Eric Winter | The Mentalist

• Genre: Crime drama, Mystery thriller, Police procedural
• Created by: Bruno Heller
• Developed by: Bruno Heller
• Starring: Simon Baker, Robin Tunney, Tim Kang, Owain Yeoman, Amanda Righetti, Rockmond Dunbar, Emily Swallow, Joe Adler, Josie Loren
• Composer: Blake Neely
• No. of seasons: 7
• No. of episodes: 151
• Executive producers: Bruno Heller, Chris Long, Daniel Cerone, Eoghan Mahony, Tom Szentgyörgyi, Ashley Gable
• Producers: Charlie Goldstein, Ken Woodruff, Simon Baker, Erika Green Swafford, Michael Weiss, Matthew Carlisle, Alex Berger
• Running time: 40–50 minutes
• Production companies: Primrose Hill Productions, Warner Bros. Television
• Network: CBS
• Release: September 23, 2008 – February 18, 2015

Patrick Jane is a crime consultant with the California Bureau of Investigation. He has a particular gift for astute observation and reading people, honed through years of being a faux psychic. His gift makes him brilliant at solving murders, which is why the CBI have him around. However, his motive for taking on the role is purely one of revenge: find and kill the man who killed his wife and daughter - Red John.

"The Blood on His Hands"

A young woman associated with Visualize is found dead and the CBI works to discover if someone from Visualize is the murderer leading them to join forces with FBI Agent Craig O'Laughlin who reveals the FBI's investigation of the role of Visualize in tax evasion and racketeering. Cult leader and founder of Visualize, Bret Stiles offers Patrick information on Red John and the disappearance of Kristina Frye to defuse their rivalry and try to ease their relationship. The information is found to be accurate and Kristina is found alive, but catatonic. She has been made to believe that she is actually dead and cannot recall any details about her abduction or Red John.

"Red Hot"

Jane and the CBI team narrowly escape a fiery end when a building explodes while they are investigating a death threat sent to businessman Bajoran. Called up by billionaire Walter Mashburn (Currie Graham), the CBI must consider him a suspect given his need for thrill and his past connection to Bajoran's wife and Mashburn and Bajoran's longstanding enmity. Meanwhile, sparks fly between Lisbon and Mashburn who makes no pretense of his interest in her.

"Red Moon"

Ellis Mars, a local astrologer, helps Patrick solve a triple murder involving two policemen and an EMT's fiancée. The case expands to several previous policemen murders, and forces the killer to break his normal full moon killing cycle to keep from being exposed. While the local police believe it was Mars who was the killer, Patrick realises it was the seemingly-livid and distraught EMT himself, Todd Johnson. After his arrest, Patrick arrives at Johnson's cell at his request, only to find Johnson in flames. Johnson later dies from his injuries, but not before whispering the first verse of The Tyger, revealing Red John was involved in Johnson's activities and death.

"Jolly Red Elf"

After the death of a Santa, the CBI follows leads that take them to an AA group and the National Society of Authentic Santas. Meanwhile, when Todd Johnson, a person in custody, dies, the Professional Services Unit (PSU) investigator, J. J. LaRoche (Pruitt Taylor Vince), questions Patrick about the death of Johnson, he is a major suspect as he was the last person to see him alive. Patrick, avoiding LaRoche, reaches out to retired CBI Supervising Minelli (Gregory Itzin), who agrees to provide information to Patrick when he reveals Johnson was a member of Red John's network, a fact Red John himself does not know, which finally gives Patrick the advantage.

"Blood for Blood"

While protecting Justin DeGeorge, the key witness against drug baron Adrian Essex, Van Pelt is knocked out and the witness murdered. His daughter, Trina, probably has crucial memories but her aunt, Jody, refuses to let Patrick question her. The team nabs Essex's accomplice, Eugene Boden. LaRoche is investigating Van Pelt's role is letting the witness die and offers her a positive result if she agrees to spy for him on her team for the Todd Johnson investigation. Announcing that Trina has remembered, Jane and the CBI lure US Marshal Gorman as being the one who was paid to carry out the hit on the witness. Van Pelt shoots Gorman dead when he attacks her and Lisbon. Van Pelt is cleared and she turns down LaRoche's offer to spy on her team. Agent O'Laughlin proposes to her and she accepts. Trina remembers that she was the one who shot her father in self defense after confronting him about her mother's death.

