The Mentalist: Red Lacquer Nail Polish (5x15)

Okay. Uh... The Mentalist. I used to really love this show. Truthfully I did. Nowadays, I'm just watching it out of some outdated sense of loyalty to the characters. I've stuck it out through four and a half seasons, and I feel like I must keep going. To figure out about this Red John thing. I mean, I need an answer at least to that.

But... honestly... it feels like everyone is just phoning it in at this point. This episode was unoriginal in terms of plot and guest characters, and it did nothing to advance the development of our main characters, either. Pretty useless, basically forgettable... it wasn't awful or anything. It just wasn't good either.

Let's start with what was wrong with the plot. The idea of a rich family all squabbling over money? This show has over-used that particular formula. Also, the twist at the end, that the victim was alive? Been done. Been done by so many cop shows I can't even tell you. And it's been done by this show in the recent past, even! I have nothing against a surprise ending, but you run into a problem when the twist comes completely out of left field with no proper buildup and no sense of how Jane figured it out in the first place. When twists start to feel formulaic, you know a show is struggling.

The guest characters... to be honest I was more interested in the victim, Elise Vogelsong, when she was dead. It was sort of a Citizen Kane-esque situation where you had a really interesting figure who couldn't answer for her own life, since she was dead. She was way less interesting once we learned she was alive. At that point she became the typical rich, evil old harpy. That was disappointing. The doctor and the nephew, Reinhardt and Curtis Wiley, were both immediately sketchy and "suspicious," so of course they weren't the criminals. Big surprise. Who did that leave? Casey Robins, the sweet and kind woman who took care of Elise. I assumed it was her from the second we saw her. But... it wasn't her. Because Elise was... alive? Okay then. It wasn't really well-executed and I found myself totally not caring when the reveal came.

The nephew Curtis was suspicious up until the minute we knew he was innocent, and suddenly his character became a nice guy who wanted to help veterans. It was not consistent or realistic at all.

Here's another bit of formula-ness that always drives me crazy. I swear to God every week in this show they apprehend a predictable suspect and everyone thinks the case is over. Then, this conversation takes place. (I'm paraphrasing, of course).

Lisbon: "We've tied up the case! Yay for us!"

Jane: "Hmmm... even though everything fits perfectly, I suspect that something isn't right."

Lisbon: "What are you talking about? Even though you are invariably right about all of our cases, I just know that this time we've apprehended the real murderer! You must be mistaken."

*Jane scurries off and makes a shocking discovery, thus forcing Lisbon to admit that she was incorrect.*

Haven't we seen this a thousand times? I don't like it, because it makes Lisbon seem totally incompetent. Aren't we supposed to respect her work as an agent and a thinker? Why is Jane so much better than Lisbon? Can't there be some balance in their relationship?

There were a couple of precious moments in the episode, though. The opening bit was excellent. I love how disgusted Jane was with the guy who was gleefully describing the human candle thing. Jane called him a "ghoul." When the guy tried to laugh it off with Cho, Cho just gave him a patented "What the hell?" look and followed Jane wordlessly out. It was an awesome moment.

I also liked Rigsby's tiny subplot with the internet dating... his conversations with Cho throughout the episode were pretty funny. But then... it just dropped off the face of the earth. He was confronted with the women he had stood up, and then... we don't hear from him again for the entire episode. Kind of a let-down to a fairly comedic element to this episode.

Over-all, the only reason I stick with The Mentalist is because these characters still mean something to me. This show, despite it's many many flaws (most of these centered around the plots of individual episodes) does have some fun characters with consistent and intriguing writing and portrayals by the actors. I still feel compassion for Jane and I worry about Lisbon. I still hope for Van Pelt to prove herself, wait for Cho to come out of his shell, and root for Rigsby to finally be happy in his personal life.

Now... where the hell is Red John? 

4.5/10