TV Verdict

Well, well, that was interesting.

Almost at the end of The Mentalist’s first season, we’re given a look at how Patrick Jane used to operate his scam. Sure, we know he was a fake psychic and we’ve been shown how his dismissive attitude goaded Red John into coming after him, but – unless memory fails me – this is the first time we’ve watched him operate in a ‘business-as-usual’ way.

Wow. He was a nasty piece of work, really. A total parasite and con artist, preying on the vulnerable.  And what was the upshot? It appears that one woman committed suicide as a result of the lies he told her.  That’s not stated explicitly, but it’s certainly implied. I thought the most interesting moment of that flashback was at the end, when he tossed away the water his client had been drinking. The contempt in that gesture, in his face, was illuminating. He tossed the water and, by inference, tossed her. She was nothing to him. She was a check, his bread and butter. The impact of what he’d said to her, the lies, they didn’t register with him. It’s made pretty clear in that scene that in fact Patrick despises her for believing him, for paying him, for being conned by his act. According to those who deal with conmen, that’s typical. These people are so stupid to believe me, reasons the con artist, they deserve to get duped. They’re asking to be lied to. And so they justify their actions to themselves and absolve themselves of any blame when something bad happens as a result.

It’s also utterly fascinating that the decision to reveal this unpleasant truth about who Patrick used to be is done in the context of him being blind. Blind and bandaged and covered up with dark glasses to boot, so we don’t get to see his  all of his face, or his eyes, after we see him reliving that memory. His inner self is hidden from us at this point – but even so, we’re given a hint of his distress. An idea that he knows, now, exactly how awful his previous actions were.

In addition to this nugget of information, we’ve also got the triggering crime – the murder of the man who was also involved in destroying criminal Dan’s life, and the follow-up threat to Patrick. What’s interesting is that this time it wasn’t lies that caused the trouble, it was truth. Of course, he didn’t know he was telling the truth. The information he gave to his client was ambiguous, circumspect, leaving enough room for her to construct the answers, the truth, she was looking for. But it turned out she was right, and a family was destroyed as a result. And that led to the stockbroker’s death, the destruction of his family, and the attack on Detective Rigsby which could have been fatal.

JANE WE HARDLY KNEW YA

The bottom line is, Patrick Jane was an amoral, unscrupulous sleaze who used people without compunction to get what he wanted. Even more unsettling, we’ve learned that his wife and child weren’t the first victims of his scam – they were just the last. And it wasn’t until the damage he was doing became personal that he stopped his scamming.

I think it was  a very smart move on the show’s part to leave these revelations about Patrick Jane until this late in the first season. He is so unattractive here, who he used to be was so slimy and repellent, there’s a chance we never would have warmed to him. But we have, we’ve been shown how much pain he’s in, how he’s trying to be a better man – and because we’ve been shown that, it’s easier to forgive him for the things he did that require his atonement.

A word on Simon Baker’s performance. Wow. It was excellent. The difference between Patrick then and Patrick now is beautifully captured, in body language, in facial expressions, in tone, in his eyes.  Even when he’s being confident, there’s a hint of his lack of confidence always under the surface. We can see that now because we’ve seen how totally, effortlessly confident he was in his psychic persona. How arrogant. How smooth. He’s not smooth any more. He’s damaged, and the damage shows. It’s an interesting motif – they blinded him as they showed us – and reminded him – of who he used to be and who he hurt as a result. Back then, he couldn’t, or didn’t want, to see what he was doing. Now, sightless, he sees all too clearly.

On a final note, just a passing comment about possible subtext in this episode. Is it a coincidence that in both cases we were shown, which led to tragedy each time, the ‘clients’ were women? And that it was Grace  van Pelt falling for the conman son Dan that gave him access to the parking lot for planting the bomb, and to the building to attack Rigsby?  And if it’s not a coincidence, what conclusions are we, the audience, supposed to draw from that? Women are gullible and stupid and will believe any old crapola, especially if it’s told to them by a handsome, charming man?

I really hope not. Because that’s not the kind of message I want to see in TV in the 21^st century.

Photo: Cliff Lipson/CBS ©2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.