team on a bridge in Sacramento. He's quickly briefed by Cho (Tim Kang) and Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) that a state senator's aide named Kristin Marley has been found dead underneath the bridge. Since she was rumored to be having an affair with the senator's husband, it's not clear at first whether it's a suicide or murder.

Throughout the investigation, Jane and the CBI team find out several things about Kristin's personal life. First, that her step-brother was trying to force her into being his alibi for a car-jacking. Second, that she was a romantic who dreamed about being a senator and traveling to far-off places. She collected mementos from her travels, and Jane correctly suspected she was having a secret affair.

Jane has three unsettling moments in "The Scarlet Letter". A janitor moves Jane's leather "thinking couch" to change a light bulb, and Jane isn't happy until they both move it back. Next, Jane guesses that Kristin's secret lover will be revealed by a memento hidden in a secret compartment of her jewelry box. Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) finds the secret drawer, but there's nothing in it. Lastly, Jane once again has a run-in with Agent Bosco, who has new evidence in the Red John case that he refuses to share with Jane. Jane plays it cool, but he's not happy that Bosco has discovered that he's been trying to hack his passwords and gain information secretly.

While the CBI arrest the step-brother, who has Kristin's missing shoe in his trunk, Jane continues to follow his own path. The senator and her husband seem nervous when Jane starts collecting Kristin's belongings from her desk. Jane also interviews the senator's father, and gets an unspoken acknowledgment that he was having an affair with the intern Kristin.

Lisbon holds off on processing the step-brother, backing Jane up on his hunch. Jane sets a trap, leaving Lisbon a voice mail stating he has incriminating evidence and that he's leaving it in her top desk drawer. Later that night, the same janitor that moved Jane's couch is caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Lisbon keeps him at gunpoint while Jane tries to get information out of him, to discover who he's working for. Jane had guessed correctly that the office had been bugged, and that the janitor--a "fixer"--had planted the shoe and stolen the evidence from the jewelry box.

The fixer feigns distress at the thought of covering up a murder, but in a quick move, he's got Jane as a hostage with a letter opener to his throat. Lisbon is forced to drop her weapon and handcuff herself to the door, but the fixer is then forced to run when a security guard shows up. Lisbon sends a reluctant Jane out to see where he's headed, and Jane nearly gets run over by the criminal. The fixer bolts into traffic and collides with another car, and it's clear he's seriously injured.

The next scene is of the bandaged-up fixer in an interrogation room, being interviewed by Rigsby and Cho. Lisbon and Jane bring in the senator, her husband, and her father. Jane shows them the silent video of the interrogation, and lets them know that the fixer is talking, and anyone who wants out of jail time needs to speak up. The senator and her father try to leave, but the husband quickly steps up. It's clear it's all over, and eventually the full story unfolds.

The intern Kristin was actually having a love affair with the senator herself, Melinda. The senator's husband was just a paid escort to hide her true sexuality. Worried that his daughter was jeopardizing her career, Melinda's father slept with the intern to prove to her that Kristin was just having a lark. Melinda felt so angry and betrayed that she went to Kristin's apartment and ended up killing her in a rage. She called her father, who hired the fixer to try and cover it all up.

At that moment, Jane let the guys know they could let the fixer go--who then slumped forward on the table. He was dead the whole time, and they used the body to fool the senator. CBI boss Minelli (Gregory Itzin) wasn't thrilled with the rule-bending, but Lisbon stood her ground. Pleased with another case closed, Jane then went on to his next mission.

Bringing Bosco and his team a peace offering of donuts, Jane claims that he's given up and won't bother them again. Though Bosco isn't convinced and tells the agents to remove the donuts, he's missed the bug that Jane planted under the table--the same bug the fixer had used to monitor their investigation. It's clear he hasn't given up at all.

In "The Scarlet Letter", Rigsby once again chickens out when he has the opportunity to ask Van Pelt on a date. And Lisbon finds herself toe-to-toe with a department shrink who won't let her off the hook on attending therapy for the near-death experience she had at the end of the last season.

Check out: Mini Recap -- The Mentalist 2.01 "Redemption"

PHOTO: Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, on his "thinking couch", The Mentalist, "The Scarlet Letter" screencap, c2009 Primrose Hill Productions, Warner Bros. Television, CBS.

Mini Recap -- The Mentalist 2.02 "The Scarlet Letter"

The season premiere episode of The Mentalist, "Redemption", begins with our favorite master of observation Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) up to his old tricks. The CBI are called in to help out the homicide department on a department store murder. Detective Lisbon (Robin Tunney) warns Jane to take his theatrical antics down a notch (or three), but Jane's never been one to listen to authority.

Jane gathers together the witnesses (suspects), and in Agatha Christie style, narrows them down with random questions and observations of their behavior. Using a trick he pulled on Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) last season, he uses the guilty party's reactions to his movements to discover the murder weapon and the killer. All in a day's work.

Click here if you're looking for the full, extra-detailed recap of The Mentalist "Redemption".

Back at the office, Jane and Lisbon get called on the carpet for Jane's unorthodox and unprofessional crime solving methods. Minelli (Gregory Itzin) tells them they're too focused on the Red John case and have lost their perspective. He's giving the case over to another agent, Sam Bosco (Terry Kinney).

