Black Hearts is the twenty-first episode of the sixth season of The Mentalist.
Summary[]
With time running out to save the victims of a kidnapping ring before they are transported overseas, Jane and Lisbon zero in on the criminal enterprise’s mastermind. Meanwhile, Lisbon decides if she will move to D.C. with Agent Pike.
Recap []
Cho is contacting every organ transplant center in the area to find the organs harvested from three victims of a human trafficking ring. Cho believes that the people who abducted the girls are also behind their murders. Patrick goes to one of the corpses and looks at her. Abbott appears and asks if Patrick thinks there are more. Patrick notices that their blood types were written on the women’s feet, and that these guys know what they are doing.
Lisbon and Pike are talking to a man in D.C.; Lisbon has a guaranteed job waiting there if she decides to go with Pike. Lisbon is surprised by the offer. Abbott tells her that it sounds like a great gig, but they’d be sad to lose her. Pike asks Lisbon what she’s thinking. Lisbon still isn’t sure if she wants to go. Pike mentions how he’s been patient and that it's time for her to make a decision.
The Qasimi brothers are discovered stabbed to death in their prison cells. Patrick asks Lisbon what she’s doing, she says that she’s thinking about life. Wiley appears and tells Patrick and Lisbon that his research uncovered the identity of the owner of the truck as well as the abandoned medical center where the truck was taken, a man named Michael Ridley. Lisbon and Patrick go to interview him, and Ridley claims he had never been to the medical center. Patrick interrupts to ask why his office is so plain, and Ridley says he isn't much for decorating, it’s just a workplace. Patrick continues looking around the room as Lisbon asks why thirty abducted women were found in a truck from a company he owns, at a medical facility he also owns. She observes that his corporate structure is so convoluted, it looks like he didn't want the truck linked back to his company. Ridley claims there was no deception on his part, brushing it off as something done for corporate tax purposes, but Patrick makes it clear he knows Ridley is hiding something from them. Ridley provides them with the number of his CFO so they can have access to whatever they need. As Patrick and Lisbon leave, Ridley calls his associate, Anthony, to tell him that the FBI found three dead bodies at his medical building, and that the FBI will find whoever is responsible. He tells Anthony to look into it.
Lisbon seeks Cho's input about her job offer in D.C., and he says it would be a great move for her. Cho mentions how his first day almost made him quit because of Wayne Rigsby, but he decided to stay because he saw how Lisbon worked. Cho tells her that whatever decision she makes, it has been an honor, and they hug.
Fisher tells Abbott that Forensics found the DNA of fifteen women and one man at the medical facility where they found the three dead bodies. The one man was identified as a former doctor, Alexander Lark. Cho and Fisher go speak to Lark's daughter, April, and learn that she doesn’t speak to her father anymore because he became an alcoholic after the death of her mother. She mentions how he would usually go to the beach to escape.
Lisbon and Patrick arrive at Ridley’s house. Lisbon thanks Ridley for seeing them again, while Patrick makes insightful observations about photos displayed in the room, and Ridley admits he’s right. Patrick shows Ridley a picture of Alexander Lark, but Ridley denies recognizing the man, and Patrick says he’s lying. Lisbon says they’re going to find Lark, and they will find out if Ridley’s involved. Cho and Fisher track down Lark's car and arrest him, while Anthony watches from a distance. Anthony calls Ridley with a status update, and Ridley tells him that they can’t be allowed to take Lark alive. He asks Anthony if Lark is "in range", and Anthony says yes, but he isn’t alone. Ridley instructs Anthony to "go… go now," and Anthony remotely detonates a bomb in Lark’s car and drives away from the scene. Cho, Fisher, and Lark all survive the blast.
Fisher and Abbott interrogate Lark, asking how Ridley’s human trafficking operation works. He explains that a guy named Jesse was in charge of finding girls, most of whom were sold off, but all of them had medical tests first, and any with the right blood and tissue types would be taken to the medical facility, a heart drawn on their hands. They came in unconscious and would never wake up, because Lark gave them propofol before harvesting the organs, they never felt a thing, but Lark admitted he killed them by taking their vital organs. Later, another employee would pick up the organs, using forged paperwork to make it look legitimate to the doctors and hospitals. The same employee would come back every few weeks to remove the dead bodies from the freezer. Lark didn’t know the employee’s name, but we can see through a flashback that it is Anthony. Abbott asks Lark when he started working for Ridley. He answers that it was six years ago. Ridley was a former patient, and he made the offer when Lark had lost his medical license due to alcoholism. Lark needed the money and Ridley paid well, saying Ridley had been in human trafficking for years. Fisher asks Lark if he was ever bothered by killing these women. Lark admits he was, but after a while he stopped thinking about it, then takes a swig of the alcohol Abbott provided him with so he wouldn’t suffer withdrawal during the interrogation.
