Challenge 02: The Mentalist recap
For my recap, I did S6E22 "Blue Bird" of the show, The Mentalist. I needed to gush about a ship. Nearly 6800 words of it, apparently.
Without giving too much away about the show, Patrick Jane is a former "psychic" who angered a serial killer who then murdered his wife and 5 year old daughter. For years, he worked with the CBI (California Bureau of Investigations) to find him. This story arc finally culminated half-way through Season 6. The second half of Season 6 was Jane returning from exile after being blackmailed to work for the FBI (who he promptly blackmailed back). Yes, the show has established the FBI would want him, as he has a 100% closure rate on the cases he consulted on, plus took down a national crime syndicate that reached the highest levels of law enforcement, justices, and government officials.
Lisbon was a condition of his return, so she's around, as is Cho who went to work for the FBI. Rigsby and Van Pelt are basically non characters now, replaced by Fischer and Wiley at the FBI.
Previously on The Mentalist: Patrick Jane is an idiot. After blackmailing the FBI to get Lisbon back, he then proceeds to throw it all out the window by watching her date Oberon from Game of Thrones without saying a damn word about it. This plan goes as well as you'd expect.
Opening scene: Student Housing University of South Central Texas
Cho and Jane drive up to the exterior of what I'm assuming they're going to try to pass off as campus housing. It's not, by the way. It's far too nice. Jane is whistling and Cho comments on it. "You're far too chipper today." Jane: "Why not?" Cho: "I'd thought you'd be sad about Lisbon leaving for DC." Jane's all pshaw, Lisbon's not leaving. She's all talk. He's very sure of himself. That is, until Cho tells him outright she's already put in her transfer papers and is leaving Austin in a week. In a multitude of good acting decisions by Baker in this episode, Jane's expression falters. Most notably, the smile he'd held a second ago no longer reaches his eyes.
Gotta say, when I first watched this opening sequence, I struggled with this either being bad writing or out of character Jane. Wanted to go with bad writing at first, since there is no way Jane would have missed Lisbon making a final decision on leaving, and he definitely would have noticed a change in her after she's turned in her transfer papers. Granted, Lisbon has shown in the past that she *can* hide some things from him, but this is a life-altering decision. He'd easily be able to read it off her. He'd already nearly lost it when he realized she was sleeping with Oberon - and that info came from just watching her get out of a cab.
After rewatch (and yeah, I've probably now binge-watched the whole series three times in the last month alone), I realized it actually *is* in character at this point for Jane not to notice. In previous episodes, he's been so wrapped up in his grief about watching Lisbon happy with someone other than himself, it's entirely within reason that while he's noticed she's pulling away, he's also completely missed the fact that she's moving on.
Anyway, the crime scene they're at is dumb. Victim's dead in a kiddie pool. It's only service is to provide a comedic backdrop as Jane keeps quizzing Cho on Lisbon. Cho says he's heard it from Abbott. Jane: "I'll believe it when I hear it from her." That Lisbon hasn't told Jane the news is another clue that put me on the bad writing vs out of character initial idea. In normal times, Jane would notice, and Lisbon would tell. But eh, rewatch points out pretty vividly these aren't normal times for our Duo.
Despite being clearly distracted, Jane solves the crime in thirty seconds, leaving this as the quickest case they've ever solved on this show. It literally takes him longer to explain it to Cho than it did for the camera to pan around to all the clues Jane looked at in order to figure the whole thing out. Spoiler alert: everyone did it. With that, Jane is dragging Cho off so they can go. "I've got stuff to do," he says. I'll leave you to imagine what it might be about.
Credits.
FBI Texas HQ - "Several Days Later"
Wiley is giving Lisbon a good-bye gift and hug as Jane walks by. Jane oh so innocently snarks "What's with all the hugging, are you leaving today?" Lisbon reminds him she's leaving tomorrow and then asks if he is still mad at her. Jane at first plays dumb, then admits it hurt he was the last to know. He's happy for her, but sad for himself that she's leaving.
Okay, making second comment about Baker's acting choices here. This Lisbon/Jane scene has a crap ton of lines that I know fans have been waiting for (including - finally - the "so stay, don't go" line), but Baker's playing everything so casually and superficially here that not even Lisbon takes him seriously and smiles all his lines off. Jane is a man who does not share himself, even in moments where it looks like he's sharing himself. Never has that been more clear than in this scene. He tells Lisbon she deserves to be happy, and she deserves a man like Oberon, whom he calls "a good man". The undercurrent in this conversation is that of course, Jane is not a good man.