Lisbon takes the news as a wake-up call to work by the book and earn their boss' trust back. Jane takes it as his cue to leave, claiming there's no point to working in a useless system if he can't use it to get personal revenge. Lisbon and the team are of course disgusted and disappointed by his reaction, and the insult to their jobs. In typical Jane fashion, he apologizes and then re-offends a few times before he finally comes to an understanding with Lisbon. Jane still thinks the war on crime is fruitless, but he confesses that he has "nothing else to do" and needs to work. Lisbon relents, allowing him back on the team if he promises good behavior. She is then shocked by a warm hug from a grinning Jane.

The case involves a murdered woman found in a hotel room. With quick deduction on Jane's part and some Internet searches on Van Pelt's, the CBI team discovers that she's a suburban mother who stole a million dollars from her company and then went into hiding. Back at home she has a confused husband, angry daughter, and a son just recovering from cancer.

Jane gets Cho (Tim Kang) to drive him to the first empty house for sale in the neighborhood. Jane checks the mail in the box and notes the name of the former occupant, Miles Thorsen. Cho goes along for the ride, even though he's annoyed Jane won't tell him what he's doing.

The team interviews the victim's family, the yoga instructor she was having an affair with, her boss, and the company's financial officer. No one knows where the million dollars is, and from the looks of the victim's trashed apartment, the killer didn't find it either. Though Lisbon keeps trying to rein Jane in and cover for his blunt questions, she can't stop him from asking each of the interview subjects if they know Miles Thorsen.

In the middle of the investigation, Jane goes to see Agent Bosco to offer his knowledge of the Red John case and be kept in the loop. Bosco coldly tells Jane that he's a "clown, a party entertainer", and that he won't give him any information on leads in the case: "I wouldn't tell you where the bathroom was if your ass was on fire." Asked if he comprehends the situation, Jane smoothly says "I understand you. It may take you some time to understand me." He's got that scary look in his eye, and we know Jane's not going to let this just slide.

Jane convinces Cho and Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) to sit in Thorsen's empty house. Jane explains that all of the suspects have Thorsen's name and the killer will be desperately curious to know why he's relevant to the case. All they have to do is wait for him to show up. As they wait, Jane looks through a box of the victim's belongings. He finds a library book about the history of the fax machine, which seems an odd choice. When Rigsby becomes annoyed by Jane defying Lisbon once again, Jane sends him off to the library to wait for his phone call.

Jane and Cho wait, and eventually the victim's boss shows up at the house. Jane says he guessed it was her all along. The boss stole the money from her own company, and when the victim discovered her crime, the boss cut a deal with her. She paid to have the victim's son put in the best cancer treatment center, and paid her a monthly salary to stay away and take the heat for the crime. The accounting book with proof of the crime was hidden in place of the fax machine book at the library, along with a DVD of the victim, explaining why she did what she did.

The CBI team shows the victim's family the DVD, and they finally know the truth that their mother traded her own life for her son's. While Lisbon is distracted, Jane makes a phone call to administration. Pretending to be Agent Bosco, he asks how he can go about changing his in-house access pass code. There's a hint of a smile on his lips as he waits on hold. We knew he wasn't going to let Bosco get away with the Red John case.

PHOTO: Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, The Mentalist "Redemption" screencap, c2009 CBS.

Mini Recap -- The Mentalist 2.01 "Redemption"

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So head over there to place your bids on these very unique pop culture items and experiences, and don't forget to tune in to the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, September 20!

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With this season of The Mentalist wrapping up, fans can still get their fix of charismatic star Simon Baker. His latest project is an independent cult style kidnapping drama, Not Forgotten.

The plot of the film has Baker's character searching the Texas-Mexico border for his daughter. What he finds is a supernatural thriller involving the Santa Muerte death cult. Santa Muerte, or the Saint of Death, while not recognized by the Catholic Church is gaining popularity in high crime communities. As a man with a dark past, he falls prey when he agrees to do anything to get his daughter back.

Not Forgotton was shot in New Mexico, and supposedly takes place in the border towns of Del Rio, Texas and Acuna, Mexico. To really get the subtleties of this independent film, it's best if you speak Spanish, as most of the cast is bilingual.

Executive Producer Donald Zuckerman has commented that had current film incentives existed a year and a half ago when they began filming, they probably would have chosen to film in Texas instead of New Mexico. They did hire some key personnel from Texas, including art directors and set decorators, to give the film a more authentic Texas feel.

Other talent involved in this project include Paz Vega, Michael DeLorenzo, Ken Davitian, Claire Forlani and Mark Rolston.

Not Forgotten debuted at the Landmark Dobie Theater in Austin, Texas, and is scheduled to hit Los Angeles in a couple of weeks. Other release locations include the famed Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, the Mann Plant 16 in Van Nuys, and the AMC Deer Valley in Phoenix, AZ. If all goes well, more people will be able to enjoy a different side of Simon Baker just in time for The Mentalist to begin post-season reruns and time slot shifts. Thus far, reviews have been favorable for this film, even though hard core thriller fans have claimed that it falls short of their high expectations.

Simon Baker of The Mentalist is Not Forgotten