Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2012-06-01 10:00 pm
rionaleonhart) wrote2012-06-01 10:00 pm
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Maybe Finish That Fic In Which Jane Actually Does Become Psychic.
I have now seen 'The Crimson Hat', the fourth-series finale of The Mentalist! Here are my thoughts. This entry also contains spoilers for 'Red Rover, Red Rover', the preceding episode.
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pensive1 said that this felt like a series premiere rather than a finale, and I have to agree. 'Red Rover, Red Rover' would have made a great finale. But I would have been freaking out until the next series began, so I suppose part of me is relieved that we had 'The Crimson Hat' now.
I had a miniature freakout when 'Six Months Later' appeared, at least. Six months! Jane conning people for six months without the CBI to keep him centred! Having a... sort of breakdown! I know he says he's faking the breakdown, but, as Lisbon says, that's debatable. He buried a man alive. That's not the sort of thing one does merely as a means to an end; that would be evil, and Jane isn't evil. So either he wasn't thinking straight or he genuinely believed it was a morally justifiable action. (The latter, of course, is entirely possible and also really scary.)
Incidentally, although I was sad that Jane wasn't with the CBI: LISBON AND VAN PELT WORKING TOGETHER, YES, THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN MORE OFTEN.
At first my reaction to the Jane/Lorelei was quite negative, because noooo Jane doesn't have sex with people it's just not right, but then it turned out that it was essentially Red John having sex with him by proxy, which is delightfully twisted enough for me to let slide.
Sudden alarming thought: as Jane apparently does have sex with people now, do I have to revise my Jane/everyone headcanon? In my head, Jane is wholly in love with Lisbon, Van Pelt, Cho, Rigsby and Hightower, but there's no possibility he'll ever have sex with any of them. Might I now have to remove the 'nonsexual' aspect of Jane's powerful nonsexual love for the team?
On consideration, no, I think the 'nonsexual' can stay. Jane's issues with sex, in my head, are a Red John thing; on some level, he believes that Red John will take anyone he's close to. So long as Jane doesn't have sex with the people he's in love with, he can pretend to himself that he's not in love with them and therefore they're safe from Red John. The first time he has sex after the death of his wife, it turns out to be with a Red John agent. If anything, the connection between sex and Red John in Jane's head is going to be stronger now. The man is deeply, deeply messed up.
Of course, I don't think this is the only possible interpretation! Thinking that Jane is generally all right with the concept of sex is perfectly valid. I'm just weirdly attached to my 'JANE IS IN LOVE WITH EVERYONE BUT WILL NEVER HAVE SEX WITH THEM OR INDEED KISS THEM ANYWHERE MORE INTIMATE THAN THE FOREHEAD' theory, so I have to rationalise it back into plausibility whenever canon seems to contradict it.
(Come to think of it, there's also the factor of his connection to Lorelei. He liked her, perhaps, but he wasn't in love with her. So maybe Jane can only have sex with people he's not in love with, because there's less risk involved. If Red John had taken Lorelei, Jane would have been distressed, but he would have been able to cope. If Red John took a member of the team, it would destroy him.
And, of course, if he already knew Lorelei was working with Red John - and he almost certainly did - then obviously losing her to Red John wasn't a concern in the first place and all this rambling has been entirely pointless. WHOOPS.)
ALL RIGHT, THAT'S QUITE ENOUGH RIDICULOUS HEADCANON REGARDING JANE'S SEXUAL HANGUPS. Back to the actual episode.
I loved Jane reaching out to Lisbon for comfort at the end and the two of them holding hands by the side of the road; it was such a touching moment. I also loved Jane's 'Good luck, Teresa. Love you' just before the gunshots.
INCIDENTALLY THE ADVERT BREAK JUST AFTER THE GUNSHOTS WAS THE WORST ADVERT BREAK EVER. Even though of course I knew that Jane would never actually harm Lisbon. (The 'it's Rigsby' thing was quite cunning, because my mindset snapped from 'ahahaha the writers would never kill Lisbon off' to 'oh my God they actually could kill Rigsby' before reminding me that Jane wouldn't. Even if the writers tried to make Jane kill a member of the team, he wouldn't. You can't make Jane hurt the people he loves.)
I wasn't actually thinking of the 'love you' as a potentially romantic thing at all until Lisbon asked Jane what he had meant by it. Because of course he loves her. That's never been in any doubt. I think it would be difficult to deny it no matter how little one might 'ship Jane/Lisbon. People may disagree on the nature of that love, but Jane loves Lisbon. It's just a fact.
He also loves the entire rest of the team, and I shall continue to say so until this is universally accepted as fact as well.
And now the series is over! I'll miss you, The Mentalist. Looking forward to your return already.
(Maybe I should try to write more Mentalist fanfiction in the meantime. I really haven't written enough Jane/everyone. Of course it's impossible to write enough Jane/everyone, but I should at least have a crack at it.)
pensive1 said that this felt like a series premiere rather than a finale, and I have to agree. 'Red Rover, Red Rover' would have made a great finale. But I would have been freaking out until the next series began, so I suppose part of me is relieved that we had 'The Crimson Hat' now.I had a miniature freakout when 'Six Months Later' appeared, at least. Six months! Jane conning people for six months without the CBI to keep him centred! Having a... sort of breakdown! I know he says he's faking the breakdown, but, as Lisbon says, that's debatable. He buried a man alive. That's not the sort of thing one does merely as a means to an end; that would be evil, and Jane isn't evil. So either he wasn't thinking straight or he genuinely believed it was a morally justifiable action. (The latter, of course, is entirely possible and also really scary.)
Incidentally, although I was sad that Jane wasn't with the CBI: LISBON AND VAN PELT WORKING TOGETHER, YES, THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN MORE OFTEN.