Abbott then gathers everyone and tells them about a letter that arrived in the mail an hour ago. I will say, the writers of this episode did go to great lengths to try and make everything plausible. The letter is from the "killer" of Greta DeJorio, a socialite murdered in Florida five years ago. The head of the agency in Florida is now in Texas, hence why the letter was sent to Texas, and is now in the hands of Abbott's FBI team. DeJorio's murder caused a lot of bad press for the FBI back then, so it's getting big attention from the brass now. Ergo, all vacays and moves are canceled (re: Lisbon) and the team is now headed to Miami.
Letter reads: "Remember Greta De Jorio? That was me. To honor Greta's memory, I will start killing again very soon and very publicly. And you FBI simpletons still won't catch me. Ask yourselves, do you understand 752 598 H IS M Key o."
And if you aren't aware Jane is behind all this, congrats on being as dumb as me on first viewing. Because honestly, this episode has so many red flags in it, it should have been titled "Red Flags" (FYI, for those who don't know, all episodes prior to Red John's end have some type of red colors in the titles, and afterwards have been non red colors). First red flag: Lisbon's leave is canceled. Jane must have really had to research to find this case, considering how he uses it for all the components of his con. Second red flag: Jane loves emitting his "this will be our last case so let's have fun" attitude waaaaaaaaaaaay too much. Third red flag: he immediately says no when Abbott asks if he's got any read on the letter. Lisbon falls for Jane's infectious enthusiasm and gets ready to leave.
Abbott's office. Abbott is the first to wave the red flag. "You're acting cool about stuff that I know you can't be cool with." Jane does his innocent I-have-no-idea-what-you're-talking-about-and-everything-is-fine that everyone knows means he knows exactly what Abbott's talking about, and everything is not fine, but Abbott for some idiotic reason takes Jane at his word and lets him go.
Cue Miami montage, and Cho and Fischer getting in an SUV at the car rental, while Lisbon shakes her head at Jane exasperatedly as he practically dances with glee over the convertible Cadillac he's managed to procure for them.
Lisbon and Jane arrive at the house of DeJorio's husband. While waiting, Jane makes a comment about not being able to enjoy sailboats, pelicans, and spectacular views in a DC office, which Lisbon calls him out on. She'll be just fine without. Slimy Husband, Lawyer Man, and New Third Wife enter the room. They tell them about the letter, which Jane promptly tells them he doesn't believe the killer wrote, much to Lisbon's surprise. Good Daughter now joins them. Jane then proceeds to basically detail his entire plan, and in a way that still doesn't raise massive red flags to Lisbon that Jane is behind said plan. He tells them all the letter was written by someone who suspects who the killer is, and the letter and the code on it is meant to smoke out the real killer. Hmm. I wonder who wrote the letter now....
Slimy Dad insists the killer was Wes Baxter. Good Daughter though insists he's wrong. New Third Wife tells Good Daughter to stop backtalking, and Good Daughter calls New Third Wife a witch. Lisbon and Jane leave to the tune of Dysfunctional Family all yelling at each other. Going out the door, Jane actually has the audacity to make a not-so-nice-insinuation about married life, which I'm all dude, you were very happily married, so this really is not a track you should go down. It's just another poke at Lisbon's relationship with Oberon, since as Jane rightly points out, Lisbon moving to DC to live with him does basically mean they will be getting married. Jane even takes a pot shot at how little they've known each other (Jane: "Weeks and weeks" Lisbon: "Months"; Jane: "A month") Again, though, Lisbon sees right through him.
Red flag #4: Jane now tries to distract Lisbon with the code on the letter. 752 598 H IS M Key O. Lisbon flat out tells him if he can't decipher it, then no way will she be able to. She mulls it over anyway as they leave the DeJorio house.
...which segues into Cho and Fischer at a different house, also trying to decode the message. Their guesses are even worse than Lisbon's. They are interviewing Greta DeJorio's business partner, who is doing yoga with her (I'm guessing) girlfriend. Business Partner lets it be known Greta was having an affair, but it ended shortly before her death.
