I wondered last week why the writers had paired Jane with Hightower instead of the other agents. After the cold open of "Red Queen," there were no questions remaining: Hightower has Jane at gunpoint. So for half the episode, we wonder how it could have gotten to this place.
Big clues are dropped, that Hightower probably had an affair with one of the cops killed by Red John's cop killer associate who was subsequently burnt alive in CBI custody. There's the motive, but then why is there also a case that Lisbon and the others are working on? The bombshell is that Hightower's prints are on a dinosaur bone (the tech says he's not David Caruso, but can you get prints off a dinosaur bone in real life?). So we begin wondering, could Hightower do this after last week's episode established her as a good person and parent? Was Jane tricked? And Jane, knowing the killer's ties to Red John, puts a gun on Hightower before she knocks him over and takes it.
But what makes the episode, after the ensuing kidnapping and chase, is that Hightower is indeed not the murder, framed by whoever Red John has inside CBI. Now, Hightower is out of the way, presumed to be a murderer, and the mole will ease up. Little does he/she know that Jane is onto him/her. So awesome!!!
Score: 9.3/10
