The Mentalist Season 2 Episode 17 - The Red Box

The Mentalist Season 2 Episode 17 - The Red Box

Non-spoiler information

Date watched: 6/11/2015

My rating: 6/10

The count of times I have seen this at time of this review: 1st

Likelihood that I will watch this episode again: Uncertain

I classify this as a cop drama with the super expert twist (similar to Monk, Psych, and Sherlock)

This episode develops the relationship between Patrick Jane and Teresa Lisbon. We also return after several episodes to the romantic relationship between Wayne Rigsby and Grace Van Pelt.

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Spoiler information

I found this episode of the Mentalist to be marginally better then the others as a whole - that doesn't mean that I found it to be the best episode, just that I enjoyed it more then the sum of all episodes that I have seen so far.

Jane has a constant teasing rapport with agent Lisbon. Much of this is Jane making some observation, and then Lisbon denying that it is true. We, as the audience, fully believe that Jane has made a correct observation, as that is what Jane does. Contrasting this with the somewhat similar Psych, Shawn would make observations initially that were increasingly off base. He comes across as immature, goofy, but ultimately successful. So far in the series, Jane is correct about almost all of his observations - when he is not, it has been trivial. This makes him seem to be a super human, that is infallible, at least in the art of observation and deduction. The show makes up for this by presenting Jane as both equal parts charming and arrogant, which does quite a bit to reduce how insufferable he can be perceived. Again in contrast, Sherlock Holmes in his various film incarnations is arrogant and aloof.

One flaw that I have noticed so far in this series, and that occurs in this episode, is that the nice, interesting character turns out to be the villain. This happened with Rigsby's friend this time, who established the buddy relationship early on, only to turn out to be both the murderer and a rogue. Another contrast is with Agatha Christie - the annoying, arrogant characters in her novels are usually the murder victim, not a red herring suspect as they so often are in this show.

Another development is the introduction of a superior for Agent Lisbon. We have been waiting for this for several episodes, since her previous superior retired. So far, the new superior is charismatic, with the authority driven home whenever there is an opportunity. It remains to be seen how the screen chemistry will work for her. Lisbon definitely appears to be cowed by her. In fact, as word about Lisbon (or more accurately actress Robin Tunney) - she is well cast for this show. She is usually low key with her emotions. She cares about her team and often appears to be wondering what in the heck they are doing, especially Jane. Her facial expressions and the way she tilts her face as she observes Jane's antics are part of why I really enjoy this show.

Finally, we have the return of the romantic relationship of Wayne and Grace. The chill that had been building up is present at first, but then they break through into flirting and warmth towards each other again. Perhaps if this could have been developed a bit more through a few episodes, it would have felt a bit more real to me. Just to throw it in Lisbon's craw, her superior almost immediately detects the relationship and calls her on it. The boss is starting to seem almost as omniscient as Jane himself, which Jane comments on at the end of the episode.