Patrick and Lisbon barge into a business meeting to arrest Ridley for human trafficking and murder. Cho informs some government officials that they suspect the women are being shipped to South America, and that 12 ships still need to be searched when they reach port in Colombia. He is told that Colombian port officials are bought off by drug cartels, which would make it very difficult to get these ships properly searched. Cho contacts the Colombian Ambassador about facilitating the search warrant for those ships as soon as possible, but the Ambassador claims there are chains of procedure and it will take time. Cho asks if he understands what will happen to the girls if they aren’t found and what will happen to the Ambassador himself. Cho says he is not threatening him, but that "I’m not an enemy you want to make." and if the warrant doesn’t come through in time, the FBI will be forced to look into the problem of drug cartels having influence over the Colombian government. The Ambassador pauses, then says he will see what he can do. Fisher walks in and tells Cho they’re letting Ridley out on bail.
Ridley discovers Patrick waiting for him at his car. Ridley tells Patrick he understands he wants him punished, to see him suffer, and Patrick says he wouldn’t mind it. Ridley insists he didn’t kill anyone but suggests that whoever did kill the women may have had a greater cause than money in mind, that maybe the women were killed so that lives of important men could be spared, people who shape the world. Patrick doesn’t know how to react to Ridley’s outrageous justification, but Ridley suggests if anyone should understand his perspective, it should be Patrick, who agrees that, having worked with psychopaths and monsters, he does understand Ridley’s perspective. The men wish each other a lovely afternoon and part ways.
The interrogation of Lark continues, but he can’t provide names of the organ recipients because all that information is on Ridley's encrypted laptop. Lark says that last week, he had a meeting at Ridley’s house; he arrived early and overheard him with a client who needs a transplant, a wealthy Nigerian man. Lark describes him as a Nigerian man wearing a Philippe Badeaux gold watch. Abbott then asks for more info on Ridley’s employee (whom we know is Anthony). Afterwards, Fisher gives Wiley a drawing of a tattoo with the Latin words "Veni Vidi Vici" that Lark said the employee has on his forearm. After dark, we see Anthony silently enter April Lark’s apartment; he stands over her as she sleeps, staring at the locket around her neck.
The scene cuts to Lisbon taking tea to Patrick, who is napping on the couch, and she tells him to scooch over so she can sit with him. She starts making small talk about him sleeping on this couch so much, asking when he last slept in his own bed, how she always liked this couch... trying to work up the nerve to talk to him about her transfer to D.C. Just then, her phone rings. Patrick can tell she’s trying to start an uncomfortable conversation, so he urges her to take the call, which seems to bring disturbing news from Fisher. Lark has hung himself in his prison cell. He left no note, but his daughter’s locket was found on his bed.
Abbott hands the locket to a weeping April Lark, saying they found it in her father’s cell. She says that’s impossible because she was wearing it last night, and she thought she had lost it. April then realizes someone came into her apartment and stole it while she slept. They are pulling security footage of Lark's cell to see what happened to him. Patrick surmises that Lark committed suicide because he knew Ridley found his daughter; April’s life was probably threatened in order to coerce Lark to kill himself, so he couldn’t be questioned further. Patrick wants to talk to the Nigerian who Lark overheard meeting with Ridley, knowing he can implicate Ridley as the mastermind.
Daniela asks Cho whether they have found her sister, Amy; Cho says not yet, but they think she is on one of four cargo ships headed to Colombia. Daniela feels sure her sister is still alive; Cho assures her, if Amy is on that ship, they will be there to find her when it docks in twelve hours. The scene cuts to the interior of a cargo container full of women who appear ill and weak, some of them sleeping; the camera pulls out to reveal the container is on a large cargo ship stacked with several dozen similar containers, travelling through the ocean. Wiley thinks he found the fundraiser Lark mentioned, where he thought Ridley met the Nigerian; it was an environmental charity event six weeks prior, and he has emailed the details to to Lisbon.
Patrick goes to the evidence locker, requesting the evidence from the abandoned hospital. Fisher and Lisbon are looking through photos of the charity event, to find the Nigerian man. Fisher offers to wait for Patrick, if Lisbon would prefer it, but Lisbon asks why, since he hates this kind of stuff; Fisher says they always work together, but Lisbon says not always. They spot the man, recognizing him by the expensive wrist watch Lark earlier described; he is a Nigerian oil executive named Jonas Diop. Ridley calls Diop to warn him that the FBI may be on his tail. Ridley says he knew the risks when he got involved, and advises him to flee the country immediately. Patrick pockets a bottle of pills from the hospital evidence when Lisbon calls to tell him Diop boarded a private plane twenty minutes ago, and he is headed back to Nigeria. Teresa despairs that he was their only lead, but Patrick says he’s got a plan and needs her help. He will need her to be deceitful and corrupt, and she'll be breaking numerous laws. Patrick tells Lisbon to meet him at the abandoned hospital in two hours.
