There's a new Jane joining The Mentalist, a Jane of the female variety. Aunjanue Ellis will be the new CBI head on CBS's The Mentalist, attempting to reign in the unconventional -- yet highly productive -- antics of Patrick Jane.

Ellis will be a new character -- still unnamed -- who is assuming the leadership position left vacant when Virgil Minelli resigned. Minelli was played by Gregory Itzin, who is returning to 24 to resume the role of disgraced former president Charles Logan.

Minelli's exit has already been set up on the show; he announced his resignation following the Red John instigated bloodbath in the CBI offices that resulted in Bosco's death and two other agents. In the last episode, Minelli assumed responsibility for the deaths and the breach in security.

(S02E08) "God, you're a cold bastard." - Lisbon, to Jane

Wow. Just... wow. I have to hand it to The Mentalist. The previews showed several agents dying and lots of tension and upheaval at CBI. But really, I thought there would be some trick to it. Agents we've never met would be killed or something similar. But they actually killed off regulars! Another agent quits! Two people professed love for one another!

This was like a season finale, really, which makes me really excited to see how this season is going to end.

CBS is promoting this Thursday's episode of The Mentalist as "the episode you've been waiting for." Not sure about that, but this preview below does seem rather intense. Three people are murdered in the CBI office and Red John might be involved? Yikes.

[Watch clips and episodes of The Mentalist and other shows at SlashControl.]

(S02E07) "This man ... I don't even know what he is. He is an accident waiting to happen." - Bosco about Jane

Don't adjust your computer screen. The picture above was not tempered with: Jane and Bocso are in the same area and are not at each others' throat! As Bob hinted at the end of his review of last week's The Mentalist episode, the "Jane and Bosco having to work closely together on a case" episode we've been expecting since Bosco joined the show has finally arrived!

(S02E04) "Everybody is. I am." - Jane, on people who are geeks

Is Patrick Jane really, really brave or just clueless?

I've been wondering that the entire series. He's not a fighter. He's not even one of these "strong, silent" types who acts wimpy but is secretly a karate master or former Navy Seal or whatever. He honestly doesn't have any physical skills but he insists on interrogating people who could turn his bones into mulch. Like tonight's confrontation with bikers in a dive bar. Or maybe he was comfortable because Lisbon was there with a badge and a gun. I think he's done it in the past with no backup though, so I'm not sure if he's brave or just oblivious or doesn't care.

(S02E02) Tonight's episode of The Mentalist was an incisive look at how the ... HEY THAT WAS STARSKY!

Yes, Paul Michael Glaser made an appearance in this episode, and it's good to see him in something else besides those fix-your-credit commercials.

This season seems to be about the personal lives of Jane and Lisbon a lot more than the first season was, how the search for Red John is affecting both of them (Jane is on the outside of the investigation; Jane is seeing a psychiatrist because of what happened in the season finale). Last season I didn't want every other episode to be about Red John, and I still don't, but I'm more intrigued by the Red John investigation than the murder-of-the-week. Where last season the tension in the CBI regarding cases and who was in charge was scattered here and there; that tension seems to be a theme this second season.

(S02E01) "If you sit by the river bank long enough you'll see the bodies of your enemies float by." - Patrick Jane

Where will the second season of The Mentalist go? Will we focus on Red John the whole time or will we get cases of the week until we have a Red John episode? It looks like it's going to be more of the latter (though there's a big plot development concerning the Red John case in this season opener), and that's just fine.

I do wish the cases were more Columbo or Murder, She Wrote-ish, though.

Patrick Jane came very close to catching Red John on The Mentalist last season, but it wasn't to be (not yet anyway). In this clip from the season opener this Thursday at 10 (new night and time), Jane and Lisbon are taken off the case because they are too close to it and we're introduced to the new guy in charge of it.

(Side note: it's funny that this clip is sponsored by - at least when I watched it - Red Robin! Is that a coincidence or on purpose?)

CBS has posted a season one recap of The Mentalist, and if you don't watch the show you'd think that every single episode was a hunt for Red John. They're not, of course. This recap doesn't give you a feel for what Jane and company do on the show but it does give you the background on that case and Jane.

I just saw a promo for the new season and the gang is getting a new boss this season. It starts September 24.

(S01E12) The opening scenes grabbed me right away this week. The Mentalist is best when Jane is doing his divergent thing, and that's just what he does when the rest of the team goes into the flower shop to interview the missing boy's parents. He puts together the pink bike, the glance to the woods and the crows and finds the boy's body before the theme. Nice.

There were other parts of this episode that were throwbacks to the early days, when Jane was not only way ahead of the team, but also more over the top than some of the more recent episodes. Thank you, Bruno Heller!

Finally, an episode of The Mentalist with a significant amount of story arc. We really got to see Jane's lust for revenge in this one, and the lengths he would go just to get a bit closer to finding out who Red John is.

The Mentalist jumped out of its formula slightly this week, and it worked for me. We learned some new things about Jane, Red John and the team, and even though it could have been an extremely dark episode, it was just dark enough to get the point across while still being entertaining.

Since I'm still new enough at TV Squad not to exist on the "Meet the TV Squad" page, this is my first Festivus. It's nice to be able to dig deep into my heart for all of my TV wishes in hopes that some internet fairy will grant them and make the television landscape just a little bit more awesome... for me, at least.

Without further ado, here is what I want for Festivus:

• Christina Hendricks and the rest of the Mad Men cast should guest-star on more shows. Ever since I started watching Mad Men, I've noticed Hendricks popping up places. She's on an episode of Without a Trace here, an old episode of Cold Case there... I love me some Joan Holloway and Mad Men isn't returning soon enough. I loved seeing Jon Hamm host SNL, and I'm super excited about his upcoming guest stint on 30 Rock. More please!

(S01E10) Man, I just love The Mentalist. This episode was no exception. Yes, it's a formulaic show, but like House, I've grown to love every piece of the formula and feel robbed if something is missing.

The only negatives tonight? Once again, I knew who did it early on in the episode, but they really did a good job of creating many believable suspects this week. I also missed mention of Red John, although we did get to learn a little bit more about Jane in the aftermath of his tragedy through his relationship with Sophie.

Let's get into the nitty-gritty after the jump.

(S01E09) I had been craving more Jane, and also more interaction with the team, and I got my wish on both counts in this week's The Mentalist. The opening scene with Jane reading Lisbon's mind was so much fun, and I love the little seed he planted: "Now I have access to your innermost thoughts."

Simon Baker continues to please with his larger-than-life presence. He reminds me a bit of Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen in Burn Notice -- just one smart smile can say so much.

Just when I was starting to think I was The Mentalist, because I could predict the killer in the first act of the show, they threw me off a bit. Ah, something's got to keep my ego in check, I suppose. I have to say, I had a bit more fun not knowing, even though I get that it is about Jane's thought process and not really a whodunnit.

Being a huge fan of CBS's new show, The Mentalist, I was pretty thrilled to see a smart and insightful Q&A with Bruno Heller over at The Live Feed with James Hibberd.

What struck me the most about this interview was that the questions were good ones, and the answers were thoughtful, honest and complete. So many times I'll get excited about an on-line interview, only to find that I haven't learned anything new about the interviewee and / or the show, and I'll finish reading the interview with the feeling that the person didn't really want to be interviewed in the first place.

Thanks to Hibberd's good questions and Heller's elaborate answers, we learn how The Mentalist came about, Heller's history with procedurals, how Heller feels about The Mentalist, and more. Was Heller's answer about Red John spoilery? Join me after the jump to find out ...