The Mentalist: Difference between revisions

* [[Always Save the Girl]]: Jane claims that he will always save Lisbon, which is one part incredibly sweet coming from wildly untruthful and dangerously unpredictable flirt-machine Jane and one part hilarious, because Lisbon could kick Jane's ass. She is always the one who shoots/catches/kicks the shit out of the bad guy, often saving Jane in the process.

** {{spoiler|Of course, in the season one finale, "Red John's Footsteps," Jane ''does'' save Lisbon at the cost of killing the one man who could have led him to Red John (even after declaring that he would rather die himself than let Red John continue to live free).}}

** Although it could be seen that the "priestess" was an [[Alternate Character Interpretation|attention-seeking girl with no understanding of the faith she claimed to follow]], viewers were not shown any contrast to this image, which is essential in portraying something that most viewers know little to nothing about. For the curious, we here at TV Tropes have a comprehensive page on [[Wicca]]. [[Older Than They Think|"The pentacle"]] is a symbol of "black magic and human sacrifice" [[Face Palm|indeed...]] Not that any other contemporary portrayal of Wicca (or even Islam and other large but less American religions) in crime shows is any better. If someone who isn't Christian shows up, there's a good chance they'll be weird or suspicious enough to be a murder suspect.

** Not that they typically get Christianity right, either. Most depictions of any religion in fictional works tend to be some version of [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]] for whatever religion is being portrayed.

** Another example from the episode "Black Gold and Red Blood" : Jane, {{spoiler|despite being imprisoned, would like to ask victim's brother-in-law Ronny some questions regarding the case. After learning agent Rigsby is on his way to question Ronny, Jane calls Rigsby and tells him of his strong feeling that Ronny will be hostile and agressive towards him. Next, he calls Ronny, identifies himself as agent Rigsby, and taunts him with his alleged homosexuality and him being ex-marine. So, when real agent Rigsby arrives, Ronny punches him in rage. He ends up in the same prison as Jane, so Jane is now able to ask his questions.}}

*** Which grows even more complex and awesome when Jane {{spoiler|reveals he wanted to talk to the guy ''visiting'' Ronny.}} Good may be an Understatement.

** Season 4, "Blinking Red Light". Jane basically pits off {{spoiler|Red John and the [[Monster of the Week]] against each other. How? By belittling the attention-hungry monster in comparison of Red John, he tricks the monster to badmouth Red John in TV ([[Continuity Nod|like Jane had done in the past]]), which causes the pissed off Red John ([[Even Evil Has Standards|who doesn't tolerate public slander]]) to kill that monster as retaliation. With this gambit, Jane manages to both kill the monster and force Red John to resurface.}}

*** {{spoiler|1=Seems to be a case of [[Out-Gambitted]]. Red John never cared a whit that anyone thought he was dead and probably knew that Jane thought he was manipulating him; Red John has taken the opportunity to mess with Jane further by stalking the FBI agent investigating the murder and, later, killing the morgue assistant who let Jane bring Red John's blind ex-girlfriend confirm that the fake-Red John Jane killed was not Red John (confused yet?) and dumping the body in his blind ex's house for the police to find. He has taken to directly taunting Jane via webcam and other means too, and the FBI agent he is stalking rightly suspects Jane covered up the fact that Red John was still alive so Jane might go to jail for his convoluted scheming.}}

* [[Becoming the Mask]]: The undercover [[Dirty Cop]] who kills a fellow undercover narc in "Pink Top". The cop is tired of shitty pay and thankless work, therefore joins the drug dealers. In fact, Jane realizes that the police officer is truly dirty when he notices that the cop no longer bothers to change out of undercover clothes upon getting back to HQ.

* [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]]: Patrick Jane and Kristina Frye.

* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: In "Pretty Red Balloons", when an AK-armed killer pins down both Cho and Rigsby and then holds Lisbon at killshot, it's up to Van Pelt to save the night.

* [[Big Damn Villains]]: {{spoiler|Red John himself comes to Jane's rescue in the Season 2 finale.}}

** Jane qualifies as well, he seems to take every opportunity to eat. Starting from the pilot where he casually goes to the kitchen and makes a sandwich before questioning the mother of the murder victim.

