Everything you missed in ‘The Mentalist: Red Hair And Silver Tape ’

 For years and years I used to waste my time binge watching series and overthinking about every little detail until I realized…I might not be the only one.

Hi there, my lovely fictophiles!!

I know what you are thinking! Well, that’s exactly the kind of thing Patrick would say but no, really, I know what you’re thinking. I understand you might have been expecting something a little more mid-season ’cause hell, if we are going to cover every episode then it will be a decade before we reach the end. Therefore, since the series is too long, we will be picking multiple episodes together unless it’s a Red John episode or an important episode.

It’s impressive that in the second episode of the series we have psychopathic killers. We shall also establish some trends in the series from this point onwards which makes it critical in understanding the overall development of the story hence this detailed analysis. That being said, why waste time? Let’s slam a quick spoiler alert right here and pick up our looking glasses because it’s time to look deeper into: The Mentalist S01E02 .

Can we go back to the name of the episode again? ‘Red Hair And Silver Tape.’ Well, while we are at it, let’s check the names of all the episodes in season 1.

Look at that every single one of them either begins from ‘red’ or has ‘red’ somewhere in the name of the episode. This goes on till season 6. But why is that? Well, two reasons. First, it’s always a reference to something in the episode. Sometimes literal, sometimes metaphorical. In this case, ‘Red Hair And Silver Tape ’ is a clear reference to the M.O. of the murderers. With ‘red tide’, its metaphorical, just a normal-colored tide washes up a dead body and becomes a harbinger of death, therefore, red tide.

 Second and the most important reason, it’s a very sweet reference to Red John. Just like every episode’s name has red somewhere in there, Patrick’s mind has Red John somewhere in there. With some episodes, he will have Red John in the foreground of his mind, with some it will be in the background but as long as Red John is living and free, Patrick cannot stop thinking about him. I also really appreciate how beautifully they have portrayed this thought. Throughout the series at many, many occasions, the background always has something red and it’s definitely intended because when you’re watching a crime scene from Patrick’s eyes, you are practically in his mind. And his mind always have Red John somewhere in the background.

Red Hair and Silver Tape is the perfect depiction of this idea. Not only do we see Red John’s letter and smiley again but also notice how this episode is filled with red. Red tractor, red restaurant décor and red/orange dresses for everyone (except Melanie and Raquel).

Well, the episode starts with the definition of mentalist. That is again a trend they will follow for the first season but obviously, it’s not without reason. Basically, Patrick keeps on telling us that he is not a psychic. That he only pretended to be one but then, he can tell that the favorite color of June Tolliver is blue, even though he has never met her before. So if he is not a psychic then what is he? What can we call him? The answer is ‘mentalist’. Well Patrick definitely has a sharp observant mind, and only by paying close attention to details does he manage to deduce what he deduces about people. This episode is appreciable also because we see him using all aspects of this definition. He uses “mental acuity” to deduce that the death of Melanie was from a sexual motive and he uses hypnotic suggestion to get the name of her boyfriend from Raquel. He also manipulates Randall into confessing about the sorry note and manages to hold of two psychopathic killer by manipulating their thoughts and making them believe they are cornered.

As soon as the episode we are introduced to another important minor character, the sheriff of Napa County, Thomas McAllister. You are not told the name yet, just like with Bert Partridge, but well, giving relevant spoilers is what I am here for. He is pretty cooperative with Lisbon’s team, cracks a corny joke about dead people and seems a little annoyed at Patrick. He asks him if he has psychic powers to which Patrick says there is no such thing as psychic powers. Then they play rock, paper, scissors and Patrick wins every time. Honestly, I wanna know how he did that. It’s such a fun trick! Even Lisbon smiles!!! Also, Napa in itself, is a very important location. We will be told more about it later in the series, but for now, Napa and Thomas McAllister: hold on to these to these clues for me. I’ll come back to them later in the series.

So, the victim of this episode is Melanie O’Keefe. Well, Patrick knows that this is an accidental murder done by a local because well, if the killer had intended her to die then why would they spend time taping her. And why else would they keep her tied and quiet if they were not planning on abducting her, most possibly for a sexual motive.

Patrick knows Melanie had a lover, because she takes her posters down after Christmas, has a man cutout from a Christmas carnival photo and she wasn’t wearing her purity ring when she died. And why would you not have even a single photo of the guy you are in a relationship with, unless it’s too closely related to your family or it’s too villainous to be a part of.

Next we see the beautiful Shand Creek Restaurant as Lisbon walks up to Patrick’s table. While she has been busy investigating, Patrick has been enjoying the chef’s specials. Meanwhile he also discovers that Malcom, the chef, uses way too much butter in his dishes. At this point though, he doesn’t think too much about it but later when he meets Hector, he starts thinking.

