#redjohn

Serial Killers, Pigeons, and Running

After all those years we finally got to meet Red John.  I think Jane said it best, "I have to say I'm a little disappointed."  I wasn't expected an aging sheriff with no visible charisma to turn out to be a serial killer who could capture the imagination and devotion of a legion of followers.  Still, this is canon and thus it must be so.  Except for the fact that Red John was McAllister, I think this close to the case was riveting.  While Simon is utterly brilliant, no one else should be slighted in appreciation for his/ her work in this episode.  Everyone was amazing and I remember being barely able to blink much less turn my eyes from the screen the entire time.  

Therefore whenever I get a bit grumbly about the selection of McAllister, I remind myself how much I enjoyed so many other things about the episode.  Many fantastic moments occurred, individually and as a team.  

Lisbon defending Jane and standing toe to toe with Abbott.  (Who knew at that point that we would all grow to love him and name him the Captain of the Good Ship Jisbon?) 

The sad loneliness of Lisbon throughout the episode as she slowly realized that she may not be able to save Jane from himself or from prison

Jane and Lisbon having what would be there last moments together in the park before they would be separated for two years.  ("Oh, why didn't he kiss her?" my poor heart cried.)

The team ready to go out with guns blazing in a shooting match with the FBI just to rescue Jane

Lisbon listening to Abbott on his radio and realizing that Jane got away again.  (It reminded me of when Toto escaped the Wicked Witch of the West and Dorothy cheered through her tears, "He got away! He got away! Toto got away!"

The running-- and running-- and more running

Jane's glance to Angela's and Charlotte's graves as he walked into his meeting with Bertram

More running-- and more chest visibility

The climax between Jane and Red John-- the fact that he strangled Red John with his left hand with his wedding ring clearly seen and that we only know what's happening by watching Jane's face and hearing Red John's gurgling sounds

Lisbon unable to answer Jane's final call as he leaves the message that it's over, he's okay, and that he'll miss her

Finally, I would like to point out two things that caught my eye.  First, during the scene in the street when Jane, Lisbon, and the CBI team are standing up to Abbott and the FBI, the cameras are focusing on the three CBI agents on one side and Abbott on the other.  Standing a few feet behind Abbott are Jane and Lisbon.  They are not the focus of the scene at the time but Simon and Robin were so completely in character that they created what I’m willing to bet was a completely unscripted moment when Jane and Lisbon look to each other as Abbott argues with the three younger agents.  The look they exchanged seemed to say that they still had each other’s back and that Lisbon was still trying to get Jane out of this.  Try to catch it if you can. 

The second thing I couldn’t help but notice was that when Bertram was lying on the ground dead, he’s first seen lifeless with his eyes open.  However, perhaps Michael Gaston got tired of keeping them that way because later as Jane and Red John are talking, Bertram’s eyes are now closed.  I’m probably the only person amused by that, but I did want to share. 

I hope you can join for the rewatch today, March 21st, at 5pm Daylight Savings TIme, eastern time zone USA. This is the second and final week that this should be a headache for us.  Remember, for those of you who have not moved your clocks forward yet, the rewatch will be an hour earlier than normal.  If you need further confirmation of your calculations, google "If it's 5pm today in Ohio USA what time is it in (fill in your location)"   We will be tweeting are thoughts throughout the episode using #RedJohn.  If you don't feel comfortable tweeting, feel free to lurk.  Lurkers are welcome too.  If you can't join us, I hope you'll take the time to revisit this episode.  It definitely fascinates the senses.  

Take care and be sure to laugh once today.  You'll feel a lot better.  

Like a Poltergeist She’s Baaack! #RedSailsInTheSunset

How did we all survive the ups and downs that this couple gave us?  Here is a beautifully filmed episode directed by Simon Baker.  In many ways it could be one of my favorites except for one itty bitty big thing.  I really didn't want to see Lorelei Martins ever again.  Yes, I know in this episode she served an important plot point toward the final Red John solution, but I still wasn't happy to see her.  

In this episode, Jane put together a plan to break Lorelei out from the federal penitentiary.  His goal as always was to find Red John and he believed that the quickest and most direct route was through Red John's mistress; especially since they had history together, too.  (Editor's note: I'm shuddering right now.) He sought help from Bret Stiles and managed to succeed in getting her out of prison but that was where things started to go awry.  She was not grateful when she discovered it was Jane rather than Red John who had helped her. Then she was only starting to warm up to the idea when she find out he had made it appear that she had broken out of jail and kidnapped him.  Personally, I'm not sure I see the issue here.  She was serving time for a lot of crimes and she did go along with the breakout.  It feels like a minor detail to me.  Oh well, I'm sure that's just me. 

Meanwhile Lisbon was basically forced to work with Homeland Security's Robert Kirkland to find out what happened to Jane and if he was a willing or unwilling cohort.  Jane left breadcrumbs making it seem as if he was abducted and they worked to find out as much as they could about Lorelei hoping it would lead to where she had taken Jane.  This led to their first meeting with Lorelei's mother Dana who was an extremely self-absorbed vain woman.  I loved the interview that Lisbon and Kirkland conducted in Dana's home.  Seeing that conventional interviewing was getting them nowhere, Lisbon took on Jane's persona and wandered around the room looking at photos to see what more she could find. When she had something that would bother Dana and perhaps rattle her, she challenged her.  It worked and Kirkland (much as Lisbon usually had to do with Jane) had to get them both out of the house.  Still, Lisbon got another psychological piece to the puzzle.  Dana was very protective of her marriage to a rich much older man.  Later, Dana showed up at Lisbon's office and told her that Lorelei had never forgiven her for selling her younger sister Miranda to a rich foreign couple when they were children and Dana was doing drugs. Lisbon's disgust was wonderful to watch.  All this led to the discovery that Miranda was raped, tortured, and killed by Red John.  Now that was a good twist I didn't see coming at the beginning of the episode.

When Jane had a chance to call Lisbon and she told him about Miranda he thought he finally had a way of breaking through Lorelei's devotion to Red John.  Little did he know that this was also the same time she found out about his kidnapping scenario and she went bat crap crazy on him.  Still, in the end I think he was wise to let her go and figure out the truth on her own.  She was never going to believe it from him.  

Of course, the most important thing was that she let it slip that Jane and Red John had met.  Or did she?  Was the idea of saying something about the meeting something that Red John had programmed her to say without her realizing it?  (Just thought I would throw that in there to play with your brain.)  

As I said at the beginning, Simon Baker did a great job of directing this.  His cinematography was beautiful and he definitely made Robin Tunney look perfect in every scene.  It was also fun to see both of his sons have small parts in the episode.  A little nepotism every now and then is fun.  

I could go on, but I think it would be more fun for you to watch it for yourself.  Or better yet, I hope you can join us Tuesday, Feb. 21st, at 5pm EST USA for a rewatch.  We will be live tweeting and sharing our thoughts using #RedSailsInTheSunset.  If you can't make the rewatch and you watch it later, I hope you'll share here on tumblr or on Twitter.  If you haven't participated before, please, don't let that stop you.  We are, as Jane would say, "good people," and enjoy sharing.  

Remember to take time to be nice to yourself once a day.