From the start, the driving force of The Mentalist had been the efforts of Patrick Jane (Simon Baker), to track down the serial killer known as Red John, responsible for the murders of his wife and daughter. With this mystery finally resolved in the sixth season, the 13 episode final season offered an opportunity to focus on some other relationships and tie up some loose ends.
Jane continues his work with the FBI alongside agents Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney) and Kimball Cho (Tim Kang). In the biggest development, he finally confesses his love for Teresa, and while the two start a relationship, it does present complications, particularly when a case involves Erica Flynn (Morena Baccarin), a former adversary and love interest of Jane.
While watching Patrick and Teresa experience happiness is nice, it’s still the weekly cases—murder, robbery—that really kept my interest. Though there’s no denying that the relationship between Jane and Lisbon gave the series a much needed energy boost, the time spent on them really took away from Kang; I felt he was little more than window dressing this season. There is one scene featuring him and Lisbon that’s one of the best of the series, so at lest he was given a moment to shine. His seriousness combined with his dry wit made him a real asset to the series. If the TV gods are listening, Tim Kang will land a role on another television series, sooner rather than later.
The shortened final season of The Mentalist isn’t perfect, but it does a solid job of wrapping up the loose ends. Fans should be fairly pleased with the sendoff given to the characters they’ve come to know and love.
Presented in standard definition, The Mentalist: The Complete Seventh and Final Season looks and sounds perfectly appropriate.
The extras contained on this DVD collection are minimal. “Patrick Jane: An Uncommon Man” is a featurette that includes interviews with the cast. It highlights the history and development of the character of Patrick Jane along with thoughts and insights on the final season. There are also deleted scenes.