Patrick again visits Ridley at his home, where they speak cordially and share some Japanese whiskey. Patrick creates a distraction that allows him time to put a drug in Ridley’s drink. Ridley sips his drugged whiskey, explaining why it is superior to other liquors. Patrick allows him to take the time so the drug takes effect, then tells Ridley they tracked down his Nigerian client. Ridley claims Diop was just a business associate, and that the FBI should concede defeat and move on. Ridley starts feeling strange, and he tells Patrick it’s time for him to leave. Patrick suggests that he doesn’t look too well and might need to lie down, that it looks like he’s been drugged. Ridley passes out.
Ridley begins to regain consciousness as Patrick pushes him on a gurney into the same room where the women were killed. Lisbon tells Patrick that they don’t need to do this, but Patrick insists on proceeding. Ridley is very groggy but wakes up just enough to see them performing surgery on a man who is alive and conscious, strapped down to a gurney; Ridley can see “Veni Vidi Vici” tattooed on the man’s arm. With their backs to Ridley, Lisbon and Patrick make a mess with fake blood all over themselves and the “victim”; Ridley buys the act and believes they’ve killed Anthony, which Lisbon claimed is poetic justice after what Ridley has done. Afraid for his own life, he says they can’t do this to him, and that a coerced confession will never hold up in court. Patrick agrees, and since they can’t force a confession, he is poised to cut open Ridley’s belly with a scalpel. Ridley begs him to stop, promising to tell them everything, that all the records are on his encrypted laptop. Lisbon demands the password, which he provides, and she accesses the records right there, because she brought his laptop with her.
Ridley and his attorney are in the interrogation room, accusing Patrick of torturing Ridley and murdering Anthony. Abbott shows Ridley a live security feed, proving Anthony is alive and well in a holding cell downstairs. Ridley is baffled, insisting he saw Patrick kill Anthony. Abbott suggests Ridley consider revising his statement. Lisbon hands Wiley a wet wipe to remove the fake tattoo from his arm. Abbott orders Lisbon to go to his office; Patrick is already there. Abbott asks if the serious claims Ridley has made against them are true. They both deny doing anything wrong. Abbott dismisses Patrick but not Lisbon. Abbott says that Patrick is a liar and he expects this sort of thing from him, but that Lisbon is a good person with a long career ahead of her; he doesn’t want to see her throw away the opportunity she’s been given for a new job in D.C. He asks again if there’s any truth to Ridley’s accusations, and Lisbon reiterates that everything Patrick said was true.
Cho meets with Daniela again to update her. He tells her that earlier that day Amy was one of thirty women aboard a container ship docked in San Marta. He says they found her, then turns toward the hallway. Daniela follows Cho’s gaze, and sees her younger sister walking toward her. The sisters embrace, and Cho is satisfied by the joyful outcome.
Pike arrives to pick up Lisbon. He apologizes for pressuring her to make her decision about D.C., and tells her it’s her life and he just wants to be a part of it. Lisbon says she made up her mind, and she will call Don tomorrow to say she will take the job. Pike is clearly relieved. He says he wishes they were someplace more romantic and proposes marriage to Lisbon. She gets very flustered, saying it’s a huge decision and she needs time to think about it. Pike says no pressure and gives her a kiss. Pike asks if she’s told Patrick yet that she’s leaving, and she says she hasn’t. He offers to wait for her downstairs and walks out. Lisbon approaches Patrick, who is sitting on his couch, reading a book. Patrick asks how it went with Abbott and thanks her for covering for him; he says they make a good team sometimes. She’s just standing there, so he asks if she’s heading out, and all she can do is say yes, grab her bag, and leave. Lisbon loses her nerve, never mentioning her news about D.C. or the proposal. As she walks away, Patrick looks like he could tell there was something important she didn’t say, then grins a little as he returns to his book.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Simon Baker as Patrick Jane
- Robin Tunney as Teresa Lisbon
- Tim Kang as Kimball Cho
- Rockmond Dunbar as Dennis Abbott
- Emily Swallow as Kim Fischer
Recurring Cast[]
- Pedro Pascal as Marcus Pike
- Joe Adler as Jason Wylie
- Zuleyka Silver as Daniela Welker
- Titus Welliver as Michael Ridley
- John Hensley as Anthony Tremel
- Nandy Martin as Amy Walker
- Lisbeth Kingsley as FBI Special Agent Childs
Guest Cast[]
- Robert Joy as Alexander Lark
- Magda Apanowicz as April Lark
- Luis Fernandez-Gil as Ambassador Moreno
- Clare Carey as Emma Valeria
- Ajgie Kirkland as Jonas Diop
- David L. King as FBI Head Don Anderson
- Paul Schackman as Alan Montross
- Ana Dela Cruz as FBI Agent
- Chuck Ashworth as FBI Agent
- David Carpenter as Cop
- Andra Petru as Ridley Employee