This episode of the Mentalist, directed by Simon Baker, really went old school in terms of being akin to a Columbo ep, where we get to see the killer first and then figure out how Patrick (Simon Baker) would prove that he did it. As we see a man wash his hands and put away a knife. He then turns the thermostat and fan on and leaves the house.
Lisbon (Robin Tunney) and Cho (Tim Kang) are on a training session with the army and the FBI happens to win the match, with Patrick acting as a 'pretend hostage.' Colonel Aaron Raymond (Wiley Pickett) congratulates Abbot (Rockmond Dunar) and says he'll win them next time. The same Colonel just shown leaving the house. Lisbon asks Patrick what they would do if they left the FBI and she says that he loves the job really. The Colonel greets Lisbon and Patrick asks her about him. She asks why he asked if she didn't have a fling with him? Then remarks on how he lost his wife, she was murdered. Patrick says there's something about him and he thinks that he's the killer.
He talks to Abbot about this but he doesn't have any solid proof, it's just his instinct. Lisbon says his instincts haven't been wrong in the past and Abbot lets them reopen the case but quietly. Zach Jefferson (Brandon Fobbs) was arrested for the murder cos he was driving the Colonel's wife's car in a bad part of town. Cho talks with the investigating officer, Det Rios (Daniel Edward Mora) and tells them the prisoner is opening a civil rights case. He says that they caught him with the car.
Lisbon and Patrick talk with Zach and his lawyer, Linda Berry (Lisa Kaminir) and he tells them he didn't kill anyone. Patrick tends to believe him and Linda says she wants to hear how they do. On the way back, Patrick thinks they should pay a visit to the house, which is now for sale. Did you see the Sale board was already displayed in the CS photo. Patrick calls the agent, Judy Lomax (Allison Dunbar) from the car and tells Judy he and his girlfriend want to view the house now. Lisbon acting all coy when he mentioned the word, 'girlfriend.' When inside, Patrick asks Judy what she's not telling them and gets her to admit there was a murder in the house, with Lisbon remarking that there's some law where she was meant to tell them that. Patrick wants to view the house alone and pulls out the file on the case.
Looking at the CS photos, he notices the window was open and there's a playground across the street, so if the killer broke in through that window as the police said, he'd have been seen. Patrick adding he could've used the side window to break in. He then looks at the fan and the thermostat and Lisbon thinks he could've turned it on high and told his wife, Nicole (Cheryl Bricker) it was broken, but left it on with the fan, so that it would change the time of death. Patty bringing up how his aunt used to cook a roast, by turning the oven all the way up and then turning it off. Strange way of doing that. Funny him asking Lisbon if she's ever cooked a roast before. They then comment on how the prints were wiped off the door handle, why would they be if it was his house and Patrick thinks that he wiped them off cos he had another woman with him. In which case he'd have needed her for the traffic cam photo at the red light. See, a text book Columbo ep!
Silly scene where they had Vega (Josie Loren) telling him how 'curiosity killed the cat;' oh she's so pointless and irritating and a loose end, they did not need in the final season! I mean even Cho hardly featured in this ep. Other than watching Vega clean her gun and sending her out with Wylie (Joe Adler) to find the other woman's discarded clothes. After Wylie is sent to the office to find out which woman he was seeing. Pretending to be IT. He notices Denise Cortez (Jama Williamson) is the only other woman there and has African art in her office, which Patrick earlier pointed out he didn't have in his home or the office. After he'd gone to see the Colonel, just to check him out. With him saying how war is the only real thing they have left and Patrick wondering why he'd say that, as well as Patty quoting Napoleon.
Wylie and Vega time how long it would have taken for Denise to change her clothes and discard them and Wylie finds a piece of clothing near a homeless person's tent. Which is being analyzed. Colonel complains about why he's been investigated and Abbot says he knew. He wants this stopped. They believe the forensics may lead to something but Abbot won't hear of it. Thus Patty gets an idea to use a sealed silver briefcase and get them to confess. He arranges a meeting and tells them the first one to confess within 5 minutes will get a deal, otherwise he'll open up the case and see what forensics revealed. Before the 5 minutes are up, Colonel says she did it, she adds he's a liar and he killed her. Then back at the office, they go through their versions of who killed her and how. It's a case of 'he said, she said'. He says she killed his wife and she claims he did it.
Patrick doesn't care who did it but Vega can't let it go. She opens the briefcase when Patty leaves it there and it has a paper with 'curiosity killed the cat' written on it. As he goes 'meow.' Lisbon asking him what they'd do of they left. He'd like to go to Polynesia, lie on the beach with hammocks, sip cocktails. She says he could get run over by a bus and it's so boring. He'd want to sail around the world, something he'd always wanted to do, or beekeeping. She look good in a beekeeping suit.
Like I said a bit of Columbo ep, even down to the photo being taken at the red light, see the ep Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star (1991) where Columbo proves that the photo taken by a traffic cam was manipulated by the defence lawyer to provide himself an alibi. When in actual fact he wasn't even driving the car, but it was his female accomplice. Pretty similar here as Denise wasn't his wife in the car with him. Nice touch when Patty sends Lisbon out to do what he does and make a connection with Denise to find out what she's like. Drinking black coffee, four sugars, tip the server when she's looking at her and she talks to Lisbon when she asks her about her bag. Which Patrick knew would get them talking, cos it always does with women. Last ep it was Patty getting Lisbon to take his place in unmasking the killer and this week she does a cold reading, of sorts.
Also Patty telling Vega to call Wylie over when he looks at her next time was funny. Of course Wylie's smitten with her.
As for the Colonel, what a cad, he certainly was no officer or gentleman. He kills his wife and then gets Denise to take the blame, who's idea was it anyway and more importantly, why did he do it if he couldn't hack it, no pun. It had to have been him otherwise why show him in the beginning, otherwise showing Denise would've messed up the storyline. Unless they deliberately did that to make sure we didn't guess there was another woman involved. Ahh, Simon you have a devious mind when it came to directing!
What about Lisbon and Patrick sharing a little more personal time together. Have they even been on another date, not even another, but a proper date?
How can Patrick leave the FBI, going back to his agreement with them, he made a deal he would not face prison if he worked for them in relation to the Red John killing. Not to mention he only agreed to it if they brought in Lisbon to work with him, but now he wants her to leave with him. You know the ending I would've liked, if secretly Patrick was Ped John but only the audience saw that reveal. The possibilities!!
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