rewatching The Mentalist is fun because it's making me realize how much the writers used murder mysteries for their little fan-fiction ideas.
oh, look how convenient! somebody got murdered on their way to the homecoming party! well, we'll just have to make all the members of our detective unit join the party and eventually slow-dance! it's the rules!
what? someone who partcipated in a radio show with a host called "Dr Love" got murdered? okay, fine, of course some members of tbe detective unit will just have to go undercover and, in so doing, rekindle their romantic flame! it's the rules!
and i could go on! almost all episodes are about a "biggified" (lol, it's from the show) fan fic trope and they wrote a murder mystery around it.
people watching it for the Red John plot didn't know what they signed up for.
