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Mentalist 1x01 Pilot
Crystal and Karin break down The Mentalist Season 1, Episode 1, “Pilot.” Patrick Jane, reformed con artist and former psychic, now a consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation in Sacramento, is introduced to viewers with a literal bang, and the rest of the team has to learn how to work with such a wildcard. Topics include:
- Robin Tunney fan tribute
- Case briefing
- Episode breakdown
- Scenes from the script that never made it in
- Deleted scenes filmed but ultimately cut
- Cold Reading / Hot Reading
- Memory Palace Quiz!
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Details
Recording date: February 20, 2025
Podcast music by: CAS Creative Arts
Cover art by: Ferdushi
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3 thoughts on “Episode 2 – Dear mister Jane”
I love TM and the pilot (and series finale) was one of the best ever. I’m surprised you didn’t go in more detail about the pilot scripts. Two things I’ll mention are the description of Teresa Lisbon and her necklace. She was described as a sensual woman wrapped in the nun-like attire because she’s given up home for a personal life, let alone a romantic one. In those words. She was as damaged as Patrick Jane was. The script also said that her necklace (integrity, etc.) was Jane’s home, already. If their slow burn didn’t consummate, the story would have been a tragedy.
Ah! You mentioning her necklace reminds me that I had told myself to keep track of her necklaces. I know that it’s supposed to be a necklace her mom gave her, but that thing gets really tiny, then gets really big, and I think there’s even a medium one, haha!
She does still have an almost nun-like appearance. Her hair is cut and styled very rigidly, and she usually wears black.
And as for Jane’s comment about Rigspelt at the dinner, he was railroading it, but their own good. It was obvious when Rigsby said goodbye to Van Pelt in the elevator he wanted to ask her to come to his room. He’d have no reason to dawdle and the total awkwardness made no sense if not for sexual tension. But it’d been a flash in the pan. Instead, Jane’s comment made both of them hyper-aware, which is why they defaulted to their professional greetings, a nice catch. But they were attracted to each other, so this gave them time to get to know each other, become friends, and then the hypnosis and tunnel happened.