Back to Jane and Lisbon in the Cadillac. I honestly don't know how Lisbon hasn't killed Jane yet, considering his current choice of music. It's like super loud mamba, with tin drums and everything. You can almost imagine the car rocking to the beat. Lisbon's yelling into her cell, trying to hear Cho as he tells her about Greta's affair. Again, Jane takes the opportunity to knock relationships (ignoring again, his own perfect marriage) and yet again, Lisbon ignores him. She tells him to stop trying to get her to leave, and he keeps teasing back. It's all very light-hearted. No wonder Lisbon hasn't clued in yet.
They interview Wes Baxter. He was a prime suspect because he "stalked" Greta. His life was ruined by the charges. Jane clues in it was really Good Daughter Wes was interested in. Due to age differences (him 18, her 15 at the time), Wes never did anything about it. They tell him Good Daughter never believed he was guilty, which makes him feel better. They ask Wes if he knows anything about the code on the letter and Wes says no. In another good writing decision, it's made clear Jane is leaving a copy of the letter with all the suspects. This sets up what happens later in the episode. Getting back in the car, Jane convinces Lisbon to go take a walk on the beach. She's all "we're working" but he's definitely pulling out the smooth voice and puppy eyes. "Live a little" he gently prods her, and she gives him a look that shows she's suspicious but tells Jane she's in.
Cut to them walking along the beach. The show has more than made it clear in the past that this is one of Jane's favorite things to do. Jane wants to live in the moment, but Lisbon wants to work. Jane pulls the letter out of his pocket and says "Let's solve that code then, shall we?" He reads out the "Ask yourself, do you understand" and immediately points out the phrasing is odd. In a technique we've seen him employ dozens of times, he then repeats "do we understand" as a trigger phrase until Lisbon finally gets it as Dewey - aka the Dewey Decimal system. Lisbon is oblivious to this trick, and gets excited looking up the numbers on her phone. Google or Bing tells her the numbers have to do with colors and birds, although they don't point to specific ones. Jane pulls out of his Memory Palace (aka "his ass") that "H" is the radio call sign for hotel, and Lisbon discovers there is a Bluebird Lodge on the Islamorada in the Keys (IS M Key). Jane also pulls out of nowhere that O means the date of the next full moon, which for some odd reason Lisbon automatically knows is tomorrow. She's ecstatic she figured the clue out (red flag #5) and Jane is all "you did it!" (red flag #6).
Jane then tests his plan for the first time in order to see if it's working. He tells Lisbon that Abbott would probably let her leave to go to DC now that they've decoded the message. Lisbon unknowingly rewards Jane with an excited "Are you kidding me? I wouldn't miss this for the world! I'm gonna be on the Islamorada tomorrow night!" Jane: 1, Oberon: 0. Jane can't stop smiling.
Cue Islamorada montage. Receptionist is telling Jane and Lisbon they have adjoining waterside suites "Just as you requested, Mr. Jane" (red flag #7). Lisbon notes it must be expensive, but Jane dissuades her with another "could be our last case so let's splurge" attitude that he started back in Texas. He then tells the receptionist that if anyone calls for Greta DeJorio, give them Jane's room number but not his name. Seriously, this should have been RED FLAG IN BIG BOLD LETTERS NUMBER ONE to Lisbon, but as it stands, it's only really lower case red flag #8. Receptionist then confirms their dinner reservation, and reminds them it's evening attire preferred (red flag #9). At this point, I'm really curious as to how Jane knows about this place. We find out later he made the reservations before they cracked the code. Lisbon at first states she'll just take a sandwich in her room, but once again Jane brushes that off saying they'll figure it out.
"Figuring it out" apparently means Jane secretly went shopping beforehand and managed to surprise Lisbon with three gorgeous dress choices (white, pink, and dark green) lying on her bed when she enters her room (red flag #10). Lisbon's thrilled at the room and the dresses.
...and here comes IMO one of the saddest scenes in the entire episode. If you don't know by now that this is not going to end well for Jane, then you obviously have never watched any romantic arc on any TV show in the history of TV. But this scene? Jane is sitting patiently still at the end of his bed. You can even see he's wearing the socks Lisbon gave him. He has the phone next to him, an air of expectation surrounds him, and he's gently smiling to himself. It's not big or anything, but he's clearly in a mood of peaceful hope - not an emotion you'd usually associate with him, unless you're also pairing it with some sort of underlying emotional pain or guilt.
