The Mentalist
Channel 5 - 9pm
Who's in it?
Red John went from shadowy bogeyman to something far scarier in the season finale. Which meant Simon Baker had to dial down his usual smugness levels as crime-busting waistcoat-enthusiast Patrick Jane.
In a nutshell
First Red John was merely a psychotic serial killer. Then he was revealed to be some kind of Bond villain/Charles Manson type person, with minions carrying out his dark whims. And now? Now he's more or less a GOD OF EVIL who KNOWS ALL. The two possible fan reactions to this are "Woah!" and "Oh please". Or maybe both? Well, this episode certainly managed to inspire excitement and irritation at exactly the same time.
What seemed like a Red John copycat killing was revealed to be the real deal, with the bad guy targeting someone from Jane's own childhood. But the real meat of the episode concerned Jane's final, definitive, secret list of Red John suspects. Seven people, whittled down from over 1,300. They included cult leader Bret Stiles, CBI director Gale Bertram, and creepy forensics expert Brett Partridge. But the big reveal at the end confirmed that Red John himself second-guessed the list, taunting Jane with the exact same seven names. So either he's psychic (not likely), Patrick Jane himself (nah), or this show has now epically jumped the shark (yes, let's face it).
What's the verdict?
Red John's powers are now OFFICIALLY impossible to take seriously (he's like a cross between Derren Brown, Hannibal Lecter and Zeus). But even though this story arc is creaking under the weight of its own silliness, we'll still watch the next season. Because it's just too much darn fun.
Star rating
3/5
