The Mentalist 4x04: Ring Around the Rosie

Original Air Date: 13 October 2011

Storyline: Jane notices a suspicious-looking man carrying a gun at a political rally and sets out to prove he's a psychopath on the brink of committing murder. Meanwhile, Lisbon investigates the death of a photographer at the same rally, and the team welcomes their new boss.Trivia: In real life, while not lethal, blanks will cause severe wounds upon hit. Tibbs' spree shooting will still cause victims.Best Quote:

Jane: You think I'm an anti-social personality?
Lisbon: Yeah, sure. Who isn't?

Review: Four episodes into this season, we finally get the chance to meet Luther Wainwright, Hightower's replacement as chief of the CBI. He's young and (gasp) good looking, but above all wants to show that he wants to fit in and apply modern techniques to police investigations - which, of course, turns out may not be the best idea if you want to keep Jane in check.

As far as eye-candy, the new boss adds up to the charm of the other men in the cast, but I have a Red John vibe off of him. OK, I may exaggerate here, but I cannot see any other reason for bringing in someone so young and do determined to call Jane out as a psychopath, you know? He was hilarious in trying to get counseling for a man on verge of mass murder, I'll tell you that. Either he's incredibly naive, fresh out of school type of way and thinks he can rid the world of all evil by talking them to death, or there's something weird about him. 
For the first time, the episode features two cases and - also for the first time - the team tries to prevent a murder. Talk about being proactive. Following Henry Tibbs around was fun to watch, but damn, did Jane kill my ears with his Texan accent! My first language is not English and even I noticed how fake it was. I guess watching Survivor for so many years formed my ear to distinguish between real and fake accents.
Jane pulled yet another of his classic confidence tricks ("A scam. A hustle. Bunco. Flimflam.") with Tibbs by tricking his new boss into becoming the stressor that would send the suspect on a murder spree. He deserved it, in my opinion. What was he thinking, trying to get a mass murderer in the making into therapy? 
As for Lisbon, for the first time she pursued a different case than the rest of the team and it was to prove someone's innocence. It was great to see her enjoy some other kind of music that's not Spice Girls and we get to see her soft side so rarely that I enjoyed it, despite missing the usual banter between her and Jane.
Other highlights: Cho's blend-in car and his dry humor ("You're under arrest for the attempted murder of...everybody."). Rigsby sarcastically telling Van Pelt (who is very violent as of late) "Well, at least you didn't shoot this one." Maybe Grace should have gone to therapy after all.The Mentalist 4x03: Pretty Red Balloon Back to Season 4