Review of Episode 5×02: Devil’s Cherry
by castiello

Wow, what an emotional ride! Some of those scenes were just plain gut-wrenching, while other parts were hilarious. Lots of ups and downs in this powerhouse episode that has definitely earned a spot on my favorites list.

Jane: I felt kinda bad for him, walking in on that bloody crime scene. I know he’s used to it by now, but that was a particularly nasty one. Made my stomach turn. I love that Jane just makes himself at home, preparing tea right in the victim’s kitchen. If this were any other character, this storyline would not have worked, but with Jane, it was a perfect fit. He has been helping himself to food (and drinks) at other people’s houses, completely without permission, since the very first episode. Now, will this little experience make Jane hesitate before he fires up the stove at the next crime scene? I’d like to say yes, but I have a feeling he’ll be back to old habits before too long…

When he first started drinking and looking at the butterfly, I didn’t know anything was wrong. The rattling in the pot was downright scary—I couldn’t even imagine what was in there. My guess was a lobster. At this point, I still didn’t know he was hallucinating. By the time he started following the rabbit off the property, though, then I knew he was tripping. Jane makes a cute Alice. 🙂 I didn’t know what to make of the dude with the pointy hat and his wife—I said out loud that they looked like gnomes, but it never occurred to me they were actual garden gnomes, so that little reveal was fun later on.

I liked the girl who played Charlotte and the way she and Jane bantered with each other. There was a great chemistry between them, and I could believe this was how his daughter might have turned out. I love what she said to him to convince him of her identity—something like: “You are wise. You are safe. You are loved.” That is so breath-takingly beautiful, and so true to what I would imagine Jane saying every night to his young daughter as he tucked her in. Very touching. Also, I love that in Jane’s imagination, a diamond-cutter’s workshop looks like the inside of a treasure-chest. There were strings of jewels hanging from the ceiling, even. Gotta love that man…

I thought it was neat how Jane finally interpreted his hallucinations in a way that helped them solve the case. It worked for me because the evidence he needed was all in his brain before he collapsed—he looked up and saw the neighbor’s bedroom, saw that she could see into the victim’s kitchen, though she claimed she could not. Cool stuff.

One of the most interesting things about this episode, for me, was that everything Charlotte said actually came from Jane’s mind—She called his obsession with Red John “creepy.” She said nothing he does can help her and her mom now—they’re dead. Jane catching Red John does not matter to them. Charlotte told him to get a life. So, on some level, Jane has an awareness of all of these things. Though he may not agree with Charlotte’s opinions, he at least recognizes that there’s a valid argument to be made for moving on, giving up the hunt, etc. Which means Jane is more self-aware than I thought he was…and that there might be hope for him, yet.

Jane’s face, when Charlotte told him these things, was devastating to watch. His expression as he watched her swimming in the pool was reverent and beautiful. His sadness when she left was downright unbearable. “Wait…” My heart shattered for him multiple times in this episode, including at the end, when he was going to dangerous lengths to try and recreate the experience. As the episode progressed, I knew Charlotte would leave at some point, and I started getting afraid of what Jane might do to bring her back. And now, I’m wondering if Jane was trying the Devil’s Cherry tea as a one-time thing, or if it will become an addiction that rears its ugly head later in the season. The scene just reminded me so much of another attic scene, with Jane holding the gun that Max Winter gave him, and you just knew we were going to see that thing again. So, hopefully this drug will not become a regular habit for Jane—but if it does, Cho might need to have a little talk with him about substance abuse…

Lisbon: Her reactions to Jane-on-drugs ran a perfect gamut from freaked-out (“Jane, you’re scaring me”) to exasperated (“Oh, so now you’re a ‘great mind?’”) to kind understanding (“Maybe the path of the hallucinogens wasn’t meant to bring you to the killer—maybe it was meant to bring you to your daughter”). So sweet. She totally had Jane’s back in this episode, as always. And I love that when Charlotte asked Jane, “Does anyone really know you?” Jane’s answer was “Lisbon.” Speaks volumes about their relationship. I could practically hear the shippers purring up a storm at that part. I myself, as a “friend”-shipper, was pretty darn happy, too. I once read a review that said Cho is the closest thing Jane has to a real friend, but I don’t agree with that assessment. I have always thought it was Lisbon. Cho might understand Jane’s need for vengeance a little bit more than Lisbon, but Jane spends more time with Lisbon—like, time outside of work. He confides in Lisbon and seems to trust her more than anyone else. That is true friendship.

