Aunjanue Ellis

(S02E17) "You, you're golden." - Hightower to Jane

After weeks without a boss in the picture, the team meets up with the new boss: Special Agent Madeleine Hightower. Even if she was only introduced in the second part of the episode, her upcoming arrival made Lisbon uneasy right from the opening scene. As we discovered in the episode, Lisbon had very good reason not to look forward to the arrival of her new boss.

Hightower clearly has the needed experience to be in such a position, as she wasted no time to get things done and shape things her way. Jane may be golden in Hightower's book, but the other team members -- except Cho at this point in time -- should all be walking on eggshells and fear to lose their job at CBI.

Can Patrick Jane already see her coming?

That's a question for the title character on 'The Mentalist,' since Aunjanue Ellis will join the cast of the second-year CBS drama as the alluring and utterly hard-as-nails new head of the California Bureau of Investigation.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Ellis, who appeared on Broadway earlier this year in a revival of August Wilson's play 'Joe Turner's Come and Gone' and had a featured spot in 'The Taking of Pelham 1 t2 3' remake, will play a career law-enforcer aiming to shake things up at the ever-emotional CBI. She'll replace actor Gregory Itzin, whose character, Virgil Minelli, retired after the murders of three CBI agents, including Terry Kenney's edgy Sam Bosco -- a quick way for Itzin to return to his gig playing a former president on '24.'