History Series / TheMentalist

* StuffedIntoTheFridge: Jane's psychiatrist Sophie Miller, one of Red John's victims in "Black-Winged Redbird". (It was actually the oven, not the refrigerator.)

* RunningGag: Jane ''loves'' to point out that he's not actually a cop, just a consultant.

** MythologyGag: In an episode showing Jane's very first case, before he was formally hired by the CBI, Lisbon introduced him to a group of suspects as a "consultant".

* Averted in Season 4's "Red Rover, Red Rover." Jane's method for getting the murderer to confess to their crimes was to knock them into a coffin and bury them alive, similar to what they did to the victim-of-the-week. While he doesn't kill them, Jane's actions land him in hot water with his boss, who points out that what Jane did was torture and that any confession the murderer made is going to get thrown out because of that. This proves true in later episodes when it's revealed said murderer was out on bail and was looking to be acquitted by a jury [[spoiler: only to be killed off by another person before that could happen.]]

* ButHeSoundsHandsome: In "Blinking Red Light," the [=CBI=] team catches the case of a young girl who has been found murdered, her throat slit. It quickly becomes clear that she was most likely killed by a serial killer known as the "San Joaquin Killer," a brutal serial killer who has already killed several other young women in the area. During the course of the investigation, Patrick Jane encounters a blogger named James Panzer who is obsessed with the case. He tells Jane that the killer is a "purist," based on the way that he slits the victims' throats slowly and watches the life drain out of their eyes. Later, Jane returns to him, saying that he thinks he's wrong - that the killer isn't a purist at all, but rather someone who was deeply damaged during childhood and kills out of a need for attention. Panzer replies that Jane couldn't be more wrong, that the San Joauqin Kilelr is a "genius" who has run circles around the police. Jane recognizes that he is talking about himself. After his first attempt to catch Panzer fails, he manipulates him into appearing on a TV show and making similar statements. More importantly, he gets him to talk smack about Red John, the serial killer who killed Patrick Jane's wife and daughter, because Jane had himself talked him down on television. Of course, Red John promptly kills James Panzer.

* Averted in Season 4's "Red Rover, Red Rover." Jane's methods for getting the murderer to confess to their crimes was to knock them into a coffin and bury them alive (similar to what they did to the victim-of-the-week) in order to force them to confess. This lands Jane in hot water with his boss, who points out that what Jane did was psychological torture and that any confession the murderer made is going to get thrown out because of that. This proves true in later episodes when it's revealed said murderer was out on bail and was looking to be acquitted by a jury [[spoiler: only to be killed off by another person before that could happen.]]

* KarmaHoudini: The dating service woman head (who's also played by Creator/MorenaBaccarin) hints at the possibility of the jury letting her off scot-free in regards to her husband's murder because her accomplice who was going to testify against her was unstable. {{Subverted}} in a later episode, when we discover that they didn't and she's in jail, then DoubleSubverted when she escapes and flees to a tropical paradise.

* MonsterMisogyny: Red John is primarily into torture-killing women & girls, brainwashing women and generally victimizing anyone who's of the female persuasion. Heck the writers of the show even have Jane's murdered family consist of a wife and daughter (no sons).

-->'''Kira Tinsley''': Tattoo. Tattoo on his left shoulder. [[labelnote:Explanation]] Kira Tinsley was hired by Red John to bug Jane and his team. When that failed, Red John came to her house to kill her, and almost succeeds before being forced to flee when Jane and the CBI show up to rescue her. Before she dies from her injuries, she tells Jane that Red John had a tattoo of 3 red dots on his left shoulder. Not only does this help Jane narrow down the remaining Red John suspects, but it's later revealed that members of the Blake Association (which is a group of corrupt law enforcement officials that Red John is a part of) have this tattoo.

* DirtyCoward: This is what Red John turns out to be. [[spoiler: When Jane finally finds him and shoots him, Red John is downright terrified of Jane killing him. He tries everything he can to avoid death, from trying to convince Jane that he's too good of a person to committ murder, to making a run for it and collapsing when the bullet wound takes its toll, to calling 911 in a vain attempt to save himself, to flat-out begging Jane to spare his life. It doesn't work, and Jane expresses nothing but contempt for him.]]

* DirtyCoward: This is what Red John turns out to be. [[spoiler: When Jane finally finds him and shoots him, Red John is downright terrified of Jane killing him. He tries everything he can to avoid death, from trying to convince Jane that he's too good of a person to kill him, to running for it and collapsing when the bullet wound takes its toll on him, to calling 911, to flat-out begging Jane to spare his life. It doesn't work, and Jane is downright disgusted with his behavior.]]

