The Mentalist Season 3 Finale

[George L. Schmauch Jr.]

We just finished watching season 3 of The Mentalist this past weekend, including the finale, which originally aired on May 19th.  I was so impressed by the finale, I felt compelled to write something about it.  But, a single episode–as good as it was–didn’t warrant a full review via blog.

I stopped watching Lie to Me after 3 episodes because it was–in a word–boring; talk about the same thing being recycled every episode!  Considering it was cancelled after season 3, I apparently made the right choice in switching to The Mentalist.  The way in which humor is inserted into serious situations is priceless.  The cast work well together and the crimes are generally unique enough in some fashion so as to not get tiresome.  I particularly liked a recent episode having to do with a bit of a resurgence of the gold rush.

Patrick Jane, played by Simon Baker, is a well-rounded actor who gives a believable performance no matter what the situation calls for.  He is haunted by the murder of his wife and daughter by a killer going by the name of “Red John”.  Due to his name, the writers have included a reference to the color red in every single episode title, which I thought was pretty (this one’s for you, Mike) cool.  Throughout these 3 seasons, that underlying story arc has slowly unfolded.  You could argue that his arrogant manner practically caused the death of his family and he is driven to find the person who killed them.

Getting back to the finale, I was floored by how everything unfolded.  Had they not renewed it for another season, this would have been a fantastic ending for the series and I would have felt extremely satisfied with the time I invested in it.  It was, perhaps, the best finale I have ever watched and it left a lasting impression on me.  The final scene was absolutely brilliantly written.  I can’t wait to for season 4 to start next month!

I won’t give away what happens in the finale, but I was curious if anyone else had seen it and what they thought.  Were you surprised?  Did you like it as much as I did?

[mikinho]

Damn you.  I just started watching a few shows on USA…now I’m going to have to try this series instead.

[oliverredfox]

I thought it was really good.  And from what I’ve read about how season 4 will start, it sounds like they’re going to play right off the season 3’s ending really strongly.

[ruwackd]

The Mentalist has been one of our favorites since it first debuted.  I always thought that they needed to start addressing the Red John storyline a bit more prominantly but the finale for last season was one I wouldn’t have predicted.  I completely agree with you George that it would have been a satisfying ending for the series, and really makes me eager to see how they proceed with Season 4.

 

[skirge01]

If anyone is interested in how season 3 was wrapped up (with the big spoiler), how the network felt about it, what the original plan was, as well as how season 4 is going to go, I thought this article was great.  Again, don’t read it if you haven’t watched all of season 3.  The finale was SO worth the wait.

[einstein]

I love The Mentalist!!  I started watching with the first episode.  I was so afraid it was going to turn into ER or Numbers, where they focused too much on the interpersonal relationships and not enough on being doctors or solving crimes. But they have not disappointed me on this show.  I am surprised that there is a 4th season.  The last season finale seemed like an appropriate series finale.

[skirge01]

I was actually torn between whether or not they got into the underlying Red John storyline enough throughout the seasons.  On one hand, I was happy they didn’t focus on it every single episode and they had “regular” crimes/issues to deal with.  At the same time, it seemed like there weren’t enough small developments regarding Red John.  It almost felt like the writers had all these ideas for episodes, they’d get those written and in order and then someone would go, “Hey, what about Red John?!”, and they’d throw in an episode on that.

I wonder if they weren’t sure how many seasons they were going to get, so they went back and forth.  Then, in the 3rd season, they were really unsure if they were going to get renewed for a 4th season or something.

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