Red John's Rules is the twenty-second episode and season finale of fifth season of The Mentalist. The episode is written by Bruno Heller and was aired on May 5.
Summary[]
Red John strikes again, and this time the victim triggers distant memories from Jane's old life. When Eileen Turner is found dead in a motel room and her baby vanishes, Red John leaves a phone number on the wall. Patrick Jane and Lisbon meet her social worker Miriam Gottlieb that suggests that her violent husband Roddy Turner might have kidnapped the baby. They also investigate Eileen's uncle Sean Barlow, who is a violent man. Meanwhile Patrick Jane reduces his list of suspects of who is Red John to seven names.
Recap[]
Lisbon goes to Jane's hideout, surprised to find the door wide open and all of Jane's research taken down. She finds Jane outside burning all of his research. Jane tells her he's close, but refuses to give her any information. He goes downstairs while Lisbon bugs him about what he's found out. Jane tells her he's been awake for a week and just needs a little sleep. He'll get back to her after he sleeps. He sleeps for the entire day and into the next morning.
Lisbon gets a phone call and goes to wake him up. She tells him that there's a murder and they think it's Red John. They arrive at the crime scene to find Brett Partridge stating to the crime photographer that he doesn't think it's Red John. Jane questions his assessment then asks for the room, kicking the photographer and Brett out of the room. Lisbon asks what he thinks and Jane says that it's Red John. He can feel it. Jane stares at the woman and states she looks familiar. Lisbon tells him that the woman's 6-month-old baby is missing. She asks Jane again if he's sure it's Red John and Jane finds a number written on the wall above the phone. He tells her it's certain as he calls the number. Someone from child protective services (CPS) answers and Jane asks where they're located. As soon as he hangs up he tells Lisbon that it's in a place he spent some time as a child.
They leave to go to the location of the CPS branch. While they are driving, Lisbon asks him what he's figured out about Red John. Jane tells her he's gotten it down to seven names, and Lisbon gets excited. She asks him for the names, and he tells her that he doesn't think it's a good idea for her to know.
Cho and Rigsby are still at the hotel interviewing people. The manager of the hotel tells them that a guy stopped by a few days ago and he looked like trouble, so he lied and told him the woman wasn't there. However, when the manager told the woman about him, she thanked him. They ask if the manager would recognize him and he states he could. They ask to speak with the maid that found the body, but the manager says that Sandra Guzman already left. Rigsby says that the police told her to stay there and the manager states that the maid was covered in blood and freaking out. They ask for her address and the manager tells them he's got it inside.
At CPS, Lisbon questions why Jane won't tell her the names. Jane thinks she'll get mad at him if he tells her the reason and she points out she's already mad at him. Jane states she's not mad, she's just vexed. Inside CPS they talk to Miriam Gottlieb and ask her to identify who the woman is. Mariam sees the picture and tells her that it's Eileen Turner. She asks if Caitlyn is safe and they tell her that whoever murdered Eileen probably took the baby. Miriam tells them that the person they want is Roddy Turner. He's Eileen's husband and he was abusive. Eileen left him a week ago. She gives them the address of 1204 Stony Ridge and Jane interrupts with surprise on his face, stating that he knows where that is. Lisbon tell Miriam that they may be back just before she leaves to catch up with Jane.
Outside of CPS, Jane explains that Stoney Ridge is a traditional carney layover. In the winter, he'd stay there. It's practically his hometown. They get to the trailer park and Jane states that Red John is bringing him home. Lisbon tries to say it's a coincidence, but Jane doesn't believe in them. Jane goes and knocks on a trailer door, only for his friends Pete and Sam to come out and jubilantly greet him. Pete asks what he's doing there. A little while later, they are discussing the murder. Lisbon asks what their connection is to Eileen, and Pete tells her that Roddy is his nephew. Lisbon asks if Roddy has a cell and Pete tells them no. However, Jane tells him they're practically family and that he shouldn't be lying. Pete insists he's not. Lisbon tells the couple about what Miriam said about the abuse and Pete and Sam tell them that it's not even remotely true. The only reason that's even been brought up was because they'd had a fight the previous month and someone called the cops on them. Lisbon asks what kind of car Roddy is driving. When Pete says that he doesn't know, Jane rolls his eyes. Lisbon, who can also tell they're lying, tries to point out that Caitlyn might be in danger. However, Pete states that since Roddy didn't kill Eileen, then he doesn't have the baby. As they walk away, Jane tells Lisbon that Pete's probably calling Roddy and, despite the fact that he's innocent, he's going to show up at the crime scene.
Rigsby calls to give Lisbon an update. He says they're still trying to find the maid. She says to take a break and go stake out the hotel for when Roddy shows up. They spot him pull into the motel. He does get brought in for questioning only after he assaulted a cop. Rodney isn’t talking but Jane and Lisbon can figure out by his silence that he’s possibly protecting another family member.
When they go checking into the victim’s family, Jane realizes that he had history with her too. Lisbon is still trying to claim its all coincidence but Jane can no longer buy that. He goes in alone to interrogate Rodney’s family. It’s seems the victim, Eileen, and Rodney were Romeo and Juliette. Eileen’s uncle is the one everyone suspects of killing her. So is he Red John?
The uncle was Jane family friend once upon time. Until there was falling out. He’s a psychic. He tries to analyze Lisbon and comes up with her supposedly in love with Jane and lying in bed thinking about him. His diversion tricks don’t work with Jane.
