The Mentalist 1 x 13
Apr. 8th, 2009 10:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marguerite_kruxEpisode 13- Paint It Red
Jane: Interesting. Let’s Van Pelt and I go up and take a look-see.
Lisbon: You and Van Pelt?
[does she look hurt? That Jane's teaming up with someone else for a change?]
Jane: Well, she’s from a small farming town.
Lisbon: *looks unconvinced*
Jane: Right. Well, that’s what you guys call, uh, ‘cover’.
Lisbon: What do you need cover for? You’re a CBI operative.
[How much flirtier can she sound? I mean, it's just an ordinary line on paper but she's imbued it with these coy, teasing undertones. The skill!]
Jane: *quotation fingers*
Lisbon: Just follow procedure. Have fun.
[It's like she suddenly realized- hey, wait, I don't have to put up with Jane's crap for a change! Score! Plus, the pleading look on Grace's face, the horrified realization that she alone would have to try to manage Jane...it's enough to inspire one to pity, right? WRONG. Bwahaha. At least, I'd be evil and ditch her, too. How can people say Lisbon has no sense of humor? She's leaving Grace at Jane's mercy and is totally amused by it!]
Jane: Where’s the fun in that?
Can I just say I am so pissed that he didn’t go with Lisbon? So so pissed. Those were fun scenes there. But I suppose it's not the Jane and Lisbon Show, I gotta accept that...
I think it's funny that when Grace and Jane are teamed up- here and in Bloodshot-something disastrous usually happens and their lives are placed in jeopardy. I wonder if it's a deliberate substitution of the women, because it ensures that we don't see Lisbon being threatened or endangered; except for one notable ep, she's always portrayed as the untouchable boss, always in control of the situation. And even in Redwood, Lisbon wasn't really vulnerable or at the mercy of the killer, she had her gun out and she was capably dealing with the situation on her own. The situation enabled her to demonstrate how tough and kickass she is, so in a way, it ended up being empowering for her character.
Also worth noting: the substitution in Bloodshot means that she is free to save the day, which I approve of whole-heartedly but it doesn't showcase Grace in the best possible light. I think it's interesting how out of the two women, we see Grace more often being the vulnerable one in dangerous situations, rather than Lisbon. But it makes sense given their roles- Lisbon's the boss, Grace is the rookie, so the writers tailor the situations to reflect that.
I love this little byplay- so much of the fun comes from these nonverbal interactions. I have no idea what's going on in this scene, why she gives him that arch come-hither look and he just smiles at her as she struts on ahead. It was just as they found out AP Caid was back in town, so I think it may have been a 'So, are you coming with me this time?' kind of thing from Lisbon. Who knows? Who cares? *wriggles*
Cade: *dismissively* You can go now.
Lisbon: *bristles* That’s all we need at the moment. We’ll be in touch.
[Heh. It's not quite a 'screw you', but I adore her manner of setting him in his place.] 
Jane: Uh, I hate to be blunt, Mr Caid, but you-
Lisbon: *grabs* Let’s- *yoinks* Don’t.
AHAHA. I know this isn't even on par with the touchyfeely-ness of Bloodshot, but I have a soft spot for this scene, just the way she pulls his ass outta there. It's like, 'Jane is going to blow this up in our faces, I don't have time to use my words! I have to use brute force to wrestle him away in order to minimize the headache I know I'm gonna get later'. *snorts*
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Jane: you’d walk away? If Arlov is our man, you’d let him get away with murder?
Lisbon: We’re going to close this case, but not by causing an international scandal.
Jane: Arlov’s the key.
Lisbon: I want to get Harry Lashlea’s killer as much as you do, but we cannot go after Arlov. The State Department-
Jane: Fig to the State Department.
Rigsby: I agree, screw ‘em.
Lisbon: That attitude is why I’m in charge and you guys aren’t.
*Rigsby reaches for another bottle of- something*
Lisbon: And would you please some of those for everybody else?!
*g* Oh, poor Rigsby. BURN. Lol. This woman crosses from calm professional to irate!pseudo-mommy in a heartbeat. I love it. I cannot begin to express how much I love her exasperated/fond maternal attitude with the team. *twirls*
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Lisbon: Where is everyone?
