Aside from the ongoing Red John storyline, the CBI will get into lots of sticky situations and see the return of some familiar faces like Agent Ray Haffner (Reed Diamond), Summer Edgecomb (Samaire Armstrong), Cho's C.I./ hooker girlfriend, Internal Affairs agent J.J. LaRoche (Pruitt Taylor Vince), and the enigmatic Bret Stiles (Malcolm McDowell). Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) and Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) rekindle their relationship after a good deal of time apart and I was often amused at the clever camera work throughout the season as Righetti's real-life pregnancy was concealed. Suffice it to say that she works the desk a lot.
Jane, Lisbon (Robin Tunney) and the gang continue to investigate a myriad of crazy cases, including a radio talk show host with a foot fetish, an old gold mining town turned murder site, a devious kidnapping, a gory suicide where Jane's mind plays tricks on him and he is visited by his now teenaged daughter, a look back at Patrick Jane's childhood roots, and finally, a handful of murders from Red John specifically designed to prick Jane's heart. The Mentalist: The Complete Fifth Season even includes the show's 100th episode, which was a fun episode focusing on the first appearance of Patrick Jane at the CBI and just how he wormed his way into the graces of Teresa Lisbon and the team. Aside from the one-off cases, there's an episode where Rigsby reconnects with his criminal father, Cho (Tim Kang) joins the Rapid Response Team which causes some personal conflict for him, and Van Pelt goes off to L.A. for a White Hat training session (and, I assume, to give birth to her child while on hiatus) and meets a romantic interest while she's there. There's also a multi-episode story arc where the team is dealing with a fiendishly clever and politically connected billionaire named Tommy Volker (Henry Ian Cusick, Lost). Suffice it to say that he is a formidable opponent for Lisbon and Jane. Lastly, there's a mole in the CBI and I.A. bloodhound J.J. LaRoche is determined to sniff the culprit out. When the rat is finally revealed, leave it to Jane and company to do it in style and on a grand scale.
There are only two special features, but both are enjoyable. The first focuses on the action scenes and stunts in the show and how they are set up, where the other highlights the reality that they try to infuse into the show and the training the actors undertake to get it just right under the watchful eye of Karl Sonnenberg, their Police Technical Advisor.
This show never ceases to amuse me. I love the character of Patrick Jane and no one could play it as well as Simon Baker. The mischievous twinkle in his eye as he effortlessly toys with people's minds is just fun TV. I love crime-solving shows, but The Mentalist continues to offer thrilling and interesting cases, but coated with a light-heartedness that you don't often see in these types of shows. I hope Jane never finds Red John, because I don't want The Mentalist to end, but as we edge closer to the true identity of the serial killer, The Mentalist: The Complete Fifth Season keeps you hooked until the very last episode. Highly recommended.
