Lisbon: A Personality Profile
The Good:
Teresa Lisbon is devoted to her job, and the tenets therein, meaning she follows a strict moral code in which the bad guys need to be put away, and the good, innocent people of the world need to be protected, saved, and kept from harm. She's been a cop for almost fifteen years now, so that immediate and instinctive sympathy inherent in rookie agents has been pushed far under the surface, but Lisbon is still capable of displaying feelings of sympathy and empathy nonetheless. Most of her emoting goes on under the surface, though, which is a self-defense mechanism she's developed over the years. It would eventually drive someone mad if they allowed themselves to get too attached and emotionally involved with victims, and the ones they leave behind. Lisbon is a strong person, both mentally and physically, and seems to view intense and sentimental displays of emotion as a sign of weakness. As such, she has a proclivity for sarcasm and deadpan humor, hiding behind snark and wisecracks. She's a very, very protective person; she commands her own team with the California Bureau of Investigation, and takes that position very seriously. Her strict duty and responsibility to her team means that much of what is going on in her heart and mind is hidden from her colleagues, because Lisbon feels that she has to stay calm and in control for them. It's apparent that while she runs a tight ship and may need to reprimand her agents at various times, she doesn't want anyone else doing so, i.e. infringing on her turf. Her team is just that: her team. She would do anything for them, and espouses palpable concern and worry for them; for example, in Season 2, Episode 3, Lisbon's boss, Virgil Minelli, confronts her at the courthouse, saying she needs to return to headquarters. Her very first question is not, "Why?" or "What's wrong," but specifically, "Is my team okay, is somebody hurt?"
Lisbon seems more inclined to worry about others, ignoring herself and her own needs until confronted. She's quick to assure people around her that she's fine, should they ever have cause to inquire, but won't back down if she thinks the people she cares about are not taking care of themselves. In the Season One finale, Lisbon and Jane had an exchange about his penchant for putting himself in harm's way if it means catching Red John:
Patrick Jane: And he would have lead you straight to Red John.
Teresa Lisbon: You'd be dead.
Patrick Jane: But you would have Red John.
Teresa Lisbon: I don't think you mean what you say. I think you'd choose life.
Patrick Jane: Well, you think wrong.
Teresa Lisbon: No. No. You think wrong. Can't you see there's people who care about you, who need you? You're being selfish and childish. And I want you to stop it.
And though Lisbon doesn't have a nurturing nature, per se, she can be tender and emotional. She's more inclined to hide her feelings of love, affection and concern, but they do surface when she's put in distressing situations. In the Season Two episode entitled, "Red Bulls," one of Lisbon's agents, Van Pelt, is shot at. Though the bullets didn't actually wound her, as she was wearing her vest, Lisbon's worry and concern are noticeably visible, and she rubs Van Pelt's shoulder very briefly as she remarks, "Don't ever do this to me again."
Lisbon's emotional wall does not completely preclude heartfelt interactions or close relationships. Indeed, with certain people, she seems willing to open up and reveal more of her emotional side, her heart and soul, though it tends to be when she's alone with them, and is enabled, obliged, or coerced in some way. In Season Two, Episode Three, she confesses to Sam Bosco regarding the ruse she and Jane had employed to catch a bad guy, saying, "Maybe it's not good police work, but I have to confess, I enjoyed it."
It's important to note that she's not completely shut down, and has shown traces of sentiment and tenderness on the show. She wears a large, gold cross around her neck at all times. It is not known where this came from, but at the very least, it can be inferred that Lisbon is at least religious/spiritual, though these beliefs seem to also be held close to the cuff, and very private.
The Bad:
She's hardened, cynical, and sarcastic. She lost her mother when she was twelve, her father turned into an abusive alcoholic, and as the oldest of four, Lisbon had to grow up fast. Her father was a failure, both to himself and to his children, and Lisbon compensated for that by growing up to become a person driven to succeed "to the point of developing an ulcer," with no possibility of allowing herself to fail or be seen as weak in any way. She'd rather suffer in silence than foster the perception that she has failed, or is in need of any help. As Jane deduced, in high school, she was someone who "shut out girls who wanted to hang out" and "blew off boys who wanted to get too close."
