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shallownessThe Mentalist 7.12-13
The Last Ever Episode/The Finale Double-Bill
Ep 12
I was slightly disappointed by the opening (which would set the tone for the first part of this double-bill, really). The fake-out with the drunk in the car and the taking of the woman from her house just seemed like a weird set-up for serial killing – I know they were aiming for the freaked out city, but it never had that much impact.
Jane’s grand show-and-tell was more like it – it is a beautiful-looking shack, but Lisbon would be excused for asking lots of questions about electricity and clean water! And equally typical as him showing the place off was her bluntly asking what we’ve all been wondering about the wedding ring. It’s all very well saying you’re committed and making grand gestures, but the symbolism of the ring is unavoidable. ‘It’s just that I’m used to it’ is a weak excuse.
Was this officer who joined them (had to be a man, did he?) an actor from the CBI days? I felt like he was just there as a pasty – and you remember Jane but not the whole thing that got him working for the CBI? Come. Off. It. (Bless Lisbon, she thinks to distract her man from sad, morbid thoughts with AUTOPSY RESEULTS. Less good that she felt she had to back off on the ring too.)
I was delighted to see that Van Pelt and Rigsby would be turning up!
Vampire? Oh, Wylie no.
Abbott felt off too, as if he was just saying things because that was the point in the script when those things needed to be said. Just like it was decided to make Jane fake being a psychic again for no good reason. Apart from Lisbon pointing out that they couldn’t protect Jane from a determined serial killer and worrying about the effect of doing it all over again, er, wouldn’t Jane’s reputation precede him?
Nice fake-out in making us and Jane worry about Lisbon. But putting Jane face-to-face with ‘Lazarus’ (and tousling his curls) was the better call. Just a little horrified, terrified, worried Teresa Lisbon goes a long way.
Yay to Wylie standing up to Abbot. You’ve expended much more on thinner leads (in this episode). Actually asking people beats fiddling around on computers – especially as computers keep making you think ‘wow, Lazarus never thought of Googling this Patrick Jane?’ Well, Lazarus clearly didn’t realise that after accurately dating the furniture, Jane just strung together some psychopathic traits. And then I realised that this wasn’t going to be a fair bout, then. Nice escapology skills from Jane.
Hey, the shop owner (looks like Anya) is that woman who welcomed the aliens on the rooftop in ID4! Wylie’s learned his lessons well...but ruined it by preening afterwards.
Nice that the team in the office and Jane worked some things out at the same time. I wondered if Joe’s issues with his father were going to lead to a look at Jane’s issues with his father, but we didn’t even have that.
However much she may tell herself and Abbott she was faking, Lisbon chose Jane over her career in that interview, didn’t she? (‘Friend’, how seasons 1-6 denial of you, love.) And they continue with the Lisbon learning from Jane theme, well, it’s been true of all the agents.
It all broke rather quickly then – the news that Joe snr was a probably a serial killer too, making more sense of Joe jr wondering if ‘the voice’ was his pa. Jane’s ‘cunning’ plan leading to explosions and terrorising Lisbon – are they going to pick up on her ‘don’t ever do that to me again!’ and her realising she can’t cope amazingly with Jane being in danger and getting where he’s coming from?
Ugh, I would rather they had blown ‘Lazarus’ up to bits, because apart from being mean, he’s not the biggest of bads. I mean, he hung around for all that time before starting to run!? Let’s pretend he was dazed and confused in a shrub.
But then we got Jane without the ring (when did he take it off? As I was watching on skippy catch-up I had no chance of picking it up.) Baker’s Jane could sell anything, almost, because he convinced me from scepticism about the ring symbolising the past and how Teresa and Angela were a part of it, to buying it as part of a proposal for the future.
So the serial killer plot was meh, especially given that this is the penultimate episode and the final killer they team will after. The most interesting stuff was Lisbon’s reaction to Jane-in-danger, for me.
Ep 13
Wedding plans! I was amused by Teresa’s brother guilting her into inviting them to the wedding (maybe she could learn from that and have Jane take her to the Grand Canyon for the honeymoon as she really wanted to go there. Or they could go to Fiji as Jane later suggested. Or BOTH.)
Abbott is at a loose end, so why not make him the de facto wedding planner? I snark, but I was glad it was the kind of episode that set out to amuse as much as anything, hence, Cho hitting Wylie for feeling sorry for himself.
Although if Cho’s going to build the team I think he’s going to build, he’s going to have two cyber experts on it...
I was even amused by Tom Jones singing in the background and the baseball cap as Lazarus brought himself some supplies, including the Gum of Great Significance. The jewellery store scene was quite amusing, but as nothing beside the wedding dress scene. Kimball Cho excelled himself there. Lovely moment between him and Lisbon too.
Ok, having Lazarus go after the news anchor (i.e. going after someone he saw as complicit in Jane’s lies) was suddenly interesting. Because of course he was always going to kill him.
