User Reviews

Just when I thought the writing improved after the death of Red John, the writers seemed to mail this one in. Jane, Lisbon, and Spackman head to Louisiana to find a woman who may be the key to finding the hitman. A man answers the door and his right hand goes behind his back and Lisbon says nothing about that. Who the hell wrote this scene? Anyone with military or law enforcement experience was probably yelling "hands!" at their TV or computer monitor (watching it on DVD). It doesn't end there. Lisbon doesn't even draw her gun until after Spackman is shot twice (though he had his weapon drawn) and the hitman has escaped?! Did the show's lead producers not realize this makes Lisbon and Spackman look incompetent? Even if the hitman is a world class assassin, in the time it takes him to draw his gun from behind his back, shoot once at Jane and Lisbon, Spackman should have been able to get off at least one shot but never pulls the trigger before the hitman turns 180 degrees and shoots him twice? Spackman is coming from behind the hitman, he should have seen everything and been prepared to shoot. The score is hitman 4-0 over Lisbon and Spackman, in terms of shots fired. Who in the writer's room thought this was a good idea AND made sense? If they agreed the hitman had world class skills, then Jane and Lisbon should be dead too! I know for certain that if I am in Spackman's position, I am getting shots on target. Meanwhile, I am convinced that Robin Tunney is the weakest link on this show. I didn't believe she was a senior CBI agent let alone an FBI agent. Her brief stint as a sheriff in Washington State was believable. Part of the blame goes to the writers but I don't think she has what it takes to portray a highly ranked female cop on TV. Perhaps one explanation is almost no one involved with "The Mentalist" viewed the show as a serious crime drama. Of the original core cast members, hats off to actors Tim Kang and Simon Baker for taking their roles seriously and delivering every single episode.