The Mentalist: Flame Red (Episode 109)

THIS IS RELAVENT TO MY INTERESTSA few notes before we start this week’s recap:

1. Simon Baker was named one of People Magazine’s sexiest men alive!  And guess what for?  Yup, the hair.  He’s actually quoted as saying “my hair has a personality of its own” in the article.  THESE ARE TRUFAX. 
2. We completely kicked NCIS’s ass in the ratings, making us the number one show on Tuesday night!  What what in the butt!
3. Finally, today just so happens to be my 20th birthday!  And I’m spending it at my computer, writing a recap for you guys.  Y’all best to feel the love.

So, on to the episode!  Jane starts off this week with one of his favorite activities, messing with Lisbon.  He tells her to think of a shape within a shape and project the image onto the back of his mind.  After a dramatic pause he declares that she was thinking of a triangle inside a circle, and of course he’s right.  He then teases Lisbon about knowing all her innermost thoughts and she gets all flustered because she has a massive crush on him.  These shenanigans come to an end, though, when Cho tells the team about a suspected arson murder on a farm in Marquesa, a nearby county.  Way to kill the mood, bb. 

They all head out to the farm, which is actually a field of dead cornstalks.  The local police chief, Chief Pillar, explains that they couldn’t put the fire out in time because of a drought plaguing the county.  The victim was Rich Garcia, and he was burned to death in his car.  When they approach the vehicle Pillar gets a bit verklempt, and Jane comments that it must be hard to bury someone he served with.  See, Jane figured out that Rich and Pillar were in the National Guard together when his hair noticed Pillar’s signet ring.  Rigsby starts investigating the wreckage, since he is apparently an arson specialist.  After a minute he finds a piece of the garage door that was locked from the outside, meaning that it was arson.  They wonder where the arsonist would have watched the fire from, since they like to do that, but as usual Jane is two steps ahead of everyone.  He climbs behind a scarecrow and wiggles the arms around, saying that the killer hid there while the garage burned.  He’s a clever one, that Jane.

While neighbors file into the Garcia house with I’m-sorry-for-your-loss food dishes and Jane plays around on a tractor, Rigsby briefs the team on what his maaaaaad arson skillz have discovered.  He says that it was a pretty high tech job that used timers and rocket fuel and all sorts of other fancy arson-y things.  Lisbon sends everyone off to investigate something or other while she, Jane and Pillar talk to Rich’s widow.  Her name is Susan, and Jane’s hair notices some lingering hand-to-hand contact between her and Pillar.  Meaning they’re knocking boots.  A man named Ben Muchado says goodbye to Susan before he leaves, and we learn that he was also in the National Guard with Rich and Pillar. 

Jane wanders around while Lisbon talks with Susan, sneaking a few brownies as he goes.  He finds his way into the kitchen and we meet Rich’s daughter Maddy.  She’s seriously rocking the teen angst, down to the fingerless black gloves and emo music and bad attitude.  Ah, Maddy, a mere 24 hours ago I could have empathized with you, but now you are so childish to me. She tries to blow Jane off with the whole “my dad just died” thing, but he proceeds to belittle her suffering until she’s pissed enough to talk to him.  She says that her dad took down all his old “military crap” a while ago, though she has no idea why.  When Jane asks if her mom would know, she says “Pfft! No.”  It appears that a good deal of her teenage angst is directed towards her mother.  That’s usually how it goes.

Back in the living room, Susan tearfully recounts how she heard her husband burning alive in the garage.  When she finishes a retarded man approaches her, saying that he brought her some chips.  And no, I’m not being mean, the guy is actually retarded.  And kind of adorable.  Susan says that his name is Tommy and that he does odd jobs around the town despite being “challenged.”  Maddy walks in then and flips out at her mother for not just saying that Tommy is retarded.  “Everything is a lie!” she yells, and WOW that was a pretty big jump from point a to point b.  Once Maddy and her angst leave the room Jane informs Susan why her daughter is so angry.  “She suspects that your lover is responsible for the killing of her father.”  Naturally, Susan is outraged by the accusation, but Jane continues to say that it was clear she and Pillar have a history together.  He doesn’t think that she helped kill Rich, though.  Cornered, she admits that she and Pillar had an affair, since Rich “wasn’t [her] husband anymore” when he came back from the war.  Oh lady, that’s weak.  Despite this revelation, Susan is convinced that Pillar wouldn’t have murdered her husband. Clearly, sleeping with his wife was enough.

Meanwhile, Rigsby and Van Pelt are talking with a mechanic named Mitch Reese.  He was quite possibly the last person to see Rich alive, as they were working on the mechanics of a upcoming parade together, but he doesn’t seem too interested in that fact.  Van Pelt makes some comment about the car he’s working on, which must mean she’s really cool because girls never know anything about cars.  We do get some useful info out of this scene, as Mitch mentions that, three years before, a man named David Martin was killed in an arson-related fire.  And, coincidence of all coincidences, he was from the same National Guard unit as Rich.  At least that’s the word on the street, because Mitch has only been in town for one year.  David lived at a place called Alden’s Grove, and Van Pelt and Rigsby would probably go to investigate said location if they didn’t receive an urgent call.  We cut to Rigsby and Van Pelt’s van pulling up in front of a blazing house.  It’s Pillar’s home, and the chief is still inside.  Rigsby, being an idiot desperate to impress Van Pelt a brave soul, runs into the house.  A moment later a chair comes crashing through a window with Rigsby and Pillar tumbling out after it.  Rigsby’s right arm is on fire and Van Pelt quickly pats it out with her sweet lovin’ jacket.