"Red Queen"

The CBI team investigates the fatal stabbing of Manuel Montero, a university professor of ancient art. Meanwhile, Hightower admits to La Roche that she had a sexual relationship with Rance Howard, one of Todd Johnson's victims. Rigsby and Cho visit Montero's warehouse and find he was illegally trading guns. Lisbon finds a link between Montero and Johnson - a gun from Montero's cache was the one Johnson used to kill his victims. Jane realises that Hightower might be identified from the fingerprints found at Montero's crime scene. He pries Hightower away from the briefing and tells her about the Johnson's connection to Red John. Having established Hightower's innocence, Jane lets her use him as a hostage to escape from the CBI headquarters. Hightower urges Patrick to share their plan with Lisbon, but he refuses.

"The Red Mile"

The body of Timothy Hartley is stolen while en route to the morgue. Jane invites coroner Dr. Steiner to join the CBI on solving the case having realized he is terminally ill and is looking for a distraction. The team are joined by FBI Agent O'Laughlin, to explore the angle of body thefts by tissue banks. Jane and Dr. Steiner bait the killer by having Dr. Steiner make a call and faking having found blood evidence on Hartley's body before it went missing. The Cooks' butler brings the money revealing the killer to be Hartley's mother-in-law who killed him because he wanted to start an international group for alien abductees using the Cook family name. Dr. Steiner invites Patrick and requests him to witness his death so there is no investigation. Patrick and Dr. Steiner spend Steiner's last moments over a cup of tea while Patrick shares his "carni" tricks with Steiner as he passes away peacefully.

"Like a Redheaded Stepchild"

In Hangtree, California, corrections officer Walton Parsell is found dead, stabbed in the back multiple times, near a jewelry store, killed with a prison shank leading the team to suspect an ex-convict. At CBI, Van Pelt hands out wedding invitations. Lisbon and Jane question Parsell's girlfriend of two weeks, Shelley. Rigsby speaks with ex-cons including his father, Steve, who despises his cop son. Steve still sells stolen cigarettes and meth but denies involvement in the murder. Corrections Officer Earls tells Jane and Lisbon that Parsell had been studying criminology at a local college, working with a professor on transferring an inmate to a supermax prison. Jane determines it to be white supremacist Marcus Lansdale and deduces from facial similarities that Shelley is Lansdale's sister. Shelley admits she met Parsell to spy on him for her brother but later stopped as she genuinely fell in love with Parsell. Rigsby and Van Pelt visit Steve for help who leads them to a woman named Rocket. Rocket implicates meth cook and dealer Butch Carwin but later Rigsby realises his father set them up to get rid of his (Steve's) competition. Rigsby burns Steve's stolen cigarettes and the pair call a truce after a fist fight. After watching prison surveillance cameras, Jane has two trusties brought to CBI for interviews: Jorge Valasquez and Nick Monaco, both near the end of their sentences and tries to get them to snitch. In the prison refectory Jane has Earls bust a drug dealer and his stash angering Lansdale. Jane ensures Valasquez overhears him telling Lisbon that Monaco is the snitch. Valasquez tells Lansdale who readies to kill Monaco but is apprehended and sent to max security prison. Jane and Lisbon intercept the laundry truck and find Monaco. He confesses that he had been sneaking out to rob jewelry stores to build a nest egg for when he got out but got caught by Parsell so he had to kill him. Jane reveals he figured it out having seen Monaco's freshly manicured nails. Rigsby tells Van Pelt he is still in love with her and won't attend her wedding.

"Strawberries and Cream (Part I)"

At JD Gas & Food Mart, a nervous man wearing a suicide vest is caught between store employee Gupta and two suspicious policeman. The bomb vest explodes. Jane determines the dead perpetrator, Alan Dinkler, was actually the victim, who earlier had held up Cash In Motion, a payday loan store where he worked. He stole cash and client lists but, Jane determines, the cash is a decoy and someone was after the client lists. Gupta tells Lisbon and Jane that Dinkler asked for the restroom key and they find "AD - 297A6 Windsor" written on the wall as instructions for Dinkler. CBI identify a slew of matching addresses. Jane goes to check on Lisbon who is driving to the last "Windsor" on her list, a closed-down school. He finds Lisbon unconscious and, like Dinkler, with a bomb strapped to her chest. A cell phone attached to the vest rings and a muffled voice threatens to detonate the bomb if she does not fetch the Cash In Motion client lists from the CBI evidence. When the bomber asks how far away they are from the CBI, Jane realizes he cannot see them and turns off the route. Jane narrates their pretend progress to the CBI storage locker while they hunt the bomber. They successfully burst in on Gupta and disarm the bomb. In a police van, LaRoche shoots Gupta dead saying he was trying to escape. Lisbon briefs her superiors LaRoche and Bertram: Jane knew it was Gupta as soon as he knew the bomber could speak directly to Dinkler (by phone) as he did with Lisbon so the restroom message was only a ploy to entrap the CBI. Dinkler stopped to deliver the stolen client list to Gupta but the policemen's intervention forced Gupta to detonate the bomb. One client on Cash in Motion's list is Max James who, when checked on, is found dead in his house after being tortured. Cho finds a photo of James with Hightower. Jane and Lisbon realise they are being manipulated by Red John who is hunting Hightower. Lisbon orders Cho to forget what he found and asks him to trust her. Later Jane goes to a hotel room and finds Hightower waiting for him.

