The Mentalist Memory Palace

Today is Rewatch Day!

We’re watching episode 5x21 – Red And Itchy

What a wonderful last episode before the season finale! We get another nice chapter in the bromance between Jane and JJ LaRoche and finally the secret of a certain mysterious Tupperware box will be lifted (only by Lisbon though). And also, Brenda Shettrick gets what she deserves and I don’t feel the least bit of pity with her after she sold out a child to Volker!

Red And Itchy (I’m slightly tempted to call it Red And Icky instead) is about revenge, about loyalty, friendship, and betrayal. And it’s truly interesting to see Jane and JJ bond – two men who are in many ways not unlike the other. In light of ep. 5x21, a lot of the previous encounters with LaRoche get a new meaning. And of course, it’s due to the writers knowing what they were going with this all along, but it’s so great to see with hindsight how Jane, unaware of what is inside the Tupperware box, still always managed to allude to JJ’s dark secret in ways that had to make LaRoche assume that Jane knows the whole story. I recall for example the scene from Blood Feud in Lisbon’s office when Jane says to him “It’s better to regret something you did than something you didn’t do” and while this applies to Rigsby in that moment, it also very much applies to JJ who, as we learn in Red And Itchy, does regret what he allowed himself to do to avenge his mother. And, I’m VERY sure that that’s also implied, it’s also absolutely valid for Jane and his plans for Red John. What I truly love about this episode is to see Jane being a friend to someone outside of the team because he has way too few friends and it’s heartening to see him taking a personal interest in someone. And I’m sure, Jane sees a kindred spirit in LaRoche – exactly because he guesses the significance of that Tupperware box. But what stands out here is that Mr. Curious in the end respects JJ’s privacy and what he says to Lisbon about it shows what kind of friend Jane is when he allows himself to bond. He tells her that it’s not important what exactly is inside that box, it’s important what it represents. And with that, he accepts JJ’s reasons for keeping it without question and he respects that it’s deeply personal to his friend. He also realizes that it’s JJ’s means of punishing himself because it represents his guilt and shame. Jane can relate to that very much and I dare to compare the Tupperware box to the Smiley face in his Malibu home which he makes himself sleep underneath at times to punish himself and which, as we’ll see in season 6, he uses to strengthen his resolve to take his deadly revenge.Of course, I also love the moment in which Jane calls Lisbon – again! – his partner and how he makes it clear to JJ that he honors that partnership but also his friendship with LaRoche. And he does do both! How far has he gotten since the beginning of the season in that respect! He includes Lisbon in his plans and shares JJ’s secrets with her to a certain degree but he also respects LaRoche’s needs and defends them in his discussion with Lisbon. Of course, we also have another “culture clash” here when the two partners talk about whether JJ’s deed should come to light or not when Jane argues that LaRoche has punished himself so much that no justice system could’ve done a better job while Lisbon at first wants to go the official way with things. But, and we’ve seen that happen more and more in the development of the show and especially in Jisbon’s partnership, those two adjust their views a little due to the other’s influence. Jane has shown to accept Lisbon’s boundaries and Lisbon has accepted some of Jane’s more unorthodox and maybe more “direct” forms of justice being served. Because she does not reveal LaRoche’s secret after she finds out what he’s done. She keeps her knowledge to herself and does indeed agree with Jane’s words that the agent has punished himself and suffered enough. She obviously also accepted that Brenda Shettrick could make a deal in which her blackmailing LaRoche would be dropped in exchange for her silence about the content of the Tupperware box.

All in all, I really enjoy this episode and I love how they trick Shettrick and I must say, I thoroughly enjoy Jane cutting her down to size during the interrogation despite shuddering at Jane’s ability to smash someone with mere words. His final judgment of Shettrick is devastating and he’s reduced her to her most sorry parts and forced her to look at herself in the mirror of Jane’s assessment of her and that hurts. His behavior could be deemed cruel but there’s one thing that changes my perception of it: I’m pretty sure that Jane is equally as merciless in his judgment of himself…

Some other highlights: Rigsby and LaRoche’s dog – just too adorable – and Jane with the cat is cute too… And, I LOVE the scene in the car when Robin goes off script and hits Simon/Jane and can’t help but grin totally “Robin-ish” at what she’s done! I mean, whoever wrote that script should totally thank her for adding that slap because it’s PERFECT! And I also enjoy it how Simon keeps a straight face and just goes on as if nothing unusual had happened. I’m so glad, they used that take of the scene!!!

Enjoy the rewatch, everyone!Live tweeting in 5 hours.