At times, she can be hypocritical, and waver on the way she handles people and situations. When Patrick Jane once informed her that he would kill Red John in retribution for what he'd done to his wife and child, Lisbon very firmly told him that if Jane attempted to commit violence against Red John, she would stop him, and if he succeeded in committing violence against the man, she would put Jane in jail. Lisbon seems to have a very firm and unwavering belief in the justice system, and in this instance, would want a sadistic serial killer brought into custody so that he could be prosecuted in a court of law. Her by-the-book methods would seem to indicate that she sees things in black and white and doesn't think outside the box, and yet, for all that she gets frustrated with Jane's unorthodox methods, she concurrently lauds his talents and even defends his methods to Sam Bosco. So it would seem that Lisbon often wants to say things and threaten things that aren't necessarily completely true, while in her heart, her own convictions might be more flexible than she lets on. Here, it would seem to be again a case of her wanting to be seen as strong and in control, and threatening Jane is her attempt to keep him "tamed," so to speak, while deep down knowing that she might not actually follow through to the extent she infers. In actuality, Lisbon is ostensibly black-and-white on issues, but internally, there is a lot of gray area for her (more than she would like to let on). I refer back to the instance when Lisbon remarks to Sam that it felt good to let loose; often, on the surface, she seems so tightly wound, and even falters when asked what she does for fun. So there is a disconnect between what she says is truth, sometimes, and what is truly reality for Lisbon.
Control is a huge thing for Lisbon. There are so many things she can't control that the few things she can--her thoughts, emotions, actions and reactions--are sacred to her. Lisbon is a person who is supremely loyal to her beliefs and convictions, and yet, it is precisely that extreme loyalty that also compels her to hide (or at the very least, closely guard) their true depth. Because the moment she betrays how strongly she believes in something/someone, the moment she acknowledges the value of someone/something in her life, she forfeits another measure of control, giving life itself the opportunity to take something from her. This, in part, explains her actions in the Season 2 episode, "Black Gold and Red Blood." Agent Sam Bosco throws Patrick Jane in jail for planting a listening device in his office, largely a decision based more on the rivalry between the two men than any actual criminal offense. Lisbon, though shocked at first, is happy enough to let Jane sit and stew in jail for a few days, in the hopes that it would teach him a lesson. However, when Jane escapes jail and risks a longer prison sentence, it becomes clear to Lisbon that this is not the way to reign in Jane's behavior. So she goes to Sam and asks him to drop it and let Jane go, even threatening to blackmail him with a secret the two share, from their time working together with the San Francisco Police Department. Bosco is one of the few people Lisbon is closest to, so the fact that she would risk not only his friendship, but both of their careers, is telling. I think the impetus for this threat was twofold: 1) Her childhood, and ensuing years, engendered a very fierce sense of protectiveness in Lisbon, an instinct to protect those weaker than her. Jane is weaker than her, someone who has been damaged and victimized and needs to be looked after, and she knows he wouldn't last for any true length of time in prison. Not only that, but he didn't commit an offense truly deserving of such a sentence, and that, to her, is just not right or just; and 2) A part of her really believes in Jane and his methods, and even acknowledges, on occasion, the degree to which he helps her team close cases. As mentioned, Lisbon is staunchly loyal to her beliefs, and would not give up on someone she believes in without a fight.
When it comes to emotions, Lisbon would rather hide her feelings. She's more comfortable deceiving and lying to herself, rather than risk getting too close and possibly hurt. Lisbon is so tightly wound and guarded by a thick and heavily reinforced wall that she wasn't even able to admit her feelings of love for Sam Bosco until he was on his death bed. She's evasive about the topic of her social and love life, and seems to either spend most of her time (even off-duty) at work; when she's not at work, she's staying in at home, which doesn't even seem very lived in, as she remarks that much of the stuff on the walls is simply things the past tenants left behind. Her house is not really her home, and it would seem she's still searching for what home really is, to her.