The Mentalist - Episode 3.03 - The Blood on his Hands - Recap

I was very curious to watch this episode the moment I read the description, for various reasons. This episode promised to divulge the fate of Kristina Frye, it also marked the return of the charismatic cult-leader Bret Stiles who was definitely on the top of my imaginary 'characters I want to see back on The Mentalist' list. Furthermore, this episode was to introduce Eric Winter's new recurring character on the show. I almost thought that there was too much going on and the episode just might lose focus trying to do everything. But I was wrong, it turned out to be one of the best episodes of the show.

The episode begins with a body found near the Sacramento River with a tattoo being the only identifiable mark on her. Rigsby arrives late and blames the traffic on the 50; Van Pelt finds out that he was with a girl at that time. Jane arrives even more late and gives pretty much the same excuse (it's about the journey, Lisbon). Looking at the body, Jane observes that she had a manicure, but not a pedicure; she did not want people to look at her feet and deduces that she might have been an addict.

Jane gets interrupted by a phone call. It's the officer in charge of the Kristina Frye mission persons case. He has found new evidence. A phone call was made to a radio show in which Kristina Frye talks about speaking to the dead mother of a previous caller. Jane and a former client of Kristina confirm it as the voice of Kristina. The call is traced to an address where nothing is found but a Red John smiley and a doll. On a personal note, it was creepy how many locks there were on the door of the room that was supposedly housing Kristina. Forensics results confirm that the blood used to draw the smiley was Kristina's. Lisbon asks to take over the case but Jane doesn't want to as he thinks that the fact that Red John allowed her to make a phone call that was traceable means that he is trying to play Jane into a trap again.

Meanwhile, the tattoo on the vic's body is identified as one worn by members of Visualize- the cult group that is headed by Bret Stiles. Jane and Lisbon goto Visualize and find out that the vic's name is Celia and was a heroin addict, but got cleaned up at Visualize. As the rest of the team interview members of Visualize, Jane speaks with Bret Stiles. Bret Stiles seems surprised when Jane questions him about Celia and says that he thought Jane was there about Kristina Frye. Stiles speaks as-though he knows more about Red John than he is letting up, but says that if he could get Jane even half a step closer to Red John, he would do it. Stiles says that Red John is trying to take away everything and everyone that Jane loves. "it's a form of love, you know" he adds.

Jane later inspects the room of Celia inside the Visualize center where she lived. He observes that she had several doubts and questions about the beliefs of Visualize. Outside, he finds a fortune cookie that says "Your friend is in trouble and needs your help". He eats the cookie and heads back to the precinct. There he informs the rest of the team that Celia had several problems and doubts about Visualize philosophy before going. The team tracks down one of the old members of the cult who was a friend of Celia and find out that Celia was having an affair with one of the high ranking members of the cult but Visualize had arranged her marriage with one of the cult members and she did not want to lie to him. They realize that Celia may have talked about her lover in one of the Vent videos.

On the way back, Rigsby and Van Pelt are tailed by someone who they think works for Visualize, but turns out be a FBI Agent Craig O'Loughlin whose team has been onto Stiles and Visualize for a few years. Van Pelt and Craig hit it off. Jane suspects that the FBI may have planted an agent within the cult. He figures out who the planted agent is and asks him where to find the Vent tapes of members. He attempts to view those tapes, but is obviously caught. Jane tells Bret that if he agrees to give the tapes voluntarily, then, the person to oppose to this the strongest will most certainly be the killer. Bret agrees to this and as it turns out the lawyer is the lover and killer her as he would have lost his job in case Celia ever revealed about her affair with him. He makes a deal will the DA to work with the FBI to build a case against Visualize in exchange for a 3-year sentence. But he is killer by Celia's fiance before he can be transported.

This is not the end of the episode. Jane gets a text from Stiles- Need to talk. When Jane meets up with Stiles, Stiles tells Jane that Red John is planning a surprise party for Jane and gives him a piece of paper with an address written in it. Kristina Frye is found at the place without any physical damage but is in sort of a trance and doesn't speak a word. After everything else fails, Jane pretends to call on Kristina's soul and she starts speaking. In the conversation that ensues, it is revealed that Kristine Frye believes that she is dead, but has no recollection of how she died. She also doesn't remember anyone by the name Red John or has any memory of being abducted. Kristina Frye is just a dead end, for now.

Lisbon later informs Jane that Stiles has left the country indefinitely. Cho gets a call saying they have a new case. The last shot shows the team leaving in slow-motion as the the screen cuts to black.