*** Jane also makes tea whenever possible, usually when talking to a suspect and sometimes after illegally entering.

* [[Bluff the Eavesdropper]]: Used in the season 3 finale to give one of the CBI employees who might be Red John's spies the room number of a person they were hiding. The person is actually somewhere else, and the room number is a trick to reveal who is Red John's spy.

* [[Bluffing the Murderer]]: Pretty common tactics by Jane.

* [[Bondage Is Bad]]: In "Red Rover, Red Rover", Jane calls out the victim's co-worker for being into "whips and latex". {{spoiler|Well, he also handcuffed a coworker and BURIED HIM ALIVE, so...a subversion?}}

** Also Cho seems to always be right and know things he has no way of knowing. But compared to patrick it doesn't seem so obvious.

* [[Break the Cutie]]: The entire reason Jane joined CBI.

* [[Briar Patching]]: In Season 3, when Jane is captured by {{spoiler|Rachel}} and ends up tied to a pole in the same room with a dead man, he begs her to remove the corpse because he supposedly can't stand the stench. Her reaction was to move the corpse closer to him, which is exactly what he wanted (so he could search the dead man's pockets).

* [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]]: Jane. Sometimes veering into [[Crazy Awesome]], as his bizarre manner frequently puts people around him off their game.

* [[Calling Card]]: "Red John" leaves a smiley face painted in blood at every murder. In the first episode, the location where one was painted ''disproved'' that "Red John" was the murderer. Led to some slight [[Memetic Mutation]] online, ''particularly'' on [[Facebook]].

* [[Celibate Hero]]: Jane has been disinterested in relationships ever since the death of his wife. He is, however, a terrible flirt.

* [[Changed My Mind, Kid]]: Jane does this to the team in the first episode of the second season.

* [[Charity Ball]]: There's one to raise funds for the CBI.

* [[Check, Please!]]: {{spoiler|After he kills an accomplice of Red John;s,}} Jane asks one for his tea.

* [[The Chessmaster]]: Jane frequently gets murderers to incriminate themselves this way. Sometimes he even lets his coworkers in on the plan.

* [[Chekhov's Boomerang]]: The corrupt doctor in "Pilot" {{spoiler|gives vital information for the CBI to rescue Jane in season three's Ball of Fire}}.

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: An actual gun is used as one in 'Red Brick and Ivy'.

** There are two {{spoiler|guards who are approaching Jane}} at the end of Strawberry and Cream. One of them has camera focused on him, for no more than two seconds. {{spoiler|That guard takes away Red John's accomplice's gun and phone, effectively putting Jane on the murder of an unarmed man}}.

* [[Chekhov's Skill]]: Rigsby background as an arson investigator is first mentioned in "Flame Red." It comes in handy investigating a firefighter's murder in "Red Fugue."

* [[Death by Origin Story]]: Patrick Jane's wife and their daughter.

* [[Defrosting Ice Queen]]: Lisbon. She's a lot more lenient with her team than she used to be, Jane and his wacky schemes in particular.

** "Red Moon" in Season 3, an extremely well-done {{spoiler|Red John [[Myth Arc]]}} episode.

** "Blinking Red Light" in Season 4, where Jane plays off its coldest [[Batman Gambit]] in the series to prevail over the killer. {{spoiler|It also reopens Red John [[Myth Arc]]}}.

** Jane tends to subtly mock other cops through donuts.

*** Hell, he once gives Bosco's unit a box full of donut as a symbol of truce, claiming that he quits pursuing Red John case. Once he is out of office, Bosco orders his men to throw the donut away. Unknown to the unit, Jane has secretly placed an eavesdropper at that time.

* [[Dramatic Necklace Removal]]: This is the dying act of {{spoiler|O'Laughlin to spite Grace}}.

* [[Driving Question]]: Who is Red John?

* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: {{spoiler|Red John does NOT tolerate "poor imitations" of his work, and is even kind enough to spare the life of the patsy the main perpetrators of the plot blackmailed into it (with his mother's life no less) with merely a shot to the leg.}}

** In the Season 4 episode Pink Champagne on Ice a Women who is planning to rob a casino kills her accomplice, finding him too evil as he laughs about killing the room-mate of the girl he kidnapped as a hostage. The Women, Trish, is prepared to kill the hostage and two people who can recognise her despite them giving her the money. She says she would have felt terrible about it though.

** Everyone can plainly see the sexual tension between Rigsby and Van Pelt as well (even the Attorney General of California, according to Lisbon). When they start secretly dating everyone catches on immediately... except for Lisbon.

* [[Evil Plan]]: Red John's plans to thwart the CBI nearly always involve these.

** In one episode a hitman- a psychopathic, sadistic hitman who had been killing for years, no less- is released on the technicality that Jane uncovered the evidence leading to his arrest by illegaly breaking into his apartment, thus forcing the judge to declare all susequent evidence Fruit of the Poisonous Tree. This would never work in [[Real Life]] and would at worse have led to a new trial, if that; the evidence itself included video tape of the murder, a confession, and entrapment of him being hired by Van Pelt to kill somebody. Such a sociopath would never be released so easily.

*** Justified in a sense. At that point, still halfway of the episode, the judge remains one of the possible hitman contractors, so the writers don't want to clinch the real culprit right away.

*** Well, given that the murdered is a [[Complete Monster]] and both guys could confirm it, they might have jury-proof case.

** The season 4 premiere takes the cake though; Jane has {{spoiler|murdered a man he believed to be Red John, and he is let off because he convinces everyone that the nman ''was'' Red John. In fact, this and later episodes frequently say that if the guy ''wasn't'' Red John Jane is going to prison for the murder. In [[Real Life]] whether or not the man was Red John should be irrelevant- Jane commited murder, and admits to it, with numerous witnesses to the crime. He should go to jail regardless.}}

*** {{spoiler|The only possible way out is if he was found [[Insanity Defence|temporarily insane]] thanks to confronting the man he believed to be his wife and daughter's killer, but that is unlikely since he was illegaly carrying an unlicensed gun (specifically to kill Red John), and had announced repeatedly to collegues and others that he was hunting Red John not to arrest but to kill him. On the flip-side, the question of whether or not the man ''was'' Red John should have been irrelevant- the issue would be whether Jane ''thought'' he was with fair reason, and he can reasonably (and truthfully) claim that the man he killed both pretended to be Red John and knew things only Red John would have, and was an accomplice posing as him, which means there was fair reason.}}

* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Jane, after coming home to discover the grisly scene of his family's murder. The episode "Red Brick and Ivy" reveals that the BSOD was what sent Jane off to a padded room for a while.

* [[How Many Fingers?]]: Used by Lisbon on a female suspect in "Red Herring." The suspect had been poisoned and was definitely in no condition to to tell Lisbon how many fingers she was holding up. She perished shortly afterward.

** Jane was knocked out by a baseball in Throwing Fire. when he woke up, Cho held up three fingers and asked him how many. He answered six.

** Jane again in "The Red Mile" when he's able to say excitedly that "The butler did it".

* [[If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...]]: Whenever Van Pelt gets new boyfriend, Rigsby takes few minutes to explain some things to him.

{{quote|Lisbon: Okay, I am not jealous and resentful. That is nonsense.

Jane: Yet you recall my exact words. There's no shame in it. I feel that way too sometimes. Why does everyone else get to have a normal life? }}

* [[I Never Said It Was Poison]]: Happens in "Red Badge", though they already knew who the killer was and it took an elaborate setup just to make him slip. A minor case showed up in "Seeing Red", but the killer already confessed anyway.

* [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming]]: Episode titles either include "Red," synonyms for red ("Crimson Casanova"), or objects that are themselves red in color ("A Price Above Rubies"). One episode name is a string of three numbers, 18-5-4, which at first seems to be breaking this, until you realize that 18, 5 and 4, when replaced by the letter at that point in the alphabet, spells Red.

* [[Instant Seduction]]: Analyzed in 'Crimson Casanova'.

