Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2011-12-29 12:32 am
rionaleonhart) wrote2011-12-29 12:32 am
Entry tags:
You Were Very Good Out There.
The Mentalist, 'Blinking Red Light': I don't really know what to say, but I know I have to say something. Spoilers!
So. 'Blinking Red Light'.
Holy crap.
At first, I wasn't sure whether Jane had orchestrated Panzer's death or just stood back and let it happen when he realised it was coming. I couldn't quite believe that it was deliberate on Jane's part, because that would be an astonishingly dark move on the part of a sympathetic central character - he would effectively be committing cold-blooded premeditated murder - but on rewatching the Karen Cross Show section... there's no doubt. Panzer says that he thinks the SJK will kill again many more times, effectively telling Jane that he intends to commit many more murders. Jane looks at the camera for a long moment, and he makes a decision, and then he brings up Red John. Deliberately. Knowing that Panzer will disparage Red John on television, and knowing what the consequences will be.
So... yes. Cold-blooded, premeditated murder. I actually found this more shocking, morally speaking, than the time Jane actually had the gun in his hand, because he didn't have the same personal stake here; it was a colder decision.
How has the sympathetic central character of this series committed murder twice? Oh, my God, Patrick Jane, there is so much wrong with you.
And then that's the moment after the broadcast when he approaches Panzer to tell him, 'You, uh, you were very good out there,' knowing he's already caused this man's death, and perhaps I'm reading too much into his delivery but I saw a really interesting mixture of 'I've really done this' not-quite-able-to-take-it-in shock and something almost anticipatory there. He's such a fascinating character! I want to watch everything he does. You know, from a safe distance.
Also fascinating is his relationship with Red John. Jane has basically devoted his life to killing Red John, but I find it impossible to say that he hates Red John. Over the entirety of The Mentalist, his attitude to Red John has become more and more difficult to distinguish from obsessive love.
Actually, the way Panzer spoke of the SJK reminded me strongly of the way in which Jane speaks of Red John.
I have no idea how to interpret that. I don't think that Jane is Red John. On the other hand, Red John has certainly become a huge part of Jane's identity by this point. Red John essentially created Jane; without him, Jane wouldn't be anything like the person he is now. And Jane's actions have been becoming darker and darker. So perhaps it's no surprise that the closest thing we've seen in The Mentalist to his relationship with Red John is a serial killer's relationship with himself.
I'm sort of terrified of where Jane might end up, but on the other hand I can't wait to find out.
...well, that was probably completely incoherent! Probably best not to attempt to talk about a character as brilliantly twisted as Patrick Jane this late at night.
In other news, episode 40.4 of Have I Got News for You is on in the background, the one with James Blunt guesting and Chris Addison hosting, and oh my God Chris Addison is so attractive in this. I have never found him attractive before! Is it his jacket? Is it his hair? Is it the way he's constantly fiddling with a pen? I do not understand!
So. 'Blinking Red Light'.
Holy crap.
At first, I wasn't sure whether Jane had orchestrated Panzer's death or just stood back and let it happen when he realised it was coming. I couldn't quite believe that it was deliberate on Jane's part, because that would be an astonishingly dark move on the part of a sympathetic central character - he would effectively be committing cold-blooded premeditated murder - but on rewatching the Karen Cross Show section... there's no doubt. Panzer says that he thinks the SJK will kill again many more times, effectively telling Jane that he intends to commit many more murders. Jane looks at the camera for a long moment, and he makes a decision, and then he brings up Red John. Deliberately. Knowing that Panzer will disparage Red John on television, and knowing what the consequences will be.
So... yes. Cold-blooded, premeditated murder. I actually found this more shocking, morally speaking, than the time Jane actually had the gun in his hand, because he didn't have the same personal stake here; it was a colder decision.
How has the sympathetic central character of this series committed murder twice? Oh, my God, Patrick Jane, there is so much wrong with you.
And then that's the moment after the broadcast when he approaches Panzer to tell him, 'You, uh, you were very good out there,' knowing he's already caused this man's death, and perhaps I'm reading too much into his delivery but I saw a really interesting mixture of 'I've really done this' not-quite-able-to-take-it-in shock and something almost anticipatory there. He's such a fascinating character! I want to watch everything he does. You know, from a safe distance.
Also fascinating is his relationship with Red John. Jane has basically devoted his life to killing Red John, but I find it impossible to say that he hates Red John. Over the entirety of The Mentalist, his attitude to Red John has become more and more difficult to distinguish from obsessive love.
Actually, the way Panzer spoke of the SJK reminded me strongly of the way in which Jane speaks of Red John.
I have no idea how to interpret that. I don't think that Jane is Red John. On the other hand, Red John has certainly become a huge part of Jane's identity by this point. Red John essentially created Jane; without him, Jane wouldn't be anything like the person he is now. And Jane's actions have been becoming darker and darker. So perhaps it's no surprise that the closest thing we've seen in The Mentalist to his relationship with Red John is a serial killer's relationship with himself.
I'm sort of terrified of where Jane might end up, but on the other hand I can't wait to find out.
...well, that was probably completely incoherent! Probably best not to attempt to talk about a character as brilliantly twisted as Patrick Jane this late at night.
In other news, episode 40.4 of Have I Got News for You is on in the background, the one with James Blunt guesting and Chris Addison hosting, and oh my God Chris Addison is so attractive in this. I have never found him attractive before! Is it his jacket? Is it his hair? Is it the way he's constantly fiddling with a pen? I do not understand!