Nothing But Blue Skies is the first and premiere episode of the seventh season of The Mentalist.
Summary[]
Jane and Lisbon decide to keep their new relationship a secret from their colleagues as they investigate the murder of an undercover agent. Also, young, ambitious agent Michelle Vega joins the team.
Recap[]
The season seven premiere opens with the killing of Jeremy Geist in the back alley behind Rocket Bowling Alley. He is shot in the chest once as he declares he knows the assailant, who then shoots him a second time in the chest, killing him. The assailant gets back in his car and drives off, leaving Giest's body in the street.
The scene fades to Jane, walking along the sunny street with coffee in his hands. He turns into Lisbon's yard and lifts his face to the sky, seemingly in bliss at where his life has taken him in the last two weeks. He walks up to Lisbon's door and knocks, handing her a coffee when she answers the door. He explains that it is a nice day outside and asks if she would like to sit out on the porch with him. She agrees and tells him to push her boxes she was unpacking to the side, stating they go in the garage. Jane, seemingly taking the role of domestic helper, tells her he will take them around in a few minutes. Both sit down and Lisbon suggests to Jane that she give him a key to her home, Jane smiles, tells her, "Well, it would make things easier," the two share a long look with each other. The look is broken when Jane notices a die-cast of an antique car in one of the boxes he moved earlier. He teases her, telling her that she doesn't seem to be a toy car kind of woman. Lisbon tells him that her grandfather had given it to her as a graduation gift and that she thought it was his favorite.
Lisbon brings the conversation back to their love affair, telling Jane that the two weeks they had off together were nice, but they had to get back to work at some point. Jane reluctantly agrees with her. Lisbon presses him about how to break it to the team, but is interrupted by Abbott, who is calling her back to work. She tells Abbott that she will be there, but when he asks where Jane is, she says she does not know. Hanging up, Jane is clearly amused and slightly hurt that she wants to keep him a secret from everyone. She looks for Jane's approval of this move, and is granted it, but not before Jane asks her if she is embarrassed by him. Lisbon replies she is not, she just wants to keep her private life private after all that happened with Marcus Pike.
The scene shifts to the crime scene in which Lisbon greets Cho. Cho fills her in on the victim as Jane comes up to the scene with pecan and a bubbly mood, hugging Cho and telling him he looks good. He turns to Lisbon and tells her casually that she looks good, too. Abbott walks up and tells them that the victim is actually an undercover FBI agent, and this case needs to be handled with care. Jane offers Abbott pecans, but Abbott refuses. After Cho and Abbott leave, Jane gets close to Lisbon, who mentions that their secret went well. Jane agrees and says he is heading back to the office, but before he does, he asks Lisbon what is in her pocket. Surprised, Lisbon puts her hand in her jacket pocket and pulls out a swan that Jane made from his empty pecan bag. The two share a smile as he walks away. The scene resembles a moment the two of them shared years ago when they started working side by side at the CBI and Jane made an origami jumping frog for Lisbon (Pilot).
We find ourselves back in the FBI office, where a meeting with another FBI agent named Ken Spackman is being held. Spackman tells the team that they were looking into illegal gun sales coming from the Bowling Alley. Spackman tells them that Geist was close to catching the seller. He also tells them that they can't disclose in their investigation that Geist was FBI. The team is less than thrilled that they can't discuss Geist's role, but have no choice but to accept it.
As the team gets ready to head to the Bowling Alley, Lisbon notices that Fischer's office is empty. Lisbon stops to ask Wylie where Fischer is. Wylie then explains to Lisbon that her mother had a stroke, and she went to Seattle to be closer to her mother. He then hands her a card that Fischer left for her, which read:" You're the best! Thanks for everything! Good luck with Jane!". Wylie then tells Lisbon that they are sending a new recruit from Quantico. Lisbon comments that it should be interesting to have a rookie join their team.
