Green Light is the sixth episode of the seventh season of The Mentalist.
Summary[]
The team is brought in to consult on a botched DEA raid, but when Abbott’s former boss tries to blackmail him into keeping the agency’s missteps quiet, Abbott is forced to choose between his career and his morals.
Recap[]
DEA agents head into a steakhouse with a search warrant. They rush the kitchen staff and hand a warrant to the manager. They bring in drug dogs to sniff around but haven’t found anything. The owner, Steven Korbell, gets handsy with Agent Anita Hammonds and Darrell Gonzalez, aka Gonzo, slams him against the wall, choking him. Agent Bill Peterson, the agent in charge, comes in and tells Gonzo to let him go. They found nothing so the DEA needs to pack up and go. Korbell threatens him and the DEA pulls out.
Abbott goes to see Bill Peterson, they are old friends, and tells him that Lena is in DC and doing well. The D.C. office has assigned him to work on the after-action report on the DEA’s botched search at the steakhouse because they want someone outside the DEA to look over the situation. Bill says it’s been a long time since they worked together at Rio Bravo station and did good work there. Abbott asks to talk to the DEA staff and wants to start with Gonzalez since the manager filed a complaint. Bill asks to see the report before Abbott submits it and Abbott says he can’t do it. Bill states he has people taking aim at him and needs to know if Abbott is giving them ammo. Bill reminds him he had his back at Rio Bravo and Abbott says he’ll see what he can do. Abbott takes Gonzo’s home address and leaves. Bill looks unhappy.
Lena and Abbott talk on the phone on his way, and she fills him in on what she’s doing in DC. He says he’ll call her later as he pulls up at Gonzo’s place. He sees something has been spray painted on the door and that the door is cracked. He pulls his gun and creeps up and calls out FBI and asks for Gonzalez. He goes in and sees the TV is on and then finds Gonzo’s body. He’s dead in a chair, blindfolded with duct tape on his mouth.
Lisbon and Jane talk about his birthday and she says she told everyone at work no songs, cake, or gifts but says she has one for him. He says she can’t keep it secret from him and she says that this time she knows she can.
Wylie wants to ask Vega out and is rehearsing it in a conference room. She comes in and he chickens out – she tells him Abbott wants them for a case. He introduces Bill Peterson to them and says Gonzalez is the victim. Bill says he appreciates their help and Abbott says they’ll extend every courtesy to him. The mark on Gonzo’s door is a calling card of the Sosa cartel. The restaurant they raided is owned by Steve Korbell who used to manage a Sosa cartel hotel in Mexico City.
Lisbon asks why Korbell would issue a hit on Gonzo after an unsuccessful raid. Jane agrees and Abbott says they can ask those questions in San Antonio. He tells them to saddle up. Jane asks Abbott what Peterson has on him and says he’s acting like he does. Abbott insists he doesn’t, and Jane drops it. In San Antonio, they check out Gonzo’s desk at the DEA. Jane sits to look through his desk and files.
Vega and Wylie talk to Gonzo’s fellow agents. Jeff Bordick was the analyst working with him and the guy gets angry and says they had it right and the restaurant was a front. Vega reminds him they’ve had other misses and Bordick gets snippy with them. Vega tells Orosco it’s okay when he tries to defend him. Pedro Orosco speaks in Spanish to Vega and Wylie and Bordick don’t get it.
Lisbon talks to Gonzo’s partner and Jane flips through surveillance photos. He asks where the restaurant owner is – he’s at the DEA – and Jane goes to talk to the guy. Korbell is there with his lawyer and Cho asks him where he was when the killing went down. Jane comes in and asks Korbell what time the restaurant opens. He says noon. Jane tells Korbell he can go, and Cho backs him up when the DEA guy fusses about it.
He goes to confront Jane who tells him the FBI is raiding the place today and wants to make sure Korbell is there. That agent then goes to tell Bordick and Orosco what Jane told him. Jane is outside the steakhouse, and he unscrews a lightbulb from the sign. He and Abbott go to have lunch there and Jane asks about Peterson. Abbott says he used to work to him. Peterson shows up and asks, then it’s noon and the lights go on. The lightbulb is on, and Jane says he turned it on.