DO NOT HAVE THE IDIOT TORQUE OR WHATEVER HIS NAME IS ON YOUR NEW AND IMPROVED TEAM, CHO. Not kidding.
The Skype calls would be ridiculous if they weren’t powered by goodwill.
I know you’ve mentally checked out of the job, Abbott, but most of your job-related decisions in this double-bill have been stupid. Fortunately, he’s able to afford the exponentially growing wedding/leaving party. Or his absent wife is.
Jane WINS for knowing Abbott was lying and guilting him into telling him the truth.
Aww, Teresa, crying at the wedding that‘s grown around you. In fairness, I think Jane was picking the opportune moment to give the angry killer on the loose news to her. It would be a lovely plan...
And it was a lovely dress, although the fascinator and veil didn’t stand up to the scrutiny of the close-up. But beautiful bride, groom and setting...
And then I remember watching Lazarus approach the shack and thinking ‘ugh, I wish he was a more worthy opponent’ for all that he hid in the judge’s car boot, which is some commitment. Fortunately, and inevitably given the mostly comic tone of the ep, Wylie’s knowledge of forms must have happened early enough for them to get on the case. Where was Lisbon hiding the gun?
Anyway, HAPPY ENDING. Lots of people I didn’t care about dancing – but I loved Cho’s selfie with Van Pelt and Rigsby. I was, frankly, surprised we didn’t have a scene with him asking them to join his new team – and, moreover, Jane’s future with the FBI and even Lisbon’s was a bit vague.
Just as ‘I’m so happy’/’Me too’ was becoming wearisome, even though I have SO wanted these two to be happy for so long, they pulled out the baby. And no, Jane, she wouldn’t joke about that in this situation.
Really, I have mixed feelings. I never thought she’d want kids, although I can imagine her changing her mind after being in a stable, committed relationship – and I am pleased that Jane was able to offer her that. But the symmetry for Jane of a new child and the hope for the future that brings – I can understand the appeal of closing the show with that. And I was thinking that this episode was more about Lisbon than Jane, so it’s fine that the final moment is about them, but really his journey.
I think this could have been more epic – I possibly expected it to be at the outset of the final season, but the Lazarus thing was less good than it ought to have been. However, the way they’ve handled Lisbon/Jane has been pretty great emotionally, Cho and Wylie have had their moments. I’m not quite in the headspace to talk about the finale/final season in relation to the whole run (or season 2 onwards, which is what I watched, because they botched Red John), but I’m mostly happy for my favourite character and the way canon went with the ship involving her.
The Last Ever Episode/The Finale Double-Bill
Ep 12
I was slightly disappointed by the opening (which would set the tone for the first part of this double-bill, really). The fake-out with the drunk in the car and the taking of the woman from her house just seemed like a weird set-up for serial killing – I know they were aiming for the freaked out city, but it never had that much impact.
Jane’s grand show-and-tell was more like it – it is a beautiful-looking shack, but Lisbon would be excused for asking lots of questions about electricity and clean water! And equally typical as him showing the place off was her bluntly asking what we’ve all been wondering about the wedding ring. It’s all very well saying you’re committed and making grand gestures, but the symbolism of the ring is unavoidable. ‘It’s just that I’m used to it’ is a weak excuse.
Was this officer who joined them (had to be a man, did he?) an actor from the CBI days? I felt like he was just there as a pasty – and you remember Jane but not the whole thing that got him working for the CBI? Come. Off. It. (Bless Lisbon, she thinks to distract her man from sad, morbid thoughts with AUTOPSY RESEULTS. Less good that she felt she had to back off on the ring too.)
I was delighted to see that Van Pelt and Rigsby would be turning up!
Vampire? Oh, Wylie no.
Abbott felt off too, as if he was just saying things because that was the point in the script when those things needed to be said. Just like it was decided to make Jane fake being a psychic again for no good reason. Apart from Lisbon pointing out that they couldn’t protect Jane from a determined serial killer and worrying about the effect of doing it all over again, er, wouldn’t Jane’s reputation precede him?
Nice fake-out in making us and Jane worry about Lisbon. But putting Jane face-to-face with ‘Lazarus’ (and tousling his curls) was the better call. Just a little horrified, terrified, worried Teresa Lisbon goes a long way.
Yay to Wylie standing up to Abbot. You’ve expended much more on thinner leads (in this episode). Actually asking people beats fiddling around on computers – especially as computers keep making you think ‘wow, Lazarus never thought of Googling this Patrick Jane?’ Well, Lazarus clearly didn’t realise that after accurately dating the furniture, Jane just strung together some psychopathic traits. And then I realised that this wasn’t going to be a fair bout, then. Nice escapology skills from Jane.
Hey, the shop owner (looks like Anya) is that woman who welcomed the aliens on the rooftop in ID4! Wylie’s learned his lessons well...but ruined it by preening afterwards.
Nice that the team in the office and Jane worked some things out at the same time. I wondered if Joe’s issues with his father were going to lead to a look at Jane’s issues with his father, but we didn’t even have that.