The phone rings and he looks at it, his happiness growing. Yes, it's Lisbon, thanking him for the dresses and telling him it's too much. His voice is soft as he tells her that this might be their last case and nothing is too nice for her. Baker's subtle choices make Jane look nothing short of a man in desperate love as he talks to the woman he's in love with, dancing around the words that he loves her. This fall is going to hurt. The phone rings again, and Jane answers, expecting it to be Lisbon again. His reaction though, says it's not. He looks all confused, then all very wtf?
Cut to downstairs, where Cho and Abbott are waiting for him. This is clearly not part of his plan. Cho: "Our unsub has good taste." Damn, Cho. That should have been YOUR red flag #1. Jane: "What are you doing here? Lisbon and I can handle this." Abbott: "This is a big case with a whole lot of downside potential. DC wants to put senior agents on the scene." Heh, in other words, your choice of case bit you in the ass, Jane. You calculated the need for importance in order to get Lisbon's transfer delayed, but failed to consider how it might affect actually catching the criminal. Cho announces he's starving, and asks about the food. Jane tries to hide his peeved annoyance by admitting "Apparently, it's good."
And it's kinda at this point that I'm wondering what Jane's end goal is here, because clearly he's copying what he's been watching Lisbon enjoy with Oberon: nice restaurants with "cloth napkins", dressing up, etc. He even nearly admits this at the dinner table with Abbott and Cho (who's miffed there are no burgers), when Abbott comments how he wishes his wife was there, cuz "Women really love this kind of stuff" and Jane agrees "Yes, they do."
But while I can see Jane trying to wine and dine Lisbon (despite his S1 protests to the contrary), I can't see him trying to bed her. This entire episode - hell, this entire series - expounds on the fact that Jane is so damaged he can't handle anything out of his control. He manipulates his entire world so that he never has to actually be vulnerable. He cannot walk off that cliff into the unknown that a relationship requires. His entire existence is wrapped up in hiding his true self, and his inner-most feelings. He is a showman, and the times he's given in and shared himself - ie became a part of something instead of a loner - have never ended well. He holds so tight to the superficial façade he presents to the world, it's a testament to the show's writing and Baker's acting that you know there's much, *much* more to the character.
Quite frankly, if Oberon stayed in Texas with Lisbon, I think Jane would have continued his silent self-punishing acceptance of their relationship, as long as he got to spend any amount of time with her - even if that time was only through work. Remember, Jane knows he is anything but a good man, and he certainly doesn't believe he deserves good things to happen to him. So if Oberon keeps Lisbon happy, then Oberon is the one who is going to end up with Lisbon, because Jane won't compete with that. Jane's got quite the long history of not making Lisbon happy and he knows it. So again, I wonder what his end goal is here. Because otherwise, it just looks like he's selfishly trying to get her to stay, without providing any real reward for Lisbon should she decide to stay.
And as I just typed that last sentence, suddenly a certain speech from Lisbon that will take place soon enough now makes a lot more sense to me....
Back to the dining table with Jane, Cho, and Abbott. Jane looks up and sees Lisbon come down the stairs in the pink dress, and suddenly you know what Simon Baker looked like when his wife entered the chapel in her wedding gown when they got married. I swear, you can practically imagine the halo of light surrounding Lisbon, given how Jane is looking at her like she's an angel gracing the Earth with her presence. She smiles at him while she walks down the stairs and he smiles beatifically back like he's just been graced with everything he's ever dared to dream of. Definitely the definition of "taking his breath away".
Before she joins the boys though, Lisbon heads over to the receptionist. Because it's now time to pop this plot balloon, she asks how she can buy a bathrobe for Oberon. Receptionist tells her it comes free with the "package Mr. Jane booked a week ago".
A week ago. Days before the letter from the killer arrived at the FBI, and long before they even cracked the code on the beach.
Lisbon wastes no time in putting 2+2 together and goes to confront Jane in front of Abbott and Cho. Jane's beautiful smile disappears as he watches her approach. To his credit, he doesn't try and lie his way out of it, but does try and rationalize it (in regards to catching the killer). Lisbon rationalizes him by picking up a glass of water and throwing it in his face, calling him a "son of a bitch", then storming off back to her room.