Sometime later Van Pelt changes a bandage on Rigsby’s arm.  He’s flying high, having taken some “kick ass painkillers,” but he still manages to inquire about Pillar.  The chief is at the burn unit of the local hospital, and his condition is currently “touch and go.”  This means that Pillar is no longer a suspect, especially since he had tranquilizers in his system.  The rest of the team enters the room and Cho reports that the arsonist in this case has the same MO as the one who killed Rich Garcia.  Both cases involved ethyl ether, which is very difficult to use.  Cho leaves to talk to Susan Garcia while Lisbon and Jane head out to Alden’s Grove, leaving Rigsby and Van Pelt alone with their utter lack of sexual tension.

Cho is over at Susan’s house.  She says that David Martin’s death was an accident, as he passed out with a cigarette.  “There wasn’t a thing left of him,” she says.  “We had to bury ashes.”  She also mentions that her husband, Pillar, and Ben Muchado bought David five acres of land, since he was “an ornery drunk” and couldn’t provide a home for himself.  Since his death the land went back to the three men, but Tommy the mentally challenged man lives there as a caretaker.  Speaking of whom, Jane and Lisbon arrive outside his trailer.  He invites them inside, and Lisbon finds a picture of Tommy and David Martin.  “He was nice,” Tommy says.  “He didn’t make fun of me, not one time.”  This guy is so cute, y’all!  I’m weirdly fond of the little cowboy hat he constantly wears around his neck.  Jane investigates the trailer and finds a copy of Moby Dick.  I’m an English major and I haven’t even read that shit, so it seems a bit strange that Tommy apparently has.  Jane turns around and hauls ass out of the trailer, Lisbon and Tommy quickly following him.  He finds a fenced in garden that’s fed from an underground water source. In a drought invested region it’s worth millions, and suddenly the killer’s motive is pretty clear.

Back at the motel, an intoxicated Rigsby confesses his love for Van Pelt.  She freaks out a little, saying that even though she likes him they can’t get together, since she would be removed from the team.  Rigsby passes out in the middle of her speech, and PLEASE let this be the last we see of this pair.  The whole group has a great dynamic as friends, but these two have absolutely no romantic chemistry whatsoever.  Anyway, Cho and his awesome swoop in and deliver us from the awkwardness.  There are no words for how much I love that man.  Cho and Van Pelt head over to Ben Muchado’s house, but he doesn’t seem to be home.  When they go to check around back someone fires a gun, narrowly missing Van Pelt.  Ben is camped behind a tractor, aiming a rifle at the pair.  When they show their badges he surrenders and they quickly arrest him.  Cho finds the same accelerant used in the fires in Ben’s barn.  Oh, this is not looking good for you, buddy.

Back at headquarters, Rigsby and Cho get their bad cop on.  Ben claims that he doesn’t know where the ethyl ether came from.  He also says that he only shot at the agents because he was trying to protect himself from whoever has been killing his unit members. Cho and Rigsby bring up the business deal for Alden’s Grove.  They think that Ben tried to kill Pillar and Rich so that he would be the sole owner of the land and the water source. Jane decides it’s time to enter the room, and tells everyone that he thinks David Martin is the killer.  Since no one ever found the body it’s possible that he didn’t really die.  He also thinks that Ben, Rich and Pillar tried to kill Ben because the man planned to keep all the money from the water source for himself.  Now David is seeking revenge, and Jane seems to think that’s completely appropriate.  “I hope you burn like a candle, you miserable son of a bitch,” he tells Ben before that he be set free.

Lisbon is not happy that Jane is calling the shots, since that her job.  He mocks her when she insists that she’s the boss, and says that they have to let Ben go so that they can use him as bait.  Whether the killer actually gets to Ben is of little consequence to Jane, since “he deserves to suffer a little.”  Perhaps this view isn’t legal, but it is just, and that’s all Jane really cares about.  Lisbon decides to try a little reverse psychology by letting Ben go, but Jane is still unphased by the prospect of him getting hurt. And now for the REALLY good part.  Jane’s about to leave Lisbon’s office when he suddenly turns around and walks over to her.  “We’ve never discussed this because I thought it went without saying,” he says, “but when I find Red John, I’m going to cut him open and watch him die slowly, like he did with my wife and child.”  Lisbon tells him that she’ll arrest him if he tries this, and Jane seems perfectly fine with that.  He gives a blinding grin before he leaves the office, almost gleeful at the prospect of eviscerating Red John.  And see, I think it’s Recapper Confession Time again:  I’ve…never really been all that crazy about this show.  It’s nice enough, but I would have stopped watching it if I wasn’t paid to do so.  But now?  I’m in it for the long haul, baby.  Jane is one of the most fascinating characters I’ve ever seen, and I want nothing more than to see where this series takes him.  Hats off to you, Simon Baker, for being so completely made of awesome.

