photo: cbs

The Mentalist
Blood and Sand

Original Air Date: Oct 20, 2011

Tess – TwoCents Reviewer
tess@thetwocentscorp.com

Nothing Jane ever does is by chance. He watches everything and everyone carefully, he listens to everything and everyone attentively… nothing ever goes by unnoticed, and nothing is ever put aside without being investigated. Even though his methods aren’t always what one would call usual, they are effective. Normality? Completely overrated. Yes, there might be madness to his method… but there is a method, a method that usually leads to the killer. That’s all that matters, right?

The body of a young woman is found at the beach. William Gardner, the man that alerted the authorities, says he saw the body from the top of the bluff when on his way to check the Monarchs, the butterflies he looks after on his sanctuary. From what Lisbon and Grace can see, the body wasn’t in the water for too long. Did the girl decide to go swim naked at a time when most of the people around town are all wearing sweaters and drowned? I don’t think so… and neither do they.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”, said Jane once alone with Lisbon by the sea. “For a crime scene, yeah…”

What exactly happened?

At the beginning of the episode, after being introduced to William Gardner, the man that found the body, and Jed Stack, the man that owns the land close to the crime scene and that seems to be tired of having Gardner trespassing his property, we see Jane taking a walk along the shore, picking up a dry branch and throwing it to the water.

New hobby? No, just a theory.

A theory he proves to be correct once Lisbon, after being to the office and finding out that the victim was a 19 year old girl who had been raised on the foster care system, joins him again at the beach. They find the branch back at the shore, which means that the torrents wouldn’t drag objects out, but in, meaning, the crime had to have happened on the island.

What to do next? Talk to some locals and try to figure out if anyone knows anything.

While on the search for a life sign, Lisbon receives the call that confirms that the victim didn’t drown as there was no water in her lungs. Instead, it was found that she was crushed by a blow or heavy pressure and was sexually assaulted. DNA was collected but there wasn’t a match on the database. Yet another reason to talk to the locals.

The problem is that apparently everyone is missing. As Jane says, it appears to be a case of mass vanishment. Jane goes on with a thousand ridiculous theories (playing his psychic role for a moment), before showing Lisbon the paper that tells them exactly where everyone is. Town meeting.

While they remain on the island, Grace and Wayne are searching for information about the victim. They end up finding out that the girl’s mother died of an overdose and her father was murdered. The woman from the family services also informs them that the girl had no foster parents, for she seemed to have quite an attitude and kept running away. Speaking of attitude, the tone used by the lady that so promptly (insert sarcasm here) shared the information was everything but proper. That was why Grace, who we see slowly starting to get pissed off, dropped the coffee all over her desk on her way out. No more useful information coming from there for sure!

Back at the island, the two detectives walk into the meeting and announce they are there to figure out what happened and to find out who killed the young woman. When asked if anyone remembers her, no one seems to want to share or have any information. One of the people present actually suggested that the crime didn’t happen there so it was none of their business. Mouths dropped open when Jane explained that the torrents and the wind would never take a body from the mainland to that side of the island. The crime had to have happened there and one of the people present was the murderer. Heads suddenly begin to turn as everyone starts looking at their neighbors. Who was it?

According to the amount of clothes found at the motel, Thayla seemed to be only visiting. But amongst the things found at her room there was also a notebook, inside which there was a note with an address. Lisbon asked Jane if it didn’t feel too easy… Oh yes, it did… way too easy to be the end.

Meet Jack LaFleur. At his office Jane finds plans for a new pier to welcome cruises with tourists. Apparently when he said he was expanding is business, he was not exactly speaking of his fishing business. Still, as the men were all out on the sea during the time of the murder, there is no one there to blame.

And so they visit the ranch. To be on that side of the island, the body had to be carried across Stack’s property. When asked about it, Stack says that the ranch is way too big and that he can’t keep an eye on every inch at every hour. There was only one question left to ask then… Where was he on the night of the crime? Apparently at home. Who could and would confirm that information? His workers. Before Lisbon had time to say that they needed to speak with the staff, Jane was already outside talking to them. There were three men outside, one disappeared into the background, another one was taking care of a horse and the other one was standing near, arm to the chest. Apparently one of the lovely horses had decided to bring him down a few days before, causing him to break his arm. It was so bad that Whit Naylor had to attend the doctor’s on the mainland, a place he truly disliked.

A clue comes from the office. Someone has been calling Thayla. Grace and Cho go after him. The guy punches Grace and she goes all ninja on him (second time that day). They try to interview him but he keeps asking for a lawyer, a lawyer that seems to be dating Wayne. Awkward much? The guy ends up confessing that Thayla was looking for her father’s killer and that she had found a name, Eddie Fish.

Still on the island, Jane finds himself a cup of tea and quite a company, Lydia Bibb. They basically speak of death and she tells him that she threw a flower to the water as it was apparently a tradition on the island. Lisbon calls and interrupts the conversation, informing Jane that they found what the girl was looking for. She also tells him he better come back but he says that he has a plan (when does he not?). To start, he pays a visit to William Gardner and begins to spread the news that LaFleur is planning on building a pier to attract visitors. Seeing his butterflies at risk, Gardner leaves, saying that he needs to go make a few calls.

Back at the office, Lisbon finds the file belonging to Thalya’s father case and learns that he was stabbed 18 times by a drug addict that ended up running away with a crazy amount of money that is said he used to change his appearance. Having that information in her possession, Lisbon leaves for the island again, where she later meets Jane that has already spread the news about the pier across town, causing an emergency meeting to be set up.

Once they are all there drinking their coffee while getting ready to discuss the urgent matter, Jane takes the lead and starts by asking them all to put their already used mugs on a table at the back. After having them all do that and return to their seats, Jane explains why he made such a weird request. Fingerprints! Let the mess begin!

Everyone starts talking at the same time, abandoning their seats, asking for their mugs to be returned. From between all that confusion, one intervention stands out. William Gardner abandons the room, saying that he is going to grab a camera to film it all because what they had just done was illegal. Seriously? Running away? Too easy. Guilty and arrested for the murder of Thalya’s father.

The people start abandoning the meeting after Jane’s speech, but Stack and his staff remain behind. The older man says that he always knew that Gardner was trouble, that only someone like him could have stabbed someone else 14 times and have killed a girl so cruelly. That’s when the oh so shy Whit Naylor corrects him by saying that he had been stabbed 18 times, not 14. When had he learned such information? Opsie. Arrested for the murder of Thalya.

But guilty? Confession needed.

Grace and Wayne play good cop/bad cop, bringing him to the edge. Soon enough we hear him yelling at Grace, accusing her of not knowing how hard it is to be him, how hard it is to fight such urges.

Tah dah!

Two stories, two murders, two murderers, two successful catches.

What more can one ask for?

What did you think of this episode? Was it easy for you to figure out who the killer was? Were you paying enough attention? Psychic powers would have come in handy, huh? 😉