At first my reaction to the Jane/Lorelei was quite negative, because noooo Jane doesn't have sex with people it's just not right, but then it turned out that it was essentially Red John having sex with him by proxy, which is delightfully twisted enough for me to let slide.
Sudden alarming thought: as Jane apparently does have sex with people now, do I have to revise my Jane/everyone headcanon? In my head, Jane is wholly in love with Lisbon, Van Pelt, Cho, Rigsby and Hightower, but there's no possibility he'll ever have sex with any of them. Might I now have to remove the 'nonsexual' aspect of Jane's powerful nonsexual love for the team?
On consideration, no, I think the 'nonsexual' can stay. Jane's issues with sex, in my head, are a Red John thing; on some level, he believes that Red John will take anyone he's close to. So long as Jane doesn't have sex with the people he's in love with, he can pretend to himself that he's not in love with them and therefore they're safe from Red John. The first time he has sex after the death of his wife, it turns out to be with a Red John agent. If anything, the connection between sex and Red John in Jane's head is going to be stronger now. The man is deeply, deeply messed up.
Of course, I don't think this is the only possible interpretation! Thinking that Jane is generally all right with the concept of sex is perfectly valid. I'm just weirdly attached to my 'JANE IS IN LOVE WITH EVERYONE BUT WILL NEVER HAVE SEX WITH THEM OR INDEED KISS THEM ANYWHERE MORE INTIMATE THAN THE FOREHEAD' theory, so I have to rationalise it back into plausibility whenever canon seems to contradict it.
(Come to think of it, there's also the factor of his connection to Lorelei. He liked her, perhaps, but he wasn't in love with her. So maybe Jane can only have sex with people he's not in love with, because there's less risk involved. If Red John had taken Lorelei, Jane would have been distressed, but he would have been able to cope. If Red John took a member of the team, it would destroy him.
And, of course, if he already knew Lorelei was working with Red John - and he almost certainly did - then obviously losing her to Red John wasn't a concern in the first place and all this rambling has been entirely pointless. WHOOPS.)
ALL RIGHT, THAT'S QUITE ENOUGH RIDICULOUS HEADCANON REGARDING JANE'S SEXUAL HANGUPS. Back to the actual episode.
I loved Jane reaching out to Lisbon for comfort at the end and the two of them holding hands by the side of the road; it was such a touching moment. I also loved Jane's 'Good luck, Teresa. Love you' just before the gunshots.
INCIDENTALLY THE ADVERT BREAK JUST AFTER THE GUNSHOTS WAS THE WORST ADVERT BREAK EVER. Even though of course I knew that Jane would never actually harm Lisbon. (The 'it's Rigsby' thing was quite cunning, because my mindset snapped from 'ahahaha the writers would never kill Lisbon off' to 'oh my God they actually could kill Rigsby' before reminding me that Jane wouldn't. Even if the writers tried to make Jane kill a member of the team, he wouldn't. You can't make Jane hurt the people he loves.)
I wasn't actually thinking of the 'love you' as a potentially romantic thing at all until Lisbon asked Jane what he had meant by it. Because of course he loves her. That's never been in any doubt. I think it would be difficult to deny it no matter how little one might 'ship Jane/Lisbon. People may disagree on the nature of that love, but Jane loves Lisbon. It's just a fact.
He also loves the entire rest of the team, and I shall continue to say so until this is universally accepted as fact as well.
And now the series is over! I'll miss you, The Mentalist. Looking forward to your return already.
(Maybe I should try to write more Mentalist fanfiction in the meantime. I really haven't written enough Jane/everyone. Of course it's impossible to write enough Jane/everyone, but I should at least have a crack at it.)
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I hadn't thought about that, but yeah, that's true. Actually, now I wish that it had been, because "Red Rover"/"Crimson Hat" would have made a better finale/premiere pair than any of the previous ones have been since the premieres have always been somewhat disappointing.
I know he says he's faking the breakdown, but, as Lisbon says, that's debatable.
I've been trying to decide when exactly did Jane start acting? When he burned the files? And also, his faking the breakdown was pretty method, since he was drinking even when no-one could have been watching (unless he's paranoid enough to think that Red John would be watching him absolutely everywhere) - even though it was all just an act, the fact that he would spend six months basically living on the streets just to set a trap isn't exactly making him look sane either.
then it turned out that it was essentially Red John having sex with him by proxy, which is delightfully twisted enough for me to let slide
My thoughts exactly. In fact, my brain pretty much got stuck on "OMG! Jane just basically had sex with Red John!" after it was revealed that she was one of RJ's proxies :D I'm not sure which one is the creepier option - that Jane didn't know she was working for RJ and Jane had non-consensual sex with Red John by proxy, or that he knew she was working for RJ and had consensual sex with Red John by proxy...
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Good point! Then again, given his emotional farewell to Lisbon before fake-shooting her, I have to conclude that he gets really, really into character when deception is essential; Jane had to convince himself that he was really shooting Lisbon.
The drinking still seems odd, though. You want to stay on full alert when you're playing games with Red John.
I'm not sure which one is the creepier option - that Jane didn't know she was working for RJ and Jane had non-consensual sex with Red John by proxy, or that he knew she was working for RJ and had consensual sex with Red John by proxy...
WELL NOW I'M GOING TO BE WONDERING ABOUT THIS ALL DAY.
(Incidentally, a bit of poking around has revealed that you were the person who nominated my silly Jane/Cho ficlet for the Paint It Red awards. Thank you so much! You've made me smile an awful lot. (And congratulations on winning with your lovely Jane/Cho graphic!))
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So I was :) I meant to tell you, but completely forgot. It's such a perfect little story that it was one of the first ones that came to my mind when I tried to think of things to nominate.