Van Pelt: Weird, they all called in to sign out. Jane wasn’t feeling well, Rigsby’s got a hot date and Cho got Kings tickets.
Lisbon: Son of a-
Van Pelt: What?
Lisbon: Jane doesn’t get sick, Rigsby’s not on a date because he’s in love with you and the Kings aren’t playing tonight.
Van Pelt: You know about that?
Lisbon: Yeah, they’re on the East Coast road trip, they’re playing the Knicks tomorrow night.
Van Pelt: No, about Rigsby, how do you know about that?
Lisbon: Everybody knows that. The Attorney-General knows that.
Van Pelt: I’m so embarrassed.
Lisbon: Please. 
Lisbon: Pick up the phone, damn it.
I am uncertain whether her 'please' was meant in the 'get over it' sense to Grace- it seems a little harsh, don't you think? I don't know if she'd be that callous at Grace's mortification. Otoh, she does have bigger fish to fry, so it might've been a 'buck up, we got more important things to do' rallying kind of thing. Maybe. It could've been directed at Jane and co., but she delivered it in a totally different tone to her 'pick up the phone' line, so IDK. Hmm.
It is amusing how she so matter-of-factly announces that Jane doesn't GET sick. Like, no germ would dare infringe upon him, no disease would have the audacity to afflict him. FOR HE IS GOD. *nodnod*
Rigsby: Better call Lisbon, give her an update.
Jane: You call her.
Rigsby: Oh, I can’t, I’m driving. Cho?
Cho: No way.
Jane: Oh, come on, guys, I just robbed a Russian mobster, you can’t call Lisbon?
*gigglefit* I adore how she has the boys in terror of her wrath. It's especially cute that while Rigsby tries to defend his manliness by manufacturing an excuse for his cowardice, Cho doesn't even bother wasting time on trying to come up with a good reason to avoid calling her. He is awesome. :D
Jane: You going to be grumpy like this in the room?
Lisbon: Yes, I am.
Jane: Just asking. I don’t think it’s very professional.
Lisbon: Seriously. Don’t push me.
Jane: I said I’m sorry.
Lisbon: You had express orders to stay away from Orilov.
Jane: That’s why I didn’t tell you, you have total deniability.
Lisbon: That’s beside the point.
Jane: The point is that my brilliant plan worked like clockwork.
Lisbon: What plan? This case is not closed, you haven’t done anything yet.
Jane: Not yet, but you watch.
Awww, Lisbon can't stay mad at him for long. It's great how she starts getting into their banter, following the routine as usual, then remembers she's supposed to be mad at Jane and forces this stern, unamused look on her face. *g*
Random stuff.
Frank: *intimidated by Jane's deductive skillz* Who is this guy?
Lisbon: *smirks* He's a pain in the ass, but he's making sense.
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I love how Lisbon reacted to the daughter. She was so soft and sympathetic with her during questioning- I'm not saying she's usually a hardass on innocent people, but it was remarkable how carefully she treated her. Later on, when it seemed Harry was dirty, she sighed and went, 'Damn, I was hoping he was clean'. And you could tell she was hurting for her when the father cast aspersions on her dead husband and cared more about his stupid painting than his daughter's wellbeing.
It's great that the writers let her be sympathetic and invested in cases without crossing the line, I'm so sick of episodes where the detectives get all worked up and angry and want to throw away their ethics and principles because they identified too strongly with a victim and go on a witch-hunt after some bad guy.
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Lisbon: Nope. Nyet. No. Minelli says no, too. That’s four ‘no’s.
Jane: Minelli always says no, that’s his job.
Lisbon: And it’s my job to listen to him.
Ah, the futility of trying to make Jane toe the line. It's hysterical that she thinks repeating her refusal- throwing in a foreign language term, too!- will cover her bases. She could start speaking in tongues and it wouldn't deter him from doing what he thinks is necessary, lol.
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The boys at the end were so cute, when Jane played them and they were all wide-eyed and breathless at the possibility that the 'fake' was actually the multi-million dollar painting. *snorts* The thing with Jane is that he loves playing with people's minds, but he also loves pulling off ridiculous stunts and so you kinda have to play along with him because you can never be sure when he's messing with you and when he actually did something crazy like keep a famous priceless painting that has inspired bloodshed and murder.
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Random pretty caps.