Van Pelt: Yay! She got more screen time this ep. Not a lot more, but still, she did the heavy lifting on the suspect interviews. I always like watching her facial expressions as she reacts to the different people she’s interviewing. She was a pro, getting that rival diamond-cutter all worked up, just so the Neighbor Lady could hear his voice at a shout. A totally Jane-like stunt. Van Pelt has learned a lot from him, and I love it when they show this. Also, Van Pelt’s reaction to the killer’s motive and method (and the woman’s giggly attitude about the whole thing) was perfect revulsion. That is one of the scariest killers they’ve had on the show in a while—just no humanity whatsoever, and Van Pelt’s face mirrored my emotional reaction to the woman laughing about how she got the victim to eviscerate himself. CREEPY.

Cho/Rigsby: They considered inviting Jane for a guys’ night out. Cho: “You ask him.” Too funny. I have to wonder how often the team goes out together after hours. We’ve seen Jane go have dinner with Lisbon, and we’ve heard Van Pelt mention going out with Rigsby and Cho to celebrate Cho’s return to the team (after he was temporarily their boss in the episode Bloodstream (I think…)). Other than that, we don’t get much reference to their out-of-office friendships, so it was cool to have that mentioned here. I’d like to see Jane, Rigsby and Cho on a guys’ night out. Something tells me it would end with one of them in jail…

Point of interest–Cho used to work in Narcotics! This may have been mentioned before, but I didn’t remember it, so it was new to me! Also, at the beginning of the ep, Rigsby said, “Does Jane seem a little off ever since the feds took Lorelei?” This line just confused the heck out of me, because I thought Red John took Lorelei right after the judge ruled in favor of CBI questioning her. The feds don’t have her, do they? I think I missed something here, and hopefully someone can explain it to me.

Overall, aside from that little bit of Lorelei confusion and a very fake-looking CGI butterfly (Couldn’t they have used a real one just for the up-close shot?), this was a darn near perfect episode. Lovely to see such an emotional, character-driven story so early in the season. I hope it’s an indication of things to come. Looking forward to episode three!

Review of Episode 5×01: The Crimson Ticket
by castiello

Interesting episode. There was a lot going on in this one, between the battle for Lorelei and the regular case they were working at the same time. I didn’t completely love it while I was watching it, like I did with the season three premiere, but I feel like it’s one of those eps that I’ll enjoy more on a second or third viewing.

Jane: Considering his blatantly criminal actions in last season’s finale, I was very surprised to see him drive up and start working a case, all business-as-usual (I was also pretty shocked to see him hand over his car keys to some random cop, but that’s another matter. I think he was just in a hurry to get the regular case over with so he could focus on Lorelei, and even his precious car doesn’t hold a candle to a potential Red John lead).

The initial explanation of Jane’s reinstatement—“the brass cut a deal, made the charges go away”—had me scowling, because it reminded me of last year’s “let’s just gloss over everything quickly and get back to normal” premiere. However, since they did not just leave it at that, since they actually went into detail showing Bertram (Yay! He’s back!) dealing with the FBI, etc., I was able to buy the premise that Jane coming back was part of an expansive cover-up for an incredibly, unredeemably botched (<- is that even a strong enough word?) operation.

I felt in tune with Jane emotionally during this episode (Which is cool, because last year I felt very distant from him, like I had almost no idea what he was feeling or thinking most of the time). In this ep, his emotional rollercoaster was very relatable: His desperation not to lose the one lead he’d worked so hard for (Hey, faking a breakdown for six months can’t be easy…), his compassion for the murder victim’s sister (We don’t see the softer side of Jane too often these days, do we?), and his weird, twisted bond with Lorelei (And yes, I do think he has feelings for her, despite his claims…what those feelings are remains to be seen, but I felt like his anguish over her being unexpectedly taken into custody was not entirely Red John-related. She seemed genuinely frightened when she was calling out to him, and he seemed genuinely upset on more than one level).

Lisbon: I liked her a lot in this episode! She seemed right on pitch, perfectly in character, concerned for Jane yet responsible and professional at the same time. Loved her little crack-down on Cho and Rigs for their anti-FBI attitude—a great “boss” moment, and well-deserved (They definitely needed someone to knock them back in line!). Lisbon’s scenes with Jane in this episode were probably my favorite scenes. I couldn’t believe she actually brought up the fact that Lorelei is “practically the first” for Jane since his wife! I was super-surprised, and I think Jane was caught slightly off guard, too, that she came right out and said it like that. Loved his reaction, also—that little “oooh.” I actually think it’s really cool that she can talk to him so openly, and that he lets her. It shows how close they are—I can’t imagine anyone else having the guts to mention something like that to Jane. I have a feeling Lisbon’s going to be the anchor this season, and Jane’s going to need her to be—this Lorelei thing is going to be WAY more complicated for him than he realizes, and who better to keep him grounded than Lisbon?