However much she may tell herself and Abbott she was faking, Lisbon chose Jane over her career in that interview, didn’t she? (‘Friend’, how seasons 1-6 denial of you, love.) And they continue with the Lisbon learning from Jane theme, well, it’s been true of all the agents.
It all broke rather quickly then – the news that Joe snr was a probably a serial killer too, making more sense of Joe jr wondering if ‘the voice’ was his pa. Jane’s ‘cunning’ plan leading to explosions and terrorising Lisbon – are they going to pick up on her ‘don’t ever do that to me again!’ and her realising she can’t cope amazingly with Jane being in danger and getting where he’s coming from?
Ugh, I would rather they had blown ‘Lazarus’ up to bits, because apart from being mean, he’s not the biggest of bads. I mean, he hung around for all that time before starting to run!? Let’s pretend he was dazed and confused in a shrub.
But then we got Jane without the ring (when did he take it off? As I was watching on skippy catch-up I had no chance of picking it up.) Baker’s Jane could sell anything, almost, because he convinced me from scepticism about the ring symbolising the past and how Teresa and Angela were a part of it, to buying it as part of a proposal for the future.
So the serial killer plot was meh, especially given that this is the penultimate episode and the final killer they team will after. The most interesting stuff was Lisbon’s reaction to Jane-in-danger, for me.
Ep 13
Wedding plans! I was amused by Teresa’s brother guilting her into inviting them to the wedding (maybe she could learn from that and have Jane take her to the Grand Canyon for the honeymoon as she really wanted to go there. Or they could go to Fiji as Jane later suggested. Or BOTH.)
Abbott is at a loose end, so why not make him the de facto wedding planner? I snark, but I was glad it was the kind of episode that set out to amuse as much as anything, hence, Cho hitting Wylie for feeling sorry for himself.
Although if Cho’s going to build the team I think he’s going to build, he’s going to have two cyber experts on it...
I was even amused by Tom Jones singing in the background and the baseball cap as Lazarus brought himself some supplies, including the Gum of Great Significance. The jewellery store scene was quite amusing, but as nothing beside the wedding dress scene. Kimball Cho excelled himself there. Lovely moment between him and Lisbon too.
Ok, having Lazarus go after the news anchor (i.e. going after someone he saw as complicit in Jane’s lies) was suddenly interesting. Because of course he was always going to kill him.
DO NOT HAVE THE IDIOT TORQUE OR WHATEVER HIS NAME IS ON YOUR NEW AND IMPROVED TEAM, CHO. Not kidding.
The Skype calls would be ridiculous if they weren’t powered by goodwill.
I know you’ve mentally checked out of the job, Abbott, but most of your job-related decisions in this double-bill have been stupid. Fortunately, he’s able to afford the exponentially growing wedding/leaving party. Or his absent wife is.
Jane WINS for knowing Abbott was lying and guilting him into telling him the truth.
Aww, Teresa, crying at the wedding that‘s grown around you. In fairness, I think Jane was picking the opportune moment to give the angry killer on the loose news to her. It would be a lovely plan...
And it was a lovely dress, although the fascinator and veil didn’t stand up to the scrutiny of the close-up. But beautiful bride, groom and setting...
And then I remember watching Lazarus approach the shack and thinking ‘ugh, I wish he was a more worthy opponent’ for all that he hid in the judge’s car boot, which is some commitment. Fortunately, and inevitably given the mostly comic tone of the ep, Wylie’s knowledge of forms must have happened early enough for them to get on the case. Where was Lisbon hiding the gun?
Anyway, HAPPY ENDING. Lots of people I didn’t care about dancing – but I loved Cho’s selfie with Van Pelt and Rigsby. I was, frankly, surprised we didn’t have a scene with him asking them to join his new team – and, moreover, Jane’s future with the FBI and even Lisbon’s was a bit vague.
Just as ‘I’m so happy’/’Me too’ was becoming wearisome, even though I have SO wanted these two to be happy for so long, they pulled out the baby. And no, Jane, she wouldn’t joke about that in this situation.
Really, I have mixed feelings. I never thought she’d want kids, although I can imagine her changing her mind after being in a stable, committed relationship – and I am pleased that Jane was able to offer her that. But the symmetry for Jane of a new child and the hope for the future that brings – I can understand the appeal of closing the show with that. And I was thinking that this episode was more about Lisbon than Jane, so it’s fine that the final moment is about them, but really his journey.
I think this could have been more epic – I possibly expected it to be at the outset of the final season, but the Lazarus thing was less good than it ought to have been. However, the way they’ve handled Lisbon/Jane has been pretty great emotionally, Cho and Wylie have had their moments. I’m not quite in the headspace to talk about the finale/final season in relation to the whole run (or season 2 onwards, which is what I watched, because they botched Red John), but I’m mostly happy for my favourite character and the way canon went with the ship involving her.