That night, Rigsby and Cho are on a stake out in front of Ben’s house.  Rigsby suddenly gets the idea that Mitch Reese could be David Martin.  A lot of it fits; Mitch has only been in town for a year, he has a beard that covers a good deal of his face, and he has burn scars on his arm.  Cho is hesitant to leave Ben’s house, but finally he calls in to say that he and Rigsby are heading over to question Mitch.  Cut to the garage, where the boys interrogate Mitch.  The definitive test is whether or not Mitch is wearing a wig, since David was bald.  Cho pulls Mitch’s hair and finds that it’s real, meaning that they left Ben alone and the killer is still out there.

And oh, is the killer still out there.  Ben hears noises in his barn and, rather than staying away from the place where a killer is probably lurking, he decides to go out and investigate.  As soon as he enters the barn the door slams shut behind him, and someone locks it from the outside.  Ben panics, but honestly, he deserves it for being dumb enough to go into the barn in the first place.  A figure creeps in the rafters and dumps ethyl ether all over Ben and the floor.  “Hello Ben!” says a grisly voice, and we see a figure dressed in a plaid shirt and mask holding a lighter.  The figure descends down a flight of stairs, asking Ben why he killed him.  Ben completely admits that he and his friends killed David.   The figure pulls off the mask and…it’s Jane!  In a lumberjack shirt!  With his hair all messy!  I…think I’m having some sort of sensory overload here.  This is just too much hotness.  Ben, who is unaffected by Jane’s rugged masculinity, grabs a knife and advances on Jane.  Luckily Ben is still covered in ethyl ether, so all Jane has to do to hold him back is flick his lighter.  Suddenly, a voice from outside calls Ben’s name.  “You ready to die?” it asks, right before the barn is set on fire.  Jane and Ben struggle to find an exit as the barn is completely consumed.  At the same time, Rigsby and Cho return, and have a brief moment of panic before Jane and Ben come around from behind the barn.  Cho apologizes for not being there, since “Lisbon didn’t know you were about to pull an idiotic stunt,” and Jane says that it’s all right as rain.  Cho arrests Ben for murder right before Rigsby spots a figure hiding behind a tractor and chases it down.  And Jane?  He struggles to regain the use of his lungs.  I completely forgot what a shitty runner he is, but this happened in the Pilot too.  Continuity for the win!

It turns out the person behind the tractor was Tommy, who is now facing down Cho’s interrogation face of DOOM.  It’s a difficult interrogation, since Tommy doesn’t seem to be able to follow what Cho’s saying very well.  Outside of the room, Lisbon muses about how confusing this case has gotten.  Tommy had ethyl ether traces all over him, but he doesn’t seem to have the mental capacity to pull off such a complicated act of arson.  She can only guess that he’s been working with someone.  Jane decides to take over the interrogation.  “Being a fool gives you a sort of power, doesn’t it?” he asks Tommy.  “You’re there, but you’re not there.”  Tommy doesn’t seem to understand, so Jane starts talking about revenge in Moby Dick.  Tommy accidently lets slip that he knows the name of Ahab’s ship, meaning that he has read the novel.  Jane says that there’s no point in pretending anymore, and suddenly it’s like a fucking light-switch flips in this guy.  He sits back, his whole demeanor changing.  “Hello,” Jane says, smiling brilliantly.  “Good to meet you.”  Everyone outside of the room looks stunned.  Thomas admits that Tommy was an act that he uses for his own protection and amusement.  When he learned how much money the water source was worth, he figured out that David Martin was killed and decided to seek revenge.  All the punishment he faces is worth it because David was his friend.  “I watched them scream and writhe in agony,” he says, “and it was beautiful.  It was redemptive.”  Before Jane leaves Thomas asks him to tell Maddy Garcia that he’s sorry for hurting her, which seems like a bit of a departure from his statement about watching her father scream and write in agony from a second ago.  In any case, this actor is phenomenal.  I can’t believe how well he played both Tommy and Thomas, and he really made this scene electric.

A while later, Jane and Lisbon deliver Thomas’ message to Maddy.  She and her angst aren’t in a forgiving mood, and she threatens to set Thomas on fire if he ever gets out of prison.  Jane tries to show her the error of this way of thinking, saying that “revenge is a poison.”  He then asks Maddy and her mom to pretend to hug each other until he and Lisbon leave, and pretty soon it morphs into a genuine embrace.  Outside, Lisbon is pretty smug about Jane’s new attitude towards revenge.  I wouldn’t get too excited, hon, because he cheerfully admits that his entire speech was “total nonsense.”  The two of them head out into the rain, Jane throwing his head back and catching a few drops in his tongue before jumping into the car.