A Conundrum Not Even the Mentalist Can Solve

Those of us who follow "The Mentalist" on CBS surely know the title character's back story by this time, at least the most important element of it: his wife and daughter had been murdered by a mysterious serial killer known as "Red John." There, now the rest of you know it too.

Just as another brilliant widowed detective, Adrian Monk, could solve any crime except the one that hit home the worst (His wife had also been murdered before the start of that series.), Patrick Jane, the self-same Mentalist, has, heretofore, been unable to track Red John down and get some measure of revenge. Ah, but that is not the only thread that has been left hanging. It is the most serious one, to be sure. The crime was an unspeakable atrocity.

All that said, there is another loose end that will surely need to be tied up before this series goes off the air. It may be tied up completely and undeniably, or the show's viewers may just be pointed in the direction of where the resolution may lie, but there surely will be some form of resolution.

This other thing that remains up in the air is Patrick Jane's chances of finding love again. At this point in the series, the only active love in his life is the love of revenge, but, if the show's writers are any kind of skilled storytellers, something of a more human nature is going to turn up, sooner or later.

We catch very small glimpses of that probability, here and there. Consider the conversation he had with his department head, Madeline Hightower, about a fetching blonde woman who happens to be Jane's rival as a "mentalist" in her own right.

Hightower: She likes you, that one.

Jane: Which one?

Hightower: The blonde one.

Jane: What?

Hightower: And you like her.

Jane: What? I'm not so sure I know where this is headed.

Hightower: You know exactly where this is headed. Do you ever consider dating again? Do you?

In fact, that character, Kristina Frye in the show, Leslie Hope (which was also comedian Bob Hope's real name) in real life, had come the closest to a palpable love interest so far in the series. She and Jane actually went on a date at one point. Still, she may not be the most logical choice for Patrick Jane's happily-ever-after love interest for reasons we shall soon see.

At this point, let us stop and consider the matchmaking possibilities the show's writers have to work with, in ascending order of their likelihood.

Grace Van Pelt

This comely lady, ably played by Amanda Righetti, has virtually no chance of ending up as Mrs. Mentalist. For her to do so would require the writers to come up with a wrinkle, not just from out of left field, but the bleachers. Although Jane and Van Pelt have had some interaction and dialogue throughout the series, it has all been pretty much job-related, and none of it has even hinted at any sort of romance between them.

A Heretofore Un-Cast Guest Actress

If this were an article about another excellent CBS show, "How I Met Your Mother," this might be a far stronger possibility. Generally speaking, after a show has run as long as "The Mentalist," it is not a good idea to throw such a radical ingredient into the stew. Consider, for example, how badly the writers of NBC's "Frasier" botched the show's exit by overlooking both Peri Gilpin and Jean Smart, either of whom would have made a wonderful second wife for Dr. Crane, in favor of an actress who only came in at the last minute. It flat-out didn't work and made a number of people glad to see the series take its leave.

Kristina Frye

What's not to like about this match? The lady is ideally suited to Simon Baker's character. There's just one small fly in the oatmeal, though. Shortly after Jane and Hightower had that conversation about his love life, Ms. Frye went missing and, for all we know, may be dead. That could tend to move her toward the bottom of the list, if it turns out to be so.

Teresa Lisbon

The senior CBI agent and Jane's imagined immediate superior (as if anyone in the series can actually control him), Ms. Lisbon (played by Robin Tunney) started out as the odds-on favorite to be the one with whom Patrick Jane finally settles down when he finally gets the revenge monkey off his back. In the classic Hollywood formula, their relationship starts out in an atmosphere of hostility, then moves slowly into areas of appreciation and respect. Can love be far behind?

While that is still a possibility, it is not quite the strong probability it used to be. In the third season, Agent Lisbon, completely out of character, suddenly jumped into the sack with a wealthy entrepreneur of dubious character, named Walter Mashburn. We can only imagine the writers had Lisbon take this step, in the episode titled "Red Hot," to put the brakes on a looming romance with Patrick Jane. The tycoon (ably played by Currie Graham, who used to be Detective Sipowicz' secretly gay boss in "NYPD Blue") may or may not show up for further relations with Agent Lisbon, but the die has been cast.

Madeline Hightower

This could be the strongest possibility at the moment, and it certainly is the most intriguing. While it may not be a solid bet to pick Aunjenue Ellis' s character against the entire field, she may well be the favorite in this peculiar race.

There has been just enough emotional tension between her and Jane to leave room for a romance, down the road.

As part of her backstory, Supervisor Hightower is in the process of divorcing her husband. She is currently married (with children), but the situation points to her being available in the future. Inasmuch as her estrangement was in the works before she met the Mentalist, he can hardly be considered a home-wrecker, if anything does develop between them. So, while it is true that both Lisbon and Hightower have slept with other men, Hightower's days of doing that seem to be coming to a pause, while the relationship between Lisbon and Mashburn remains an open question.

To sum it up, pairing Patrick Jane with either of the first two mentioned possibilities would be intellectually and emotionally dishonest. We should give the show's writers more credit than to imagine they would try for such an unsatisfactory resolution. Putting him together with any of the remaining three ladies would make for a very satisfactory resolution and provide a good deal of entertainment in the process of getting him there.

Sources

http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0189860/quotes

http://the-mentalist.maxupdates.tv/the-mentalist-update-agent-madeline-hightower-is-fascinated-by-jane/

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/the_mentalist/cast/

Wikipedia