I agree with 'The Joker' that this is one the best/the best episodes of the Mentalist. It's was like a serial killer supernova with all of the most important&greatest minds/serials killers of the show at their best. This one also had no doubt the best ending any episode could possibly have. Also a big bravo for Panzer/David Paymer for his incredible enactment of a cold blooded psycho-killer. He was very convincing and giving you the shivers with just his look. This was The Mentalist at its best and awesome entertainment. I have enjoyed re watching this many times. This one gets my Oscars! :)
12 Reviews
Arguably, the best episode of The Mentalist
TheClownPrinzeOfCrime1 November 2014
Warning: Spoilers
We've already seen how brutal Jane can be, his whole mind is a mystery. In this episode Jane goes against a man who is a serial killer known as the San Joaquin Killer. This man is not only a killer, but also a master manipulator. For years he's been taking the lives of women and hiding behind a very unbreakable mask of innocence which Jane saw through in no time. But this killer could not be stopped by the law as one of the authorities clarified, their 'hands are tied.' But Jane's wasn't, what he did next I'm pretty sure surprised all of us who never saw it coming. The return of Red John and the elimination of a man who challenged his ethics and skills. 10/10 to saw the least!
Patrick Jane - Warrior of Justice
Ban_Midou_66624 January 2019
This episode really shows who Patrick Jane really is. What ever be the means necessary, he will get the job done. And David Paymer is the show-stealer in this episode.Just by looks he was giving me chills. One of the best episode of The Mentalist.
This has to be the best episode up to this point
chrishellovart26 April 2022
Absolute clever writing. Perfect acting. Perfect ending. I'm going out of my way to review this episode, still in awe of what I just watched.
Patrick Jane is every criminal's worst nightmare. The actor who played the serial killer was flawless in his acting. Every scene with Jane and the SK had me at the edge of my seat, and sent chills down my spine. This was surely a perfect episode.
Patrick Jane is every criminal's worst nightmare. The actor who played the serial killer was flawless in his acting. Every scene with Jane and the SK had me at the edge of my seat, and sent chills down my spine. This was surely a perfect episode.
Brilliant Episode
jonah-jf30 June 2020
Very clever, Patrick Jane!
cjcards5 January 2020
This episode came together in a way I did not see coming. I loved witnessing the "battle of wits" between Jane and Panzer, especially at the "round table" ... you could just see the mental wheels turning on each of their faces. I watched the episode twice, and loved it even more the second time as I picked up on things I missed the first time through, eg. the wall behind Panzer when he is on the phone with Jane.
Bravo, Mr. Jane! You skillfully manipulated two serial killers in one clever play and got the confirmation you needed.
Awesome writing
codename-zack11 March 2021
I don´t expect such a good episode and a lot less that ending
oliverjuegajuegos16 June 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This episode is a very rare one if you compared with the other, they just used other formula, and they do it amazing, I love when Jane realizes who is the killer, bro, such a intense moment, and that final OMG¡¡¡, this for my is one of my favorites episodes from the mentalist
The Serial-Killer
claudio_carvalho8 January 2022
When a teenage girl is found dead in a park slit with stones on her eyes, Lisbon finds other murders with the same MO in the local police. Patrick asks her to use her instincts to choose the main suspect for her. She selects Richard Haibach and the team investigate him believing he might be the San Joaquin serial-killer. When Jane watches Karen Cross interviewing Wainwright and the journalist and blogger James Panzer about the killer, he invites Panzer to join him in the investigation. But Patrick has a secret agenda.
"Blinking Red Light" is an excellent episode of "The Mentalist". The duel between Patrick Jane and the witty blogger James Panzer is magnificent. The conclusion of the episode is awesome. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "Blinking Red Light"
"Blinking Red Light" is an excellent episode of "The Mentalist". The duel between Patrick Jane and the witty blogger James Panzer is magnificent. The conclusion of the episode is awesome. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "Blinking Red Light"
One of the best episodes for sure
erenbozkir8 December 2023
Absolutely brilliant writing, great television right here. I would even dare to say best episode of mentalist so far. It got me hooked to the screen from the start.
Aside from writing, acting was on point as well. The actor who played the serial killer was just simply brilliant. Jane was great as usual too! Every scene they were together was so chilling, it is hard to describe with words really. Not only clever exchange between these two characters but their body language and their acting just with their look was crazy.
Ending was so good as well. Jane showed how brilliant he is one more time.
It is surely in top 3 episodes of mentalist so far if not 1st.
