Cindy Cosey

6 min read

·

Nov 16, 2024

SPOILERS

We get to meet Thomas MacAllister for the first time. While Patrick makes his initial assessment of the murder victim you can see MacAllister’s skepticism right away. He seems to be thinking Patrick is just a big joke. Even Lisbon seems skeptical of his assessment. At the same time, she makes it clear to MacAllister that Patrick is essential to the investigation.

MacAllister asks Patrick if he’s a psychic and as always, he says there are no such things as psychics. They play the game of rock/paper/scissors which Patrick always wins and MacAllister seems a bit frustrated.

Onward to meet the family of the slain woman. It’s obvious Patrick is truly distressed at their pain. He checks out the victim’s room and talks with her brother. Her brother is much younger (maybe 12?), but he wants the murderer found and subtly indicates he wants personal vengeance, something Patrick can easily relate to and pick up on. One thing I liked, which shows Patrick’s willingness to try to find anything relevant is when he lies down on the victim’s bed for a clear look at what’s on her ceiling. He has no hesitation or embarrassment about doing that right there in front of her brother.

Lisbon’s discussion with the victim’s parents really doesn’t tell her anything. But we learn later, as often happens, that they really don’t know what their child has been up to as far as social life and habits.

MacAllister brings himself off as kind of a bumbler. I’m sure this is intentional, and it allows for the CBI team to really take over. I think he’s trying to get a feel for everyone on the team, Patrick’s relationship to them, and is getting a kick out of rubbing shoulders with Patrick.

The initial interview with the restaurant owners is great. Patrick’s hungry again, or is it just an effort to build a repour with the owners? To feel them out, see what, if anything, they know? Patrick doesn’t seem to question anything they are saying at this meeting. We do get a little taste of the owner’s personality when he interacts with his staff.

Then we meet Rachael, the victim’s friend. She denies the friendship, but Patrick knows better. And, of course, he knows she’s lying. In this scene we get another look at Kimball’s friendship and loyalty to Patrick. He (reluctantly) agrees to be witness to Patrick’s hypnotizing activity even though he knows it’s not permitted. Here, too, I think is our first exposure to Patrick’s hypnosis skills. Rachael’s response to Patrick is amusing — he’s crazy.

Then they find the “sorry” note in the victim’s locker and Patrick confronts the staff. Fibs and lies. Cho is the chief graphologist. I love it. The staff believed it, that’s all that matters. Randall faints and Patrick seems to think “case solved” walking away with his “voila” quip. Later in an interview with Cho, Randall reveals he was trying to pick Melanie up but was unsuccessful. It’s interesting how he tells the story and how the flashback reveals what really happened. He’s a liar, but probably just to make himself look better than he is.

After learning another woman had been abducted earlier fitting similar criteria as that associated with Melanie’s murder Patrick starts to think further into who else might be the murderer. Lisbon says he’s reaching and doubts his ideas.

Here comes Rachael for a second interview and she “reveals all” thanks to Patrick’s hypnotism efforts. Teresa knows right away what Patrick has been up to and calls him on it and catches Kimball in the act of permitting it and Kimball catches hell for his participation. I find Teresa’s physical turning in the hallway of Kimball during his disciplining pretty cute. Here’s this big strong able agent being physically manhandled by his female boss. Not that Teresa isn’t highly capable herself of strength and agility — I think that action just demonstrates even more her ability as leader of the team and Kimball’s respect for her.

Next is the takedown of Hector. Patrick is in the distance, as always from the actual shooting,chasing etc. He has no gun and no skills as an agent, gotta keep him at a safe distance. When Hector comes running straight toward him brandishing a machete Patrick gets this “oh shit” look on his face. Teresa takes Hector down before he can cause any harm. Later Patrick is asked by Kimball and Wayne what he would have done if Teresa hadn’t intervened in time and Patrick answers non chalantly that he knew she would. He’s lying. He was worried there for a moment.

The interview with Hector is great. I like Hector. Once he gets talking he is totally honest and straight forward. Patrick evaluates Hector and Melanie’s relationship right away. Surprise surprise. And while I don’t think Patrick much likes the guy, I think he really appreciates his honesty.

Patrick has a meeting with Melanie’s brother — he knows the kid is seeking vengeance for his sister and chooses to help and council him. This is another side to Patrick that I find endearing. He really does care about others and tries to help if he can. In this conversation he reveals much about himself that he wouldn’t have had to but I believe that is a mark of his sincerity. “Being sorry is a far worse punishment than being dead.” “It hurts.”

Working on his theory about the real killer Patrick finds a motel room that appears to be the killer’s lair. In the meantime, Teresa gets more evidence against Hector but again, Hector is completely straight forward during the interview and Patrick dismisses him as the killer.

Patrick sets up a little play acting from Grace and Wayne to try to set a trap to find the real killer. He’s still pursuing the “serial killer who likes redheads” angle. Grace is, well,looking amazing in red and Wayne is more smitten than ever. He almost forgets what he’s there to do. A fake argument between the two sends Grace out walking alone. She’s being monitored by Kimball and Wayne — physically close by — and by Patrick and Teresa on camera.By the way, Wayne’s acting stinks. So Grace is strolling along and , whoa! She’s confronted by none other than Thomas MacAllister who is rather insistent that she be taken home by him. Wayne’s having none of it and comes to her rescue. MacAllister feigns innocence. Knowing what we know about him at the end of the series I wonder what would have happened if Wayne hadn’t intervened. Maybe Grace would have turned out to be another Red John victim.

So, Teresa leaves Patrick alone in the suspect’s motel room to make amends for Wayne beating MacAllister up and Patrick lies back on the bed, probably to consider his next move. Oh crap! Here comes the suspect. And of course, Patrick is unarmed. He never carries a gun. A quick phone call is made asking for help before the killers actually realize he is there in the room and witness to their newest crime — an abducted young woman. He tries to make a getaway but is foiled by the multiple locks on the door, ending up having a gun pointed at him. And a knife brandished. He uses his gift of gab to try to get out of this perilous situation and slows them down enough to give the rest of the CBI team to come to the rescue. Both the killers end up shot dead and it’s so obvious that Patrick is struggling to deal — first being a possible victim of serious harm and then seeing two people shot dead. Still overwhelming to him whether or not they were the bad guys.

A visit to Melanie’s funeral. Her brother seems to recognize the need for him to support his parents (the killers of his sister are dead anyway). Patrick and Teresa seem truly distressed and sad for the family and their daughter. I think this says something special about each of them. How they can feel genuine caring emotion for these people they really only knew through their work.