Back at the bowling alley, the team is met by its owner, Mason Hunston, who readily cooperates. When asked, he states the place is pretty calm most nights and states he was up in his office at the time of the murder. After Jane conducts a bit of banter with Hunston, Cho and Jane and Lisbon go question the patrons and workers of the bowling alley. Cho questions a man who doesn't trust the Government, but it’s not helpful. Jane and Lisbon question the bartender, Tish, and patron, Skye. Skye seems helpful when she tells Jane and Lisbon that Geist seemed 'spooked' the night of his death. Spackman interrogates the shoe rental guy, but gets nowhere with him other than noticing he is acting nervous. Cho calls Spackman over and tells him they are getting nowhere, to which Spackman disagrees and points to the shoe rental guy as his reason. Jane tells Spackman that the reason the guy is so nervous is because he has drugs in his shirt pocket. Spackman is skeptical and tells the team, specifically Lisbon, that they are whining. Jane takes offense that he is speaking to Lisbon in such a way, and tells him to stop talking to her like that. Spackman reiterates himself and Jane tells him to stop talking to Lisbon like that. When Spackman pisses him off, Jane takes things into his own hands by revealing Geist was an undercover FBI agent. Telling the gathered workers that the surprise on their face, called Micro-expressions, helps exclude them from suspicion. Jane points out that Tish is the one who is selling the guns. Tish takes off with Cho chasing after her, but she gets away.
Michelle Vega steps out from the elevator and asks Wylie where she can find Dennis Abbott. Wylie points her in the direction of his office. Jane and Spackman are in Abbott's office talking. Spackman is upset that Jane blew the cover, but Jane tells Abbott that Spackman pissed him off. Vega interrupts, introducing herself. Jane shakes her hand and reads that she is former military, to which she denies. Jane senses she is lying, but Abbott interrupts and tells Vega to go ask for Cho or Lisbon who will show her around. She exits, and Jane tells Ken he will make it up to him for losing Tish. Wylie shows Vega to Cho and Lisbon.
Abbott comes around and tells them that Jeremy's killer is still out there. Lisbon gets to work on the background checks for those who work at the Alley, and Jane makes his way to the elevators, where Abbott catches up to him. Jane explains that he is going to Jeremy's hotel room to look around. Abbott agrees and tells him that he doesn't know what is going on between him and Lisbon, but that Marcus Pike is in the building giving a deposition. Jane looks at Lisbon, who glances at him lovingly before the elevator doors close on him. He is let into Jeremy's room, where he takes notice of a bed on the floor next to a nightlight. Nothing else attracts Jane's attention, so he calls Vega, bringing up the fact he felt she lied to him before asking for a favor. She explains that she did not graduate from The Point and that her father died of cancer, and she wasn't interested in it anymore. Jane sympathizes with her and asks her to get Jeremy's psychological evaluation for him. She agrees and they hang up.
Meanwhile, Wylie tells Cho that they found Tish's truck in a parking garage. Cho allows Vega to ride along with him. When Tish makes her way to her truck, Cho steps out and tells her to surrender. Tish takes a hostage from the parking garage, giving her enough time to run from Cho. Vega, who is still sitting in the car, sees Tish heading right for her. Vega opens the door and tackles and cuffs Tish. Cho commends her for the take-down.
Back at the FBI, Spackman and Abbott try to get Tish to talk. They show her bank statements with thousands of dollars deposited into Tish's account, but her lawyer stops the interrogation. Spackman is unhappy, and Abbott is exasperated. He asks Vega where Jane and Lisbon are, to which Vega replies that Jane took Jeremy's psychological evaluation and went out for some air. Cho tells Abbott that Lisbon said she was going for a walk and just left. Abbott just replies "imagine that", and walks away.
Lisbon finds Jane outside reading Jeremey's documents. Lisbon sits beside Jane and asks him what he is doing and if he found anything useful. Jane is evasive, slipping back into being closed off. Lisbon tells him that he doesn't have to hide things from her anymore. They are one now and she doesn't need to be the last to know. He agrees and apologizes and shows her something he found in Jeremy's file.
Lisbon is showing the team what Jane found and explains that Jeremy, when he was younger, witnessed his friend being taken during a sleepover. That is why he sleeps with a nightlight. The kid was killed even after the ransom was paid, but Jeremy heard one of the suspects speak. Lisbon suggests that this is connected to Jeremy's murder, but Abbott thinks it is thin. Jane shows up with a hammer and says not only will they solve Jeremy's murder, but they will also nail Tish, too. Jane states someone will have to stay up late. That is Cho, who we see breaking into the Alley and planting two large duffel bags.
