The Mentalist: Nothing But Blue Skies (7x01)

So. Cute. I cannot even stand it. This was adorable. Jane and Lisbon. Oh, how we've waited. Years and years of waiting. It. Was. Worth. It. Eek! Let's do the plot first.

Jane and Lisbon have both been taking some time off from work. They're cute and slightly awkward together, and as Lisbon suggests maybe Jane should have a key to her house, they are interrupted by Abbott calling Lisbon. There's a new case, and he wants to know if she can come in. He then also calls Jane. Lisbon says that she wants to keep their relationship a secret for now, and Jane agrees.

The case is tricky - somebody is shot and killed. Nothing too mysterious. However, it turns out that the victim was undercover with the FBI, looking to crack open a gun smuggling operation. They have to figure out who killed him, without revealing his undercover identity. At the bowling alley, where the operation is being run, Jane gets impatient with the agent in charge of the case, because he is rude to Lisbon. He quickly pulls one of his stunts, reading the faces in the room to reveal who is the gun seller. He succeeds, but the woman runs off and gets away.

It looks like the case is ruined, because now everyone knows about the undercover investigation. However, Jane apologizes for being hasty and promises he'll get everything sorted out. Meanwhile, we learn that Kim Fischer has transferred, and the team is getting a new member - Michelle Vega. Vega is young and inexperienced, but she seems sharp and dedicated to learning.

As Cho goes to pick up the woman who ran away, Vega comes along. She is supposed to stay in the car, but when the suspect runs by, Vega jumps out of the car and tackles her, thus helping with the case. Cho tells her she did a good job.

In the end, it comes down to Jane to convince the girl who was selling the guns to give up the rest of the operation. She does, because Jane proves to her that he'll be able to find the guns with or without her cooperation. Weirdly enough, the undercover agent's death had nothing to do with the case. In fact, the victim was the unwitting witness to a kidnapping crime years ago, when he was a kid. Years later, he saw one of the kidnappers in the bowling alley, and the criminal realized that he was recognized. So, he killed him.

Marcus Pike is in the building, working on a case. He and Jane have a talk. Pike wonders what Jane has to offer to Lisbon, and what is "plan" is for their life together. Pike and Lisbon awkwardly say hello to each other. After Pike leaves, Jane tells Lisbon what Pike asked him, and then says that he doesn't have a plan. He thinks the two of them should just go with what feels right. Lisbon agrees, and they go for a ride in a vintage car that Jane rented for the day. It's the exact same car that Lisbon got a model of for her graduation from her grandfather. Jane is so thoughtful!

Do I have complaints?

Umm... Well. There's one small thing. Kim Fischer obviously had to be written off the show because the actress isn't returning. I get that. However, the way they did it was a bit clumsy. Lisbon just flat-out asks Wylie "where's Fischer" and then we see a card written by her to Lisbon to say goodbye. Just a tiny bit silly.

But honestly, that's my only complaint here. Everything was great.

First of all, there were two notable moments in this episode where my expectations were totally subverted.

First of all, I thought that when Vega came along with Cho, she was going to refuse to listen to him, leave the car, and end up getting into some kind of trouble. Instead, she did exactly as she was told, until she saw that she could intervene and help. And she did help, and Cho congratulated her. That was a nice way to break a cliche.

The second moment was at the end, with Pike and Jane. When Pike said that whole thing about having a "plan" for Lisbon, I thought for sure that Jane was going to get all weird and insecure about it, and not tell Lisbon. Instead, he immediately communicated what was going on to her, and he told her how he felt about it. She responded in kind.

Open communication for the win! There were multiple examples of Jane and Lisbon communicating openly. First of all, at the start of the episode Lisbon tells Jane that she wants to keep their relationship a secret for the time being, and instead of getting all weird about it, he understands and respects her wishes. At one point, Jane is being cagey about his plans, and Lisbon tells him that he can stop hiding things from her. Jane immediately apologizes and tells her the plan. So cute!!

They were just adorable in general, to be honest. I guess some people were complaining that we didn't see them kiss, but honestly I'm really okay with that. We saw all sorts of adorable moments! Lisbon's smile when she looks at him totally melts my heart. They are the cutest.

I really love this Vega character. It's almost a pity that this is going to be the last season of the show, because I could really see her growing into an important and interesting character. She's respectful and smart, and she doesn't have a chip on her shoulder or anything. Still, she's got her tragic back story and she's clearly a little rough around the edges. There's a great balance to her. I want to see her and Cho become friends and partners.

Not a lot of Wylie in this one. That's always a shame. However, I did love his attempted explanation of Jane. Abbot's in charge. Except for when Jane is. When is that? Well, just sort of whenever. It all works out. It takes a newcomer like Vega for the audience to understand how truly unconventional all of this is.

Abbott was pretty funny. His Jisbon-shipping self was back in full force, as he gives Jane the heads up that Pike is in the building. Hilarious! Cho didn't have a ton to do either, but I like his really monotone and unfeeling way of asking Lisbon if she's moving to DC and if she's marrying Pike. He seems totally unconcerned with the answer one way or the other, but we know the very fact that he asked proves that he cares about Lisbon.

The case itself was nothing too special, but I liked it just fine. I like the idea of not prolonging the inevitable. Jane finds the culprit right away, and then the rest of the episode is just about apprehending her and getting her to talk. I also liked the twist that the victim's death had nothing to do with his undercover work. That was unexpected.

Okay! A pretty strong opening. I'm keeping in mind that this season is supposed to be an "encore" of sorts. It's not meant to be as intense or as A-plot driven as some of the previous seasons have been. Honestly, I'm okay with that. I just want Jane and Lisbon to have some time to be absolutely adorable together. If I get that, I'm happy.

8.5/10