"The Mentalist" Red John's Friends (2009)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Director:

John Polson

Writers:

Bruno Heller (creator)
Bruno Heller (written by)

TV Series:

"The Mentalist" (2008)

Original Air Date:

4 January 2009 (Season 1, Episode 11)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Patrick makes a deal to try and prove a convict's innocence in exchange for information about Red John. |

Plot Keywords:

Knife | Bed Scene | Jail | Prison | Brothers

Cast

Simon Baker	...	Patrick Jane
Robin Tunney	...	Teresa Lisbon
Tim Kang	...	Kimball Cho
Owain Yeoman	...	Wayne Rigsby
Amanda Righetti	...	Grace Van Pelt
Charlotte Cornwell	...	Muriel Renfrew
Gabriel Olds	...	Gardner Renfrew
Todd Stashwick	...	Jared Renfrew
Kathleen Gati	...	Mariska Kopecki / Vanna Clooney
Corey Mendell Parker	...	Policeman
Gregory Itzin	...	Virgil Minelli
Olivia Hardt	...	Undine Kopecki
Danielle Langlois	...	Breck Renfrew
David Loren	...	Junior Lawyer
Matt Sigloch	...	SWAT Guy

Runtime:

Germany:42 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Hungary:16

Company:

Warner Bros. Television

Quotes:

Teresa Lisbon: Just do me the favor of listening to me for a minute so I can say "I told you so" later.
Patrick Jane: Sure.

Movie Connections:

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

I don't like faked scenes!

Overall, I like "The Mentalist" enough to watch for a few more episodes even though it is a bit of a retread of other sleuth shows. The main character's past as a phony mentalist reformed by a tragedy is a bit pedestrian to me and the whole idea of "looking for the mysterious murderer of my wife and child" is a bit of a throwback to "The Fugitive".

That said, nothing bugs me more than having a completely fake scene.

Sometimes I see in documentaries and commercials a scene showing a fire or smokestack that is obviously a reverse of the original. A zoom out is reversed to zoom in for dramatic effect but it is obvious (at least to me) that the smoke is going down the stack or the fire is leaping toward the logs. I hate it! And, it really gets my (old) goat when the scene is static and I can see no reason (dramatic or otherwise) for it to be played backwards.

In the latest episode of "The Mentalist", the scene of the key being pulled back into the hole is actually a reverse of the key being pushed from the keyhole and lowered on the string. That means there is a hole in the plot that couldn't be resolved (they never succeeded in pulling the key back up) or the director was just too lazy (or pressed for time) to do the scene right. I think it is more likely the former meaning the whole "frame" is shot to hell.

Another point about the scene is the glaring fact that old key locks like that one can be easily picked with the key IN the lock. Therefore, it is not necessary to go to so much trouble to set the "frame".

One other scene that looks plainly wrong is the one after Jared is picked up from prison. The black SUV is shown speeding from screen left to screen right but on the wrong side of the road! For some reason, the director didn't like it going from right to left. It looks ridiculous because it gives the impression that the vehicle is in a country with right-hand drive vehicles like Great Britain.

For me, little things like this completely kill the "spell" and can collapse any suspension of disbelief on my part.

I'll keep watching "The Mentalist" for now. But, in the past, stuff like this has irritated me so much that I have stopped watching a show ("24" - which just got boring as hell after the novelty wore off) and moved on to suffer through other crud ("Lost") until the plot holes and other gaffs forced me to move on again.