In a scene that could have been awkward as all hell with dialogue, I am delighted that they chose to keep it nearly dialogue free. After Abbott and Cho watch Jane silently wipe the water off his face, Jane quietly says "Maybe I should go talk to her" and then tells the guys to order without them.
Cut to Lisbon. She's in her room and already changed out of her dress. She's angry, and calling a taxi to take her to the airport. Jane approaches outside her door much like a man who suddenly has the weight of a thousand worlds on his shoulders. He hesitates, then knocks.
"Lisbon?"
"Go away."
"Please open the door," he's slightly begging at this point.
"Go. Away." Door stays closed throughout this entire conversation.
"You know, I'm -- I'm sorry that I tricked you. I just...I just, uh..." Jane falters here, because you can tell he's at least attempting to be honest.
Lisbon's not having it. Furiously, she walks to her side of the door. "You just what? Jane, what were you doing?"
Jane's struggling to hold back tears because he knows it's too late - the damage at this point is too deep - but he finally admits, "I just don't want you to leave."
...and now we get the speech I warned you about earlier. Lisbon leaves no screw unturned in her angry and hurtful diatribe against him. "You don't give a damn about what I want or need! I am just a convenience for you. You used me. It's all about you. You used a-a woman's murder, Jane! You basically dug her corpse up for this crap! You are so twisted up in your own dishonesty, you have no idea how to act like a decent human being. No idea!"
Jane's voice audibly breaks here. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry."
"All right, well, if you're really sorry, why don't you just leave me alone? Go away!"
Jane just stands there at the door, the intensity of his shame pouring off in rivers of waves. How he's not crying I'll never know. He says nothing, but Lisbon is not fooled. "I know you're there. I can hear you breathing. Just leave me alone!" Jane finally gives her what she wants. He walks down to his room, opens his door, walks in, then shuts it. I am rather curious if he managed to make it to a piece of furniture before collapsing from the memories of the last time he lost everything due to his screw ups.
Cut to Lisbon getting into a taxi. She calls Oberon and tells him if his offer still stands, her answer is yes. She will marry him. He's thrilled and she tells him she's on her way to DC now. As the taxi leaves, we see the phone fall as she stops listening to him blather on and looks back at the hotel. She's clearly in pain, and looks a little shell-shocked to be honest. Like she's just lost everything too.
We now return to the Abbott and Cho comedy hour. For some reason, Abbott is shocked Jane managed to lie to him back at the FBI. Abbott is very stupid if he hasn't by now realized Jane's default mode screams I LIE. Cho: "Don't feel bad, Jane can sell cats to mice." Very true. Cho: "I hope he's fixed things with Lisbon." Cho then has the best lines of the entire night, if not the entire series: "It's weird how mad she got. I mean, he's pulled way worse stunts than this. He buried a man alive once. She wasn't nearly as angry as this." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!!! Abbott just looks at him with a wtf face that and goes "Really? You don't know why?" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHAHA times 2!!!!!!!
Airport. They'll begin boarding Lisbon's flight in 45 minutes. "Sorry about the delay." My dad used to work for an airlines. They're not sorry in the slightest.
Jane's room. He's sitting mostly in the dark, watching a TV tuned to a video of the ocean. Immensely sad considering he could just be sitting out on his hotel deck, watching it for real. Here technically is the only real bad writing I can find unequivocally, but in the end it's still justified. Lisbon has made it to the airport and checked in, and we see that in all that time Jane has only managed to down one drink from the mini-bar. Uh, hell no. He'd be tanked by now. But he's gotta drive later, so I'm going to forgive this mistake.
Jane tosses the empty container across the room, managing to make it into the waste basket. He gives a sad little "rahh" like a crowd cheering an NBA player that just made a 3 pointer. He absently grabs the next bottle and starts to open it. Suddenly his door bangs open and Lawyer Man barges in waving a gun. Jane and Lawyer Man both look at each other with wtf faces. Lawyer Man recognizes Jane, and Jane is all confused. "You killed Greta DeJorio?" Lawyer Man is all "No!" and Jane figures out he was the one having the secret affair with Greta. Lawyer Man: "I solved the clue in the letter and came here to kill the bastard that killed Greta." Jane must be at least a little buzzed because his face goes all scrunchy "Awwww, that's so romantic!" HA!
