scattered thoughts about the mentalist
this show has a serious problem with bringing back one off characters from older episodes. most of the time they bring back someone i cannot stand, and they stick around for way too long. (kristina frye. bane of my existence. bret stiles too. how do you manage to make a cult plotline boring?). and that one episode where they just randomly brought back the killer from the pilot episode. who was that for? for me? i couldn't care less about him, and i doubt anyone else watching at the time would've had any reactions other than oh yeah it's that guy. so seriously, what was the point?
should've stuck to their guns regarding killing red john by the end of s3. i was very much already feeling it dragging on by then, so it was a nice way to cap things off. plus i loved those last few episodes. but BOOOOO for writing off madeleine hightower. the only black character we had for more than one episode and then she's just gone.... after being a big part of the best episodes of the season btw.
on that note, their thing for getting rid of the cbi heads or whatever, extremely strange. i had no problems with virgil, and i liked hightower. i liked laroche too!!! thought he was very fun. and i had no problems with wainright either. all their bosses were so different and brought different dynamics w/ jane & the team, but why keep replacing them over and over? it feels excessive.
s4 my enemy. all set ups and no pay offs for the side characters. cho's pill thing? no satisfying conclusion. van pelt's trauma + unaddressed anger/grief? no conclusion at all imo. she hallucinates her dead fiance once randomly and then she's just... normal again? hello? and i don't necessarily have a problem with rigsby randomly having a baby now, but why... what did that do for him or for me? it was so much less fun watching the side characters because they all had their own little stories that i felt weren't really executed all that well lol. the earlier seasons were better with this because it felt like cho and van pelt and rigsby had more to do with each other. i just think it would've been so much better if they simply fixed it a little by having those guys more involved with each others' plots/problems.
anti jisbon... sorta. their interactions with each other are fun and cute and they do have chemistry but the idea of them like... dating? being in a relationship? weird to me. i think i only like the dynamic as it is. just a bit of banter, a hint of something something but no real commitment. frankly i do not think jane should be dating Anybody for real. also don't think jisbon should even sleep with each other because that would sour the dynamic too. sometimes u and ur soulmate are just two colleagues that might be in love with e/o and are definitely attracted to each other but would never act on those feelings because it would absolutely ruin the entire dynamic forever.
aaaand as of now i'm cutting it off after s4... i simply am too exhausted to continue. if i do pick it up again later i guess i'll add to this post. but for now.... goodbye to patrick jane and crew 🫡