Cho/Rigsby/Van Pelt: I don’t like grouping them all together like this, but they weren’t in the episode that much. Van Pelt was hardly a factor at all, and it’s always disappointing when that happens. If there’s one thing season four did well, it was utilizing these three and giving them their own storylines. I hope it was just a case of not having enough screen time for everything in a jam-packed premiere, and that Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt all have good arcs coming up this season. As for their appearances in this one, I have to say that Cho and Rigsby brawling with the FBI was sort of unbelievable to me. I didn’t think state or federal agents would behave that way in the middle of a public street. Having the FBI agent make an aggressive move toward Lisbon to start the action helped the believability a little, but not enough. Cho and Rigsby’s continuing anti-FBI attitude throughout the rest of the episode did feel in character, though. Definitely not mature, but when are boys ever fully mature? =)

One of the things I expected to see in this ep—and didn’t—was some fallout from the season finale in terms of the team’s relationship with Jane. Last time we saw them, Cho, Rigsby and even Van Pelt were exhibiting some definite coldness toward Jane (for leaving them, for faking a breakdown, etc.). I would have liked to see some resolution of that before everybody was all buddy-buddy again, but right now I’m thinking it’s not going to happen. Oh, well—moving on!

Bertram: Glad he’s back, in all his icky-sticky politically motivated glory. (Was that a little joke in there about his other show getting cancelled, when he said he was not happy to be back? If so, that was cute writing.) Actually, Gale wasn’t quite as icky in this episode as he has been previously. He seemed more emotional (and therefore more human) and I actually found myself relating to him a bit. Looking forward to seeing more of him this season!

The FBI: Agent Darcy had a breakdown of some type? Interesting. I’ve had my eye on her as Red John’s FBI mole for a few months, now. Something about her doesn’t quite jive. Plus, she DID kill Wainwright—maybe it wasn’t an accident? Will have to wait and see. In the meantime, we have some other FBI goons to keep us entertained. I was wondering how Jane would convince the judge to hand over Lorelei, and when Jane started up with the bead thing, I was like, “Oh, no…” I didn’t like that a planted bead was going to be the difference in the judge’s decision, but as it turned out, the bead wasn’t the deciding factor after all—the agent’s violent, out-of-control behavior towards Jane, in reaction to the bead-planting, was what swayed the judge, and I liked that scenario much better. Good writing. That thing with the water bottle and Jane fleeing from the attack was funny to watch, too. Great physical stuff.

Lorelei: I like her! She’s super-cute, and somehow different from Red John’s other minions. I feel like her connection to him is on a different level (familial maybe?), and I’m sure we’ll see her again at some point. She seems to have some genuine feelings for Jane, which were evident even in the finale—she looked truly sorry when she was about to cut off his fingers. Still, the fact remains that she WAS going to cut off his fingers. This girl is WAY under Red John’s control, and I’m intrigued as to how she got that way, and whether she really could be the one that Jane manages to turn. This storyline has all kinds of emotional, physical and downright twisted possibilities (What if Red John sleeps with her, too, as a way of like “sharing” her with Jane? ICK!) and I’m excited to see it all play out.

Overall, it was a solid episode that left me looking forward to the rest of the season. Romance and entanglements and FBI moles, oh my! =)

Another golden oldie! Here’s a review of The Red Mile, one of the series’ best episodes (at least, according to Cass)! Can’t wait for tonight, when we’ll have a brand new one to review! But until then, there’s this:

Review of Episode 3×18: The Red Mile
by castiello

This was a powerful episode. And for me, a very emotional one.

Like the previous ep, I enjoyed the use of the whole team. Sometimes, particularly this season, it seems like Cho/Rigs/Van Pelt are so terribly under-used that I have this secret fear that one of the actors will actually leave the show in search of a meatier role. (Or, basically any role with more than one line per episode.) But here, they all had a nice part in things, and it made me happy.

I thought this episode was really well written, managing to explore several different themes in a number of different ways.