* [[Interdisciplinary Sleuth]]: Jane.

* [[Internal Affairs]]: Season 3 has as a recurring character Agent JJ LaRoche of the Professional Standards Unit, the agent assigned to investigate the murder of a prisoner in CBI custody.

** Also, do not invade Kimball Cho's house and assault his girlfriend. [[What an Idiot!|Don't be so stupid!]] [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|That'll get you killed!]]

** Also-also, do not {{spoiler|try to frame Lisbon for murder.}} That'll get your ass thrown into jail, and Patrick Jane will snark at you.

* [[Job Title]]

* [[Kangaroo Court]]: In "Bloodstream," Jane drops in on a hospital meeting involving organ donations and starts talking about kangaroo courts, being careful not to actually refer to the meeting as one. But when the head honcho tries to imply that he's suggesting that their meeting is kangaroo court, he pounces on it.

* [[Kick the Dog]]: Jane, we know you don't get along with Bosco, but unplugging his morphine so he'll wake up and talk? Geez Louise.

** In fact, this pushes Lisbon to finally give Jane a proper, and very much deserved, [[What the Hell, Hero?]].

* [[Monster Clown]]: In "18-5-4" (R-E-D) the victim's fear of clowns was used to give him a particularly traumatic death. {{spoiler|By his own wife, no less.}}

* [[Mugging the Monster]]: Jane and the boys attempt to steal a painting off a psychotic Russian Mafia lord. {{spoiler|Of course it works, it's Patrick Jane natch!}}

* [[Myth Arc]]: Jane's manhunt toward Red John. The titles of all episodes always include the word of "red", red objects, red shades, or anything anyhow related to "red" to represent the fact that Red John is still the main villain of the series.

** [[Will They or Won't They?]] between Van Pelt and Rigsby also qualifies. It has been three seasons and their relationship are still not resolved.

*** Not to mention that when the team rejected his expensive gifts of jewellery, instead of taking them back and getting a refund or selling them on, he put them into a donations bin for a charity store.

** In season three, Jane doesn't blink at dropping a total of $15,000 on horse racing. The first bet of $5k netted him only a few hundred dollars in return, but he got the satisfaction of besting a man who'd been rude to him. The payoff was worth it.

* [[Non Sequitur Thud]]: Jane, after getting whacked in the head with a baseball. [[Played for Drama]] in that his comment just before losing consciousness references a flashback to his own troubled childhood.

** On the flip side, just after gaining it, he insists he's fine, brushing off the [[How Many Fingers?]] question with 'six'.

{{quote|'''Jane:''' Doctors always want to believe they're the smartest person in the room - while of course that's me.}}

* [[Painting the Fourth Wall]]: In the first-season episode "Redwood," Jane uses a tossed cell phone to distract a killer. He claims it was an original idea, but Lisbon says that she's seen it tons of times "on TV." Jane's response? "TV's one thing, but where have you seen it in real life?"

** Later, in Red Moon, Van Pelt asks the Wi-Fi code for the sheriff's office. It's 1234.

* [[Phony Psychic]]: Played with. Jane used to be one, until "Red John" paid a visit to his family. Now he decries all "psychics" as phonies. That doesn't stop people from asking if he has [[Psychic Powers]]. Especially Van Pelt.

** Revenge has been a recurring theme in the series. Besides Jane's hunt for Red John, there have been several vengeance killings investigated by the CBI. How the person feels about it afterwards varies - at least one person says it was worth it; another says it doesn't help because her daughter is still dead - but Jane always asks.

* [[Riddle for the Ages]]: This, and a [[Noodle Incident]], was '''''the whole focus''''' for the episode ''Redemption'' (Season 2, Episode 1). [[It Makes Sense in Context]].

* [[Running Gag]]: Jane ''loves'' to point out that he's not actually a cop, just a consultant.

** One particularly notable example was "Red John's Friends." Jane is told that he's not allowed to pursue a particular lead regarding Red John because it would piss off some important people, so he chooses to quit. Lisbon and her team are advised it's hands-off, but decide to help him anyway. Minelli threatens to suspend them all, but then decides to look the other way by saying that he's leaving on a personal matter and that they'd better have things wrapped up before he gets back.