"Strawberries and Cream (Part II)"

Hightower tells Jane Max James was her cousin who had been sending her money. She tells him she has decided to turn herself in and try and prove her innocence in court so her children can at least stay safe. She agrees to Jane's request to wait 48 hours so he can find Red John's CBI mole. Jane and Lisbon brief Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt about Red John and Hightower, and they agree to help. Jane forces LaRoche to give him the list of suspects by bluffing that he knows LaRoche's darkest secret. The suspects are Brenda Shettrick (CBI Media Relations), Osvaldo Ardiles (D.A.), Bertram (CBI director), and Craig O'Laughlin (FBI, Van Pelt's fiancé). Lisbon orders an indignant Van Pelt to go and guard Hightower in her mountain hideout. Jane knows Red John would send only an anonymous assassin. So the suspects are told Hightower is at the Pacific Palms Hotel but each suspect is told a different room number. A woman enters room 605, the number they told Bertram. They watch her unpack handcuffs, rope and knockout drugs but as Cho and Rigsby hold her at gun point she jumps to her death. Van Pelt returns to the CBI office and tells O'Laughlin they found Todd Johnson's real killer. She asks him to join her in relieving Lisbon who is currently guarding Hightower. Jane uses Bertram as bait, taking him to a cafe in Pinewood Shopping Mall, ostensibly to meet Hightower. When Hightower does not show, Bertram mocks Jane that he is at the end of his rope. Suddenly Jane realizes the assassin had rope to climb down to room 505 below making O'Laughlin the accomplice. O'Laughlin murders the two police guards outside Hightower's hideout. Jane rings Lisbon and warns her. As she turns to look at O'Laughlin, he shoots and injures her. Apologizing to Van Pelt, as he is about to shoot her and Hightower, Lisbon distracts him enough for them both to draw their guns and kill him. Jane asks Lisbon to press redial on O'Laughlin's phone and tell whoever answers that O'Laughlin is dead. A man sitting close to Jane answers his phone and Jane hears his reply, identical to the words Lisbon reports hearing. Jane sits at the man's table, and sees there is a gun on the table pointed at him disguised under a newspaper. Red John says he does not want to kill Jane unless he has to. He is going to quit killing, get a new face and a new life. Jane says he will find him and kill him. As the man leaves, Jane asks how can he know that he really is Red John. The man says Jane's wife smelled like lavender while his daughter smelled like strawberries and cream. Jane’s eyes well up with tears, and shoots him dead. Jane removes the gun that had been hidden in his coat pocket, sits down and waits for the police to arrest him.

"His Thoughts Were Red Thoughts"

An anticult activist, Gabriel Meadows, is found dead. At the crime scene, Jane spots Officer Downs as a member of "Visualize" and identifies him as the person who cleaned up evidence from the scene after a sloppy murder. Founder of "Visualize" Bret Stiles (Malcolm McDowell) personally visits CBI to have the officer admit to evidence tampering. The team find Stiles has no alibi for the time of the murder and they discover his suit covered in blood from a dumpster. Meadows had been investigating an old case about Timothy Farragut researching proof of Stiles being involved in the death. Meadows was an ex-Visualize member and was trying to get his sister, Jessie, out of Visualize College run by Dean Nora Hill (Louise Lombard). Jessie tells Lisbon Meadows was no longer a part of her life. Jane realizes that the entire case is Stiles' play to frame himself so he can figure out which one of the eight members from his inner circle was trying to overthrow him. Jane figures out that the only person who did not vote for Jackson Cooper and supported Stiles is Dean Nora Hill, the killer, because she knew Stiles would be back. She confesses she was Meadows' source from within Visualize and fed him stories to hurt her rivals within Visualize. She feared Meadows would reveal her identity. Grace and Stiles share a moment as he tries to offer her help. Stiles realizes that Patrick helped him figure out the coup at Visualize because he wanted Stiles to owe him a favor and now Stiles does.