We looked at the concept of mercy – from Jane offering solace in a dying man’s final moments, to a killer slashing the throat of her victim so he would avoid the painful death of a gunshot wound, to Rigsby choosing to spare Grace some potentially painful knowledge about her fiancé. Three very different acts that can each be interpreted as merciful.

We also looked at the idea of people caring what happens to them after they die. The doctor feared what would happen to his physical remains, while the mother-in-law was more concerned with less tangible things, like her good name and her legacy.

It’s actually really weird, the timing of this episode, because I had already been thinking about these things (mercy and legacy), before the show even aired. We had a plane crash here just this past week, where the pilot, right as the plane was going down, did a last-minute maneuver to avoid hitting a field where a girls’ sports team was practicing. No one on the ground was injured, but the pilot and both passengers on the plane were killed. I think I’ll always wonder whether turning the plane like that to save the kids made a difference in the pilot’s ability to bring the plane down safely, if he knowingly gave up his life and the lives of the passengers to spare the girls on the field…A terrible tragedy, an incredible act of mercy, and a wonderful legacy – to be the person who did everything he could, in his final moments, to save a playground full of kids…

Returning to the episode, I could definitely relate to the doc not wanting to be autopsied. Back when I was registering to be an organ donor, I read this pamphlet which assured that being an organ donor would not affect the appearance of your body. At first, I was laughing about this, because who the heck cares? I’m going to be dead, so what does it matter what my body looks like or what happens to it? But the more I thought about it, the more disturbed I got by the idea. It got really creepy. Even gave me a shiver. I decided that maybe I do care on some level…

In the mother-in-law’s case, it’s very ironic that the reason she killed was to preserve her legacy – and yet, by choosing to become a murderer, she muddied her own name so much worse than the alien abductee support society ever would have.

Which brings us to abductees. The episode did a pretty good job showing all the different types of people that a self-proclaimed alien abductee is likely to encounter: skeptics who think the person is crazy (e.g. Jane, mother-in-law, business partner), believers (e.g. the man’s wife), people who keep an open mind (Grace), people who want to exploit or take advantage of the abductee (the guy’s shrink, who wanted to write a book about him, and the support group guy who wanted to bilk him out of money).

It may be the X-Files fan in me, but I feel a lot of compassion for those people who either have been abducted or at least believe they have. I don’t know if aliens are actually scooping people up and poking at them, or if it’s some kind of hallucination, but I believe that the pain and fear of the experience are very real to the person going through it.

And lastly, speaking of pain, I will come to the final big issue tackled by the episode: the suicide of a terminally ill man.

This was the part that really got to me. I almost couldn’t believe that they were going to show Jane watching this guy kill himself. It was very intense, the way it was filmed, with the coin gleaming in the light, hypnotically appearing and disappearing, and Jane’s soothing voice while the doctor died…Just a very gripping scene, kind of shocking, a little bit beautiful.

I was clutching my pillow really hard during that scene. I think I cried just a tiny bit. I was definitely shaking.

Two people in my life have committed suicide. Both of these people were suffering from depression, and yet I feel that with the right treatment, both could have gone on to live long, healthy and happy lives. Instead, they died, leaving behind devastation on the level of a train wreck. I have very strong feelings about the waste of life…

…And yet, when it comes to terminally ill patients, my feelings are much more confused. Here, the person isn’t choosing whether to live or die, but rather just the method of death. Isn’t it someone’s individual right to choose whether he/she wants to be spared the agony of a prolonged death? At least a part of me believes this is true.

I myself have had terminally ill pets euthanized over the years. I’ve made that choice for a living being that could not express its wishes to me, believing that I was doing the right thing – sparing unnecessary pain, delivering relief. But what if I was wrong? If the cat could’ve spoken to me, would it have said, “Please don’t kill me, I want to live every last moment I possibly can, even if it will be painful”?

In some ways, it seems almost easier in the case of a human being who can fully express his wishes. And yet…I’m glad Jane said what he did, about not being sure the doctor was making the right choice, because that’s exactly how I feel. I’m just not sure…

What if the doctor was suffering from depression when he made the decision? Surely there’d be depression after finding out you are terminally ill. If the symptoms of his depression were treated, would he change his mind and decide to stick it out? What if he’s denying himself the chance for something unexpected to happen, like a spontaneous remission or a medical breakthrough? Should anyone throw away even one second of his or her life, when so many others would be grateful just to have that one more second?

It’s hard stuff, people…I felt the show handled it respectfully and sensitively.

This episode made me think, and it made me feel, and isn’t that exactly what television, at its very best, should do?