They see Korbell go unscrew the lightbulb and Jane says Gonzo was killed because he realized someone on the DEA team is working for Korbell and is a killer. Lisbon says there have been a half dozen bad raids over the past year which means the person has been at the DEA a while. Abbott says Peterson is not a traitor, but Cho says they can’t rule anyone out. But then Jane speaks up and says they don’t need to consider Peterson.
Jane says they’re all poorly paid government employees, so the motive is obvious. He says he needs an errand run for him. Wylie asks Vega what Orosco said to her and she says he was apologizing for his partner being a jerk. Wylie starts to ask her out but then Jane interrupts and sends her back to San Antonio to collect all the badge ID photos from the DEA agents for the last three years. Abbott takes a call from Peterson who’s in town and wants to talk, but outside of the office.
Abbott agrees and goes to meet him. Peterson says it’s a hard thing to know that one of his team betrayed and killed a colleague. He says he didn’t tell the team and they still think it’s a cartel hit. Peterson asks to share the collar when they take the person down. Peterson says he has enemies and this can ruin his career unless he’s part of the solution. Abbott tells him he’s been asleep at the wheel and now he wants him to cover his ass. Abbott says he should be resigning.
Peterson says they’ve all done things they’d like kept quiet and Abbott asks if he’s going to hold Rio Bravo over his head unless he plays along. Peterson says it could be a problem for Lena’s confirmation. He pays for his drink, tells Abbott he needs this and tells him to keep him posted, then leaves. Abbott goes back to the office as Jane and Lisbon are packing to go. Jane tells her he’s going to stick around and he asks her if his gift weighs more than 3 ½ pounds and a few more questions.
He writes something down and says that’s his present guess. He tells her not to look at until tomorrow. She leaves and he goes to talk to Abbott. He says he’s guessing he just talked to Peterson and tells Abbott he’s listening. Abbott says he worked for him 10 years ago on a Rio Bravo station task force on the border. He says they were fighting the cartels with the Mexican police and says it was tough work. He says the Zeta cartel sent men out dressed as soldiers and shot men, women and kids routinely.
Abbott says he was watching a Zeta safe house and saw a Zeta commander dressed in a military uniform and knew he was going to go kill people. He says he couldn’t arrest him or get help from the local cops who were terrified. Abbott says he shot the man in the street. Jane tells him he did the right thing. Abbott says he doesn’t know about that. He says the next day he quit. Jane asks if Peterson knew and he says he guessed.
Abbott says the death of a commander made the news and Peterson knew he was nearby when it happened. He says Peterson can end his career and send him to prison. Abbott says even worse than that, it could ruin Lena’s career. Jane says he can’t let Peterson do it and Abbott says he has to stop him and asks Jane how. Jane says he’s not sure yet but says he’ll tell him when he knows.
Wylie asks Cho for help. He’s looking at Korbell’s phone and email records and Cho says to check out what the guy is looking at on the web. Wylie says he looks at Persian long hairs. Lisbon says there is no way he’s into cats, he’s too macho. Wylie decides to check out the message boards. Vega brings the photos to Jane and he thanks her profusely. He studies them when Vega comes in and asks what he’s looking at – he says the eyes.
He says he doesn’t want to ruin the surprise but says maybe she can help. She asks if he wants him to help him with a trick. Vega says she appreciates being part of the team and says she respects the results but doesn’t like the things he asks people to do. She says those aren’t things she thought of the FBI. Jane asks if she wonders if her father would approve and she says he was a strict military guy. Jane says she’s proof he was a good dad and says she has to decide for herself what her father would approve of.
He goes back to studying the photos and Vega asks what he wants her to do. He says he’ll tell her when he’s done with the pics. Peterson calls Abbott and says not to hold out on him and says it won’t go well for him. Abbott comes to see Jane and Wylie says Korbell was using a cat blog to communicate using coded language. He gives a sample communique but Wylie says they don’t know who he was talking to. Wylie says Korbell has stopped communicating and Jane says he’s getting ready to run.
Jane says to gather these 10 DEA agents and tell them they think Korbell is rabbiting. Jane tells Vega that she’s on and tells her she’ll be fine. Vega goes to see Peterson and says he’s under arrest. He’s stunned. Jane brings the 10 agents to an auditorium and asks them to sit. He says one of them killed Daryl Gonzalez. Abbott says they all have to turn in their guns before they discuss it. Jane says one of them is working with the Sosa cartel and killed a member of the team.
