This season of The Mentalist is turning out to be very strong, definitely better than the second and in competition with the first. Jane is once again a real human, not the trumped up caricature he was for the majority of the second season. We see his pain, we see his fallibility, and he connects much better with the audience this way. Tonally, the shift this season discards much of the over the top behavior we've seen in the past and narrows in on Jane and his inner pain.
In "Red Carpet Treatment," there is the same darker tone, although the episode does have its lighter moments. Jane essentially revisits the past, going back on television for his fake psychic act and talking to a man about killing his wife's murderer. And the final scene, Jane receiving a gun from the man, is very intriguing, as Jane may be tempted to shoot Red John.
But at the same time, the payoff for the gun will probably be years down the road, unless we actually see Jane training to use the gun. It doesn't look like Red John will be caught anytime soon.
While everything this season has been strong, the Rigsby and Van Pelt stuff is dull. They're background characters who I don't really care about, so their drama has far less impact than Jane's.
Score: 8.7/10
Friday, October 15, 2010
View Comments