The next morning, Jane takes Tish back to the Alley, where he uses his Mentalist skills to "lead" them to the guns she sells and that Cho planted the night before. Tish swears she didn't hide them there, but Cho takes her outside. Jane then tells the remaining people that he is going to solve another crime: the crime of murdering a 12-year-old boy. Before he can begin, Cho yells out that Tish has a hold of his gun and we hear shots from outside along with glass breaking. Jane says Tish is shooting at them and Lisbon tells them to get to the kitchen. In the chaos, Hunston, the owner, sneaks off and grabs the gun that killed Jeremy from a panel in the display case. Cho appears and tells him to drop the gun. Hunston does so, and Jane proudly says he called it.
Back at the office, they interrogate Hunston, who flashes back to killing Jeremy. Hunston tells Cho that he must have said something to tip off Jeremy because he was snooping in his office. Hunston tells Cho about the abduction and murder of Jeremy's friend, but does not cop to his partner's murder. Meanwhile, in another interrogation room, Jane and Abbott are working on Tish. Jane tells her that he can pinpoint where the weapons are just by her stare at the map in front of him. Abbott offers her a deal if she tells them before Jane locates her weapons. After some time, Tish agrees to a deal, much to the chagrin of her lawyer. Spackman is speechless as Jane declares that it is 'his birthday'.
Coming out from Abbott's office, Jane sees a man at Lisbon's desk. At first, Jane isn't aware who he is. When he turns around, however, Jane sees that it is Pike, who is less than thrilled to see Jane. He greets Jane coldly, throwing down his pen on the notepad he was writing a message to Lisbon. Pike explains that he came to see Teresa. Jane tells him he thinks she is around, to which Pike says she probably is. Jane tells Pike the truth and says that Lisbon and he did not plan for things to go the way they did, and that Lisbon never intended to hurt Pike. Pike says he knows, but then asks Jane if he has a plan for Lisbon, stating "Well, I was offering her a life. A home, a family, if she wanted it. A future." When Jane admits that he hasn't thought that far ahead, Pike offers a low-blow by asking him what exactly it is that Jane has to offer Lisbon. Lisbon interrupts them, and Marcus and Lisbon say a final goodbye, as Jane waits for her by the elevator.
Going down to the lobby, Lisbon tells Jane that it was awkward, and asked what Pike said to him. Jane does not lie. He openly and honestly tells Lisbon that Pike wanted to know what his plans were for her. He admits that he has no plan, but that they both should follow their hearts to what makes them happy. Lisbon agrees.
Jane tells her there is one thing he wanted to show her. He points outside to where there is an exact replica of the car her grandfather gave her a die-cast of. He rented it for the day. Lisbon's squeak of happiness is followed by them driving off in the car as the episode ends.
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[]
- Pedro Pascal as Marcus Pike
- Tim Griffin as Ken Spackman
- Lisbeth Kingsley as FBI Special Agent Childs
Guest Cast[]
- Karina Logue as Tish Delaurio
- Bryan Rasmussen as Mason Hunston
- Liz Hamsher as Skye Coombe
- Anna Khaja as Ellen
- Frank Clem as Andy (Nothing But Blue Skies)
- Ray Porter as Wick Ammon
- Dakota Buchanan as William Kellogg
- Garrett Matheson as Jeremy Geist
- Holden Scott as 12 Years Old Jeremy Geist
- Connie Schiro as Hotel Manager
- Christian Dias as Dock worker
- Aden Stay as Gunmen
Trivia[]
- This is the only season premiere which is not written by the creator Bruno Heller.
| Season 7 Episodes |
| Nothing But Blue Skies · The Greybar Hotel · Orange Blossom Ice Cream · Black Market · The Silver Briefcase · Green Light · Little Yellow House · The Whites of His Eyes · Copper Bullet · Nothing Gold Can Stay · Byzantium · Brown Shag Carpet · White Orchids |