In "Ball of Fire," "The Mentalist's" Patrick Jane Faces the Results of His Cons

Although TV viewers may find Simon Baker's character, Patrick Jane, quirky, charming, and amusing, episode 9 of CBS series "The Mentalist" ("Ball of Fire") shows him from another viewpoint - that of the people he has helped to capture using a variety of cons, and their families. In this episode, someone from his past kidnaps him, and it's up to the CBI, with the help of the FBI agent Van Pelt has been dating, to figure out who did it, and find Patrick before it's too late.

They quickly find that the list of people who hold grudges is a long one; there is "a whole file cabinet" of complaints about him filed with the CBI. As they start to search through his cases, Lisbon gets a call from a jailed physician whose conviction for two murders is based in large part on Jane's work. He tells her he has information for her, but he insists on a face-to-face meeting. When she arrives, after asking for her help in his sentencing hearing, he tells her about letters he's received from a young woman who doesn't just hate Patrick Jane, but is obsessed with getting revenge against him. Her name is Rachel. Jane tricked her into betraying her father's guilt, and because her father died in prison, she blames Jane for his death.

Back at the CBI, Lisbon discovers that one of the two witnesses to Jane's abduction, a girl who said she heard the gunshots, is Rachel. The team separates, and Lisbon gets a phone call from Jane's phone, but it's Rachel. She instructs Lisbon to park at a café just down the road, then tells her to get out and walk to the gas station next to it. There she takes Lisbon prisoner, and takes her to the house where she has Jane, and the dead body of the man who'd kidnaped him for her, in the basement. Before she can kill them, Hightower, who's been busy figuring out where Rachel might be, arrives and shoots Rachel.

Although Rachel is clearly mentally ill from the arrest and death of her father, her sole parent, her grudge brings up a failing in Jane's character. After Red John killed his wife and child, he shut down emotionally. He doesn't see most people as people; they're pawns he uses in his con games. He dehumanizes then in his mind so that he doesn't have to care about those, like Rachel, who are used and hurt by his games. While he's brilliant at seeing what others miss, and finding the answer to "whodunnit," he's not so good at treating people like people. His only family and friends are the people he works with at the CBI. Maybe after this near escape from death with Lisbon, he'll begin to open up a little. But if he does, will he still be "The Mentalist?"

(Sources: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/the_mentalist/, http://www.cbs.com/primetime/the_mentalist/recaps/309/recaps.php?season=3 )