The Mentalist: Blue Bird (6x22)

I am a puddle of feelings. I am incoherent. My God. It happened. Six years of waiting, and it finally happened. I'm overwhelmed. Let's... just... talk about the plot, shall we?

We open with Jane and Cho on a case. Cho mentions that Lisbon is leaving, and Jane is upset that she hasn't told him yet. Jane quickly solves the case, noting how a whole group of friends were all responsible for the death of another friend after things got intense while playing cards.

We flash forward to the day before Lisbon is supposed to leave for DC. A cold case gets opened up: years ago, a high-profile socialite was murdered, and the FBI got a lot of ridicule for being unable to solve it. Because of this, all transfers (including Lisbon's) are being put on hold while they try and solve the case. Jane tells Lisbon to cheer up - it's their last case together!

Jane seems determined to have some fun with Lisbon. They end up going for a nice walk on the beach and even have plans for a fancy dinner. Jane's plans are slightly thwarted when Cho and Abbott show up to partake in the dinner, but Lisbon still looks gorgeous in a dress that Jane got for her. The entire reason this cold case was opened was because the FBI received a note with a riddle that, once solved, led to the Blue Bird Inn. Lisbon, in talking to a hotel employee, learns that Jane had booked rooms for them a week ago, before this case was reopened.

Lisbon confronts Jane, who admits that he was the one to write the letter - but he's sure it will lure the actual killer to the Inn! Lisbon throws water in his face and storms off, angry.

Jane tries to apologize for what he's done, telling Lisbon that he just didn't want her to leave. Lisbon tells him to leave her alone - that he only thinks of her as a convenience and doesn't know how to behave as a normal human being. Heartbroken, Jane gets drunk alone in his room, while Lisbon takes off for the airport. She calls Pike and accepts his marriage proposal.

Although Jane is distraught, it turns out at least one thing went right: the fake note did indeed lure people to the Inn. Several of them, in fact. Things get confusing as first one guy, then another, and then two girls, all show up to the room, waving guns around. Jane is able to piece together the story of what happened, and sends an SOS text to Cho and Abbott (SOZ, actually...), who race up to help.

Jane quickly lets them know who the bad guys are, and then he tells Abbott, frantic, that he has to get to the airport because Lisbon is there. Abbott, hilariously, acquiesces to Jane's request for his car. Jane rushes to the airport with the sirens on, hoping to catch Lisbon. He runs into difficulty when at the airport, but finally manages to hop a fence (hurting his ankle in the process) and gets on the plane.

He finally tells Lisbon the truth: he loves her. Lisbon says it's too late, and Jane says that's okay, that he just needed to say it and that she deserved to hear it. Jane is escorted off the plane by security. Abbott and Cho apprehend the murderers, and Abbott has to go to the airport to pick up Jane, because TSA is really mad.

Jane is waiting in a holding cell, when in walks... Lisbon! She says she returns Jane's feelings and the two of them finally kiss.

Ahhh!!! It happennnnneeed! It's one of those things where I had no idea how much I wanted this until suddenly I had it, and I can't believe I was able to wait so long for this. Jane and Lisbon! Together! Canon! Kiss! Declaration of love! I cannot even!

But let's slow down... there were a few aspects of this episode that I do want to complain a bit about...

Where was Fischer? She was barely in this episode. Not that I wanted her to be the focus or anything... but the more this last stretch of the show has gone on, the less and less important Fischer has seemed. She had an auspicious start, but now she's just filling up space.

Cho. I love Cho, I do, but I was really annoyed by how oblivious he was. He was able to tell with Rigsby and Van Pelt, but he really had no idea about Jane and Lisbon? He's that blind, after more than ten years working with the two of them? When he said they were like brother and sister, it felt really insulting to his character that he would think something like that.

But enough about that! The good stuff!

I actually liked the scene towards the end in the hotel room, before Jane runs off to the airport. It was so funny because Jane literally couldn't care less about solving this thing right now... he just wants to get to Lisbon. When the actual killers turn up, he tries to convince them to run away just so he won't have to deal with them. Immoral? Yes. Hilarious? Yes.

Speaking of Jane not caring about cases, I also really liked the little prologue, where Jane just sort of lazily solves the entire crime by looking around one room. He doesn't have time to play games! He's just learned that Lisbon is really leaving! He's got a one-track mind when it comes to Lisbon. Murder is nothing but a vague annoyance in the background.

Abbott was hilarious in this episode. He is the captain of the Jisbon ship, I swear to God. It was especially hilarious when Jane asked him for his car keys, for an emergency. Abbott says "where's Lisbon?" and Jane says, desperate, "at the airport!" Abbott immediately hands over his keys. That's fantastic. Remember when we thought we weren't going to like Abbott? Ha.

Mostly, I just have to talk about Jane and Lisbon. She was so cute, working on this case. It seems so inconceivable that she was actually going to leave Jane for good... he makes her so happy, and it's so easy to see that! Even though Jane was the one who wrote the note, so we know it's not real, it was still adorable when Lisbon figured out the clue. She was so proud of herself, and Jane smiled so wide when he saw she was happy.

And then Lisbon in that dress! And the look on Jane's face when he saw her in it! Damn. The water in the face thing was sad and funny and totally the right move for Lisbon to make at that moment. Jane totally deserved it. But then on the other hand I was just so damn sad when he was standing outside her door, choking up, unable to say what he's been wanting to say for so long, as Lisbon tells him to leave her alone. Ouch.

There's really not much to say about the scene in the airplane. It's all been said. Anyone who's actually bothering to read my review of the moment has already watched it, and the final scene with the kiss, more than once. You know how romantic it was. You saw how amazing Baker and Tunney were. Jane is the opposite of Marcus "no pressure" Pike, in that he wasn't expecting anything from Lisbon in return for his declaration. He just wanted her to know. She deserved to know. And the way Lisbon starts crying and tries to apologize to the rest of the plane... "that was embarrassing..." but of course you know she's just working it all out in her head. You know it's sinking in, and she's happy at the same time as she's miserable.

That kiss. I'm so happy. I was starting to think we wouldn't actually get a kiss at all. It was perfect. So gentle. Not anything over the top, but this simple culmination of all their feelings of love for one another. It was also the promise of a beginning. God I can get poetic when I'm excited about stuff. But really. Damn good kiss.

Honestly, I think anything more from me would just dissolve into copious amounts of gushing, all about that declaration of love and the kiss. I'll leave it there. This was the episode I didn't know I'd been waiting for.

9/10