* {{Leitmotif}}: You can tell when Rigsby and Van Pelt are going to have a romantic and/or sexually-tense scene, because they have a special theme that always plays. To a lesser degree, there's a small variety of playful music accompanying Jane's mind screwing.

* Averted in Season 4's "Red Rover, Red Rover." Jane's methods for getting the murderer to confess to their crimes was to knock him into a coffin and bury him alive (similar to what they did to the victim-of-the-week) in order to force him to confess. This lands Jane in hot water with his boss, who points out that what Jane did was psychological torture and that any confession the murderer is going to get thrown out because of that. This proves true in later episodes when it's revealed that said murderer was out on bail and was looking to be aquitted by a jury [[spoiler: before they were killed off by another person.]]

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Averted in "Something's Rotten in Redumd" [[spoiler: The murderer was a 35 year old female teacher who was having an affair with a 16 year old male student. She killed the murder victim with a baseball bat because he caught the teacher and the student making out in the woods and was going to report it. Cho himself even points out to the 16 year old student that was his teacher did to him constitutes statutory rape.]]

** Season 6, episode 4. [[spoiler: There's an organization of corrupt cops and officials (that may or may not have Red John as a member). They identify with each other using the phrase "tiger tiger".]] [[spoiler:Kirkland]], one of the Red John suspects, is killed by [[spoiler:Smith]] another suspect, [[spoiler: who is a member of this organization.]]

** Season 5's finale "Red John's Rules". Jane narrows his list of Red John suspects down to seven names, and Red John responds by announcing that he's going to start actively killing again.

** Season 6, episode 8, "Red John". [[spoiler: Bertram is revealed to NOT be Red John. One of the suspects [[FakingTheDead faked his own death]] in the explosion, and ''he's'' the real Red John. He kills Bertram and confronts Jane, who strangles him to death.]]

** Season 6's premiere. Jane and Lisbon have an argument, Lisbon gets called to an abandoned house by herself and is captured by Red John. The episode ends as he taunts Jane over her phone and paints his bloody smiley face on her face.
** Season 6, episode 4. There's an organization of corrupt cops and officials (that may or may not have Red John as a member). They identify with each other using the phrase "tiger tiger". [[spoiler:Kirkland]], one of the Red John suspects, is killed by [[spoiler:Smith]] another suspect, who is a member of this organization.
** Season 6, episode 6, "Fire and Brimstone". Jane leaves Lisbon stranded as he rounds up every remaining suspect to check for a tattoo that is allegedly supposed to identify Red John. Three of them have it. A shot is fired and then the house they've gathered in blows up.
** Season 6, episode 7, "The Great Red Dragon". Three of the Red John suspects are found dead following the explosion. Jane subsequently rules out one of the two survivors, leaving [[spoiler:Gale Bertram]] as the only possibility. While a manhunt for [[spoiler:Bertram]] starts, the FBI shut down the CBI over the corruption.
** Season 6, episode 8, "Red John". [[spoiler:It's not Bertram. One of the suspects [[FakingTheDead faked his own death]] in the explosion, and ''he's'' the real Red John. He kills Bertram and confronts Jane, who strangles him to death.]]

** Season 2's "His Red Right Hand". Rebecca is revealed to be Red John's mole, [[spoiler:Bosco and his entire team]] are killed, [[DaChief Minelli]] resigns from his position, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and it is strongly implied that Jane knows about Rigsby and Van Pelt's secret romance]].
** Season 3's "Strawberries and Cream". Jane meets and kills Red John. Or so it seems, until Season Four reveals it was only an accomplice.
** Season 4's "Blinking Red Light". Red John's BACK!

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Averted in "Something's Rotten in Redumd" [[spoiler: The murderer was a 35 year old female teacher who was having an affair with a 16 year old male student. She killed the murder victim with a baseball bat because he caught the teacher and the student making out in the woods and was going to reptort it. Cho himself even points out to the 16 year old student that was his teacher did to him constitues statutory rape.]]

* NotSoDifferent: Jane and Red John, according to one of Red John's flunkies.

* WorthyOpponent: Red John considers Jane to be one, though Jane couldn't care less.

* WouldYouLikeToHearHowTheyDied: In "Strawberries and Cream", Red John sadistically describes to Jane how the latter's wife and daughter smelled as they were murdered. Season Four reveals this was only an accomplice, though.

** Red John saves Jon in "Blinking Red Light" when he kills the increasingly-vicious serial killer who had managed to avoid even becoming a suspect. This is mostly to avenge an insult, however, not because he actually cared about the other killer's crimes.