Jane tells Lawyer Man to put the gun down, that the real killer is on the way. Lawyer Man does so and Jane gets up to offer him a drink. He gets one out of the minibar and tosses it to Lawyer Man just as Wes Baxter enters from the other side of the room and exclaims "Hands up!" while waving his gun around too. This would have been funnier if the bottle had hit Lawyer Man as he raised his hands, but as is, the bottle just sailed past him and landed on the floor. Jane welcomes Wes, who has solved the clue too and is also looking for Greta's killer. Jane is all, neither of you are the killers and put the guns down already. He whines he shouldn't have made the clues so easy that everyone figured them out. Uhm, sure Jane. He then offers Wes a drink and they all sit down to commiserate.
Lawyer Man: "Greta and I were deeply in love. She was going to divorce Don and marry me. I called it off. I ended the affair." Camera pans to Jane, listening intently. Lawyer Man continues: "I was afraid of the scandal and the damage it would do to my business. I was a coward. Blind, stupid coward." Jane is clearly internalizing these words. "I was so filled with fear and self-hatred that I destroyed the best thing that ever happened to me." Jane's breathing hitches and he looks like he might start to cry again. "By the time I realized my mistake...it was too late. She was gone."
Cue the redemption music as Jane changes from hopelessly-failed to omg-i-need-to-leave. You can literally see the moment the change occurs on Baker's face. He jumps out of his chair and urgently announces, "I have to go to the airport." He rushes out the door, only to return exasperated "You've got to be kidding me!" a moment later as now Business Partner and her Maybe Girlfriend march in behind him with guns of their own.
Turns out Business Partner was the real killer. Jane is all "I'm in hurry here!" They demand to know who he is. Jane tells them he's FBI, and in a hilarious turn of events, tries to convince them to leave before his colleagues get there so he can escape and go after Lisbon. They don't buy it. Jane goes to show them his badge but "drops" it. This is the distraction he needs to pull out his cell and text Cho and Abbott behind his back where the girls can't see.
Cho and Abbott. An in-joke as Cho goes "I don't see it, they're like brother and sister." I guess over the years the actors and other crew have described the Lisbon/Jane relationship as brother/sister in order to sidestep romance questions. Abbott's cell phone beeps. "Speak of the devil, a text from Jane," he drawls. It says SOZ. It takes Cho a second to realize it's SOS and the two men immediately start hustling their butts up to Jane's room.
Jane is still trying to convince the ladies to leave. "No one's calling you killers!" Lawyer Man helpfully pipes up: "I am!" Jane basically tells him to shut it. The girls are, "We can just walk away?" Jane's basically: "Yes! Go now!" I swear if he had a broom he'd be sweeping them right out the door. The girls start to leave but then Wes pulls his gun and yells at them to stay. A frustrated Jane goes "DUDE!" He was SO CLOSE. Lawyer Man brings his gun back up, and now it's a stand off and Jane's expression is dammit why is this happening to me.
Hallway. Cho and Abbott walk down it when suddenly gunshots ring out. They grab their guns and catch Business Partner as she tries to escape out of the room. Inside the room Jane is whining really loudly that the guns were really loud and his ears! Wes and Maybe Girlfriend are sporting shiny new bullet nicks but Jane sees his escape. He runs like a chicken with his head cut off to both of them. "You're fine!!!! And you're fine!!!!! It's just a flesh wound! I have to go but help will be here momentarily!!!" I swear, it's like suddenly he's on a sugar high from a million Pixie sticks.
Abbott busts in and Jane practically pounces on him, "You have a car with a siren, right? I need your car keys!!! I've gotta get to the airport, it's an emergency!!!" Abbott can't ignore the sudden tornado that is Jane in front of him and demands "Where is Lisbon?" In quite frankly, one of the more hilarious acting choices I've seen in awhile, Baker just blankly repeats "At the airport!!" like he's just told Abbott the answer to life, the universe, and everything and why aren't you listening to me???
Abbott tosses his keys to Jane, and Jane starts to take off. "Hey, wanna give us some insight?" Abbott yells. Jane rushes back in, quickly points to Maybe Girlfriend and Business Partner: "Those two are the bad guys," then points to Wes and Lawyer Man: "Those two are the good guys." He starts running back out the door yelling "[Business Partner] is an embezzler, I suspect!" Abbott wishes him good luck and Cho stands there confused. "Where's he going?" Abbott just looks at Cho, then the room at large, then sighs.
