The Mentalist 1X3: Red Tide

Ha. I was so annoyed when Patrick went to hypnotize the kids. I was like, you just got in trouble for doing this last episode! But, apparently, faking hypnosis is fine. The man has to find evidence for what he's got hunches for!

So, we've got a dead surfer. And her friends are all trying to blame her death on other people (Flipper, the one dude's dad), but definitely not them. Teresa gets to talking to a girl she used to know who is in jail and claims she was sleeping with an older guy she called Pops. And he liked 50s music, and was good in bed, but that's about all she knows. (But this did lead them to her rapist, so I hope she gets some points with the DA for that. We never did follow up on it).

While investigating, Patrick and Teresa are looking at the construction zone that is right next to where Christine was last seen. And Patrick finds the nose of a dead security guard sticking out of some concrete. Fun. When Patrick confronts the owner (one of the guys' dads) he seems more concerned that his construction project will be behind than than the death of his kid's friend and his dead employee.

As he's getting in his car to leave, Patrick calls him Pops, and he looks over. Then Patrick claims he heard he was good in bed and asks for tips. And the dude is livid. Which is kind of the point. Patrick keeps pushing and pushing until he gets pissed enough to hit him, so now we can arrest him.

But, he won't say anything useful while being questioned. Which is fine with Patrick because he's ready to enact the second part of his plan. He grabs all Christine's friends and tells them he's going to hypnotize them to see if they can recall any additional details about the night Christine died. They are skeptical at first, but all go along with it. As soon as Patrick claims he's done, one of the girls, Hope, says she sees the dude's dad just staring at them from a cliff. His kid objects and claims he wasn't there. They all get into a fight and leave. But, Patrick's already got what he needs.

Then next day, Hope comes into the police station (or FBI office, wherever they work out of) and asks if the dude's dad has been arrested yet. Patrick informs her that he's got an iron clad alibi so it definitely wasn't him. He then tells her he only pretended to hypnotize her and she's accusing an innocent (at least of murder) man. She eventually 'confesses' to them partying on the construction property. When the security guard came to chase them away rapist dad's kid got into a fight with him and accidentally killed him. Everyone, expect for Christine promised to keep their mouths shut. So, rapist's kid killed her too.

Then, the kid shows up, claiming he can't let his dad go down for something he didn't do. They ask if he's confessing and he's confused. They drag him into the room with Hope and they argue for a bit before she claims she did it, but to protect him.

And then, the other two show up claiming the Flipper killed Christine. They are also brought into the room where Patrick finally reveals the truth, that they all killed her. Holly actually wanted her dead, but figured if they all killed her together, no one could turn on anyone without getting in trouble themselves.

The worst fucking part of all of this, is that construction site guy is probably going to get away with raping a 15 year old because she's too dead to testify against him. Even before I realized that I figured the guy would get, a couple of months, at most. But nothing? Fuck the justice system.