The Mentalist Review: "Every Rose Has Its Thorn"
With a captivating guest star, The Mentalist gave us a villain worthy of Jane. "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" brought us Morena Baccarin as Erica, the grieving widow turned murder suspect.
Baccarin had a special quality. She was somehow both bold and ethereal. The effect was bewitching, making Erica an intriguing match for Jane. Erica was able to read Jane, empathize with his plight, and match his manipulations. It's rare for Patrick to find such a challenge.
Regrettably, Erica wasn't perfect and neither was her crime.
It surprised me that she baited Jane openly while he lie on the sofa. She all but admitted her guilt. Up to that point she had continually insisted that she was innocent. I suppose arrogance was Erica's fatal flaw as her greatest desire became proving to Jane that she'd won.
Of course, she was right. Despite Jane's best efforts she still hadn't completely lost. Erica's a master manipulator and most people won't see through her the way Jane did. I hope a not guilty verdict will bring Ms. Baccarin back to The Mentalist sometime in the future.
When Jane and the CBI conned Erica into believing that Peter had committed suicide, Jane made mention that it was her husband's body in the body bag. Seriously? The CBI is now pulling out corpses from open cases and wheeling them around town in order to pull off Jane's cons.
There wasn't much to comment on for the back stories. Rigsby going undercover just came across as silly fluff. The best part was Grace blowing off the sleazy guy who was hitting on her. Grace is more fun when she's being forceful.
I liked how she got the little yappy dog to quiet down too.
In the end we got to see Lisbon viewing Jane's matchmaking video. As he answered those questions it just drove home how much he loves and misses his wife. I honestly don't know if he will ever recover enough to move on. Do you?
C. Orlando is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.
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Jane: This is Red John. Lisbon: How can you tell? Jane: Because when it's him I can feel it.
April 16th, 2011 8:16 AM
Basically this show goes on without revealing Red John his identity until the show loses popularity or one of the main actors quit. My theory: Red John is not an individual but an organization.
Rank: Guest Star
April 10th, 2011 11:41 AM
Linda is an excellent foil and the fact that jane saw through her immediately was fun, and allowed us to see her character better as the episode evolved. I think we shall see her again, perhaps next season as she makes mincemeat of the jury and comes back for another shot at Patrick, and a Red John surprise. I too am hoping that R.J. is terminated this year and his relation to Kristina explained. This episode was not as compe;;ing as last week's however.
April 9th, 2011 8:44 PM
I think it would have been interesting if the accomplice had been the woman being interviewed. She could have been a manipulator also with Rigsby. A little twist.
April 9th, 2011 12:34 PM
I always wished Jane'd move on with Lisbon. But in this season they did everything to convince Jisbon fans that that won't be the case. I almost stopped wishing for it. My tip for every Jisbon fan : Just watch Castle - that one makes you happy :)
April 8th, 2011 6:52 PM
To Joe, I also thought of Nicole Wallace, amazing!!!
Anyway I think that Jane is preparing for the big finale! Any surprise if Red John mistery will be solved by the end of the season? so next year Jane will have the change he longs for and he needs to survive?
I really Hope, I need to see him smilimg again, not only grinning to a murderer.
Rank: Regular Character
April 8th, 2011 5:41 PM
Excellent. Jane/Erica's scenes were a delight to watch. I hope Erica is back and researches Jane before they meet again. Liked Van Pelt getting the dog to shut up and blowing off the guy at the bar. Rigsby in the hotel room was hilarious.
April 8th, 2011 1:44 PM
Morena Baccarin look lovely here, hope to see her again with Jane. Rigsby not feeling confident ? come on, since when !
Rank: Staff Member
April 8th, 2011 12:27 PM
For Frank Lee MeiDere:
Jane proved that if Erica had the incredibly bright studio lights at just the right angle, the woman being interviewed would have been blinded in certain directions allowing Erica to sneak out of the room.
Rank: Guest Star
April 8th, 2011 12:02 PM
Absolutely wonderful to see Inara again, and I enjoyed the episode.
However: How did she get out of the room without her client seeing her? Did we ever get that cleared up? Having an accomplice doesn't make a difference. She still has to walk out.
April 8th, 2011 11:26 AM
Erica reminded me of Nicole Wallace, Bobby Goren's nemesis on L&O:CI. Same combination of beauty, brains, and pathology. Of course she'll be back: someone that challenging to the hero can't stay away for long. The problem with Red John is that you never see him. A femme fatale makes much better visuals. The central puzzle - how Erica got out of the studio while convincing the girl she was still there - was right out of the Columbo episode "Double Exposure." (Nothing is ever completely new.) It was also convenient that she used a tape recorder. A digital recorder would not have made any noise. As for back story, I was glad to see Rigsby is dating. After the fiasco with Grace, he deserves some happiness, and the perky little cutie seems just right for him.