And we so love that new episode smell, don’t we? Jane definitely loved more than that new car smell in this new installment of ‘The Mentalist‘, he
loved the politics of a popular and pricy dealership and had loads of fun analyzing and toying with the staff.

But what Jane probably loved most this week, which coincidentally is what I enjoyed most in the episode, is that he was able to make a friend!

Of course, Jane’s interest in Walter Mashburn was, at first, for the case. Even if Jane used Walter and his pricey yellow car to get to the bottom of this week’s case, Jane and Walter sort of developed a friendship.

I suspected from the start that Walter wasn’t the murderer — that’s because recognizable Kevin Rahm was playing another salesman and that the salesmen competition didn’t seem too healthy right from the start — but Walter still picked my interest as he called Jane a phony right from the start, Walter was cocky, loved being a suspect and knew which buttons to push to get Jane to come back. And he did come back. Of course, Walter asking Lisbon out was just icing on the cake!

As I’ve said before, Jane was mostly hanging out with Walter because of the case. But Walter and “Patrick” seemed to have way too much fun with one another for Jane to not start seeing Walter as a potential friend. Jane was showing Walter his tricks, which included a rocking scene where he drove blindfolded, and Walter used his cockiness and flashy lifestyle in return.

Walter enjoyed this new experience so much that he gave a car to Jane. I hope we see Walter in subsequent episodes. Jane can provide Walter the new experiences he seeks while Walter can be an excentric friend that calls it as he sees to Jane. Let’s admit it, Jane needs friends outside of CBI. What would also be interesting is that down the road, Walter comes back as a potential suspect and this time, all fingers do point in his direction. Jane would then have to investigate on a friend.

Meanwhile this week, Rigsby and Van Pelt’s relationship was put to the test when Lisbon told them she would have to report them to the powers that be and that one of them would have to transfer. This potential transfer had the couple think of the future, which included marriage, and they saw that they were not thinking alike.

At first, I thought that Rigsby and Van Pelt set up the argument they had at CBI for show so that others would think they were breaking up when in fact they would continue to secretely date. However, I’m not so sure about my theory anymore because when Lisbon told them she wouldn’t report them, they did look like they were done. At least, they were still mad at one another. I hope that in the end they find a way to patch things up and continue to secretly date because I loved those two together and we need a couple on the show, eh?

As for the case of the week, it gave loads of opportunities to Jane to use his unique skills. Even if I knew Rahm’s character was more than likely the murderer, I admit that a few times during the episode I wasn’t so sure due to the new clues that were uncovered. It’s always good not to know for sure before the opening credits who did the bad deed.

Next week, we have a Cho-centric episode! Yay! Some backstory for one of the most guarded CBI agent.

Watch Redline’ Episode Online here

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