See the thing is, at that night, only the sheriff, Randall, Hector and the Shand Creek staff was there and if you look carefully at the timeline , you will realize that Melanie could have been abducted and killed between 2325 and 2342. This puts Randall and Hector out of doubt, only leaving the 20 chefs that night, including Malcom, who were there at that time and could have done it. This is why, just after meeting Hector, Patrick thinks of this elaborate theatrical plan to flush out the killer while being a matchmaker for Rigsby. I have to appreciate this. I mean, this is just sweet. We have seen Patrick using drama to solve the case, but this is definitely intended. He sets up Rigsby with the woman he likes while trying to bait the killer, yes, but still, he gets Rigsby a date with Van Pelt! That is just adorable.

Also note, unlike the first episode where Patrick knows everything already, he realizes that there is no time because of Lisbon so, in a way, they catch the killers because of each other.

Although, you should know he never suspected Sandra to be a part of it. He suspected Malcom. Malcom said “there’s no shame in that. It’s the greatest thing about food, it’s indulgence and necessity all in one.” Which tells us that he isn’t ashamed to hide his desires and he isn’t afraid to go after something if that is what he wants. Sandra never did anything that suspicious. She was a better psychopath. See, all good psychopaths, including Red John, have a great sense of theater. They spend most of their lives acting like a person who doesn’t seem capable or anywhere involved with a murder. This act is their most reliable cover and most of them maintain it diligently. Well, and isn’t it surprising that the first episode we deal with psychopathic murders is also the first episode where we learn to link the red symbols with our lead psychopath, Red John? Again, it’s all intentional.  

Another reason why Patrick never suspects Sandra could also be because the motel owner mentions that it was a man who came to book the room. Plus there was the sexual motive. I mean it really was a surprise that Sandra liked to see Malcom assaulting and killing women. That is just horrible. I guess, just a way for the series to tell us that there are all kinds of people . A really dark message but awfully true.

Patrick, definitely, was a little unsure about Malcom later too though. When Lisbon told him that they found Melanie’s blood on Hector’s car seat, his mind did waver for a minute but hearing hector’s version of the story he knew that there is no one except Malcom who could have done this. After Randall made a pass at Melanie, she would have wanted to go away from the parking lot but she could not leave because she was supposed to meet Hector, so she must have gone to the washroom to freshen up where Malcom had the opportunity to abduct her.

Patrick made an impeccable plan, well but Thomas McAllister messed it up. Remember the Shand Creek van that pulled up on the road from behind Van Pelt but drove away? Well if your target is talking to a sheriff, you can’t just simply abduct them, right? But since the maid was scheduled for the next day it had to be done today so they found another girl and while Lisbon was taking a call we see Shand Creek’s van pull up.  

The moment he hears Sandra, realization dawns upon him and he quickly shoots a text to Lisbon before he is discovered. I kind of like how, throughout the series, Patrick is mostly a damsel in distress and Lisbon is the knight in shining armor. All the women for that matter are written as strong characters, another reason to compliment Bruno Heller’s screenwriting.

I also want to comment on how Rigsby just rushes to throw McAllister off of Van Pelt just as he thinks that she’s in trouble. That was a legit awwww moment. Although Van Pelt didn’t need any protection. She could have handled it herself but the fact that he wanted to protect her shows how much he truly cares about her.

We also have to acknowledge the way Patrick counsels little Frankie. We are reminded of his past again as he tells Frankie how being made to feel sorry is a far worse punishment than being dead and that right there is one of the saddest and truest statement he has ever said.

We also get to witness Patrick’s theater all the more again, when he manipulates Randall into confessing with his dramatic, elaborate speech. I mean, Randall passed out! He also manipulated both Sandra and Malcom to believe that they have been cornered and surprisingly managed to hold them off till Lisbon arrived and shot them. He is undoubtedly a “master manipulator of thoughts and behavior.” A perfect “mentalist” as proven by the episode.

Okay, so to sum it all up, with this episode, we have clearly established Patrick’s identity as a mentalist and not a psychic. We saw him using hypnotic suggestion for the first time. We were allowed a refresher into his horrible past and had our first glimpse at Napa.  We have also understood why all the episode names till six seasons would have red/imply the color red. We also now know that we are supposed to associate all the red symbols in the background with red john being in the background of Patrick’s mind. We met Thomas McAllister. We dealt with two psychopathic killers. And Rigsby and Van Pelt went on their first date! Although, it did ended with a slap and poorly screamed “I hate you,” but, well.

I have skipped a detail or two because I just can’t discuss that with you yet. If I do that now then I’ll ruin the whole series for you so for now I need you to remember the trends we have established and we will come back to this once we reach season 6. Okay? Good.

So with that, I am done. Tell me what else did you see and what you think about the series till now. I would love to hear back from you! Remember this is a discussion. You need to tell me your opinions too.  

Until then,

Bella ciao!

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