The Mentalist
Episode 21: Red and
Itchy
By: Carlos Uribe
The
Mentalist is a show about Patrick Jane, a consultant for the cops who
solves crimes while seeking revenge for his family.
Spoilers
Ahoy!
What
is the best part of a mystery? It's a question that this episode of
the Mentalist tries to answer. There's a scene where Jane is at the
house of a widow. He notices a small safe on top of the fireplace and
figures out that it's the first one the dead husband collected. This
husband found it when he was seven and he would put in every
combination he could to figure out what was inside. When Lisbon asks
what it was, she's disappointed when the widow doesn't remember. Jane
proclaims that the answer doesn't actually matter-it's the process of
actually solving the mystery. That's the real fun part. This small
interaction about what's inside the safe happens to coincide with one
of this episode's biggest mysteries: what's inside the Tupperware
that J.J. has been keeping in his safe. The small plastic container
is a major part of LaRouche's backstory and it's contents contain a
secret that is big enough to ruin his career. The natural question
that everybody is going to ask is what's in this box. Jane might not
know the answer but he pretends he does so he can blackmail LaRouche.
There's a part at the end where he could have peaked inside the box
to find out what it was. He claims that he doesn't to Lisbon. He
might have been lying but he says it doesn't matter. He thinks that
keeping the mystery alive is a good thing on it's own. The writers
don't agree with him there as Lisbon does figure out what's in the
box. It's a pretty good exploration by the writers on what makes a
mystery work. The journey to the answer can be more satisfying than
figuring it out. In this way, they can proclaim their beliefs about
what makes a good mystery memorable.
It's
a belief that permeates throughout the series. We have weekly cases
and those tend to get solved by the end of the episode. That makes
sense since this is a procedural. We do get some serialization and
that comes in the form of Red John. We've been trying to figure out
who the elusive serial killer is for five seasons now. The idea is
that his identity is not going to be uncovered until the series
finale. Patrick Jane will finally be able to find Red John and avenge
the death of his family. This mystery is crucial to the show. It
takes a character like Patrick Jane, of which there are multiple on
television, and gives him a dark edge that helps to separate him from
the pack. It's Red John that motivates him to help the CBI solve
crimes. His obsession for Red John is so deep that the title of every
episode has some reference to the color red. The writers bring up
that it doesn't really matter who Red John is. That doesn't mean they
don't have to try and have a satisfying puzzle but that it's the
search for the serial killer where the real fun lies. This is true to
a point. Most of the best episodes in the Mentalist are episodes that
deal with Red John. It's been a journey that has hooked me into the
show. There is no doubt I'll remember the episode where Patrick Jane
used Red John to kill that serial killer or the time where he was
saved by his nemesis. There are the creepy tells such as where Betram
recited a poem that Red John is fond of or the intense scene where
Patrick admits that he's going to kill the serial killer. The
strongest moments come without a doubt from Patrick Jane's search for
Red John. The plot might get ridiculous at points and the power of
Red John is over-the-top now but it's the character arc that matters.
This whole season has been exploring not only how deep he's gotten in
but how it affects his very soul. At the same time, the journey has
been great but it's lasted way too long. It's been five seasons and
we're only now narrowing down our list of suspects. The Red John plot
has driven away fans because it's overstayed it's welcome.
The
weekly case of this episode revolves around the Tupperware. It's
actually a little more than that. There's two cases and there's also
a bonus mystery. The first weekly case is different from most
episodes. There is a dead body but we're not trying to figure out who
killed him. It's a case to solve a breaking-and-entering. LaRouche
goes to his home to discover two thieves cracking his safe. He's able
to kill one but the other gets away with the Tupperware. He enlists
the help of Jane to get the Tupperware back because one of the
thieves left behind a message. They're using the plastic container as
leverage to get him to drop his own investigation. This leads into
the second weekly case where they have to find a security leak within
the CBI. This is because she's behind the robberies. She hired two
locksmiths a lot of money to get that Tupperware. I say she because
it's revealed that it's actually the head of public relations for the
CBI. She's that character whose always bothering Lisbon about doing
interviews to help build the image of the agency. She's been
efficient at her job but she's sadly become corrupt as she became
enamored with power. She started to give out information to people
who would pay her. This had allowed a drug dealer to escape the
police and Tommy Volker to stay ahead of the investigation into him.
They manage to enact a scheme where they get her to reveal herself on
camera. She gets arrested and they manage to get the Tupperware back.
Nobody can use the contents to ruin LaRouche's life and the status
quo is largely maintained.
The
mystery of the episode is what's in that Tupperware. Jane is force to
admit the existence of the plastic box to the CBI team but he can't
tell them what's inside because he doesn't know. They all get
interested about what's in the box but the answer doesn't come until
the end. Jane might not have opened the box but Lisbon managed to
figure it out in another way. It's all in LaRouche's backstory. When
he was younger, his mother was brutally raped by a man. She committed
suicide three months later. It was a dramatic event in his life where
he went to extreme measures to seek vengeance. LaRouche had found the
rapist before the trial to cut out his tongue. He keeps the tongue in
the Tubberwear because it acts as a warning to barbaric deeds a man
is capable of and because it reminds him of his mother. The only
reason Lisbon finds out is because she finds the rapist and his
mother. It's a pretty dark backstory for J.J. LaRouche. It's a
reprehensible action but it's one that keeps him within likeability
because of who he did it to. He might think himself a monster for
having done it but it's a very human response. A dark one but human
nonetheless. That he keeps it as a reminder of his atrocious deed
also connects to this season's themes of how dedicated Jane is to his
mission for revenge. LaRouche wanted revenge and he got it but he
wasn't satisfied with it. Quite the opposite, he's become ashamed of
himself. He might detest Jane's methods and maintain his professional
standards because he's seeking redemption. This is to suggest that
Jane is on a path to darkness. Revenge won't satisfy his soul. The
Tubberware acts as a warning to LaRouche about the dangers of the
darkness of man. Jane is in a dark place and who knows what he'll do
when he finally comes across the real Red John.
The
ending of Red and Itchy has Jane shutting the outside world out to
try and figure out who Red John is. It's exciting because it's
building up to a season finale where the names of seven suspects will
be revealed and it's bound to be a Red John episode. It's a promise
for a fun finale where the plot actually moves forward a bit. On the
other hand, there's some quite disconcerting by that action. We'll
get closer to solving the mystery. Jane will remain on his obsessive
path towards the heart of darkness. The Tubberware is a warning not
just for LaRouche...but also for Jane as gets closer to the identity
of Red John.
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