The Mentalist"A Dozen Red Roses"
Original Air Date: April 7, 2009.
Liz - Associate Staff Writer
liz@thetwocentscorp.com
Okay, today's lesson was this: Hollywood is clearly awesome. Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin impersonators walk the streets, nepotism is well and a live, and every time you turn around someone is getting shot or telling on someone else for shooting someone. Clearly, Liz has a different definition of awesome than most people, but in her fiction, she'll take it.
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[photo: CBS]
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The Mentalist
ReplyDelete"A Dozen Red Roses"
Original Air Date: April 7, 2009.
Liz - Associate Staff Writer
liz@thetwocentscorp.com
Okay, today's lesson was this: Hollywood is clearly awesome. Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin impersonators walk the streets, nepotism is well and a live, and every time you turn around someone is getting shot or telling on someone else for shooting someone. Clearly, Liz has a different definition of awesome than most people, but in her fiction, she'll take it.
Felix Hanson is discovered shot to death, and is immediately recognized by Lisbon as a prosecutor who took on the drug trade and kicked their asses. Rigsby recognizes him as the husband of famous actress Felicia Scott (played in this episode by Simon Baker's real life wife, Rebecca Rigg). It's thought that it could be a murder related to his war on drugs, but when they discover a lot of pot in his car, they revise this theory. A drug related murder, as Jane says, just not in the way they thought.
The first person they talk to is Gabriel, a director friend of Felix's, who was heading up a project they had all been working on together. Gabriel was directing, while Felix had invested ten million dollars of his own money as a producer, and Felix's wife Felicia is meant to star. He had dinner with Felix the previous night, supposedly to celebrate his first foray into film producing. Jane is skeptical -- after all, Gabriel took him out to celebrate but only paid half the bill. That in mind, Lisbon checks in with Grace, who has the name of the last person Felix talked to on his phone, one Frederick Ross. She pulls up his profile and recognizes him as the guy in the beer commercial. (Not the one with the llama.)
Jane and Lisbon go visit the Hanson residence while Grace sends Cho and Rigsby to find Ross. At the Hanson residence, they meet Felicia, as well as Felix's daughter Sidney. They talk shop, and while they do so Sidney receives a text message and a picture of her and her boy drops out of her bag. The boy is her boyfriend Brandon Fulton, although it's also mentioned that her stepmother doesn't like him. She also gives them an important clue: her father wanted to back out of the project, and thought Gabriel had screwed up the script. When Cho and Rigsby arrive at Ross's apartment, he isn't at home although he comes home as they're knocking on his door. He runs, they pursue, and he gets away in his car.
Next day, Lisbon and Jane visit the set and after some difficulty, get past Gabriel's agent, Mitch, to see the temperamental director. In his trailer, Gabriel is doing drugs -- for his creativity, of course. He admits that Felix told him that he was planning on pulling his funds. And then Gabriel passes on his narcotics charge to Mitch, who willingly takes it. What a guy. On set, Felicia and Sidney are filming a scene when Felicia feels a need to play acting coach, and at the end of the scene she and Gabriel clash. Like whoa. Before we can see the full fledged bitchfest though, Sidney leaves and Jane is in hot pursuit. He starts to question her about her relationship with Felicia when she takes off in a golf cart.
Things get more twisty and strange. Freddie Ross is a drug dealer, and Cho, Rigsby, and Grace find him at a party with Sidney. Ross is a dealer -- more specifically, bad boy Brandon's dealer. Sidney stole things from the house so Brandon could get cash -- including a gun: the gun that may or may not have killed Felix Hanson; and Brandon hasn't been seen since Felix was killed. Things aren't looking good for Brandon. Based on Jane's prediction that Brandon will visit the Hanson home that night, a stakeout is arranged. Since Jane knows everything, Brandon shows up and startles Felicia, who shoots him in what we are meant to believe is self defense.
Brandon's a big talker to Rigsby and Cho, but they manage to get him to fall in line. There's my boys! He won't answer anything about the gun or whether Sidney was involved, and legally speaking the CBI is stuck, since a prosecutor would not reasonably be able to put Felix, Brandon, and the gun in the same place at the same time. Jane goes in to talk with Sidney, asking if she made him shoot her father. Then, it becomes clear that Jane is putting one of his Cunning Plans into motion.
Felicia and Sidney are going back to work, and everyone is going to be in on the trick -- except for Felicia -- to get her to admit that she was behind Felix's death. Predictably, since Jane is right about everything, Felicia was behind it. She admits to getting Brandon to shoot Felix because she was angry with him. She believed he was jealous of her success and didn't want her to act.
This was a nice episode, understated and not heavy handed. Although I have to admit I spent a better part of the episode smirking over the fact that Simon Baker's wife was playing the victim's widow. I don't think it informed their performances, which speaks of a talent and professionalism that not everyone can claim. I think the best scene was the last, when Felicia is saying happiness is hard to find, and Jane quietly agrees. Heartbreakingly simple and simply heartbreaking.
Cho was back in full, fierce force tonight with the quip and one-liners. I think there needs to be more Rigsby and Grace, especially after last week's hypnotized kiss of doom (well okay, maybe not doom). I'm usually in favor of putting story over 'ships, but in this case I'm just like sure. Let's do this. Your two cents on this and the episode in general is, as always, encouraged. Tell us what you think!