They all hand over their guns to Lisbon and Cho who take them out of the room. They unload all the weapons once out of sight. Jane asks the agents if anyone has inherited money recently from a deceased relative. Two raise their hands and are sent to the back of the room. Gonzo’s partner asks what that matters and he tells her he’s asking the questions. He asks if anyone works with someone in the beauty field and one guy says his husband does and he’s sent to the back.
Jane then asks about divorces and sends a divorced woman to the back. Jane says he looked at all their ID photos and says almost all have spruced up their hair on their ID photos. Jane says divorce, money and a beauty salon partner makes a difference. Vega busts in and says she found the killer. She says it’s Bill Peterson. He’s brought in wearing handcuffs and looking none too pleased. He tells Abbott to get his people in line and curses at him.
Abbott tells the others they can pick up their firearms on the way out. Lisbon follows Bordick out to his car and asks what’s the rush. She says he killed Gonzo. Cho follows Orosco out and asks why he’s running and also accuses him. Abbot follows Gonzo’s partner out and accuses her of murder too. Cho says he’s not leaving Orosco alone. Abbott and Lisbon each tell their marks they are on them until they put them behind bars.
Each of the three gets a call and turns their back on their mark. Cho is the one that’s fired at. He turns and tells Orosco they were blanks. He beats the guy down and cuffs him. Lisbon tells Orosco they found his go bag with all his money and his Croatian papers. Lisbon says they also found the tracking program that Gonzo had installed on his computer. They ask Orosco why he betrayed his team. He says he’s been passed over for promotions time and again.
Orosco says it took them years to catch him and says he was the most powerful guy in the DEA building and says that makes him the smart one. They then go arrest Korbell and several of his employees for drug dealing. Korbell is flipping on the Sosa cartel. Peterson rails at Abbott for perp walking him in front of his people. Peterson says he was supposed to keep him filled in and says he was supposed to get the credit.
Peterson tells Abbott that he and Vera are done and Jane tells him to apologize and take it back. Jane says this is all about fear and Peterson asks what. Jane says he’s sure that Peterson has a stash of dirty money and says they will find it. Peterson stomps out and Jane tells Abbott they have him right where they want him. Wylie tells Vega she did awesome with her part of the ruse. She says it was fun. She gets a text from Bordick at the DEA asking her out on a date.
Vega says she has no interest in that and says she wants to focus on work. Wylie says he totally gets that. Vega heads to admin and asks if he’ll be there later. He says he certainly will be but looks stressed out. Lisbon shows up at Jane’s trailer with a cupcake with a candle in it. She wishes him happy birthday and he blows it out. She hands him his gift and he looks at it. She tells him to open it and he does. He’s shocked and pulls out his blue coffee mug from their days at the CBI. On the day they closed down the CBI, it broke when someone grabbed his arm; she kept the pieces and had it repaired. She unfolds the scrap of paper he gave her and it says “I have no idea.” Jane tells her he’s genuinely surprised and says it’s a beautiful gift. He kisses her and tells her bravo. She asks if he’s pretending that he didn’t know but he tells her to take the compliment. They drink their champagne and he pulls her in for another kiss.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Simon Baker as Patrick Jane
- Robin Tunney as Teresa Lisbon
- Tim Kang as Kimball Cho
- Rockmond Dunbar as Dennis Abbott
- Josie Loren as Michelle Vega
- Joe Adler as Jason Wylie
Recurring Cast[]
- Dylan Baker as Bill Peterson
- Christine Adams as Lena Abbott
- Lisbeth Kingsley as FBI Special Agent Childs
Guest Cast[]
- Ross Partridge as Steven Korbell
- Sumalee Montano as Susan Nguyen
- Jeremy Ray Valdez as Pedro Orosco
- Blake Shields as Mike Milligan
- Chastity Dotson as Anita Hammonds
- Philip Anthony-Rodriguez as Darrell Gonzalez
- Chris Conner as Jeff Bordick
- Ryan Groves as Undercover Agent
- W. Lee Hill as Undercover Agent
- Calle Morgan as DEA Agent
- Evan Tyler Stallone as DEA Agent
- Laura Hart as Pool Party Guest