The uncle isn’t too broken up about his niece but he does want his great-niece. He does one piece of wisdom he wishes to share. He believes that the real Red John must be an actual psychic and that’s why he’s always a step before Jane.
Cho and Rigsby bring in a witness. The witness tried to flee but they were able to capture her. Nevertheless the witness doesn’t have anything new. She fled because the murder had scared her.
Jane and Lisbon concoct a way to drive out the culprit. They set a trap for both the ex-husband and the uncle. Whoever doesn’t show; is the culprit. Rodney shows up but so does the uncle. Neither of them killed Eileen. Yet the game isn’t finished. The social worker that first pointed a finger at Rodney is now a likely culprit.
Lisbon's team manages to capture Red John's accomplice, Miriam Gottlieb, who gives Patrick an envelope containing a DVD. On it, Lorelei Martins explains that she's about to die for revealing that Jane shook Red John's hand at one point, and then goes on to list the seven names Jane has: Bret Stiles, Gale Bertram, Ray Haffner, Reede Smith, Bob Kirkland, Thomas McAllister and Brett Partridge. He then promises to start killing again, frequently, "until you catch me or I catch you."
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Simon Baker as Patrick Jane
- Robin Tunney as Teresa Lisbon
- Tim Kang as Kimball Cho
- Owain Yeoman as Wayne Rigsby
- Amanda Righetti as Grace Van Pelt
Recurring Cast[]
- M.C. Gainey as Pete Barsocky
- Tangie Ambrose as Samantha Barsocky
- Drew Powell as Reede Smith
- Jack Plotnick as Brett Partridge
- Emmanuelle Chriqui as Lorelei Martins
Guest Cast[]
- Michael Hogan as Sean Barlow
- Laura San Giacomo as Miriam Gottlieb
- Marisa Guterman as Sandra Guzman
- Alice Amter as Marta
- Scott Anthony Leet as Roddy Turner
- Mary Jo Catlett as Ruth (Red John's Rules)
- Brett Robert Pearsons as Val Ziskin
- Zac Henry as Kevin Barlow
- Homie Doroodian as Motel Clerk
- Denney Pierce as Cop
- Dean Wayne as CPS Bureaucrat
- Diane Witter as Receptionist
- M@tch as Venice Beach Crowd
- Kiiara as Eileen Barlow Turner (as Jenny Dempsey)
Production Information[]
In the promo, Jane and Lisbon inspect a murder scene with the smiley face on the wall. Jane tells Lisbon that the killing was Red John. When she asks how he knows, Jane replies "Because when it's him, I can feel it."
At the murder scene Brett Partridge arrives before Jane and Lisbon and is accompanied by a forensic photographer. The photographer asks Partridge if he thinks it's really Red John who commited the murder. He says "I've worked Red John's murder scenes since he began. Totally bogus." He says RJ has been laying low for years, at which the photographer replies that RJ had recently killed. Partridge claims it was an internal affair and that Lorelei Martins' murder doesn't count.
It shows Cho and Rigsby aiming their guns and running, as well as Jane telling Lisbon that he has a list with seven names. The trailer ends with a man telling Jane that Red John will always defeat him. Jane says, "We'll see."
In the CTV promo it can be seen that Lisbon asks Jane what's on the disk, and soon after, Jane plays a video recording on a laptop with Lorelei saying, "There's new rules now..."
By the end of The Mentalist's Season 5 finale, viewers will finally know Red John's real name.
Despite the twists and tricks of the past [1], creator and executive producer [2] Bruno Heller insists that one of the names on Jane's list is indeed his serial-killing nemesis.
"The cards are up on the table and they're the real cards," Heller tells TVGuide.com. "There is no sort of double twist. There's no more messing around.We've been through all the twists and turns of plot, and we're now getting to the truth. Only the truth gets revealed from now on in."
So, how well do we know the seven possible suspects? "You will recognize some of the names," Heller says. "Some will be obscure, some will be very well-known. But they're all legitimate suspects, and[3] next season we will have to work out which one is the real guy. But under a great deal of pressure, that will be revealed at the end of this episode." Indeed, just as Jane thinks he's closing in, Red John strikes out against someone from Jane's past. And the move is baffling to Jane. "It's someone Red John couldn't possibly know is connected to Jane," Heller says. "So, just when Jane thinks he is finally one step ahead, Red John is still on top. He doesn't turn things around to make Jane realize what he's learned is wrong, but it appears almost magical." [4]
This episode will feature a character called Sean Barlow who is an old Irish psychic from Jane's past. He could become a recurring character. Samantha and Pete, Jane's friends from his Carnival days, will also be back.
References[]
- ↑ (remember Bradley Whitford as Red John?)
- ↑ Bruno Heller interview
- ↑ next
- ↑ [1] [2]
Trivia[]
- Lisbon knocks on Jane's locked door 7 times to ask him what's on the disc given to him by Red John (7 knocks = 7 suspects).
- Lisbon remembers her mother "feeding pigeons" when talking to Patrick about Eileen Barlow's connection to him and Red John. This is the first clue the audience gets as to Red John's identity, specifically his phobia- later revealed in "Black-Winged Redbird".
- Jane answers Lisbon's idea Red John may be a real psychic with "Please. And what if dolphins were actually aliens from another galaxy? That would be kind of cool." This is, after "So Long, and Thanks for All the Red Snapper", another reference to the fourth book in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.