Cut to burgeoning hopeful music as Jane speeds down the freeway, sirens blaring. He tries calling Lisbon, but she's of course not answering. Still, he begs her to call him back when she gets his message. Lisbon is now boarding her flight. Pan to a painting of "Conch Republic" - another in-joke that alludes to the shell Jane sent Lisbon while he was in exile. Jane pulls up outside the airport and rushes in. He finds her flight information and runs to the gate.
Ugh, okay. They're boarding this plane outside on the tarmac. It's not a small plane, either. I mentioned earlier my dad worked for an airline, right? REALLY hard for me to suspend my belief over this. I barely managed. Lisbon starts walking up the stairs, looking behind her (as if looking for someone) before she goes.
Jane rushes up to the ticket agent "FBI! FBI! Let me through!" Agent asks for ID and Jane immediately realizes he doesn't have it (remember he "dropped" it back at the hotel). He tries to talk his way through by claiming it's back in his car, but for once in his life he's not confident (he's actually a bit frantic), so he's not even close to being able to sell the lie. He realizes this and turns away to find another way to get to Lisbon.
Lisbon is now on the plane. She's put her luggage away and is sitting down in her center seat. The music is really wisely chosen here. Amplifies the emotions of the scenes perfectly.
Outside, Jane runs up to the fence next to the plane. Uhm, I also know how impossible that is, from my dad. Security is a bitch at airports. Ignoring, ignoring. Jane looks around for a second, then jumps and climbs the fence. It's rather high and he lands, twisting his right foot. Rumor has it Baker actually did hurt himself doing this stunt. Still, despite the pain, Jane limps himself to Lisbon's plane. He's screaming WAIT WAIT as he climbs the steps and pounds on the door. HELLOO HELLLOOOO LET ME IN PLEASE.
Yes, that's right. You guessed, it. A flight attendant actually opens the door for Crazy Man. He thanks her in his crazy way saying, "FBI, I won't be long." Surprisingly, it's this statement that finally scares the flight attendant. "FBI? What's wrong?" Jane realizes his mistake and tells her not to worry, this is just a routine check. Yeah, don't think she's really buying that, Jane.
Jane doesn't care as he makes his way down the aisle searching for Lisbon. At this point, his clothes are a mess. When I mentioned earlier that he was acting like a tornado, well now he looks like he hit a tornado. Everything about him screams disarray. The mask is gone, and dare I say it? Yes, he looks vulnerable.
He finds Lisbon and she is shocked to see him. "What are you doing here?"
"There's something I need to say."
Lisbon promptly shuts him down. "I don't want to see you. Go away."
Jane ignores her. He's downright distraught. "You're right. You're right. I-I have forgotten how to act like a normal human being. And I play games, and I lie, and I trick people to avoid the truth of how I feel." His voice is breaking up again, and Lisbon is staring at him in pain, but she's listening. "And the idea of letting anyone close to me is-is terrifying, for obvious reasons. But the truth, Teresa, is that I can't [huge inflection on the word "can't" here, you can hear the tears in his voice] imagine waking up knowing that I won't see you." Lisbon is starting to cry now, as is Jane. "The truth is...I love you." Jane says this last part quietly, but emphatically. He looks like he's taken his leap off that cliff now and is in freefall. No calculations or manipulations anymore.
Lisbon is definitely crying now. Jane finally looks like the weight of those thousands of planets are off his shoulders now. "Whew! You can't imagine how good that feels to say out loud," he's definitely crying now, "but it scares me and it is the truth. It is the *truth* of what I feel."
...and here's the beauty of this wonderfully written scene. The real pain isn't in Lisbon's line, "It's too late. Jane, it's too late." It's in Jane's line: "Maybe, maybe, and I understand."
Jane's not fighting. He's not begging, he's not pleading, he's not doing a damn thing other than letting her go. I think this is why I love this duo so much (and possibly Pacey and Joey from Dawson's Creek - she didn't ask him to stay either). They've taken this trite and formulaic concept of lovers possibly separated forever finding themselves at the last moment when someone finally wises up, and flipped it on its head. Lisbon doesn't suddenly melt into his arms, Jane doesn't go down on his knees. Nothing.
