Review: The Mentalist - Red Scare

(S02E05) "Spooky!" - Patrick Jane
As soon as the introduction sequence played out, I was excited at the thought of seeing how Patrick Jane and more down-to-earth Lisbon would deal with a spooky case.
I knew Lisbon would not believe in ghosts but what about Jane? Would he believe in them for real or would he fake believing in them for the case or would he not believe in them at all?
This spooky episode, perfect for Halloween time, also finally (!) gave us some relationship advancement between Rigsby and Van Pelt.
About mid-episode, Jane claims that spirits are smoke and mirrors and that's all that they are. This fact added to his answer to the question Foster's wife asked at the end of the episode clearly shows that Jane doesn't believe in spirits and ghosts. No matter his beliefs, Jane says that if someone thinks ghosts exists then, they do for that person.
It makes sense that Jane doesn't truly believe in ghosts since he is not a real medium. It's also no surprise that he is opened to others believing in spirits since Jane is pretty much opened to anything and everything, which comes in handy when he helps on a case because he doesn't have a closed mind.
In the hope it will help break the case, Jane plays along and asks the team to question suspects about Beckworth's ghost. Of course, Lisbon wants nothing to do with ghosts and orders the team not to ask this type of question. Lisbon should know by now that when Jane is set on something, he'll find a way to make it happen.
I really enjoyed the episode because it wasn't too serious and was filled with ghost stories, secret passages, a secret treasure as well as legends. Thanks to Jane's instincts, quick thinking, ability to connects the dots, etc., we quickly discovered that:
- The mansion is not haunted. There is a panel that allows people to flicker the lights, change their voice so it's spookier, appear as if they are a ghost, etc.
- There are secret passages and they were used to get the bootleg alcohol out of the mansion as well as used by the killer to get inside.
- The secret treasure does exist but it was not money or a prized piece of art.... it was alcohol. A fitted treasure for someone who made a fortune with alcohol.
It was fun to see Jane point the finger many times at poor Deputy Fisher. He looked too clueless to pull out a stunt like the one needed to scare and kill Foster. I was sure that Victoria would end up being the culprit but that's because she was played by recognizable Frances Fisher and her character had good reasons to want Foster out of the equation. Most of the time when someone recognizable guest cast on an episode, that person ends up being the murdered. Well, not this time.
Did you know the nephew was the killer? I didn't see it coming. It didn't totally surprise me since the nephew felt a bit fishy but I would have suspected the historian before the nephew. Imagine what it would have done to his business if he had found a treasure?
We finally got relationship development between Rigsby and Van Pelt!!! Go Rigsby for telling her he loved her. Sadly for them, Jane ruined the moment. The best part of this storyline, expcet when Rigsby and Van Pelt finally kissed at the end, was when Cho told in a cold tone to Rigsby that he should tell her again he loved her. I love Cho and his honest and good aura!
What did you think of the episode? Did it entertain you as much as it entertained me? Are you happy Rigsby and Van Pelt are finally together? Share your comments below.
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