The Mentalist: White as the Driven Snow (6x15)

What an emotional episode. What great acting from everyone involved. I'm very sad that Rigsby and Van Pelt won't be a part of the show anymore, but I'm happy they got a proper sendoff.

So, Cho and Rigsby drive back to Rigsby's motel and they see that Grace has been abducted. The FBI already has their main suspect, of course. Richard turns up at the FBI HQ with a very good lawyer and an extremely tight alibi for the deaths of JJ and Ardiles, and the kidnapping of Van Pelt. Even after Fischer tries to convince the lawyer to let them keep Richard a bit longer, the FBI are forced to let Richard go, due to lack of evidence. Rigsby is livid, because he's sure that Richard is the one who kidnapped Grace.

So, Rigsby and Jane come up with a new plan: as Richard and his lawyer are driven away in their car, we learn that Jane is actually the driver, and now Rigsby and Jane have essentially kidnapped their prime suspect. They make Richard tell them where Grace is. At one point, they stop the car and Rigsby douses Richard with oil and threatens to burn him. Jane frantically tries to stop him. In the scuffle, Richard gets a gun and leads them back into the car. At gunpoint, Jane drives to the place where Grace was being kept, but it looks like she got out.

We actually follow Grace's journey in this episode too, as she breaks out of the cage she was in and finds a kindly lady in a car. However, when she gets back to the lady's house, it turns out to be a trap: this woman is actually Richard's sister, Hazel.

Back in the car, we learn that Jane and Rigsby have pulled a double-cross on Richard. As Rigsby eggs him on, Richard shoots the gun he had taken from him, and finds that it is unloaded. However, Jane and Rigsby haven't won yet. As they get to Hazel's house, where Grace is tied up, they run into a bigger problem: as they enter the house, Hazel manages to shoot Rigsby. Jane almost gets his fingers cut off by Richard, but luckily Rigsby wasn't killed from the bullet wounds - he's able to get outside and kill Richard before anyone else gets hurt.

At the hospital, Rigsby and Van Pelt are offered jobs with the FBI, but they decide to live the civilian life for the time being. Cho sticks around to hang out with the two of them, while Jane and Lisbon leave, bickering. Lisbon is upset with Jane for not telling her the plan, and she doesn't believe his apology is sincere.

So... even though I said up top that I really loved this episode, there is one pretty big thing that annoys me about it. They had this whole big buildup with the conspiracy and the bugged phones and all of the CBI members being targeted... but then it all boiled down to one crazy guy and his sister. Not only that, but Richard and Hazel had some tragic back story filled with abuse and all that, and I felt like it was a bit cliche.

Another brief complaint... not enough Jane and Lisbon! That brief little moment with them at the end just made me wish there had been a bit more.

But what did I like? Cho and Rigsby bonding! So cute. In particular, there was that precious moment when Cho said he would have helped Rigsby and Jane kidnap the suspect if he had been asked. Cho is a by-the-books kind of guy, but his loyalty for Rigsby and the rest of the old CBI team is the stronger than any rule out there.

Rigsby! He was so frantic about Grace, and the acting in this particular episode was very stellar. And Grace's reaction when Rigsby was shot was nearly as dramatic as my own! (No, seriously, I was yelling at my computer screen). I just really love the relationship between Rigsby and Grace, because it seems very balanced. There's none of this macho Rigsby-saves-the-day mentality here. Even though Grace was kidnapped, she still managed to get herself out of her original prison, even if she ran into a trap. And Rigsby's the one who got hurt, not Grace.

I loved how serious Jane was in this episode. Even as he was gleefully explaining to Richard how he'd been tricked, there was this undercurrent of anger and malice to him. Jane is often a goofball, but he has killed more than one person, and not in the self-defense type of way. Jane's anger and his determination to rescue Grace were nice reminders of what he's capable of.

And even though it was sparse, the Lisbon/Jane stuff in this episode was golden. First of all, I loved that Rigsby said he always thought Jane and Lisbon would get together. Jane was awfully noncommittal about responding to that, wasn't he? I love how Cho is oblivious, though. If they ever do get together, his reaction will be hilarious. And then their little bit together at the end, where they banter playfully. I really, really, really, love these two. I'm excited for the next episode, because I think it includes a lot of good Jane/Lisbon moments!

8.5/10