Episode Review The Mentalist: The Red Box –Is The End of Agent Lisbon Nearing?

If you watch The Mentalist last week you were introduced to the newest member of the California Bureau of Investigations, Madeline Hightower (Aunjanue Ellis). Hightower is the new Special Agent in charge of the CBI team and has replace Virgil Minelli (Gregory Itzin) who recently retired from the CBI after losing some of his team during a recent episode involving Red John. Hightower made here presence known and let the entire team know that her number one goal is to improve the reputation of the team due to the recent issues they have encountered.
The first interaction between Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) and Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney), we see a look of distress on Lisbon's face as Jane tries to assure her that the new boss will be fine. During Jane's time with the CBI he has convinced the other agents to use some unorthodox procedures to capture their criminals. They always work but are often met with opposition from local law enforcement.
The Red Box storyline was not one of the more interesting storylines from this year but the writers of The Mentalist are really good at setting the viewers up for what potentially lies ahead. As each of the agents meet with Hightower throughout the investigation of the murder of James Smithson, we begin to understand more about Hightower and her goals. When she meets with Lisbon she informs Lisbon that her job to keep Patrick Jane in line. If she can't do it, Hightower will find someone who can.
We then fast forward to the latter part of the show where Hightower and Jane have their first official meeting. Here we learn that Hightower is awed with Jane and his ability to close cases. Jane is impervious in the eyes of Special Agent Hightower. Jane does a amazing job in this scene of not playing any of his cards to Hightower or the audience leaving us unsure of where he will go from here with his behavior.
The avid fans of The Mentalist who are active in the blog community know that Teresa Lisbon is not the most loved actress or character on the amazing hit show. Having watched The Mentalist from the beginning, Bruno Heller and John Mankiewicz do a great job providing clues on the direction they are going to take the show. Are Agent Hightower's claims throughout this episode just another hint that we might be seeing the end of Teresa Lisbon? The remainder of the season will tell but I have a feeling The Mentalist and the incredible cast and writers will be around for some time to come.


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