Some points I've enjoyed a lot in this rewatch of The Mentalist (I'm nearing the end of the third season):
- Jane underlining his refusal to pay a perfectly legitimate speeding ticket by crumpling it up and eating it.
- Jane always, always says 'thank you' in response to polite gestures, just as people do in real life. It makes me realise how rarely we see that small, everyday politeness in television.
- Jane's cowardice has always been one of my favourite traits of his. What a rare quality in a lead character! If he's threatened, he'll either become very submissive or run away and hide; he's absolutely not prepared to stand his ground if there's a risk of physical harm. It's sort of hilarious when he switches in an instant from 'oh no, dangerous man, hide hide hide' to 'ha, my colleagues have captured the dangerous man, now I can safely emerge and taunt him.'
- Everything about the twisted relationship Jane has with Red John. The show's actually more explicit than I remembered about the pseudo-romantic component: 'It sounds like he's jealous, Patrick. It sounds like he wants to take away everything and everyone that you care about. It's a form of love, you know?' And there's that 'happy anniversary' card Red John leaves Jane in a later episode, isn't there? I thought at first that Jane's fixation was one-sided, but Red John seems to return his terrible feelings. Well, their feelings aren't exactly the same - it's 'you're my entire purpose in life and I'm going to kill you' on one side and 'you're fascinating and I'm going to see what I can shape you into' on the other - but on both sides those feelings are dark and obsessive and fascinating.
- It's an interesting detail that, after the second-season finale, in which Red John strokes Jane's shoulder while Jane is bound to a chairand it's hot, Jane starts taking petty revenge on anyone who touches him unexpectedly. (Here's a strange and wonderful fact I was not previously aware of: Simon Baker voices Red John in that second-season scene.) I'm glad Jane still has no qualms about touching other people himself; his casual physicality is a quality I've always loved about him (and half the reason I 'ship him so much with all of his colleagues). Just kiss your boss's boss on the cheek; that's normal. Hug her to hide from a suspect and then leave your arm draped around her shoulder for way too long. It's not like she's going through a divorce and this is really inappropriate or anything.
Hightower is by far the best agent-in-charge in The Mentalist, and I'm really sad the show continued to cycle through characters for that role rather than sticking with her permanently. Still, at least she gets an interesting storyline. I love the scene in 'Red Queen' where Jane holds her at gunpoint. You're his friend and his colleague, Hightower, but he is absolutely going to abduct you if there's any chance you can lead him to Red John.
(There are a couple of scenes in The Mentalist where I go 'wait, why is Jane acting like that, this doesn't fit with my understanding of his character' and then I realise there's a Red John connection and it all falls horribly, perfectly into place. I love how Jane switches from charming and playful to flat-out terrifying whenever Red John is involved.)
'Red Gold', where Hightower goes out into the field to work a case with Jane, is great. I wish we could have had more episodes like that. She and Jane have so much chemistry.
I really need to write a Hightower instalment for my Jane/everyone fic.
- Jane underlining his refusal to pay a perfectly legitimate speeding ticket by crumpling it up and eating it.
- Jane always, always says 'thank you' in response to polite gestures, just as people do in real life. It makes me realise how rarely we see that small, everyday politeness in television.
- Jane's cowardice has always been one of my favourite traits of his. What a rare quality in a lead character! If he's threatened, he'll either become very submissive or run away and hide; he's absolutely not prepared to stand his ground if there's a risk of physical harm. It's sort of hilarious when he switches in an instant from 'oh no, dangerous man, hide hide hide' to 'ha, my colleagues have captured the dangerous man, now I can safely emerge and taunt him.'
- Everything about the twisted relationship Jane has with Red John. The show's actually more explicit than I remembered about the pseudo-romantic component: 'It sounds like he's jealous, Patrick. It sounds like he wants to take away everything and everyone that you care about. It's a form of love, you know?' And there's that 'happy anniversary' card Red John leaves Jane in a later episode, isn't there? I thought at first that Jane's fixation was one-sided, but Red John seems to return his terrible feelings. Well, their feelings aren't exactly the same - it's 'you're my entire purpose in life and I'm going to kill you' on one side and 'you're fascinating and I'm going to see what I can shape you into' on the other - but on both sides those feelings are dark and obsessive and fascinating.
- It's an interesting detail that, after the second-season finale, in which Red John strokes Jane's shoulder while Jane is bound to a chair
Hightower is by far the best agent-in-charge in The Mentalist, and I'm really sad the show continued to cycle through characters for that role rather than sticking with her permanently. Still, at least she gets an interesting storyline. I love the scene in 'Red Queen' where Jane holds her at gunpoint. You're his friend and his colleague, Hightower, but he is absolutely going to abduct you if there's any chance you can lead him to Red John.
(There are a couple of scenes in The Mentalist where I go 'wait, why is Jane acting like that, this doesn't fit with my understanding of his character' and then I realise there's a Red John connection and it all falls horribly, perfectly into place. I love how Jane switches from charming and playful to flat-out terrifying whenever Red John is involved.)
'Red Gold', where Hightower goes out into the field to work a case with Jane, is great. I wish we could have had more episodes like that. She and Jane have so much chemistry.
I really need to write a Hightower instalment for my Jane/everyone fic.