Aside from writing, acting was on point as well. The actor who played the serial killer was just simply brilliant. Jane was great as usual too! Every scene they were together was so chilling, it is hard to describe with words really. Not only clever exchange between these two characters but their body language and their acting just with their look was crazy.
Ending was so good as well. Jane showed how brilliant he is one more time.
It is surely in top 3 episodes of mentalist so far if not 1st.
Best Episode of the Series
wavehamptoniii24 December 2023
Brilliant storytelling from start to finish. Not only does the writing of this episode develop the series further, it subtly showcases how carefully Simon Baker's titular character chooses his words and actions. Baker is masterful in his portrayal. Tunney does what she does best in her role as Lisbon, attempting to catch the bad guy by-the-book, yet offers a more intuitive side of her character as she embraces Jane's methods. Throughout the episode the audience is led to believe that who we suspect is the true villain, however we, like Jane, are felt unsatisfied as the investigation proceeds, only to be rewarded in the end. It takes true talent to make a show as great as this.
A flawed plot
LoveIsAStateOfMind31 December 2015
Warning: Spoilers
If Jane set up Panser to be killed by Red John, why didn't he follow Panser and then when RJ came to kill him, they could catch RJ (or rather attempt to catch RJ).
Now I know that RJ is cleverer than Jane so it's true that he probably would have realised that Panser was under surveillance and wait to strike but I thought that Jane/Lisbon would have at least attempted something because for me that screams a wasted opportunity both in terms of catching RJ and just good TV writing.
If Jane is clever enough to see that justice is served on an evil serial killer who would otherwise have gotten away with murder and to pit him against RJ, then he is good enough to use him as bait. They know RJ's one weakness (he can't stand people slating his reputation) and they so should have used that opportunity to set a trap (like I said, even though RJ is probably too smart for that, the fact they didn't even try ..) and I always thought that they would eventually start going down the "bait" route to try and get RJ (which they now can't do without being in danger of reusing a storyline). And Jane is so sure of himself and was so sure of the fact that Red John was still out there that he didn't need to waste this opportunity just to prove that RJ is still alive, he could have used it to attempt to corner him as well.
Also, Lisbon will have been watching the interview so she must know what Jane did (i.e. give Panser enough rope to hang himself with) but is she going to be annoyed and disgusted by what Jane's done? No. Should she be? Yes. Obviously Panser deserved to be punished but she is meant to play by the rules and accept that sometimes the criminal justice system doesn't work properly. She should be abhorred at what Jane's done. Especially since that now makes 2 bad guys that he's killed (either directly or indirectly) and she can't be okay with him going around doing things like that. And this is why I can't be okay with Jane/Lisbon with the way things are. We always knew what Jane was like: he was arrogant, self-centred, out for revenge, but somehow I didn't think we would get to the stage where he does things (twice in a short space of time) which ends up in people being dead and not suffer the consequences. This is House territory and you know how I felt about House as a character.
Now I know that RJ is cleverer than Jane so it's true that he probably would have realised that Panser was under surveillance and wait to strike but I thought that Jane/Lisbon would have at least attempted something because for me that screams a wasted opportunity both in terms of catching RJ and just good TV writing.
If Jane is clever enough to see that justice is served on an evil serial killer who would otherwise have gotten away with murder and to pit him against RJ, then he is good enough to use him as bait. They know RJ's one weakness (he can't stand people slating his reputation) and they so should have used that opportunity to set a trap (like I said, even though RJ is probably too smart for that, the fact they didn't even try ..) and I always thought that they would eventually start going down the "bait" route to try and get RJ (which they now can't do without being in danger of reusing a storyline). And Jane is so sure of himself and was so sure of the fact that Red John was still out there that he didn't need to waste this opportunity just to prove that RJ is still alive, he could have used it to attempt to corner him as well.
Also, Lisbon will have been watching the interview so she must know what Jane did (i.e. give Panser enough rope to hang himself with) but is she going to be annoyed and disgusted by what Jane's done? No. Should she be? Yes. Obviously Panser deserved to be punished but she is meant to play by the rules and accept that sometimes the criminal justice system doesn't work properly. She should be abhorred at what Jane's done. Especially since that now makes 2 bad guys that he's killed (either directly or indirectly) and she can't be okay with him going around doing things like that. And this is why I can't be okay with Jane/Lisbon with the way things are. We always knew what Jane was like: he was arrogant, self-centred, out for revenge, but somehow I didn't think we would get to the stage where he does things (twice in a short space of time) which ends up in people being dead and not suffer the consequences. This is House territory and you know how I felt about House as a character.
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