Jane continues as police march down the aisle telling him to put his hands up, which he does immediately. "That's okay. I needed to get to this and you deserve to hear it." The part that gets me is that Jane is still not asking for her to stay or choose him instead of Oberon. "I love you, Teresa. And it makes me happy to be able to say that to you." He's shouting this as they drag him away.
As he's pushed down the aisle, he's randomly yelling, "I love her! That woman in 12B - I love her! You take care of her!" He's no longer facing Lisbon BTW, so these words aren't directed at her. God. He finally begs and it's not to Lisbon. It's to everyone around her to make sure she's all right. Now tears are streaming down *my* face. Ugh the heartache and feels.
Lisbon is openly sobbing and apologizing to her seatmates. Lady next to her: "Oh shush, honey. Every woman on this plane is green with envy." Even the guy sitting next to her nods his head in agreement.
Morning now, and Fischer and Abbott are leaving. I'd forgotten she was still around. Her character was definitely the worst addition the show made after the post Red John story arc. I'm gonna skip the case stuff since it's just wasted lines. Abbott tells her he has to go the airport to try and persuade TSA to let Jane go. "They do not like people messing with their airplanes. Don't like it at all." I can verify that.
Final scene. We're at the TSA holding room. An officer is filling out a form while Jane sits quietly across the table. His right foot is elevated on a chair and bandaged, and his posture indicates utter defeat. I liked how one fanfic noted he's probably replaying in his mind the fact that the last memory he'll have of Lisbon is making her unhappy again. The officer leaves, but we hear the door open again. The music gives the surprise away though, as the camera focuses on Jane while an unknown and out of focus person walks past him and sits down on the other side of the table.
It's Lisbon. "Hey," she says softly.
Jane looks at her like he just woke up and can't really believe his eyes. "Hi," he returns just as softly. I do like the acting choices by Tunney and Baker in this scene. In a moment that should be fraught with emotion, they both go for the quiet understatement. There's not a lot of energy here, just two people finally being honest with each other. A rare time where dialogue does its job without needing a lot of acting.
Lisbon gives a small smile. "This is another fine pickle you've gotten yourself in, huh?"
He shrugs. "Eh, I've seen worse. Pickle-wise." (heh - talk about understatement!)
"Yes, you have," she agrees. "How's the ankle?"
"Oh, it's fine." He can't take his eyes off her and proceeds to state the obvious, probably because he still can't believe it. "You didn't go to DC."
"No," she replies, because obvious question needs obvious answer. She hesitates, then asks, "Did you mean what you said?"
Jane doesn't hesitate in the slightest. "Yes, I did." This direct eye contact between the two actors is amazing.
Lisbon smiles a little brighter this time. "Good."
Jane can't just automatically stop being Jane though. "Just to be clear, we're talking about pickles, right?"
"No," Lisbon slightly laughs. After all, she does love the smart ass. "No. The other thing."
"Oh, that."
Lisbon tells him "this is no joking matter" with an expression that clearly shows she thinks he's being endearing as all hell anyway.
Jane drops all pretenses at this point. "Yes. I meant what I said, every word of it." Again, the eye contact between these two. I don't think they've looked away from each other once yet. There is absolutely no avoidance in this scene at all.
"Good." Lisbon then finally lets all her barriers fall down as she tells him, "Because I feel the same way."
"Well, that's lucky," Jane says in a tone that clearly shows he can't believe his luck. "What about [Oberon]?"
She's quiet as she responds, "He'll understand." She gives another small smile and tells him "Say it again."
He's staring at her so intensely, yet plays a bit dumb. "Say what again?" Lisbon merely raises her eyebrows. The intensity of Jane's gaze is so insane I'm surprised Lisbon hasn't gone up in flames yet. Instead of answering, he gets up (bad leg and all), leans over the table, and kisses her passionately while the guard on the other side of the window bangs "stop that!"
End scene. Nicely done, show. Blue Sunflower approved!
Thus ended Season 6, and at the time, the series. It hadn't been renewed for Season 7 yet. I'm glad they did, because it was a lot of fun watching Jane work on being a real person in a relationship. Vulnerable Jane is a fun Jane to watch. :D