** It's also deconstructed when a competent defense attorney uses Jane's usual behavior to get an ironclad case against a serial killer thrown out in court since due process had been violated.

*** [[Columbo|A rumpled suit and unruly hair, you say?]]

* [[Sherlock Scan]]: Essentially Jane's MO.

** Some fans have drawn a connection between this and his [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]] stunt of the week -- an unexpected [[Undercover As Lovers]], which leaves poor Lisbon torn between stunned and furious. [[Action Girl|She goes with furious]].

* [[Shipper on Deck]]: Cho developed a tendency to bug and encourage Rigsby about Van Pelt whenever the two were alone. Jane has also had a couple of shipper moments.

** To show off Patrick's amazing memory skills, they play without a board, instead just telling each other what moves they make.

* [[The Sociopath]]: It's a crime show so this is to be expected but of particular interest is during one episode they have friendly chat about the titular character meeting the criteria for antisocial personality disorder.

* [[The Sponsor]]: In the episode "Jolly Red Elf", the bizarre death of a Santa-suit clad alcoholic lead Jane to seek out his AA sponsor, who was later revealed to have been in love with the victim.

* [[Stepping Out for a Quick Cup of Coffee]]: Minelli pulls this one in "Red John's Friends" (see [[Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right]] above).

* [[The Stoic]]: Cho. We're not sure if he's actually capable of facial expressions.

** To be fair to Cho, in the first seven episodes or so he actually smiled. [[Flanderization|For some reason]] his ability to emote has been severely reduced over the seasons.

* [[Stylistic Suck]]: In "Red Sky in the Morning", Patrick points out that {{spoiler|apart from the real-life murders, the killers' film was just a corny slasher. Red John shared the same opinion.}}

* [[Swiper No Swiping]]: One of Patrick Jane's stock-in-trade tools. It doesn't really work on its own, but is useful when applied properly in combination with some of his other tactics.

** This is possibly because Dr. Carmen needed to focus on Lisbon because he {{spoiler|planned to frame her for murder}}. This, understandably, does not make Lisbon any warmer toward therapy.

** Van Pelt is is seen in therapy after she {{spoiler|kills her fiance}}

* [[To the Pain]]: Jane - "When I find Red John, I will cut him open and watch him die slowly."

** That episode included an Aesop about revenge. Jane, after saying that, tells not one, but two people how revenge doesn't lead anywhere after things turn out badly due to it. Then he admits that he thinks what he said is a load of bull and hasn't changed his mind at all.

** {{spoiler|They do eventually get together, but thanks to the work restrictions break up again.}}

** It's present between Jane and Lisbon too, albeit subtle and overshadowed by the whole Rigsby/Van Pelt thing. He's not above teasing her about it. And although the actors have both said it won't happen, we still get scenes like the one in "Rose-Coloured Glasses", where they ''slow-dance''. Sheesh.

** Season 2's "His Red Right Hand". {{spoiler|Rebecca is revealed to be Red John's mole, Bosco and his entire team are killed, [[Da Chief|Minelli]] resigns from his position, [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|and it is strongly implied that Jane knows about Rigsby and Van Pelt's secret romance]].}}

** Season 3's "Strawberries and Cream". {{spoiler|Jane meets and kills Red John. Season Four reveals it was only an accomplice, though.}}

** Season 4's "Blinking Red Light". {{spoiler|Red John's BACK!}}

* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: After the season 3 finale, {{spoiler|what happens to Special Agent Hightower? Is her name ever cleared? And although Jane states that O'Laughlin is "a known accomplice of Red John," how can he prove that when the only ones who know are Hightower (who is a murder suspect) and Lisbon's team (who found out while conducting an off-the-record investigation)?}}

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: Lisbon does this to Jane more than just a few times.

** At the end of "Red Rover, Red Rover", CBI Director Wainright suspends Jane for psychologically torturing a confession out of the Killer of the Week. When Jane mouths off, Wainright fires him.