The Mentalist: Green Light (7x06)

Interesting! Jane and Lisbon are pretty much a subplot in this episode, and yet I still enjoyed it quite a bit. Let's jump in.

The DEA raids a restaurant looking for drugs, but nothing turns up. The FBI are sent to do an investigation, because the raid got a little bit heated, and one of the agents attacked someone. Turns out, it's a good thing someone's looking into it, because this agent, Gonzales, is murdered shortly after. Abbott's involvement in this investigation is a bit awkward, because the head of the DEA unit is his old boss, a man who worked with Abbott in the past and knows a terrible secret about him. Abbott wants to avoid this secret getting out not only because of his own career, but also because of his wife's.

Quickly, it turns out that there's a criminal within the DEA who has been tipping off drug lords to help them avoid raids from the DEA. Jane and the team begin to investigate. Abbott's old boss tells Abbott to let him have the credit for catching the traitor, and that if Abbott refuses, he'll let old secrets spill. Abbott is nervous about it, but he doesn't know who to confide in.

Eventually, at Jane's prodding, Abbott tells Jane the secret. Years ago, he killed a man who he was supposed to be watching - he knew this man was about to slaughter innocent people. Jane thinks he has a way of catching the killer, but he'll need everybody's help to pull it off. He gathers the ten most likely suspects, based on who has improved their physical appearance over the last several years. His logic is that people who have a sudden influx of cash are likely to start looking better. He eliminates people who have spouses in the beauty industry, or who have just been left money by a deceased relative, or who have gone through a divorce and are "back on the market," as it were. That leaves just three.

At this point, Vega enters with Abbott's former boss, declaring that he is the murderer. The three remaining suspects are all "free to go," but of course it's a setup. Lisbon, Cho, and Abbott each approach one of the three suspects who are all getting ready to leave. They each accuse their suspect of murder, and then get a "phone call" and turn their backs. Cho's suspect tries to shoot him, and therefore they realize that he's the killer (earlier, Jane had collected everybody's guns and had them filled with blanks).

The bad guy is apprehended, and all is well - except for the fact that Abbott's former boss is pissed that he didn't get any credit for apprehending the killer. Jane threatens to expose his dirty money, and the guy leaves, angry but harmless. Abbott is grateful that he and his wife won't have to worry about the past coming back to get them.

There are two subplots in this episode. The first involves Wylie trying to get up the courage to ask Vega out on a date. After repeated attempts, he finally abandons the effort when he hears Vega say that she has no interest in dating right now, and just wishes to focus on work.

The second subplot is that it's Jane's birthday. Lisbon promises not to throw him a huge party, and she's told everybody not to bring him gifts, but she does have a gift for him. Jane says that he'll be able to guess what it is, but Lisbon is ready to try and keep a secret from Jane. At one point, Jane asks a couple of questions, and then declares that he has a guess. He writes it down on a piece of paper and gives it to Lisbon, telling her not to look until after he opens it. Later, he opens it and finds his favorite mug from the CBI, which Lisbon had kept the pieces to and had repaired. Jane is speechless. Lisbon reads the note, which declares that he had no idea what the gift would be. The two share a kiss.

Okay. Do I have complaints about this episode? Well... there's one thing that I can't quite put my finger on. It's about Vega. I really like her as a character, but at the same time, there is so little time to truly develop her, since the show is ending after this season. I was enjoying the emerging partnership between Vega and Cho, and I also really enjoy her interesting dynamic with Jane, and I find the thought of Vega and Wylie to be adorable... but is it just too much? It seems like her character might be going through too much for the short amount of time she's going to be around. Maybe it's a silly complaint. I'm not sure.

This episode was absolutely adorable though, so I'm not going to waste time complaining about it.

I love the continued story line with Abbott. He's such an interesting character, in that he went from Jane's antagonist to one of his biggest supporters fairly quickly, and yet it all makes sense. I loved that he confided the truth in Jane, and that Jane supported him and helped him out of a tough situation, the same way that Abbott helped Jane earlier.

The trick to catch the killer was one of the most creative ones I've seen on this show. It was such an elaborate stunt, and everybody needed to come together to play their part. I loved it. Also, I liked the way Jane talked everybody through his reasoning. It made sense why he made the deductions that he did. In particular, I just love the trust that these people all have in Jane. Vega, Cho, Lisbon, and Abbott all had to behave in a very unorthodox manner in order to get the job done, but they were willing to because of their trust in Jane.

A quick note - I love the casual mention of a male DEA agent with a husband. I like that more and more shows are doing this kind of thing, even though we still have a long way to go.

One of the highlights of the episode for me was Vega and Jane's conversation. Vega has some qualms about the way Jane operates, especially because her father was such a stickler for the rules, and Jane doesn't often follow them. In the end, Vega has to decide what she thinks is right, and she decides that she wants to trust Jane and help him catch the bad guys.

Also, despite my earlier complaint about some over-crowding with Vega's character, I do still like the idea of her and Wylie together. I mean, yeah, the whole plot thread with the two of them was super cliche, what with his repeated attempts to ask her out, and then her just happening to mention that she wasn't interested in dating just as he was about to ask her again... sigh. But still, I really like the two of them. They're adorable. I want Wylie and Vega to be together. So precious!

And, speaking of precious, we've got Jane and Lisbon. Oh. My. God. These two. I cannot even handle it. What is there even to say about this? Lisbon got the perfect gift for Jane, and he was surprised by it, and they kissed (twice!) and it was just them, and they're so happy together... I don't even know if I have anything coherent to say. I just love them.

I think that's where I'll leave things. I loved this episode, and I love this whole season.

9/10